The Production and Perception of Japanese Accent by Native Mandarin Speakers: A Study of Three-Mora Word Sequences Containing Devoiced Vowels

A growing number of native Chinese speakers are enrolling in Japanese language programs, rendering the acquisition of Japanese pitch accent a significant topic in linguistics. Despite extensive research on the perception and production of devoiced vowels, studies on Chinese learners perception and production of Japanese pitch accent remain limited. This study examines the perception and production of three-mora Japanese word sequences with devoiced vowels by Chinese native learners of Japanese. The results reveal that learners made fewer perceptual than articulatory errors, who tend to pronounce P0 as P3 and P1 as rising-falling type. Further analysis indicates that compared to native speakers, there is no significant difference in the pronunciation of P0, while the pitch frequency difference for P1 is smaller and for P2, it is larger. In terms of perception, learners are able to recognize the most natural pitch differences, but the perceptual difference for P0 is smaller. Moreover, no significant correlation is found between pitch accent perception and pronunciation in these sequences.