Mandarin tones are shown to be produced with different lengths (i.e., from longer to shorter: T3 > T2 > T1 > T4) (cf. Wu & Kenstowicz, 2015). An AX rating experiment in which Taiwan Mandarin listeners were asked to rate the relative durations of syllables ([pa], [pi], [ta], [ti]) manipulated into five different duration steps (290 ms, 320 ms, 350 ms, 380 ms, and 410 ms) in Mandarin tones (high-level T1, rising T2, dipping T3, reduced low-level T3, and falling T4) compared with an anchor stimulus ([pa] with 350 ms in mid-level tone) showed that the complex contour tone (T3) was rated as longer than simple contour tones (T2 and T4) and simple contour tones were rated as longer than level tones (T1 and reduced T3). Between the simple contour tones, T2 was rated as longer than T4. Between the level tones, the reduced T3 was rated as longer than T1. The explanations to these tonal perceptual differences are tied to the typological correlation between rime duration and the complexity of tonal targets (T3 > T2/T4 > T1/T3) (e.g., Zhang 2001) as well as to the listeners’ experience to the durations of different tones (T2 > T4 and reduced T3 > T1).

This article provides a review of previous studies that have examined the effects of orthography on establishing contrastive phonological representations in second language acquisition and presents results from an original study on Mandarin speakers’ production of English stops investigating how the presence of orthography affects the production of phonological categories that involve allophony. English voiceless stops are canonically represented as aspirated [ph, th, kh] in word-initial/stressed onset positions but are realized as unaspirated [p, t, k] following /s/ and in unstressed, non-initial onset positions. The results of our imitation experiment showed that Mandarin speakers failed to correctly imitate the unaspirated allophones when presented with written input, and this orthographic effect was stronger with nonwords than with real words. These results are best explained by an orthography effect mediated by phonological awareness and prior linguistic experience.