Influence of dialect use on speech perception: a mismatch negativity study. Issue 6 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bühler, Jessica C.; Schmid, Stephan; Maurer, Urs
• Is Part Of: Language, cognition and neuroscience. Volume 32:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 757
• Page End: 775
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Mismatch negativity -- speech sound processing -- dialect -- allophones -- gap by sound omission; Psycholinguistics -- Periodicals; Linguistics -- Periodicals; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Psycholinguïstiek; Cognitieve processen; Linguistics; Neurosciences; Psycholinguistics; Periodicals; 401.9
• DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2016.1272704
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2327-3798

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Using an electroencephalography (EEG)-based mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm, we investigated whether higher familiarity with a dialectal variety of German (Swiss German (CHG) vs. Standard German (StG)) impacted speech perception at the neural and the behavioural level. Specifically, we examined 30 CHG- and StG-native adults, by contrasting a pseudoword containing an allophonic phoneme variant found in both dialects (i.e. standard) with 2 deviant stimuli encompassing allophonic phoneme variants, of which one was more familiar for CHG natives and the other was more familiar for StG natives. The same stimuli were used in a behavioural "same–different" discrimination task. Behavioural pseudoword differentiation was better for more familiar allophonic phoneme variants. MMN measures revealed significant fronto-central and temporal deviance-by-language-group interactions, primarily driven by larger MMN responses for less familiar deviants in StG natives. We conclude that a higher degree of familiarity with allophonic variants seems to impact neural processing efficiency, to the extent that less familiar variants demand more wide-spread activation processes.