Masking release effects of a standard and a regional linguistic variety.

Previous research has shown that the more similar the target and the masker signal, the harder it is to segregate the two streams effectively [i.e., target-masker linguistic similarity hypothesis, e.g., Brouwer, Van Engen, Calandruccio, and Bradlow (2012). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131(2), 1449-1464]. The present study examined whether this hypothesis holds when a standard variety of a language (Dutch) is paired with one of its regional varieties (Limburgian). Dutch and Limburgian listeners were tested on a speech-in-speech recognition task to investigate whether familiarity with the target and/or maskers influenced their performance. The findings provide support for the hypothesis and suggest an influence of Limburgians' bidialectal status.