New Zealand vowels help New Zealanders tell voices apart

What is it about?

In New Zealand English, the way someone pronounces one vowel is related to how they pronounce other vowels as well. We show that listeners likely attend to some, but not all, of these vowel patterns when judging how similar two New Zealand voices sound. They also pay a lot of attention to how fast someone is talking and how high their pitch is.

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Photo by Europeana on Unsplash

Photo by Europeana on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our findings show that New Zealand listeners pay attention to several features of speech. A vowel pattern linked to ongoing sound changes in New Zealand English does influence how similar listeners think two voices are. However, speed and pitch seem to be even more reliable cues. The results also indicate that which speaker the listener hears first can affect whether they rely on speed, pitch, or vowel patterns to judge similarity. Methodologically, this study demonstrates that it is possible to study sociolinguistic perception without assuming in advance what listeners will pay attention to.