Xiaoyu and Youngah’s paper, “Perceptual and featural measures of Mandarin consonant similarity: Confusion matrices and phonological features dataset,” has recently been published in Data in Brief.
The paper presents a comprehensive dataset containing two types of similarity measures for 23 Mandarin consonant phonemes: perceptual and featural measures. The perceptual measures are derived from confusion matrices obtained through native speakers’ identification tasks in quiet and noise-masked conditions. Based on these matrices, specific perceptual measures, such as confusion rate and perceptual distance, are calculated. Additionally, the authors propose a phonological feature system to evaluate the featural differences between each pair of consonants, providing insights into phonological similarity.
The dataset reveals a significant positive correlation between the perceptual and featural measures of similarity. Distance matrices are generated using the perceptual distance data, and a hierarchical cluster dendrogram is plotted using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). This dendrogram displays five major clusters of consonants.
This dataset can serve as a valuable reference for future studies seeking quantified perceptual measures of Mandarin consonant similarity. Additionally, it can be beneficial for research exploring consonant similarity in perceptual and phonological domains, as well as investigating the influence of linguistic and extralinguistic factors on consonant perception.
Yu, X., & Do, Y. (2024). Perceptual and featural measures of Mandarin consonant similarity: Confusion matrices and phonological features dataset. Data in Brief, 52, 109868. open_in_newDOI