L1 Category Compactness, L1 Allophonic Targets and L2 Production
Document Type
Paper Presentation
Presenter Language
English
Research Area
Phonetics & Phonology
Location
MBSC Gallery Room 308
Start Date
18-10-2024 12:00 PM
End Date
18-10-2024 12:30 PM
Abstract
In this study, we present the second part of a data set that examines how Spanish speakers transfer the abstract syllabic linking that drives the phonetic realization of /i/ in their native language to their second language, English. In Spanish, underlying /i/ may surface as a vowel, glide, fricative, affricate, or stop ([i, j, ʝ ʝɟ ɟ]), depending upon where it occurs in the syllable, whether as syllable peak, non-peak satellite member of a diphthong or onset. English has no such linking; both glides and affricates occur in word onset and can form minimal pairs in words such as “yet” [jɛt] and “jet” [dʒɛt]. Thus, Spanish speakers must learn to represent these L1 allophones as L2 phonemes.
Our predictions are guided by the Personal Articulatory Precision Hypothesis (PAPH, Kartushina & Frauenfelder, 2014; Flege & Bohn, 2020), applied to allophones. The PAPH posits a positive relationship between L1 category compactness and speakers’ personal L2 production precision. We predict that L1 Spanish speakers with more compact L1 categories (i.e., less variability in the same syllabic position: [ ʝɟo], [ʝɟema]/[kaʝe], [maʝa]) will have greater precision in their L2 productions than speakers with greater variability across different allophonic positions (i.e., more variability across the same syllable position: [ʝo], [ʝɟema]/[kaʝe], [maja]).
Participants were 14 speakers from Querétaro, México. Spanish target words had /i/ in word-initial and medial position, stressed and unstressed syllables, counterbalanced across vowel contexts. English target words had a glide or affricate in the same positions. Items varied in spelling (, , in Spanish; and in English). The tasks were:
Spanish and English Delayed Repetition task (Words and Sentences): Participants heard a word or a sentence, followed by a 500ms medium-frequency beep, saw a kaleidoscope (1000ms), and then repeated the word/sentence they heard.
Spanish Minimal pairs: read minimal pairs with /i/ in different syllable positions
Allophonic variability was operationalized as the standard deviation of the ratio between the target segment and following vowel. Preliminary analysis of the Spanish data indicates high variability across speakers and within certain speakers’ production of Spanish targets. English analysis is pending.
L1 Category Compactness, L1 Allophonic Targets and L2 Production
MBSC Gallery Room 308
In this study, we present the second part of a data set that examines how Spanish speakers transfer the abstract syllabic linking that drives the phonetic realization of /i/ in their native language to their second language, English. In Spanish, underlying /i/ may surface as a vowel, glide, fricative, affricate, or stop ([i, j, ʝ ʝɟ ɟ]), depending upon where it occurs in the syllable, whether as syllable peak, non-peak satellite member of a diphthong or onset. English has no such linking; both glides and affricates occur in word onset and can form minimal pairs in words such as “yet” [jɛt] and “jet” [dʒɛt]. Thus, Spanish speakers must learn to represent these L1 allophones as L2 phonemes.
Our predictions are guided by the Personal Articulatory Precision Hypothesis (PAPH, Kartushina & Frauenfelder, 2014; Flege & Bohn, 2020), applied to allophones. The PAPH posits a positive relationship between L1 category compactness and speakers’ personal L2 production precision. We predict that L1 Spanish speakers with more compact L1 categories (i.e., less variability in the same syllabic position: [ ʝɟo], [ʝɟema]/[kaʝe], [maʝa]) will have greater precision in their L2 productions than speakers with greater variability across different allophonic positions (i.e., more variability across the same syllable position: [ʝo], [ʝɟema]/[kaʝe], [maja]).
Participants were 14 speakers from Querétaro, México. Spanish target words had /i/ in word-initial and medial position, stressed and unstressed syllables, counterbalanced across vowel contexts. English target words had a glide or affricate in the same positions. Items varied in spelling (, , in Spanish; and in English). The tasks were:
Spanish and English Delayed Repetition task (Words and Sentences): Participants heard a word or a sentence, followed by a 500ms medium-frequency beep, saw a kaleidoscope (1000ms), and then repeated the word/sentence they heard.
Spanish Minimal pairs: read minimal pairs with /i/ in different syllable positions
Allophonic variability was operationalized as the standard deviation of the ratio between the target segment and following vowel. Preliminary analysis of the Spanish data indicates high variability across speakers and within certain speakers’ production of Spanish targets. English analysis is pending.