Gemma Repiso-Puigdelliura (UAB): ‘New experimental insights into the perception and production of Catalan mid vowel using multitask designs’

Seminari del CLT

Divendres, 15 de maig de 2026
Hora 15:30
Aula 202, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres

Abstract:
This talk presents novel experimental insights into the stability of the mid vowel contrasts in Central Catalan. Study 1 (with Miquel Llompart and Scott Perry) investigates an understudied population of Catalan-Spanish bilinguals with extensive exposure to Catalan, that of school-aged early bilinguals aged 7 to 10. Using a multitask design, 15 children completed a minimal-pair identification task, a lexical decision task, and a minimal-pair production task to evaluate the robustness of mid-vowel categories. Results from the identification task showed relatively limited discrimination, with open-mid vowels (/ɛ/ and /ɔ/) identified more accurately than close-mid vowels (/e/ and /o/). Performance in the lexical decision task revealed a high acceptance rate of mispronounced forms, suggesting flexible or underspecified lexical representations. Analysis of the production data further indicated considerable overlap between vowel categories. Overall, the findings underscore the influence of early sensitive periods and variable input in shaping bilingual vowel systems. Study 2 (with Chao Zhou) examines whether the stability of mid-vowel contrasts is modulated by language mode and bilingual dominance using an AXB discrimination task in 43 adult Catalan-Spanish bilinguals across Catalan- and Spanish-only contexts. Results show categorical perception for /e/-/ɛ/, yet less robust than /i/-/e/. In addition, greater Spanish dominance is associated with lower accuracy in the Catalan mode, whereas greater Catalan dominance is linked to higher accuracy in that same mode. We interpret this asymmetry as reflecting increased cognitive load for Spanish-dominant bilinguals and greater availability of language-specific phonetic grammars for Catalan-dominant speakers.