An acoustic study of L2 lexical tone production by tonal L1 learners

While most studies on second language (L2) tone acquisition have focused on learners with non-tonal first language (L1) background, little attention has been given to tonal L1 learners. Significant differences in tonal contrasts between Cantonese and Mandarin create challenges in L2 tone production. This study compares the tonal production of L2 Mandarin by Cantonese L1 speakers and native Mandarin speakers, as well as the tonal production of L2 Cantonese with Mandarin L1 speakers and native Cantonese speakers. The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in F0 parameters—mean F0, F0 range, duration, and the F0 turning points—and the influence of tonal L1 on L2 tone acquisition. Acoustic parameters extracted using Praat indicated that Cantonese L1 speakers had a larger tonal space than L2 speakers. The F0 values of L2 Mandarin resembled those of Cantonese L1 speakers more than native Mandarin speakers. These findings suggest assimilation processes, where L1 tonal characteristics influence L2 tonal production, consistent with the category assimilation hypothesis from the Speech Learning Model. This study highlights the impact of tonal contrasts in L2 acquisition and offers insights into cross-linguistic tone learning for phonetic and pedagogical research.