Dialect experience and perceptual integrality in phonological registers: Fundamental frequency, voice quality and the first formant in Cham

The perceptual integrality of f0, F1 and voice quality is investigated by looking at register, a phonological contrast that relies on these three properties in three dialects of Cham, an Austronesian language of Mainland Southeast Asia. The results of a Garner classification experiment confirm that the three acoustic properties integrate perceptually and that their patterns of integrality are similar in the three dialects. Moreover, they show that dialect-specific sensitivity to acoustic properties can cause salient dimensions to override weaker ones. Finally, the patterns of integrality found in Cham suggest that auditory integrality is not limited to acoustically similar properties.