The experimental analysis on perceptual features of Putonghua with reverberation

The perceptual space configurations and hierarchical clustering diagrams of Putonghua initials and finals were obtained by means of Putonghua monosyllable articulation tests in several reverberant conditions. Methods of multidimensional scale and cluster analysis were employed to analyze the similarities among Putonghua initials and finals. It is found that in reverberant environment, the main perceptual features of initials are interpreted as the articulatory place (fricative place) of tongue, the manner of articulation whether it is aspirated or unaspirated in the order of importance; the main perceptual feature of finals is:the articulatory place of vowels in the initial part. The voicing feature of initials and the coda of finals almost do not work for speech perception in reverberant environment. It is also shown that the perceptual features of speech are correlated with the physical transmission conditions of the speech.