LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 25:4 April 2025
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Cross-Linguistic Differences in Stress Perception: A Study on
Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam Speakers

Janardhan M., et al.

Abstract

Stress perception plays a crucial role in speech processing, influencing language acquisition and communication. The study aims to explore how the phonetic and prosodic characteristics of these Dravidian languages affect listeners' ability to perceive stress patterns in Kannada, their non-native language. A controlled experimental design was done, involving 15 Kannada-speaking participants as the control group and 30 Telugu- and Malayalam-speaking participants as the experimental groups. Using a series of stress-marked two-word Kannada phrases, the participants' ability to perceive stress based on suprasegmental cues such as vowel duration, fundamental frequency (Fo), and intensity was evaluated. The results revealed significant differences in stress perception abilities among the groups. Native Kannada speakers achieved near-perfect scores of 100%, while Telugu speakers obtained a mean score of 56.88%, and Malayalam speakers performed the worst with a mean score of 42.5%. The findings indicate that Kannada speakers rely heavily on vowel duration for stress detection, whereas Telugu and Malayalam speakers, with more complex stress systems, show less efficiency in perceiving stress in Kannada. These results highlight the influence of native phonological systems on second language stress perception and suggest implications for language teaching and speech therapy, emphasizing the need to consider cross-linguistic influences in second language acquisition.

Keywords: Cross-linguistic differences, multilingualism stress perception, speech perception, suprasegmental cues and second language.

Introduction

Speech perception is the ability to interpret and understand spoken language by converting continuously changing acoustic signals into meaningful linguistic units [1]. It is a fundamental aspect of human communication, involving interactions between auditory processing, phonetics, phonology, and cognitive mechanisms. Effective speech perception is crucial for language acquisition, speech recognition, and verbal communication. Research in this area spans multiple disciplines, including psycholinguistics, neurophysiology, phonetics, and artificial intelligence. One key component of speech perception is phonological processing, which includes phonemic awareness, phonological recording in lexical access, and short-term verbal memory skills [2]. Language background significantly influences speech perception, particularly in stress pattern recognition and phonetic contrasts. Studies indicate that non-native speakers often struggle with perceiving and producing stress patterns due to differences in their native phonological systems [3-4]. Bilingual and multilingual individuals experience cross-linguistic influences, where the phonetic and prosodic characteristics of one language affect the perception and production of another. Stress perception varies across languages; for instance, English employs lexical stress, where stress placement changes word meaning (e.g., 'permit' as a noun vs. 'permit' as a verb), whereas languages like Bengali have fixed stress patterns and explored the role of acoustic cues such as pitch, duration, and intensity in stress perception [5-6]. Telugu and Malayalam, two Dravidian languages, exhibit distinct phonetic and stress patterns. However, limited research has examined how native speakers of these languages perceive stress contrasts in a non-native language. Understanding these variations is essential for language learning, speech therapy, and auditory rehabilitation.

[7] Described Kannada stress as typically falling on the first syllable, while [8] characterized Telugu as a mora-timed system [9] further investigated Malayalam, demonstrating that stress placement depends on vowel length and syllable position. The Stress Deafness Model [10] suggests that speakers of fixed-stress languages struggle with stress contrasts in an L2. [11] Proposed the Stress Typology Model, which predicts varying difficulties based on L1 stress predictability.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Janardhan M, Clinical Audiologist & SLP
Vijay Kumar A, Clinical Audiologist &SLP, National Speech and Hearing Centre, Hyderabad
Lakshmi Prasanna P, Assoc. Prof. & Head of the Department (Speech and Hearing)
$. Vishala E, Asst. Prof.in SLP
Srujana V, Asst. Prof. in Audiology
Niranjan T, Clinical Audiologists & SLP
Naresh C, Clinical Audiologists & SLP
Imran M, Asst. Prof.in SLP

Corresponding Author:
$ LAKSHMI PRASANNA P.
Assoc. Prof. & Head of the Department (Speech and Hearing)
Ashray Akruti: A Voluntary Organization working for Ear, Hearing Care and PWD
Srinagar colony, Hyderabad-500073, Telangana, India
lakshmiprasanna@ashrayakruti.in
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