Test Your Ears #1

Question

I'm sick and tired because I can't seem to find a decent answer to some questions. So guess what, I'm gonna try to find out something more myself, doing experiments like a crazy scientist.

I need to test native speakers' ears (and maybe mouths), but non-native speakers can take part in the experiments as well of course.

1.1) What does the woman say in the clip?

Chiliblossom · Accepted Answer

It has not been fixed.

I like being part of experiments, even if the scientist is crazy.

Kooyeen · Answer

Now it's fixed! Finally! <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Raindoctor · Answer

"This is MPR"

Due to assimilation, One can produce MPR instead of NPR;one can hear MPR Another example: " S n P" is heard as SMP, and is produced as SMP instead of SNP.

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

I hear NPR.

Don't ask me why though. I played it back like 30 times, and if I had to choose one, it'd be 'N'.

Ivanhr · Answer

I hear; This is NPR.

Epsilon · Answer

Definitely "NPR"!!! <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/>

Kooyeen · Answer

Thanks for the replies.

raindoctorDue to assimilation, One can produce MPR instead of NPR;one can hear MPR Another example: " S n P" is heard as SMP, and is produced as SMP instead of SNP.

By the way, raindoctor, are you a native speaker with "native ears"? From North America, the UK, where? If you are not willing to tell it, forget these couple of lines.
Anyway, I'll go straight to the point. What I'm trying to find out is how sensitive native speakers' ears are when assimilation of this kind is involved.
I learned such kinds of assimilation are not automatic in English, unlike in Italian (In Italian, "un pesce" would always be pronounced "um pesce"). As far as I know, in English it isn't automatic (it is more likely in certain dialects, and the faster the speech, the more likely the assimilation), and the assimilation can be partial.

So production can vary from non assimilated (the tongue moves all the way up to form the /n/) to assimilated (the tongue doesn't even move and you go straight to the bilabial sound)... but production and perception are separated concepts, I guess. If production varies, how does perception vary?
Which boils down to the question: while native speakers can easily produce both non-assimilated NPR and MPR, can they also easily distinguish them?

I think (but I'm not sure at all) that maybe I would only be able to distinguish /np, nb, nm/ from /mp, mb, mm/ in very slow careful speech, and the difference would still be too small for me to consider it "phonemically" important. But it's hard to say how well native speakers understand: they usually guess from the context, using a kind of top-down noise reduction (from context and words down to phonemes). Yet natives' ears must be very sensitive anyway, because they can easily detect traces of accents that are either foreign or different from their own.

So I decided to try to understand more about English speakers' ears with some little experiments. I recorded some audio clips from both NPR (National Public Radio) and MPR (Minnesota Public Radio). Then I chose one, it's simple and in high quality for voice (128 kb/s).
And so we simply need to consider one question... Can native speakers tell if that's Minnesota Public Radio or if it's National Public Radio, and how sure are they about their choice?

That's all. Keep placing your bets guys! You might win something, LOL.

Raindoctor · Answer

Koyeen,

The clarity depends upon who is speaking. One working for NPR produces MPR, since that word is frequently used (in other words, frequency dictates the production as well).

Lemme give another example: "open". I don't hear "n" when it is produced by L1 speakers in my area; but i hear it from L2 speakers.

L1: 'o?pm (here m is produced and is heard); dictionaries are not much of help, since MW and reference.com doesn't list this pronunciation at all. The key is that the second syllable is not stressed, leading to elision of "e".

L2 speakers: o?p?n o?p?n

Kooyeen · Answer

But here the problem is different. The problem is not production, the problem is perception.
I expect virtually all native speakers to be able to make a distinction in production: you can say NPR, or say MPR, and that's easy and only depends on whether you raise the tip of your tongue or not.

What I don't know is how many native speakers are able to make a difference in perception: can they distinguish NPR from MPR when they hear them? And how easily?

I think they should be able to distinguish them in some way, in some circumstances, otherwise the difference in production would be completely useless and wouldn't make sense. How would children be able to pick up a distinction they can't hear?
So I expect native speakers to distinguish them in perception, but only in very few cases (very slow careful speech, or watching the movements of the mouth, etc.). In everyday situations I don't expect native speakers to distinguish them at all though, and I don't expect them to care either... Although this NPR vs MPR issue in everyday situations might lead to confusing one radio station with another.

Test Your Ears #1

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