Tone 3 Sandhi in Mandarin: Productivity and acoustic realization in L1 and L2 speakers

Abstract

This study investigates the productivity and acoustic realization of a highly regular tonal alternation in Mandarin, Tone 3 (T3) sandhi, among native speakers and intermediate-level second language (L2) learners across different lexical contexts. Seventeen native speakers (NSs), fourteen intermediate-low (IL) learners, and sixteen intermediate-high (IH) learners completed a production task involving both real and nonce disyllabic words. Results show that T3 sandhi is highly productive among native speakers and is consistently applied by L2 learners, with IL learners achieving application rates above 77% even in pseudo-word contexts, providing strong support for a computation-based mechanism in sandhi production. Acoustic analysis furthered revealed that IH learners produced more native-like sandhi realizations than IL learners, although differences from NSs remained under pseudo-word conditions. In addition, NSs and IH learners showed similar differences in T3 and Tone 2 (T2) production across lexical conditions, highlighting a lexical effect on tonal production. These findings contribute to our understanding of L2 phonological acquisition, demonstrating that regular phonological alternations such as T3 sandhi can be productively acquired at relatively early stages of L2 acquisition.