語音分布與構詞互換於音韻關係之影響

Testing the Roles of Distribution and Alternation in Phonological Relationships

本文探討音韻分布與構詞互換現象對於語言使用者定義音位的影響，研究方法採用前人所建立測試語言感知及語言處理之實驗方式－－語音相似度評比，研究主題包含舌尖及舌面摩擦音[s]與[c/∫]在三個不同語言裡面的分布及表現：（一）英語中的[s]與[∫] 能區辨意義、無互補分布現象也無法從環境中預測，（二）韓語中的[s]與[c]不僅呈現互補分布，也存在有構辭上的互換現象，（三）中文裡的[s]與[c]呈現互補分布但無構詞互換現象。相似度評比實驗的結果顯示，英語及中文使用者對於舌尖及舌面摩擦音聽覺感知相異度較韓語使用者為大，此實驗結果支持兩音如有互換現象，即能加強語言使用者視兩音為同一音位。

This study investigates how two factors, distribution and morphological alternation, affect speakers’ ability to group sounds into the same phoneme category. Previous findings indicate that allophonic variants of a single phoneme are rated as more similar than sounds belonging to separate phonemes. The present study builds on these findings by conducting a similarity rating task to investigate the processing of anterior and posterior coronal sibilants [s] and [c/∫] in three languages in which the two sounds participate in different types of relationships: (i) English, in which [s] and [∫] occur in the same environment (e.g. see versus she); (ii) Korean, in which [s] and [c] are in complementary distribution and participate in regular and productive morphological alternations; and (iii) Mandarin, in which [s] and [c] are in complementary distribution but do not participate in morphological alternations due to its phonotactic restrictions. The results showed that both English and Mandarin speakers rated the anterior versus posterior coronal sibilants as more different than Korean speakers did, suggesting that the Mandarin speakers, who have access only to distributional evidence, are less likely to treat the two sounds as members of a single category than the Korean speakers, who are exposed to evidence from both distribution and morphological alternation.