Individual Differences in Tone Perception and Production in Emerging Dialect: A Case Study of Elementary School Children in Changsha

This paper investigates how elementary school children in Changsha perceive and produce the T1 and T4 in emerging Changsha Plastic Mandarin. It comprises three experiments: Experiment 1 tested children's identification of natural T1 and T4 stimuli, Experiment 2 assessed perceptual cues usage among different ability groups, and Experiment 3 examined children's natural T1 and T4 production. Findings show identification skills predict perceptual cues usage, with higher accuracy linked to three cues: F0 height, F0 movement, and voice quality. Those with lesser skills relied on F0 height and movement only, and the unskilled used none. In natural production, children's overall F0 and voice quality resembled Standard Mandarin, with the unskilled's T4 F0 steeper, aligning more with standard norms. These discoveries illustrate specific individual differences in Changsha Plastic Mandarin among elementary school children, with some correlation between identification accuracy, perceptual cues, and natural production. This is the first investigation into the usage of Changsha Plastic Mandarin, an emerging dialect, among primary school children. Consequently, these results offer promising research directions for future studies about emerging dialects.