SONORITY AND CONSTRAINT INTERACTION:
THE ACQUISITION OF COMPLEX ONSETS
BY SPANISH LEARNERS OF ENGLISH
Juan
Antonio Cutillas Espinosa, Universidad
de Murcia (Spain)
1 An Overview of L2 Syllable Acquisition
1.1 What is to blame
for errors?
1.2 What
determines error type?
2 Sonority: Universal or Language
Specific?
3 Sonority: Sequencing or
Dispersion?
3.1 The Sonority
Sequencing Generalisation and its application in L2 studies
3.2 The Sonority
Dispersion Principle and its application in L2 studies
6 Interpretation and Discussion
6.1 Two types
of onset constraints in L2 acquisition
6.2 Glides in English
and Spanish and sonority models
6.3
Alternatives to syllable and sonority-based phonotactics
Traditionally,
considerable attention has been paid to the acquisition of L2 syllable structure.
Research has focused on two main topics within this area: on the one hand, the
source of errors (universal or based on L1 phonology?); on the other hand, the
factors determining the choice of one strategy or another to ‘repair’ illicit
syllable structure. In our research study we discuss the key concept of
sonority in the light of the data obtained from 5 Spanish learners of English.
We elicited different complex onsets from them and arrived at the following
conclusions. Firstly, -s + stop- sequences were more difficult than –s +
liquid- ones in spite of the fact that neither of them is allowed by the
Spanish phonological system. We interpret this fact in OT terms, discussing the
nature of two different sonority constraints (SONORITY and O SON) and
justifying the linguistic behaviour of our learners with reference to OT
learnability theory. Secondly, we contradict Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt’s (1997)
claims that –stop + glide- sequences are a problem for Spanish learners of
English. We suggest that the controversy regarding –consonant + glide- onsets
and their implications for different sonority models (Broselow & Finer
1991, Eckman & Iverson 1993) cannot yield useful results because of the
unsteady syllabic status of glides. Finally, we discuss possible alternatives
to the traditional concept of sonority and their implications for L2 phonology
research.
KEYWORDS:
L2 syllable acquisition, Optimality Theory, onsets, language-specific sonority
distance, universal sonority sequencing, dispersion, glides, phonotactics based
on acoustics and perception.
Tradicionalmente se ha prestado abundante atención a la adquisición de la estructura silábica de segundas lenguas. Las investigaciones se han centrado en dos temas principales dentro de esta área: por un lado, la fuente de los errores (¿universal o causada por la fonología de la L1?); por otro lado, los factores que determinan la elección de una estrategia u otra para ‘reparar’ estructuras silábicas ilícitas. En nuestra investigación discutimos el concepto clave de ‘sonoridad’ a la luz de los datos obtenidos de 5 aprendices de inglés hispanohablantes. Extraemos diferentes cabezas silábicas complejas, llegando a dos conclusiones principales. En primer lugar, que las secuencias de –s + oclusiva- les resultaban más difíciles que las de –s + líquida- a pesar de que ninguna de ellas está permitida por la fonología del español. Interpretamos este hecho en términos de Teoría de la Optimidad, discutiendo la naturaleza de dos diferentes restricciones de sonoridad (SONORITY y O SON) y justificando el comportamiento lingüístico de nuestros aprendices en su relación con la explicación del aprendizaje en Teoría de la Optimidad. En segundo lugar, contradecimos las afirmaciones de Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt (1997) en el sentido de que las secuencias de – oclusiva + semivocal- son un problema para los aprendices de inglés hispanohablantes. Sugerimos que la polémica referente a las cabezas silábicas de – consonante + semivocal- y sus implicaciones para distintos modelos de sonoridad (Broselow & Finer 1991; Eckman & Iverson 1993) no puede arrojar resultados útiles a causa de la inestabilidad en el comportamiento silábico de las semivocales. Finalmente se discuten posibles alternativas al concepto tradicional de sonoridad y sus implicaciones para la investigación de la fonología de la L2.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Adquisición silábica de la L2, Teoría de la Optimidad, cabezas silábicas, distancia de sonoridad específica, secuenciación por sonoridad universal, dispersión, semivocales, fonotaxis basada en acústica y percepción.
Interlanguage
syllabic structure has attracted a great deal of attention. Not only does it
show a variety of phenomena related to both L1 and universal factors, but also
it is accessible without much experimental complexity. The history of research
in this particular field of L2 phonology also reflects more general theoretical
trends in phonology over the last decades. Developments such as Principles
& Parameters, Optimality Theory or the interest in prosodic studies appear
in general phonological discussion and afterwards they are applied to L2
phonology research. Unfortunately, this influence is overwhelmingly
unidirectional, i.e. only general phonological theory influences L2 studies,
but not the other way round. This is true in spite of the fact that L2 learning
data can be illuminating when considering the validity of different approaches
to phonology. As far as syllable acquisition is concerned, we shall distinguish
two main areas of study: on the one hand, researchers have struggled to explain
the origins of phonological error, with or without explicit reference to
general phonological frameworks; on the other hand, there have been efforts to
explain why certain target language syllable structures were altered in a
particular way.
The
publication of Lado’s Linguistics across
cultures (1957) is the landmark for L1- based accounts of phonological
error. Constrastive Analysis suggested that L2 difficulty stemmed from the
difference between the learner’s L1 and the target language. Thus, the
statement “difference equals difficulty” was assumed in much second language
research from that moment on, with the hope that contrastive studies could help
students and teachers to improve L2 learning and teaching practice:
If one
could juxtapose the structures of the mother tongue against those of the target
language, course designers (and teachers and learners) would be better able to
plan their learning and teaching; better able to foresee difficulty and
consequently better able to husband resources and direct learning and teaching
effort (James 1980: iii)
Quite soon,
Contrastive Analysis proved to be a poor explanation for L2 acquisition
problems in fields such as morphology or syntax. Firstly because difference
between L1 and L2 does not always imply difficulty. Secondly because it was
shown that most errors could be explained as the result of developmental
processes similar to those found in L1 acquisition (Dulay & Burt 1974). In
spite of this, L1 influence is still a matter of discussion in phonology, which
seems to be an exceptional area. Ioup (1984) compared interlanguage
phonological and morphological processes and concluded that transfer seems to
exert a stronger influence on phonology, although there is no clear answer to
the question of why this should be the case.[1]
Moving back
to the specific topic of our study, it has been suggested that L2 syllabic
structure is quite susceptible to L1 influence, to the extent of being regarded
as the major influence in
errors (Broselow 1984, 1987; Sato 1987; Tarone 1978, 1980).
Some
researchers have attempted to reach a compromise between L1-dependent processes
and universal forces shaping the syllables of the learner’s interlanguage.
Perhaps the most remarkable attempt in this respect was Eckman’s Markedness Differential Hypothesis
(1977). The main tenet of Eckman’s theory is that difference between L1 and L2
will only imply difficulty if the element to be acquired is more marked than that found in the learner’s
L1. Eckman’s approach to markedness is based on typological evidence in the
form of implicational universals: if a feature X is present in a language, then
Y must also be present but not inversely (Eckman 1984). For example, it is well
attested that if a language allows three member onsets, two member and one
member onsets will also be allowed. Consequently, three member onsets are more
marked than two member ones.
Eckman’s
theory has been extremely influential and it is the source of much research in
syllable structure acquisition carried out from the late 1970s onwards, being
overwhelmingly supported by empirical studies (Anderson 1987; Benson 1986;
Carlisle 1988; Eckman 1987; Weinberger 1987). More recently, some criticisms
have been posed, which in turn have led to further developments to Eckman’s
approach (Hammarberg 1988; Cichoki et al. 1999; Major & Kim 1999).
Major
(1987) introduces a longitudinal dimension in the relationship between L1 and
universal factors with his Ontogeny
Model. His main assumption is that “interference processes will decrease
over time, while developmental processes will first increase and then decrease”
(Major 1987: 104). At the beginning, the learner brings into his L2 the configuration
of her mother tongue. As her awareness of being coping with a different
linguistic system grows, transfer errors decrease and natural processes of
language acquisition increase. Eventually, both developmental and transfer
phenomena should disappear.
This
general trend of considering that both L1 and universal factors should be
granted a place in the explanation of L2 syllable acquisition error has been
justified by resort to two main phonological frameworks: Principles and
Parameters and Optimality Theory.
Broselow
& Finer (1991) analysed the modifications made to English syllable
structure by 24 native speakers of Korean and 8 native speakers of Japanese.
They suggested that markedness plays a role in deciding on the difficulty of the
acquisition of certain clusters, but this role is directly related to the
parameter setting of the learner’s L1. Consequently, the learner does not
suppress all marked elements, but rather departs from the levels of markedness
of his L1 and gets closer to the configuration of the target language:
[...] at a
certain stage of acquisition learners seem to arrive at a parameter setting
that is midway between the native and the target language settings. This effect
occurs both when the target language employs a less marked setting than the
native language and when the target language setting is more marked than that
of the native language. (Broselow & Finer 1991: 35)
Broselow
& Finer reach the interesting conclusion that children acquiring L1 and L2
learners have access to the same Universal Grammar elements; the difference
lies in the starting point: whereas L1 learners start from a least-marked
parameter setting, L2 learners transfer the setting from their mother tongue.
Optimality
Theory has also provided an answer to the combination of universal and
language-specific factors (Broselow, Chen & Wang 1998; Hancin-Bhatt &
Bhatt 1997; Hancin-Bhatt 2000). L1 is granted a place in the form of the
learner’s initial constraint ranking; universal factors are expressed by means
of markedness constraints. Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt (1997) point out that OT’s
approach is remarkably similar to Major’s Ontogeny Model in its results: the high number of interference
errors at the beginning is caused by the original constraint hierarchy of the
learner’s L1; the eventual decrease of these and their replacement for
developmental ones can be explained in terms of OT learnability theory.
Constraint demotion forces the learner’s grammar to depart from that of his L1.
Subsequently, the minimal demotion of markedness constraints displays a whole
range of developmental phenomena, which are similar to the ones found in L1
acquisition. It could not have been otherwise if we assume a universal set of
constraints. Broselow, Chen & Wang (1998) explain some well-known
simplification patterns in interlanguage syllable structure as cases of the emergence of the unmarked:
alterations in the initial constraint ranking justify that the effects of some
lower-ranked constraints become noticeable in the learner’s output.
A question
which has attracted less attention in L2 research is what type of errors
learners make and what factors influence the selection of a ‘repair’ strategy,
i.e. which means are deployed to avoid violations of phonological constraints
in the learner’s interlanguage. There are three main solutions to syllable
structure problems: epenthesis, devoicing and deletion. The factors which
favour the selection of a particular strategy have been thoroughly discussed by
Carlisle (1994) and we shall only provide a brief summary:
Environment:
[z] more often kept before vowel, word-final epenthesis more likely to happen
before pause or consonant, rarely before vowel (Dickerson 1975); word-initial
epenthesis more likely after consonants (Carlisle 1994); context also
determines word-final obstruent devoicing (Edge 1991; Yavas 1994).
Markedness
and sonority: Deletion cannot result in increased markedness of the sequence
(Eckman 1987); perceptually salient segments are not deleted in complex onsets
and codas (Tropf 1987).
Age: Riney
(1990) suggests that the older the learner, the more epenthesis is likely to
happen. However, findings are contradictory (see Carlisle 1994: 231).
Prosodic
word size: Broselow, Chen & Wang (1998) suggest that the choice between
deletion and epenthesis may be the result of metrical structure optimisation:
monosyllabic words undergo epenthesis; bisyllabic words undergo deletion.
Morphology:
Inflectional morphemes are usually dropped by learners and even by native
speakers.
Onset vs
coda: Epenthesis is preferred in word-initial onset position, whereas deletion
is the main strategy in word-final codas (Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt 1997).
The
overwhelming majority of constraints in OT are universal and violable,
i.e. all languages share the same constraints and surface differences are due
to different rankings. However, Prince & Smolensky (1993) make a slight
modification to this general concept when they put forward the idea of encapsulated hierarchies to deal with
language-specific limitations to possible onsets, nucleai and codas. We must
make clear that they only meant a simplification of the full set of
conventional associational constraints, although in practical terms they were
suggesting that languages establish some kind of sonority threshold for the
association of certain segments to syllabic positions of the type Bons= /…/. Colina (1995) takes this discussion
even further in the description of Spanish syllable structure. She proposes an
onset constraint O SON which can adopt different values depending on each
specific language.
For two
segments to be parsed in the same onset, a certain distance in the sonority
scale must be maintained. This will vary across languages. In Spanish, Catalan
and Galician, it is the maximum distance, the least sonorous onset and the most
sonorous, an obstruent and a liquid. (Colina 1995).
The next
question we should pose is the need of proposing a separate SONORITY constraint
to rule out combinations which violate the so-called Sonority Sequencing Generalisation (Selkirk 1984). It could be
argued that O SON can do the job because it specifies the order of elements
(least sonorous followed by most sonorous); it is not just a statement about
distance irrespective of directionality. However, the SSG comprises the sonority profile of the whole
syllable, not just the onset. Furthermore, it affects all types of
onset-nucleus combinations, either simple or complex. Finally, it is assumed to
be a property of all languages, with a few exceptional patterns. For all these
reasons we assume that the language-specific constraint cannot subsume the
universal principle whereby segments are arranged in order of decreasing
sonority from the nucleus to the margins. Thus we are forced to propose a
separate universal constraint, SONORITY.
From the
viewpoint of second language acquisition we may wonder whether there will be
some difference between learning an onset which violates O SON (i.e. the
language-specific constraint referring to distance) and one which violates SONORITY (i.e. the universal
constraint referring to profile). This is a relevant question
in the acquisition of English onsets by Spanish speakers. Spanish does not
allow [sl] or [sp] as possible complex onsets. [sl] violates the minimal
sonority distance between two segments in an onset, but it does not create an
ill-formed sonority profile; on the other hand, [sp] incurs a more general,
universal violation because it presents an irregular sonority configuration. It
will be interesting to see whether one of these sequences represents a more
important problem for Spanish learners of English. If this is the case, it will
have theoretical implications for the status of O SON and SONORITY as separate
constraints. It will also be possible to explain these differences in terms of
OT learnability theory.
There has been considerable controversy about which model of sonority
should be adopted in the field of L2 syllable studies. We shall look in turn at
the two main approaches: the Sonority
Sequencing Generalisation (Selkirk 1984; used by Broselow & Finer) and
the Sonority Dispersion Principle
(Clements 1990; used by Eckman & Iverson 1993 and Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt
1997).
Selkirk (1984) puts forward her Sonority
Sequencing Generalisation (SSG) whereby “in any syllable, there is a
segment constituting a sonority peak that is preceded and/or followed by a
sequence of segments with progressively decreasing sonority values” (Selkirk
1984: 116). Each language establishes a minimum
sonority dissimilarity between two adjacent elements. Broselow &
Finer (1991) carried out a study where they related difficulty in complex onset
acquisition and marked sonority configuration, understanding sonority in the
way suggested by Selkirk. Their Korean and Japanese informants found acquiring
the sequence –py- easier than all the rest and Broselow & Finer interpret
that this is explained by the fact that both segments are separated by the
biggest possible sonority difference. The rest of complex onsets are also
presented in order of increasing difficulty, which is in turn related to
decreasing sonority distance: -pr-, -by-, -br-, -fy-, -fr-.
Clements (1990) suggests a different view on sonority. The most relevant
difference from the perspective of L2 studies is his model of optimal sonority
profile. For Clements the preferred combination is a sharp, steady increase of
sonority in the onset and a minimal decrease in the coda (with the optimal CV
sequence having no decrease at all).[2] This
represents a problem for Broselow & Finer’s (1991) claims that –py- is the
least marked of English onsets: it presents a sharp increase from –p- to –y-,
but then it practically levels out from –y- to the nucleus.
Eckman & Iverson (1993) published a devastating critique of Broselow
& Finer’s work. They argue that –py- in Korean should not be analysed as a
complex onset, but rather as a simple onset followed by a diphthong. Their
support of Clements’ approach to sonority is justified because it includes
markedness considerations in the form of a Sequential Markedness Principle (Clements 1990: 313).
Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt (1997) also support the SDP because it explains
the difficulty that their Spanish speaking informants found when producing
–stop + glide- sequences. The claim that these are precisely the most difficult
sequences for Spanish speaking learners of English is surprising. Firstly,
because –stop + glide- sequences are not seen as a problem in the teaching of
English pronunciation to Spanish speakers. Secondly, because we are not told
what kind of errors they made. Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt acknowledge that –stop
+ glide- sequences occur in Spanish, but they are analysed as a simple onset
followed by a diphthong. The obvious question is: what difference does it make?
Even if learners perform an ‘erroneous’ analysis of the –consonant + glide-
sequence, does that have any real phonetic correlate? And, if so, is it
noticeable? In our study we shall check whether these sequences are a problem
for our learners and discuss the general problem of analysing glides as part of
the onset or the nucleus both in English and Spanish.
Firstly, we
shall check whether acquiring a sequence which violates the sequencing
constraint SONORITY entails a higher difficulty than acquiring one which just
violates the language-specific configuration of O SON. This will provide
valuable empirical support to
the theoretical arguments in favour of keeping the two separate constraints and
to OT learnability theory as a whole.
Secondly,
we shall see whether –stop + glide- sequences are a problem for Spanish
speaking learners of English. If this is the case, it will provide important
evidence in favour of Clements’ dispersion principle. Otherwise, it will show
that there are few arguments to defend one approach to sonority or the other,
specially on the grounds of the behaviour of glides.
Hypothesis
1: Given two complex English onsets disallowed by the grammar of Spanish,
Spanish speaking learners of English will perform significantly better with
those which respect SONORITY.
Hypothesis
2: Spanish speaking learners of English will not find any difficulty in
producing –stop + glide- sequences. If some difficulty is found, it will not be
higher than that of the rest of complex onsets not allowed by the grammar of
Spanish.
We selected
five informants in their first year of an English Philology degree at the University
of Murcia. None of them had ever been to an English speaking country at the
time our study was conducted. Furthermore, we made sure that none of our
informants had had any formal instruction in English apart from that provided
by state schools. Their level could be defined as upper-intermediate given the
standards of Spanish education and the additional instruction they had already
received at University when our study was carried out. All of them had taken a
twenty hour course which focused on Gimson’s EPD-14 transcription system and
were familiar with its symbols. They all volunteered to help us carry out our
study.
We produced
a list of monosyllabic nonsense words (Appendix A) accompanied by a phonetic
transcription and a definition of the following type:
(1) stin [sstInn] is an instrument used to mix liquids
The list
included 38 items:
4 –stop +
glide- sequences.
4 –stop +
liquid- sequences.
4
–fricative + liquid- sequences.
4 –s +
stop- sequences.
4 –s +
liquid- sequences.
4 –s +
glide- sequences.
14 fillers.
We also
devised a “vocabulary test” (Appendix B) in order to elicit the words from the
informants:
1. An
instrument used to mix liquids is a...
a. stin [sstInn] b. stig
[sstIgg] c. stid
[sstIdd]
We used a
slightly simplified version of Broselow and Finer’s (1991) vocabulary learning
test in order to elicit the words from our informants. First the researcher
gives the informants a vocabulary list, telling them that they are going to
participate in an experiment about the acquisition of new words in a second
language. The vocabulary list consists of 38 sentences where a word is
provided, followed by its EPD-14
transcription and an invented definition. The researcher reads each sentence
and asks the informants to repeat it after him as a way to memorise the meaning
of the words. This triple mode of presentation (spoken, written and
transcribed) is defended by Broselow & Finer because it maximizes “the
possibility that students really were attempting to produce the desired target
phonemes rather than translating the English strings into the native language
phoneme system; that is, to tease apart production and perception as sources of
errors” (Broselow & Finer 1991: 40). No recording is carried out at this
stage; we just aimed at providing some practice to avoid pronunciation mistakes
due to external factors (lack of knowledge about the meaning of a particular
phonetic symbol, for instance).
After this
first ‘memory’ exercise, the informants were told that they were going to be
tested. The test consisted of each one of the definitions they had ‘memorised’
followed by three possible choices, both in ordinary spelling and in phonetic
transcription. All the choices for each question had exactly the same onset
structure, so that even if the informant did not choose the correct word, the
target cluster would be elicited. The researcher read each question and the
three possible answers, to create again the “triple mode of presentation”
situation. After that, the informants pronounced the one which they thought was
the correct option. Their answers were tape-recorded using a Vivanco EM 116
clip-on microphone and an Aiwa TP-VS600 tape recorder. Subsequently the
recordings were digitalised. The informants were told that their answers were
going to be tape-recorded for two main purposes: firstly, to control the time
they spent trying to recall the words and secondly to make the data gathering
and analysis less time-consuming.
The words pronounced
by each informant were then transcribed and analysed by the researcher. In
cases of doubt (in particular, in -s+C- sequences-) acoustic analyses of the
onsets were carried out, searching for periodic waveforms preceding the
aperiodic patterns of the [s] which could betray the presence of a vowel-like
element. We used the computer program PRAAT 3.9.5 for our analysis.
We provide
the raw results of our study in table 1. Perhaps one of the first things to
comment on is the limited amount of errors which we have found. Most of our
informants were probably well acquainted with the problematic of -s+C-
sequences for Spanish learners of English and their performance was quite
target-like (no considerations of the “quality” of [s] are made, only of its
presence or absence). However, we found significant differences between the
informants´production of -s+stop- and -s+liquid- sequences, where -s+liquid-
were produced more successfully (tobs= 2.449, tcrit=
2.132, df = 4, p> .05). This confirms our first
hypothesis: in spite of the fact that neither of the sequences is allowed by
Spanish grammar, the one which violates SONORITY seems to be more difficult for
Spanish learners of English. As for the difference between -s+glide- and
-s+liquid- sequences, -s+glide- ones seem to be easier for Spanish learners of
English as they produced them perfectly. However, the difference is not
statistically significant (tobs = 1, tcrit = 2.132, df =4, p> .05).
Table 1. Number
of right (R) and wrong (W) productions
in the pronunciation of our five informants depending on onset type |
||||||||||||
Informants and
answers |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
TOTAL |
||||||
R |
W |
R |
W |
R |
W |
R |
W |
R |
W |
R |
W |
|
stop + glide |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
20 |
- |
stop + liquid |
4 |
- |
3 |
1 |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
19 |
1 |
fric. + liquid |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
20 |
- |
s + stop |
2 |
2 |
4 |
- |
3 |
1 |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
16 |
4 |
s + liquid |
3 |
1 |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
19 |
1 |
s + glide |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
4 |
- |
20 |
- |
Figure 1.
Total number of errors in the pronunciation of the different –s + C- sequences.
Finally,
our informants scored better for -s+glide- sequences than for -s+stop-
(tobs = 2.138, tcrit
= 2.132, df = 4, p> .05). The difference in the number of errors depending on the type of –sC-
onset is represented in figure 1. As far as the second hypothesis is concerned,
the complete absence of errors in –stop + glide- sequences is also confirmed,
which contradicts Hancin-Bhatt and Bhatt’s (1997) findings. –stop + glide- does
not seem to be a problematic onset for Spanish speaking learners of English. Errors
are also absent in the case of -fricative+liquid- sequences. We should also consider the fact that one of our informants
produced one error in a -stop+liquid- sequence. More specifically, he produced
the sequence /tr/ as a very close approximation to /tS/ (no epenthesis or deletion took
place). We think that the problem was not phonotatic, but rather segmental. Two
possible explanations may be suggested. First, that he perceived the
affrication of -tr- sequences in English and identified it with a familiar
affricate segment; a second alternative (which we favour) is to consider that
the Spanish speaker trying to imitate
the alveolar place of articulation of English [t] goes too far and transforms
it into a palatalised affricate, thus dropping (or coalescing) the [r]. In
fact, it is not such a strange phenomenon: a popular, often humorous
interpretation of English pronunciation in Spanish turns English two into [tSu].
We know that Spanish does not allow either –s + liquid- or –s + stop- onsets. From the viewpoint of the
learner’s L1, both are unacceptable. However, our data show that –s + liquid-
seems to be easier than –s + stop- for our informants. This brings us back to
the discussion of whether we should distinguish between two different sonority
constraints: SONORITY, which affects the whole syllable and establishes a
decreasing order of sonority from nucleus to margins and O SON, which just sets
the minimal sonority distance between two segments occupying the same onset on
a language-specific basis. Let us assume that both of them are present in the
constraint hierarchy of Spanish. These are the relevant constraints:
SONORITY: A universal, markedness constraint which is high ranked in
Spanish. All syllables must conform to a pattern of decreasing sonority from
the nucleus to the margins.
O SON: (taken from Colina, 1995) A language-specific constraint which is
assigned a sonority distance value. The sonority distance value for Spanish is
4.[3] We shall
further assume that it will only take positive values. Thus it does not apply
to a sequence such as [sp], which would have a –3.5 value.
CONTIGUITY:
A faithfulness constraint that demands that elements which are contiguous in
the input are also contiguous in the output. In practical terms, this implies
that epenthesis will not take place between two segments in a complex onset.
MAX-IO:
Another faithfulness constraint which demands that elements present in the
input must have a correspondent in the output. In the case under study, it bans
deletion as a way of simplifying complex onsets.
DEP-IO: A
faithfulness constraint which demands that elements present in the output must
have a correspondent in the input, i.e. a constraint which bans epenthesis.
*BR-ONSET:
Branching onsets should be avoided (low-ranked in Spanish).
We shall
try to explain why the Spanish learner of English starts applying epenthesis to
all –sC- sequences and then moves towards the target language forms following a
given path, i.e. first –s + liquid- and then –s+ stop-. The initial constraint
ranking which selects the epenthesis candidate is the following:
SONORITY, O
SON(4) » MAX-IO, CONTIGUITY » DEP-IO » BR-ONSET
In other words,
the worst onsets are those which violate either the universal principle of
sonority sequencing ([sp], for instance) or the language-specific constraint O
SON (a sequence such as [sl] in Spanish). Immediately below, the Spanish
constraint hierarchy makes sure that two types of candidates can never win:
firstly, those which show any type of deletion ([speIn] pronounced as [seIn] or [peIn]);
secondly, those which present epenthesis that breaks the contiguity relation
between the two segments in the complex onset ([speIn] pronounced as [sepeIn]). The two least serious offences
are epenthesis (provided that it is necessary) and the presence of branching
onsets. Let us see how these constraints interact in (1) and (2) given two inputs
/sp/ and /sl/ respectively.
(1) Initial hierarchy of
the Spanish learner of English: epenthesis in –s + stop- sequences
/speIn/ |
SONORITY |
O SON |
MAX |
CONTIGUITY |
DEP |
*BR-ONS |
speInpeIn |
*! |
|
|
|
|
* |
sepeInpeIn |
|
|
|
*! |
* |
|
cspeIn |
|
|
*! |
|
|
|
espeInespeIn |
|
|
|
|
* |
|
epeInpn |
|
|
*! |
|
|
|
(2) Initial hierarchy of the
Spanish learner of English: epenthesis in –s + liquid- sequences
/slaId/ |
SONORITY |
O SON |
MAX |
CONTIGUITY |
DEP |
*BR-ONS |
a slaIdslaId |
|
*! |
|
|
* |
|
b selaIdelaI |
|
|
|
*! |
* |
|
c saIdsaId |
|
|
*! |
|
|
|
sleslaIdaId |
|
|
|
|
* |
|
e laIdlaId |
|
|
*! |
|
|
|
A word such
as Spain violates a universal sequencing
constraint SONORITY, whereas a word such as slide
just violates a language-specific requirement. The question now is to suggest
how this hierarchy can be ‘fixed’ so that Spanish speaking learners of English
get closer to the target forms. It is necessary to consider the peculiar nature
of O SON within OT because it can have different values (O SON= 1, 2, 3, 4...)
whereas the usual thing is to find constraints which are either satisfied or
violated, such as NO CODA or ONSET. This will have implications for OT’s
learnability theory in the form of constraint demotion (Tesar & Smolensky
2000). We cannot say that O SON is demoted below the other constraints in the
learning process because that would entail undesired consequences: if we demote
O SON in the learner’s grammar, not only will it be possible to produce [sl]
sequences, but also any other sequence (such as [pf] or [ts]) which does not
violate SONORITY. In other words, demoting O SON does not result in the
acquisition of [sl] onsets but rather in the suppression of any constraint
regarding sonority distance in complex onsets.
Thus we have to assume that the learner tries
different O SON values when interpreting overt learning data without demoting
it. She makes the minimal change in the direction of markedness (say O SON=3)
and applies interpretive parsing to a word such as slide.[4] By checking the phonetic form (n= [slaId]) and the result of applying
production-directed parsing to the input / slaId/ given the present grammar, she
gets the following contrast:
What I perceive: [slaId]
(interpretive parsing)
What I would produce given an input / slaId / and O SON = 3: [eslaId]
(production-directed parsing)
THUS there
is a mismatch between learning data and grammar
Then the learner
tries another minimal adjustment, i.e. O SON=2. By doing this she finds that
what she perceives (n) fits what she would produce given that input
and her grammar (3).
(3)
Modification of O SON: the target candidate is already regarded as optimal
/ slaId
/ |
SONORITY |
O SON(2) |
MAX |
CONTIGUITY |
DEP |
*BR-ONS |
slaId a slaId |
|
|
|
|
|
* |
selaIdla |
|
|
|
*! |
* |
|
saIdssad |
|
|
*! |
|
|
|
eslaIde |
|
|
|
|
*! |
|
laId laI |
|
|
*! |
|
|
|
The learner
should also carry out another adjustment and reduce O SON to 1, so that
sequences like sn and sm are allowed by her grammar. A basic
idea In OT learnability theory is that all demotions affecting markedness
constraints should me minimal. So far we have only been talking about
‘adjusting’, not demoting. Now we should face the problem of dealing with overt
forms which violate SONORITY. In this case, the learner is not adjusting the
value of a constraint, but applying Recursive Constraint Demotion (RCD), thus
struggling against the principle of minimal alteration in the hierarchical
status of markedness constraints. The learner is forced to apply RCD until he
gets to the following hierarchy which selects the optimal candidate [espeIn] (4).
(4) Demotion of SONORITY: the target candidate is already regarded as optimal
/speIn/ |
O SON |
MAX |
CONTIGUITY |
DEP |
SONORITY |
*BR-ONSET |
espeInespeI |
|
|
|
*! |
|
|
sepeInsepe |
|
|
*! |
* |
|
|
speInspeIn |
|
|
|
|
* |
* |
peInpeIn |
|
*! |
|
|
|
|
The
markedness constraint SONORITY has to be demoted three times in order to obtain
a ranking which allows onsets such as [sp]. If we consider the principle that
markedness constraints should be demoted minimally, it will follow that
acquiring onsets such as [sp] will incur a high cost, understood in terms of
exposure and learning effort.
To sum up, the
difference in difficulty of acquisition between –s + liquid- and –s + stop-
cannot be explained in terms of L1 grammar. Our students do significantly
better on –s + liquid – onsets because these do not violate any universal
principle (SONORITY) but just a language-specific one (O SON). This can be
explained in terms of OT learnability theory by establishing a contrast between
changes in constraint configuration (O SON= 1, 2, 3, 4...) as opposed to
constraint demotion. The latter will find a greater opposition in the learners’
evolving grammar.
We are
still left with one more question: why is there variation in the informants’
production? In other words, how could we formalise the fact that we find both
the epenthetic and target form coexisting in the speech of a learner? Here the
concepts of strictness bands and gradual learning are essential (see Boersma
1997, 2000; Hayes 2000; Hayes & Boersma 2001). The constraints O SON and
SONORITY should not be seen as units which are moved from one place to another,
but rather as bands which are moving in relation to other bands (such as DEP).
It is sensible to assume that before O SON has a stable value of 1 it will go
through a stage where O SON= 2 and O SON=1 overlap, producing variability as
the result of linguistic insecurity. The same applies to SONORITY: in its way
to the stratum shared with *BR-ONSET, it will probably overlap with DEP. In
this stage learners are likely to produce both epenthetic and target forms.
This could well be the case of our first informant, who produced 2 –esC- and 2
–sC- sequences: in his IL DEP and SONORITY overlap. Presumably, he will
eventually rank SONORITY below DEP, although fossilisation may take place
before this happens.
As we have
already pointed out, our data does not support Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt’s
(1997) claims that –stop + glide- sequences are problematic for Spanish
learners of English. We shall try to show that the ambiguous syllabic status of
glides both in English and Spanish cannot provide evidence in favour of one
sonority model or another. Let us start by discussing Hancin-Bhatt &
Bhatt’s (1997) remarks about glides in Spanish. They consider that Spanish
speaking learners of English parse glides as part of the nucleus. However, even
if we admit this statement, it is doubtful that this makes any difference from
a phonetic viewpoint. As Laver points out, glides “are comparable to the
syllable vocoids [...] in terms of location of the tongue body in the vocoid
space and configuration of the lips but [...] differ both in their syllabic
function and their timing characteristics” (Laver 1994: 297), that is to say,
glides are vowels with shorter duration and non-syllabic function. It is quite
doubtful that such a fine-grained difference could be regarded as an ‘error’ in
the acquisition of the phonology of a second language.
However,
there are even more important problems which should prevent us from making
strong claims about –stop + glide- sequences. Their status in both Spanish and
English is anything but clear. Hammond (1999) claims that sequences of the type
–Cju- are not complex onsets in English, but simple onsets followed by a
diphthong [ju]. He provides evidence from a language game called Pig Latin
where players move a word-initial onset to the end of the word and add the
vowel [e]. In table 2 we show some of the examples that he provides. The
performance of his players was quite consistent, except for glides. Complex
onsets of the type –Cw- (table 3) were moved in exactly the same way as those
in table 2. –Cju- onsets (table 4), on the other hand, showed variation. Some
speakers deleted the glide altogether (table 4, 2). Just a minority behaved in
the expected way, thus moving the complex onset –Cj- and adding the [e] after
the glide (table 4, 3). The overwhelming majority of players moved the first
segment of the onset and left the glide-vowel sequence unaltered (table 4, 1).
Hammond concludes that this tendency to move the consonant and leave the [ju]
sequence in its original place reveals that it is in fact a diphthong, not an
onset cluster.
Table 2. Examples of the‘Pig Latin’ game adapted
from Hammond (1999: 245) |
||
Word |
English |
‘Pig Latin’ |
cat |
kHQtk{t |
QtkHe{tke |
Cathy |
0kHQTiki |
0QTikHe{Tike |
brick |
brIkbrIk |
0IkbreIkbre |
spot |
spAtspAt |
0AtspeAtspe |
splat |
splQtspl{ |
0Qtsple{tse |
Table 3. The behaviour of –Cw- sequences in the
speech of ‘Pig Latin’ players adapted from Hammond (1999: 245) |
||
Word |
English |
‘Pig Latin’ |
queen |
kHwinkwi |
0inkHweinke |
quality |
0kHwl«riri |
0l«rikHwewe |
Gwen |
gwEngwEn |
0EngweEngwe |
guano |
gwAnogno |
0AnogweAnwe |
Table 4.
The behaviour of –Cju- sequences
in the speech of ‘Pig Latin’ players according to the majority (1) and the
two minority options (2,3). Adapted from Hammond (1999: 245) |
||||
Word |
English |
1 |
2 |
3 |
cute |
kHjutkjut |
0jutkHejutke |
0utkHeutke |
0utkHyeye |
cupid |
kHjup«dp@d |
0jup«dkHeke |
0upedkHee |
0upedkHyee |
puce |
ppHjusjs |
0uspHejuspe |
0juspHeuspe |
0uspHyeje |
This
description may be enough to discourage us from any attempt of making strong
statements about the relative markedness of –stop + glide- sequences. It might
be suggested, however, that the nature of Spanish glides as part of a diphthong
is not arguable. Unfortunately, this is not true. The role of ‘semivowels’ and
‘semiconsonants’ in Spanish phonology has been a matter of discussion for
decades and even today it remains an open issue (see Monroy (1980) for a
complete overview of the treatment of glides in Spanish phonetics and phonology
over the last century).
Let us take
the example of two (apparently) identical diphthongs: pierna (‘leg’) and hierba (‘grass’).
The spelling may suggest the presence of two identical nuclei [je]: [pjérna,
jérba]. However, this is not the traditional interpretation of Spanish
phoneticians. Quilis & Fernández (1992: 98) suggest that –ie- in pierna should be interpreted as a diphthong ([pjérna]), whereas in hierba we do not get a complex nucleus
but a voiced palatal fricative [j] followed by the nuclear vowel [e]. This
curious situation is shown graphically in figure 2.
Figure 2. Representation of the structure of
the first syllable in the Spanish words ‘hierba’ and ‘pierna’
A similar
situation is found in the case of [w]. It can be a part of what has been
traditionally interpreted as a word-initial diphthong: huerta, huevo [wérta, wéBo] (‘orchard’, ‘egg’) but very often
in these cases the word-initial glide undergoes a velar reinforcement, so that the phrase la huerta (‘the orchard’) is pronounced [lAAFwérta] in the informal speech of many Spanish
speakers.
To
summarise the status of glides in Spanish, they are part of a complex nucleus
whenever they are preceded by a consonant, i.e. when the onset position is
already occupied – like in pierna
(‘leg’) or muerto (‘dead’) –.
Word-initially, however, they tend to be parsed as syllable onsets. It is a
widely held idea in OT that onsetless syllables are more marked than CV ones.
Consequently, parsing the glide as an onset is more harmonic than analysing it
as part of a complex nucleus. However, glides are not allowed to occupy the
onset position in Spanish (BOns= /l, r/). This problem is solved by increasing
the degree of constriction to the airflow, so that we get a fricative-like
sound which does not violate the onset associational constraint. The
modification affects manner of articulation – thus violating IDENT-IO(manner) –
but it respects the place of articulation of the original glides – respecting
IDENT-IO (place) –.
This is
just a sketch of a complete account of Spanish glides, but it illustrates to
what extent all attempts to defend either Selkirk or Clement’s approaches to
sonority on the grounds of the behaviour of glides are problematic.
The same
logic applies to Broselow & Finers’ (1991) study about Korean learners of
English. Regardless of the status of glides in this language, the truth is that
–py- seems to be an easy combination of sounds for them. New approaches to
sonority may be needed in order to shed light on this issue.
There have
been attempts to explain phonotactic constraints without explicit reference to
the traditional concepts of ‘sonority’ and ‘syllable’. Ohala & Kawasaki
(1997) suggest that sonority should be substituted by the consideration of
different acoustic parameters. The basic idea is that those combinations which
involve higher modulation of the carrier signal are better than those
characterised by lack of change:
Rather
than focus on some alleged intrinsic
value that individual speech sound or sound types are supposed to have, we
should concentrate on the modulations
in the relevant parameters created by concatenating one speech sound with
another [… We should] define the degree of “goodness” of these acoustic modulations
as proportional to the length of the trajectory it makes through the acoustic space whose dimensions are the
acoustic parameters listed above (Ohala & Kawasaki 1997: 349-350)
Steriade
(1997, 1999) provides a similar account which emphasises the perceptual basis
of phonotactic constraints. She claims that “the well-formedness of a segment
sequence can and should be characterized in terms of relative perceptibility
and not in syllable-sensitive terms” (Steriade 1999: 238). These alternative
accounts of phonotactics and sonority are still tentative. Thus, they do not
provide (yet) full accounts of phonotactics which could leave out sonority and
syllable-based constraints altogether. Nevertheless, they can provide an
explanation to the ‘goodness’ of –py- as a sequence regardless of the syllabic
status of the glide. The change from ‘p’ to ‘y’ involves a whole range of
modulations to the carrier signal across a variety of acoustic parameters.
Furthermore, the acoustic cues projected by the two sounds do not mask each
other, thus making both sounds easily perceptible. In simpler words, the two
sounds combined are different enough to produce a contrast which is easily
perceived by the hearer. In principle, this could account for the relative ease
of acquisition of these sequences avoiding the reference to different sonority
models.
We have
discussed the results of a research study which focused on the acquisition of
some English complex onsets by Spanish-speaking learners. Firstly we argue that
the difference in difficulty between –s + liquid- and –s + stop- onsets (both
disallowed by Spanish phonology) can be interpreted as the result of the
violation of different constraints.
–s+liquid- violates a language-specific configuration (O SON) whereas –s
+ stop- violates a universal sequencing constraint (SONORITY). We explain this
difference in difficulty with reference to OT learnability theory,
distinguishing between alterations in sonority distance settings and the
demotion of universal markedness constraints.
We have
also offered a different view on what could be called the ‘glide controversy’
in the acquisition of onsets. Our data contradict Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt’s
(1997) remarks about the alleged difficulty of –stop + glide- sequences for Spanish-speaking
learners of English. We go even further, claiming that there is no clear way to
distinguish between the role of glides as part of a complex onset or a complex
nucleus either in English or in Spanish. Consequently, glides can offer no evidence
in favour of one sonority model or another and the whole controversy loses much
of its sense.
We also
talk about an alternative approach to phonotactics and sonority based on
acoustic and perceptual criteria. This theory entails important consequences for
research in second language phonology. Firstly, the consideration of a purely
linear approach to the constraints affecting segment combination implies the
rejection of any discussion based on the traditional notion of sonority.
Consequently, the distinction between O SON and SONORITY would no longer be
needed. Secondly, it provides a valuable explanation to the ease of acquisition
of –stop + glide- sequences avoiding controversial statements based on
different sonority theories.
Second
language phonology research depends quite heavily on the developments of
general phonological theory. Quite probably L2 researchers are not happy with
the existing idea of sonority, but there is no other choice until we are
provided with an alternative, suitable model of phonotactics. This type of
‘primary’ (as opposed to ‘applied’) linguistic work requires extensive
perceptual and acoustic study of different segment combinations which is
outside the scope of study of L2 phonology. Until these developments are
carried out, we are just left with a few tentative explanations to be applied
to our field of study. In spite of these problems, the idea of phonotactics
understood independently of concepts such as ‘sonority’ or even ‘syllable’
offers exciting perspectives for future research.
Anderson,
Janet (1987): “The markedness differential hypothesis and syllable structure
difficulty”. In: Ioup, Georgette & Weinberger, Steven (eds.): Interlanguage phonology: The acquisition of
a second language sound system. New York: Newbury House, 279-291.
Benson,
Bronwen (1986): “The markedness differential hypothesis: Implications for
Vietnamese speakers of English”. In: Eckman, Fred R., Moravcsik, Edith A. &
Wirth, Jessica A. (eds.): Markedness.
New York: Plenum Press, 271-289.
Boersma,
Paul (1997): “How we learn variation, optionality and probability”. ROA-221.
Boersma,
Paul (2000): “Learning a grammar in functional phonology”. In: Dekkers, Joost,
van der Leeuw, Frank & van de Weijer, Jeroen (eds.): Optimality Theory: Phonology, syntax and acquisition. Oxford: OUP,
465-523.
Broselow,
Ellen (1984): “An investigation of transfer in second language phonology”. IRAL 22, 253-269.
Broselow, Ellen
(1987): “Non obvious transfer on predicting epenthesis errors”. In: Ioup,
Georgette & Weinberger, Steven (eds.): Interlanguage
phonology: The acquisition of a second language sound system. New York:
Newbury House, 261-278.
Broselow,
Ellen, Chen, Su-I & Wang, Chilin (1998): “The emergence of the unmarked in
second language phonology”. Studies in
Second Language Acquisition 20, 261-280.
Broselow,
Ellen & Finer, Daniel (1991): “Parameter setting in second language
phonology and syntax”. Second Language Research
7, 35-59.
Carlisle,
Robert (1988): “The effects of markedness on epenthesis in Spanish/English
interlanguage phonology”. Issues and
Developments in English and Applied Linguistics 3, 15-23.
Carlisle,
Robert (1994): “Markedness and environment as internal constraints on the
variability of interlanguage phonology”. In: Yavas, Mehmet (ed.): First and second language phonology. San Diego, CA: Singular,
223-249.
Cichoki,
W., House, A.B., Kinloch, A.M. & Lister, A.C. (1999): “Cantonese speakers
and the acquisition of French consonants”. In: Leather, Jonathan (ed.): Phonological issues in language learning.
Oxford: Blackwell, 95-121.
Clements,
George N. (1990): “The role of the sonority cycle in core syllabification”. In:
Kingston, John. & Beckman, Mary E. (eds.): Papers in laboratory phonology I. Cambridge: CUP, 283-333.
Colina,
Sonia (1995): A constraint-based analysis
of syllabification in Spanish, Catalan and Galician. Unpublished PhD
dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Dickerson,
L. (1975): “The learner’s interlanguage as a system of variable rules”. TESOL Quarterly 9, 401-407.
Dulay,
Heidi & Burt, Marina (1974): “Natural sequences in child second language
acquisition”. Language Learning 24,
37-53.
Eckman,
Fred (1977): “Markedness and the contrastive analysis hypothesis”. Language Learning 27(2), 315-330.
Eckman,
Fred (1984): “Universals, typologies and interlanguage”. In: Rutherford,
William E. (ed.): Language universals and
second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 79-105.
Eckman,
Fred (1987): “The reduction of word-final consonant clusters in interlanguage”.
In: James, Allan & Leather, Jonathan (eds.): Sound patterns in second language acquisition. Providence, RI:
Foris, 143-162.
Eckman,
Fred & Iverson, Gregory (1993): “Sonority and markedness among onset
clusters in the interlanguage of ESL learners”. Second Language Research 9(3), 234-252.
Edge, B.
(1991): “The production of word-final voiced obstruents in English by L1
speakers of Japanese and Cantonese”. Studies
in Second Language Acquisition 13, 377-393.
Hammarberg,
B. (1990): “Conditions on transfer in phonology”. In: Leather, Jonathan &
James, Allan (eds.): New Sounds 90: Proceedings of the 1990 Amsterdam Symposium
on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech. Amsterdam: University of
Amsterdam, 198-215.
Hammond,
Michael (1999): The phonology of English:
A prosodic optimality-theoretic approach. Oxford: OUP.
Hancin-Bhatt,
Barbara (2000): “Optimality in second language phonology: Codas in Thai ESL”. Second Language Research 16(3), 201-231.
Hancin-Bhatt,
Barbara & Bhatt, Rakesh (1997): “Optimal L2 syllables: Interactions of
transfer and developmental effects”. Studies
in Second Language Acquisition 19, 331-378.
Hayes,
Bruce (2000): “Gradient well-formedness in Optimality Theory”. In: Dekkers,
Joost, van der Leeuw, Frank & van de Weijer, Jeroen (eds.): Optimality Theory: Phonology, syntax and
acquisition. Oxford: OUP, 88-120.
Hayes,
Bruce & Boersma, Paul (2001): “Empirical tests of the gradual learning
algorithm”. Linguistic Inquiry 32(1),
45-86.
Ioup,
Georgette (1984): “Is there a structural foreign accent? A comparison of
syntactic and phonological errors in second language acquisition”. Language Learning 34, 1-17.
James,
Carl (1980): Contrastive analysis.
London: Longman.
Lado,
Robert (1957): Linguistics across
cultures. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Laver,
John (1994): Principles of phonetics.
Cambridge: CUP.
Major, Roy
(1987): “A model for interlanguage phonology”. In: Ioup, Georgette &
Weinberger, Steven (eds.): Interlanguage
phonology: The acquisition of a second language sound system. New York:
Newbury House, 101-124.
Major, Roy
& Kim, Eunyi (1999): “The similarity differential rate hypothesis”. In:
Leather, Jonathan (ed.): Phonological
issues in language learning. Oxford: Blackwell, 151-183.
Monroy Casas, Rafael (1980): Aspectos fonéticos de las vocales españolas.
Madrid: SGEL.
Ohala,
John & Kawasaki-Fukumori, Haruko (1997): “Alternatives to the sonority hierarchy
for explaining segmental sequential constraints”. In: Eliasson, S. &
Jahr, E.H. (eds.): Studies for Einar
Haugen. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 343-365.
Prince,
Alan & Smolensky, Paul (1993): Optimality
Theory: Constraint interaction in generative grammar. Manuscript, Rutgers
University and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Quilis, Antonio & Fernández,
Joseph (1992): Curso de fonética y
fonología españolas (14th edition). Madrid: CSIC.
Riney, T.
(1990): “Age and open syllable preference in interlanguage phonology”. In:
Burmeister, H. & Rounds, P. (eds.): Variability
in second language acquisition: Proceedings of the 10th meeting of
the Second Language Research Forum (vol. 2). Eugene, OR: Dept. of
Linguistics, University of Oregon, 655-666.
Sato,
Charlene (1987): “Phonological processes in second language acquisition:
Another look at interlanguage syllable structure”. In: Ioup, Georgette &
Weinberger, Steven (eds.): Interlanguage
phonology: The acquisition of a second language sound system. New York:
Newbury House, 248-260.
Selkirk,
Elisabeth (1984): “On the major class features and syllable theory”. In:
Aronoff, Mark & Oehrle, Richard T. (eds.): Language sound structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 107-136.
Steriade,
Donca (1997): “Phonetics in phonology: the case of laryngeal neutralization”.
Available on the web, http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/steriade/steriade.htm.
Steriade,
Donca (1999): “Alternatives to syllable-based accounts of consonantal
phonotactics”. In: Fujimura, O., Joseph, B.D. & Palek, B. (eds.): Proceedings of LP’98. Prague: The
Karolinum Press, 205-245.
Tarone,
Elaine (1978): “The phonology of interlanguage”. In: Richards, Jack C. (ed.): Understanding second and foreign language
learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 15-33.
Tarone,
Elaine (1980): “Some influences on the syllable structure of interlanguage
phonology”. IRAL 18(2), 139-152.
Tesar,
Bruce & Smolensky, Paul (2000): Learnability
in Optimality Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Tropf,
Herbert (1987): “Sonority as a variability factor in second language
phonology”. In: James, Allan & Leather, Jonathan (eds.): Sound patterns in second language
acquisition. Providence, RI: Foris, 173-191.
Weinberger,
S. (1987): “The influence of linguistic context on syllable simplification”.
In: Ioup, Georgette & Weinberger, Steven (eds.): Interlanguage phonology: The acquisition of a second language sound
system. New York: Newbury House, 401-417.
Yavas, Mehmet
(1994): “Final stop devoicing in interlanguage”. In: Yavas, M. (ed.): First and second language phonology. San Diego, CA: Singular,
267-282.
sent: 2002.12.03
copyright @ ANGLOGERMANICA ONLINE 2002
[1] We
may suggest that perhaps the physical
implications of speech (both articulatory and perceptual) make L1 influence
more noticeable, i.e. not only do we have to get rid of mental habits (such as
placing the adjective after / before the noun) but also of habits with deep
physical and psychological roots: places of articulation, rhythm, aspiration,
speech perception’s mental settings and prototypes, among others.
[2] I
have simplified Clements’ theory in the general discussion. In fact, he does
not talk about onsets or codas. He uses the concept of ‘demisyllable’ as the
basic unit for measuring syllable complexity. By demisyllable he means each of
the two parts which result from the division of the syllable “into two
overlapping parts in which the syllable peak belongs to both” (Clements 1990:
303). The preferred initial demisyllable has maximal and evenly distributed
sonority differences, whereas the preferred final demisyllable has less
sonority differences (or these are not evenly distributed).
[3] We
assume Selkirk’s sonority scale: /a/ (10); /e, o/ (9); /i,u/ (8); /r/ (7); /l/
(6); /m, n/ (5); /s/ (4); /v, z, D/
(3); /f, T/ (2); /b, d, g/ (1); /p, t, k/ (0.5) (Selkirk 1984: 112).
[4] We
are following the Error-Driven Constraint Demotion algorithm (Tesar &
Smolensky 2000).