Native vs. non-native accent identification using Japanese spoken telephone numbers

In forensic investigations, it would be helpful to be able to identify a speaker’s native language based on the sound of their speech. Previous research on foreign accent identification suggested that the identification accuracy can be improved by using linguistic forms in which non-native characteristics are reflected. This study investigates how native and non-native speakers of Japanese differ in reading Japanese telephone numbers, which have a specific prosodic structure called a bipodic template. Spoken Japanese telephone numbers were recorded from native speakers, and Chinese and Korean learners of Japanese. Twelve utterances were obtained from each speaker, and their F0 contours were compared between native and non-native speakers. All native speakers realised the prosodic pattern of the bipodic template while reading the telephone numbers, whereas non-native speakers did not. The metric rhythm and