Onset‐Nucleus Sharing and the Acquisition of Second Language Codas: A Stochastic Optimality Theoretic Account*

Abstract

Abstract. The study provides a stochastic optimality theoretic account for the acquisition of word‐final voiceless stops (codas) in the developing grammar of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) speakers learning English as a second language (L2). Following a variationist methodology for data collection and analysis of learner speech, the study focuses on Onset‐Nucleus Sharing (ONS), a developmental phenomenon found in intermediate stages of L2 acquisition, phonetically manifested as aspiration. This phonetic behavior is interpreted to be an instantiation of ONS, wherein the potential coda syllabifies as an onset and, in order to be licensed, some of its features spread (via aspiration) into the following empty nucleus in order to optimize the syllable shape of the emerging grammar.