Data Sets

Brunei

ASEAN

Indonesian + Taiwanese — Ind2 : 1961

S1 = Taiwanese female
S2 = Indonesian male

Context: They are talking about where S2 lived after completing his PhD. He originally planned to go back to Indonesia, but eventually decided to stay on in Brunei.

S2 : ... when i was in brunei so meaning that er (.)

S1 : <1> and you wish </1>

S2 : <1> and now </1> if i re- i REturn to jakarta i have to start career again

Intended Words: return

Heard as: leave

Discussion: This is a case where lexical stress seems to cause the problem. As there is substantial emphasis on the first syllable of return, S1 hears it as leave, even though the [t] is quite clear and indeed has plenty of aspiration on it (VOT = 46 msec).

One might note that S1 got the meaning perfectly well, if if she didn't hear the right words.