Online Adaptation of Word-initial Ukrainian CC Consonant Clusters by Native Speakers of English

Kateryna Laidler

doi:10.17951/nh.2016.1.13

Abstract

The phenomenon of loanword adaptation occupies a prominent position in modern phonological literature. The present paper introduces the major theories which deal with this phenomenon as well as presenting the author’s experimental study of online adaptation of Ukrainian word-initial CC consonant clusters illegal in English. In this paper the findings of two experiments are compared and discussed. In the first one 25 native speakers of English imitated Ukrainian words containing word-initial CC consonant clusters absent in English. In the second task a different group of 25 native English speakers were asked to write down the same words in orthographic form. The analysis has shown certain similarities as well as differences between the two sets of data. The repetition task demonstrates that the sonority profile of a cluster has a significant influence on the reproduction of a sequence. Thus, the combinations of sounds which comply with the Sonority Sequencing Generalization pose less difficulty for English native speakers than clusters which violate this principle. The study has also revealed the number of patterns which clearly show that the structure of the CC consonant cluster influences the repair strategy chosen by the participants. Thus, vowel epenthesis is frequently employed with two voiced obstruents, and consonant deletion seems to be the prevalent repair strategy in the case of fricatives.

Highlights

We are used to the fact that words borrowed from foreign languages have long become an inseparable part of the language at the receiving end of the process
The study has revealed the number of patterns which clearly show that the structure of the CC consonant cluster influences the repair strategy chosen by the participants
If adaptation of a segment requires more than two steps, it is considered too costly and the segment is often deleted. The implication of these principles is that the favoured repair strategy in the loanword adaptation process is epenthesis, since it preserves the maximum of phonological content

Summary

Introduction

We are used to the fact that words borrowed from foreign languages have long become an inseparable part of the language at the receiving end of the process. The adaptation of a consonant cluster (CC) input in a language with a constraint against such clusters can theoretically go in two different directions: a) treating it as an excess of consonants and deleting one consonant as a result; b) regarding it as a lack of a vowel, which will lead to the insertion of one. According to the Preservation Principle, which resists the loss of segments, the preferred strategy in such a case would be an insertion rather than a deletion of a segment Even though both repair strategies will satisfy the constraints, only the former maximally preserves the input. If adaptation of a segment requires more than two steps, it is considered too costly and the segment is often deleted The implication of these principles is that the favoured repair strategy in the loanword adaptation process is epenthesis (i.e. vowel insertion), since it preserves the maximum of phonological content

Experimental design

Experimental material

Analysis

Results

Conclusions