Mandarin lexical tone perception by native speakers of Greek

Abstract: This study examines the perception of Mandarin lexical tones by native speakers of Greek who are naïve to Mandarin. Being able to discriminate between Mandarin lexical tones is essential for effective and accurate communication in the language. While there is an increasing number of research studying the perception of Mandarin tone by speakers from various backgrounds, the Greek language has not received much attention. By employing an AXB discrimination task, this study tested the perception of Mandarin tone pairs T1-T2, T1-T4, and T2-T3 by native speakers of Greek. Due to their acoustic similarity, these three pairs are often found to be the most confusing tone contrasts for non-native listeners of Mandarin. Greek speakers (NG) had the highest accuracy for T1-T2 (0.88), and similar accuracy rates for T1-T4 (0.83) and T2-T3 (0.82). Subsequently, the Greek speakers were divided into two groups based on their experience with learning or playing a musical instrument, as this is a factor that has been shown to affect tone perception. Compared to non-musicians (NG1), the group of musicians (NG2) had higher accuracy rates for T1-T2 and T1-T4, and a similar accuracy rate for T2-T3. For NG1, from easiest to hardest, the accuracy rates were: T1-T2(0.93)>T1-T4(0.92)>T2-T3(0.82). For NG2, the accuracy rates were: T2-T3(0.82)≥T1-T2(0.82)>T1-T4(0.74). These findings could improve our understanding in regard to the factors that can affect the perception of Mandarin lexical tone by native Greek speakers, which might contribute to language pedagogy.