The Speech-to-Song Illusion Is Reduced in Speakers of Tonal (vs. Non-Tonal) Languages.

ABSTRACT: The speech-to-song illusion has attracted interest as a probe of the perceptual interface between language and music. One might anticipate differential speech-to-song effects in tonal vs. non-tonal languages, since these language classes differ importantly in the linguistic value they assign to tones. Here we addressed this issue for the first time in a cohort of 20 healthy younger adults whose native language was either tonal (Thai, Mandarin) or non-tonal (German, Italian) and all of whom were also fluent in English. All participants were assessed using a protocol designed to induce the speech-to-song illusion on speech excerpts presented in each of the five study languages. Over the combined participant group, there was evidence of a speech-to-song illusion effect for all language stimul

SUBMITTER: Jaisin K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4860502 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature