2020/02/01 by Alexander Martin, Sharon Peperkamp · 4 citations
Computer Science · Psychology · #Language Development and Disorders #Phonetics and Phonology Research #Speech and dialogue systems
paper · doi:10.1017/s0952675720000044
openalex publication_date 2020/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Substance-based phonological theories predict that a preference for phonetically natural rules (those which reflect constraints on speech production and perception) is encoded in synchronic grammars, and translates into learning biases. Some previous work has shown evidence for such biases, but methodological concerns with these studies mean that the question warrants further investigation. We revisit this issue by focusing on the learning of palatal vowel harmony (phonetically natural) compared to disharmony (phonetically unnatural). In addition, we investigate the role of memory consolidation during sleep on rule learning. We use an artificial language learning paradigm with two test phases separated by twelve hours. We observe a robust effect of phonetic naturalness: vowel harmony is learned better than vowel disharmony. For both rules, performance remains stable after twelve hours, regardless of the presence or absence of sleep.