Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception
This study examined the differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception. Forty native Cantonese adults were tested with the Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone identification tasks. Each task contained four blocks: quiet-no mask, noisy-no mask, quiet-surgica...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1582217/full |
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| author | William Choi William Choi William Choi Tianyu Chu Tianyu Chu Jiaqing Zu Jiaqing Zu |
| author_facet | William Choi William Choi William Choi Tianyu Chu Tianyu Chu Jiaqing Zu Jiaqing Zu |
| author_sort | William Choi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examined the differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception. Forty native Cantonese adults were tested with the Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone identification tasks. Each task contained four blocks: quiet-no mask, noisy-no mask, quiet-surgical mask, and noisy-surgical mask. Bayesian analyses revealed that the Cantonese listeners identified consonants, vowels, and tones with similar accuracies across the four blocks. However, in the presence of noise, surgical mask was found to increase the response time in identifying vowels. From a theoretical perspective, this study offers a phonological account to explain why surgical mask may impede sentence comprehension. Practically, the findings suggest that surgical mask has little bearing on the ability to accurately identify Cantonese consonants, vowels, and tones, though it affects the efficiency in vowel identification. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3bc77e0967ea4137b9baefddfbc0b2cc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj-art-3bc77e0967ea4137b9baefddfbc0b2cc2025-08-20T03:25:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2025-06-011010.3389/fcomm.2025.15822171582217Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perceptionWilliam Choi0William Choi1William Choi2Tianyu Chu3Tianyu Chu4Jiaqing Zu5Jiaqing Zu6Academic Unit of Human Communication, Learning, and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSpeech and Music Perception Laboratory, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaCentre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaAcademic Unit of Human Communication, Learning, and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSpeech and Music Perception Laboratory, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaAcademic Unit of Human Communication, Learning, and Development, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSpeech and Music Perception Laboratory, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaThis study examined the differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception. Forty native Cantonese adults were tested with the Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone identification tasks. Each task contained four blocks: quiet-no mask, noisy-no mask, quiet-surgical mask, and noisy-surgical mask. Bayesian analyses revealed that the Cantonese listeners identified consonants, vowels, and tones with similar accuracies across the four blocks. However, in the presence of noise, surgical mask was found to increase the response time in identifying vowels. From a theoretical perspective, this study offers a phonological account to explain why surgical mask may impede sentence comprehension. Practically, the findings suggest that surgical mask has little bearing on the ability to accurately identify Cantonese consonants, vowels, and tones, though it affects the efficiency in vowel identification.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1582217/fullCOVIDface maskspeechtonevowelconsonant |
| spellingShingle | William Choi William Choi William Choi Tianyu Chu Tianyu Chu Jiaqing Zu Jiaqing Zu Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception Frontiers in Communication COVID face mask speech tone vowel consonant |
| title | Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception |
| title_full | Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception |
| title_fullStr | Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception |
| title_short | Can you hear me clearly? The differential effects of surgical mask on Cantonese consonant, vowel, and tone perception |
| title_sort | can you hear me clearly the differential effects of surgical mask on cantonese consonant vowel and tone perception |
| topic | COVID face mask speech tone vowel consonant |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1582217/full |
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