Sociolinguistic effects on loanword phonology: Topic in speech and cultural image

Abstract

There is variation in the pronunciation of loanwords, because they can be pronounced with native sounds or non-native sounds. For example, loanwords from te reo Māori to New Zealand English (NZE) are sometimes pronounced with native rhotic sounds (e.g., ko[ɹ]u and ma[ɹ]ae) and sometimes with non-native rhotic sounds (e.g., ko[ɾ]u and ma[ɾ]ae). This study aims to explore the relationship between the selection of a variant in loanword phonology and situation-specific sociolinguistic factors such as topic in speech and cultural images. Additionally, we explore the effects of speaker- and word-specific sociolinguistic factors on the likelihood of choosing a variant. In order to explore these effects, a set of two experiments was conducted, and the results demonstrate that the selection of a variant in NZE loanword phonology is influenced by some sociolinguistic factors. It is argued that these findings can be encapsulated by an exemplar-based approach. More specifically, they can be neatly captured by positing that exemplars with native sounds and those with non-native sounds are represented in the cognitive system of a borrower and updated on the basis of linguistic experience, and exemplars with non-native sounds are stored in relation to a social category associated with the source language and its culture.