The tonal component of Estonian quantity in native and non-native perception

This paper focuses on the role of the pitch cue in the perception of Estonian quantity degrees. The significance of the tonal component is investigated through comparison of native vs. learned identification of the quantities. The study reports on perception tests with manipulated natural speech stimuli given to Estonian native (L1) listeners and non-native (L2) listeners with different language backgrounds. Our earlier results [Lippus, P., Pajusalu, K., & Allik, J. (2007). The tonal component in perception of the Estonian quantity. In J. Trouvain, & Barry, W. J. (Eds.), The proceedings of the 16th international congress of phonetic sciences: 16th international congress of phonetic sciences, Saarbrücken, Germany, 6–10 August 2007 (pp. 1049–1052)] showed that native Estonian listeners use pitch as an important cue for perceiving the overlong quantity (Q3), but the cue plays no significant role for L2 listeners. In this study we analyze more closely the effect of the listeners’ native language on the perception of Estonian quantities. Finnish and Russian L1 listeners successfully learn the Estonian three-way quantity distinction without considering the pitch cue. Latvian L1 listeners show some confusion between the long and overlong quantity degree, which could be explained by reference to the tonal and temporal contrasts in their native language.