The present study investigated the differential effects of pitched and unpitched musicianship on tone identification and word learning. We recruited 44 Cantonese-pitched musicians, unpitched musicians, and non-musicians. They completed a Thai tone identification task and seven sessions of Thai tone word learning. In the tone identification task, the pitched musicians outperformed the non-musicians but the unpitched musicians did not. In session 1 of the tone word learning task, the three groups showed similar accuracies. In session 7, the pitched musicians outperformed the non-musicians but the unpitched musicians did not. The results indicate that the musical advantage in tone identification and word learning hinges on pitched musicianship. From a theoretical perspective, these findings support the precision element of the OPERA hypothesis. Broadly, they reflect the need to consider the heterogeneity of musicianship when studying music-to-language transfer. Practically, the findings highlight the potential of pitched music training in enhancing tone word learning proficiency. Furthermore, the choice of musical instrument may matter to music-to-language transfer.

本研究调查了音高和非音高的音乐才能对音调识别和单词学习的不同影响。我们招募了 44 名粤语音调音乐家、非音调音乐家和非音乐家。他们完成了泰语声调识别任务和七节泰语声调词学习。在音调识别任务中，调音的音乐家表现优于非音乐家，但未调音的音乐家则不然。在声调词学习任务的第一阶段中，三组表现出相似的准确性。在第 7 节中，进行音调的音乐家表现优于非音乐家，但未进行音调的音乐家则不然。结果表明，音调识别和单词学习的音乐优势取决于音高的音乐才能。从理论角度来看，这些发现支持了 OPERA 假设的精确性。从广义上讲，它们反映了在研究音乐到语言的迁移时需要考虑音乐才能的异质性。实际上，研究结果强调了音调音乐训练在提高声调词学习能力方面的潜力。此外，乐器的选择可能对音乐到语言的迁移很重要。