Perceptual assimilation of Tashlhiyt consonants by Spanish-dominant bilinguals

Tashlhiyt is a variety of Tamazight, an Afro-Asiatic Language spoken mostly in Southern Morocco. In the present study, we investigate categorization of Tashlhiyt consonants by a group of Spanish-dominant bilinguals with no experience in that language. The task consisted of a perceptual assimilation task followed by goodness ratings. Overall, listeners categorized quite consistently the Tashlhiyt consonants with a Spanish counterpart. Pharyngeal and aryepiglottal consonants were mostly uncategorized, with two or more Spanish categories selected above chance, which led to perceptual overlap between various Tashlhiyt consonants. The results allow predictions of discriminability to be made, based on the Perceptual Assimilation Model (Best, 1994, 1995), and add to the existing research on categorization of nonnative phones.