Post-focus compression (PFC) of F0 and intensity is found in Beijing Mandarin and has been claimed not to easily transfer in language contact. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the presence of PFC in second language (L2) Mandarin as a function of learners' language experience. Five groups of L2 Mandarin learners were investigated: older, midage and younger Quanzhou Southern Min learners, and American Chinese-heritage and non-Chinese-heritage learners. Findings were that older speakers of Quanzhou Southern Min did not show PFC in their Mandarin, but younger speakers did perhaps because of more extensive Mandarin use. Non- Chinese-heritage American learners did not produce PFC in their Mandarin, but Chinese-heritage learners did, perhaps because they had been exposed to Mandarin at an earlier age.

Index Terms: prosodic focus, post-focus compression, L2 Mandarin, language experience