Perceptual confusion of Mandarin coda nasals in societal bilingualism

The perception of L2 Mandarin coda nasals (-n and -ŋ) by L1 Wuxi Wu (with only -n) and L1 Fuqing Min (with only -ŋ) speakers was investigated. Results of two experiments revealed that the younger generation of both Wuxi and Fuqing speakers identified Mandarin coda nasals more accurately than the middle-aged generation. The high front vowel /i/ correlated with more misidentifications of postvocalic nasals than mid and low vowels but the result was confounded with nasal type and age group. Background noise impacted with the identification of nasal place of articulation but it was also confounded with nasal type and the L1. These findings shed light on the effects of coarticulation, L1 sound system and language contact on the perception and acquisition of L2 sounds in societal bilingualism.