Final Consonant Clusters Research Articles

Structural Principles or Frequency of Use? An ERP Experiment on the Learnability of Consonant Clusters.

Phonological knowledge of a language involves knowledge about which segments can be combined under what conditions. Languages vary in the quantity and quality of licensed combinations, in particular sequences of consonants, with Polish being a language with a large inventory of such combinations. The present paper reports on a two-session experiment in which Polish-speaking adult participants learned nonce words with final consonant clusters. The aim was to study the role of two factors which potentially play a role in the learning of phonotactic structures: the phonological principle of sonority (ordering sound segments within the syllable according to their inherent loudness) and the (non-) existence as a usage-based phenomenon. EEG responses in two different time windows (adversely to behavioral responses) show linguistic processing by native speakers of Polish to be sensitive to both distinctions, in spite of the fact that Polish is rich in sonority-violating clusters. In particular, a general learning effect in terms of an N400 effect was found which was demonstrated to be different for sonority-obeying clusters than for sonority-violating clusters. Furthermore, significant interactions of formedness and session, and of existence and session, demonstrate that both factors, the sonority principle and the frequency pattern, play a role in the learning process.

The role of phonotactic principles in language processing

ABSTRACTThe paper reports the results of a learnability experiment with German speakers, investigating the role of universal phonotactic constraints and language use in language processing. Making use of an artificial language paradigm, participants learned nonce words with existent and non-existent German final consonant clusters adhering to or violating sonority sequencing principles postulated for consonant clusters. Behavioural data and event-related brain potentials in response to these cluster properties were obtained twice, before and after learning word-picture-pairs. The results show (1) that learning and processing of final consonant clusters is facilitated by adherence to the sonority hierarchy, and (2) that actual existence of well- and ill-formed consonant clusters aids processing mechanisms. Thus, both implicit knowledge of universal phonotactic principles and frequency-based factors are demonstrated to play a role in the online-processing of words.

Predictions interact with missing sensory evidence in semantic processing areas

Human brain function draws on predictive mechanisms that exploit higher-level context during lower-level perception. These mechanisms are particularly relevant for situations in which sensory information is compromised or incomplete, as for example in natural speech where speech segments may be omitted due to sluggish articulation. Here, we investigate which brain areas support the processing of incomplete words that were predictable from semantic context, compared with incomplete words that were unpredictable. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants heard sentences that orthogonally varied in predictability (semantically predictable vs. unpredictable) and completeness (complete vs. incomplete, i.e. missing their final consonant cluster). The effects of predictability and completeness interacted in heteromodal semantic processing areas, including left angular gyrus and left precuneus, where activity did not differ between complete and incomplete words when they were predictable. The same regions showed stronger activity for incomplete than for complete words when they were unpredictable. The interaction pattern suggests that for highly predictable words, the speech signal does not need to be complete for neural processing in semantic processing areas. Hum Brain Mapp 37:704-716, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effect of Explicit vs. Implicit Instruction on the Learnability of English Consonant Clusters by Iranian Learners of English

The present study was aimed at providing the English teachers across Iran with a good and fruitful method of teaching pronunciation. To this end, sixty female intermediate EFL learners were put in three different but equivalent groups of 20 based on the results of a pronunciation pre-test. One of the groups received explicit instruction including exposure to the correct pronunciation of consonant clusters, extra examples, and explanations. The kind of treatment for the second group was implicit including only exposure to the correct pronunciation of such clusters. The third group, serving as the control group, received no instruction on pronunciation. After ten sessions of instruction, all the participants were provided with the post-test in which they were to read aloud 50 words containing initial and final consonant clusters while they were recorded. The results of ANOVA showed that although they were all the same in the pre-test, they had performed differently on the post-test, demonstrating that different treatments had various impacts on learning pronunciation. The results of Tukey test showed that although the participants in the implicit group had progressed during the course, the explicit instruction was the best method in improving participants' pronunciation. To compare the groups’ mean scores two by two, t-test was also used. The results of this test showed that explicit instruction is better than the implicit instruction which in turn is better than the control group. Keywords: pronunciation, consonant cluster, explicit teaching, implicit teaching

Preservation and deletion in Mandarin loanword adaptation

This paper is about how English inputs that are not allowed in the native Mandarin phonology are adapted to Mandarin phonotactics in Mandarin loanwords. The focus of the discussion is on whether or not the elements in the inputs are preserved or deleted and what causes the phenomena. Through analyses of English consonant adaptation in Mandarin loanwords, the functions of both borrowers’ perception and the native Mandarin phonology are consistently found. The high preservation of the nasal consonants in any syllabic position clearly shows the functions, in that the salient segments are usually preserved and the acceptance of nasal codas in Mandarin phonology makes Mandarin speakers easily perceive the nasal sounds even in the coda positions. Furthermore, English /m/ and /n/ in the final positions are usually differently adapted into Mandarin loanwords. English /m/ mostly forms an independent syllable by vowel insertion while /n/ is mostly adapted into the coda nasal of the preceding syllable (e.g., English loam → Mandarin lú-mǔ, English pint → Mandarin pǐn-tuō). This tendency is due to the function of Mandarin phonology, because a nasal /n/ is allowed as a coda consonant, but /m/ is not allowed. The high deletion of English /ɹ/ in the coda or in the consonant clusters also supports the argument. The English /ɹ/, except in the initial position, is not easily perceived due to its own vowel-like quality and the fact that it is a non-Mandarin phoneme. Lastly, the higher preservation of consonants in the initial clusters than in the final clusters also shows the close relationship between perception and Mandarin phonology. Even though Mandarin does not allow consonant clusters in any position, final consonant clusters should be harder for Mandarin speakers to perceive. The reason is that in Mandarin phonology, consonants usually do not come in the final positions while all the consonants except /ŋ/ can come in the initial positions. More frequent deletion of consonants in final CCC clusters than in CC clusters can be identically explained.

Final Consonant Clusters Simplification by Indonesian Learners of English and Its Intelligibility in International Context

Final Consonant Clusters Simplification by Indonesian Learners of English and Its Intelligibility in International Context

Typical consonant cluster acquisition in auditory-verbal children with early-identified severe/profound hearing loss

Early-identified severe/profound hearing loss (HL) following universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) has been associated with improved speech and language outcomes. However, speech outcome reports have typically been based on broad measures of speech intelligibility and/or singleton consonant accuracy, with little known about production of consonant clusters. Using a prospective design, the range and accuracy of consonant clusters produced by a homogenous cohort of 12 children early-identified with severe/profound HL aged 3- and 4-years were examined. All children demonstrated bilateral aided thresholds within a range of 15–25 dB HL across all frequencies, were optimally amplified with cochlear implants (11/12) or hearing aids (1/12), and attended auditory-verbal (AV) early intervention. Standardized speech and language assessments were administered. Consonant clusters were strategically sampled in single-word and conversational speech contexts. All standard scores for speech, receptive, and expressive language were within normal limits. All children produced consonant clusters commensurate with expectations for typically-developing hearing peers at 3- and 4- years-of-age. Children's production of phonetically complex morphophonemes (final consonant clusters marking grammatical morphemes) was also in keeping with developmental expectations. Factors which contributed to these encouraging outcomes require further investigation.

Phonotactic Parameters of Final Consonant Clusters in Iraqi Arabic and Kuwaiti Arabic: Some Contrastive Points

The present paper throws light on the field of phonotactics in which the treatment of final consonant clusters of Iraqi Arabic and Kuwaiti Arabic are investigated in order to trace the contrastive points of the two. It has been investigated that at the phonological level, differences are seen in phonological contrasts between forms purely on the basis of sound unit distributions. However, the contrasting features are not confirmed to one segment of the form, but, in some contexts, concern the syllabification of the whole form or part of it.

Phonological Features of China English

This article builds on previous studies of China English by investigating the use of a number of phonological features by twelve students from mainland China. The students were studying at a university in Hong Kong, and came from different regions of China. They were recorded reading a standardized passage and certain aspects of feature use were analyzed. Patterns of variation in some of the features identified in previous studies, such as the substitution of the palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/, are confirmed as being related to the regional origin of the students. The study also describes some features that have received less attention in previous studies, such as diphthong shortening and the simplification of final consonant clusters. The possible influence of British and American English on some aspects of the students’ pronunciation is also briefly considered. Although some knowledge of these features is believed to be useful for educators, the article outlines some of the drawbacks that may result from the premature association of such features with so-called “emergent varieties” of English.

The pronunciation of Hong Kong English

This paper provides a detailed description of the pronunciation of English by fifteen fourth-year undergraduates at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. First, the occurrence of American features of pronunciation is considered. Then there is an analysis of the pronunciation of initial TH, initial and final consonant clusters, L-vocalisation, conflation between initial [n] and [l], monophthong vowels, the vowels in FACE and GOAT, vowel reduction, rhythm and sentence stress. Finally, the status of Hong Kong English is considered, particularly the extent of its continuing alignment with an exonormative standard.

“The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible”: Some reflections on the verbal morphophonology of Balearic Catalan

In Balearic Catalan, first person singular present indicative verb forms do not show an explicit inflectional morph, as do most dialects of Catalan. Among these forms, we find final consonant clusters that involve a violation of the sonority constraint according to which the degree of sonority between the segments of a syllable must be decreasing in relation to the nucleus. The same clusters in nominal inflection are resolved by means of a process of vowel epenthesis. The exceptional phonological behavior of these consonant clusters is not circumscribed to sonority factors, but also concerns the regular phonology of the dialect, either because a general process fails to apply, or because a process applies though the conditions that make it applicable are not visible. Previous approaches have analyzed these final consonant clusters, not as codas, but as onsets of empty nuclei: this exceptional syllabic status would, according to these proposals, throw some light on this peculiar phonological behavior. In t...

Exploring Learners' Pronunciation Practice Using a Character Agent: Chiefly on Consonant Clusters

The purpose of this study is to review the Adaptive MS-Agent in the structure of the CAL (character agent for learning) system, and to exemplify the method of practicing consonants and consonant clusters using a character agent. To achieve this purpose, the Basic Vocabulary List of the National Curriculum is analysed in terms of the types of consonants and consonant clusters, the agent functioning as a helper for e-learning and giving learners an adaptive coaching in the process of e-learning is reviewed in the structure of the CAL, and the types of English consonant clusters (initial consonant clusters, medial consonant clusters, and final consonant clusters) and consonants are reviewed. Learners of English commit errors such as nasalization, lateralization, palatalization, and glottalization in pronouncing consonant clusters due to the difference of syllable structure between Korean and English. These errors could be caused by the misapplication of typical phonological rules of Korean to English. The errors of consonant clusters considered in this study are ‘vowel insertion’ and ‘assimilation’. In this study, it is shown that such errors on consonant clusters can be corrected through the formal pronunciation practice using a character agent employed to play key roles in virtual environments.

A Comparison of Linguistic Profiles in Subgroups of Children With Specific Language Impairment

To compare morphosyntactic skills of preschoolers in different subgroups of language impairment. Eighty-three children participated in this study. They represented 4 groups: (a) language impairment-only, (b) speech-language impairment with minimal or no final cluster reduction/consonant deletion, (c) speech-language impairment with frequent final cluster reduction/consonant deletion, and (d) a no-impairment control group. Group performance was compared for finite and nonfinite morpheme production and sentence structure. Children in the language impairment-only group had significantly higher performance than children in both speech-language impairment subgroups, even when errors that could be attributed to final consonant deletion/cluster reduction were taken into account. The language impairment-only and control groups' performance was similar for finite and nonfinite morpheme production, and both groups produced nonfinite plurals with significantly higher accuracy than finite third person singular forms. The language impairment-only group had significantly higher accuracy for both plural and third person singular relative to the group with speech-language impairment characterized by infrequent final cluster reduction/consonant deletion. Children with speech-language impairment generally had poorer morphosyntactic skills than peers who had language deficits and age-appropriate speech skills. Final consonant and final cluster production skills alone did not account for group differences. Clinically, the findings suggest that it is important to assess carefully the speech skills, including final cluster production skills, of preschoolers who have language deficits and language skills of preschoolers who have speech sound disorders.

First language influence and final consonant clusters in the new Englishes of Singapore and Nigeria

ABSTRACT: This study investigates the possible influence of L1 structures on the linguistic system of New Englishes. It focuses on the realization of final consonant clusters in two ‘new’ varieties of English for which L1 influence has been reported: Singapore English and Nigerian English. Although a comparison of the phonological structure of the background languages in the two countries with the phonological structure of English predicts the same type of influence in both varieties, the analyses in this study show great variation between the New Englishes in terms of overall cluster reduction rate, influence of cluster length, variation with following phonetic context and the reduction patterns of certain types of clusters. It is argued that these discrepancies are due to the different status of English in Singapore and Nigeria. The Norm‐Orientation Hypothesis is proposed, which claims that the spread of L1 structures in a new variety of English is crucially influenced by the specific sociolinguistic settings.1

Rules for pluralization in African American English: Evidence from 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds

This study investigated the African American English (AAE) forms produced by 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children when pluralizing words ending in final consonant clusters. Participants were 105 child and 45 adult speakers of AAE. Speakers provided verbal responses to pictures of cartoon-like creatures with nonsense word names. Responses were recorded and presented to experienced listeners for language set and singular versus plural judgments. An acoustical analysis was conducted for comparison to the perceptual findings. Results suggest that although [s] inflection is nonobligatory in AAE, there are many instances in which it does occur. Variation in plural forms across final consonant clusters is discussed as well as other markers for pluralization in the absence of the [s] morpheme.

A noncontrastive model for assessment of phonology.

The contrastive/noncontrastive model developed by Seymour and Seymour (1977) can be applied to the development of a dialect-sensitive phonological assessment that uses a single scoring and test format, regardless of a child's dialect. Through extensive field research, stimulus items were found that respect the phonotactics of African American English (AAE) (i.e., no targets are final consonants or final consonant clusters), yet are sufficiently demanding to show development in the age range from 4 to 9 years. Consonant clusters of varying levels of phonological difficulty are shown to discriminate between typically developing and phonologically impaired children of different dialect groups, Mainstream American English (MAE) and non-MAE. Implications for further diagnosis and remediation are presented.

The French Language in Canada (review)

Reviewed by: The French language in Canada by John Hewson Jan Holeš The French language in Canada. By John Hewson. (LINCOM studies in Romance linguistics.) Munich: LINCOM Europa, 2000. Pp. 113. ISBN 3895865710. $45.36. The history of Canadian French stretches back almost four hundred years. From the end of the Seven Years War until recent days, it has survived in spite of interrupted contacts between Canada and France. Today, approximately 25% of the population of Canada speak French as their mother tongue and, in addition [End Page 176] to Quebec, a sizeable minority of French speakers is found in New Brunswick and Ontario. In this brief volume, John Hewson examines the main features of Canadian French and provides the reader with a historical background of the subject. The book is divided into eight chapters. Ch. 1 presents the basic concepts necessary for understanding the linguistic situation in Canada and discusses the relationship between the standard language and its regional forms. Ch. 2 includes a survey of works describing the French language in Canada starting in the eighteenth century and continuing to include two major linguistic works of the twentieth century—Atlas linguistique de l’Est du Canada (by Gaston Dulong and Gaston Bergeron, Québec: Editeur Officiel de Québec, 1980) and Dictionnaire historique du français québécois (ed. by Claude Poirer, Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 1998). Ch. 3 deals with certain features of life in Canada that have had an impact on the vocabulary, such as the early exploration of the territory, its colonization, contacts with Indian tribes, the lumber trade, and some cultural developments. An examination of the main pronunciation traits distinguishing Canadian French from the standard pronunciations constitutes the core of Ch. 4. As far as vowels are concerned, H mentions especially the opening of high vowels in closed syllables, the devoicing of high vowels in internal syllables, the tendency to diphthongize long vowels, the preservation of back /ɑ/, the chain shift of nasal vowels, and the variations of /ε/. For consonants, these are especially palatalization and assibilation, the reduction of final consonant clusters, the loss of final /r/, the aspirated /h/, the syllabification of liquids after obstruents, the ouïsme, and the reflex of strong romance /r/ in Acadian. Ch. 5 investigates morphology and syntax. Most of the deviations from standard forms encountered in Quebec and Acadia are also heard in popular European French, for example, false liaisons, postposed pronouns in the imperative, the variation of gender in nouns beginning with a vowel, the expansion of quand into quand que, the regularization of irregular verbs, and so on. In Ch. 6, the author turns his attention to the expressive language exploiting the religious terms that are not found in such usage elsewhere. Ch. 7 introduces three parameters of linguistic variation (temporal, spatial, and social), underlining the risks of their confusion. Ch. 8 provides a summary of the main sources and types of anglicisms found in Canadian French. The book contains suggestions for further reading as well as an index of French examples and exercises. It may serve as a first introduction to this vast and complicated subject. Even though it does not cover all the varieties of French spoken in Canada and many issues had to be omitted, it can still be recommended as a convenient textbook for those who wish to study this variety of French. Jan Holeš Univerzita Palackého Copyright © 2004 Linguistic Society of America

The Phonology of German (review)

Reviewed by: The phonology of German by Richard Wiese Marc Pierce The phonology of German. By Richard Wiese. (The phonology of the world’s languages.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Pp. x, 358. $35.00. This paperback reprint of a work originally published in 1996 provides a comprehensive survey of German phonology using lexical phonology. Although the main text has not been changed, a number of errors in the original have been corrected, the reformed spelling of German words has been employed, the word index and bibliography have been expanded and updated, and a brief ‘Postscript 2000’ (314–18) has been added which discusses how some of the problems treated in the book have been analyzed within Optimality Theory. Rather than provide a comprehensive description of the contents of the book, I describe here Wiese’s analyses of what he calls ‘the classical phonological rule[s] of Modern Standard German’ (200), namely umlaut and final devoicing, and then offer a critical evaluation of the book. Umlaut, a process of vowel fronting, is, as W remarks, ‘the central rule in the Modern Standard German vowel system’ (181), and continues to defy easy description. W treats the problem as a stem alternation and accounts for it by means of a rule which spreads [front], resulting in this feature being associated with the rightmost vowel in a phonological word and yielding alternations like H[u:]n∼H[y:]ner ‘chicken∼chickens’. However, there are a number of cases where umlaut is phonologically possible yet does not occur, for example, r[u]nd∼r[u]nder ‘round∼rounder’. W accounts for this by postulating a floating feature [ + front] as part of the underlying representation of some roots. Forms that lack umlaut do not contain this floating feature. W also addresses the question of whether umlaut is a phonological or morphological rule and ultimately concludes that it is a phonological rule, but suggests that the distinction is not crucial for theoretical frameworks that do not sharply distinguish between the phonological and morphological components of a grammar. Final devoicing in Modern German is another perennially popular topic among phonologists; the term refers to the alternation exhibited by pairs like Sar[k]∼Sär[ɡ]e ‘coffin∼coffins’. Relevant issues that remain disputed include: What is the actual phonetic feature involved and what is the domain of the rule? W accepts the traditional view that [voice] is involved, mainly because he is not completely convinced by any of the alternative proposals. As to the domain of the rule, it is clearly syllable-related, but the question remains as to whether it applies in syllable codas or to syllable-final segments. W notes that final consonant clusters can be devoiced and concludes that this is because the rule applies to syllable-final segments and is free to apply whenever syllabification has taken place. W formulates the rule itself as delinking [voice]; it works in conjunction with a default mechanism which ‘gives the negative value for any feature not specified otherwise’ (204) to yield the correct results. In general, this is an outstanding book. In some respects it is not for the beginner (despite the claim made on the back cover that the book can provide ‘an introduction to the sound system of German for the nonspecialist reader’); some background in phonology is certainly necessary as a number of concepts are never explicitly explained. However, it would be excellent supplementary reading material for an intermediate or advanced phonology course and superb primary material for a course in German phonology. Those interested in German phonology are indebted to W for writing the book and to Oxford University Press for reissuing it as an affordable paperback. Marc Pierce University of Michigan Copyright © 2002 Linguistic Society of America

Linguistic difficulties in language and reading development constrain skilled adult reading.

This study investigated whether the quality and specification of phonological representations in early language development would predict later skilled reading. Two perceptual identification experiments were performed with skilled readers. In Experiment 1, spelling difficulties in Grade 1 were used as a proxy measure for poorly specified representations in early language development. In Experiment 2, difficulties in perceiving and representing liquid and nasalized phonemes in final consonant clusters were used for the same purpose. Both experiments showed that words that were more likely to develop underspecified lexical representations in early language development remained more difficult in skilled reading. This finding suggests that early linguistic difficulties in speech perception and structuring of lexical representations may constrain the long-term organization and dynamics of the skilled adult reading system. The present data thus challenge the assumption that skilled reading can be fully understood without taking into account linguistic constraints acting upon the beginning reader.

There's more to children's spelling than the errors they make: Strategic and automatic processes for one-syllable words.

Researchers have attempted to understand the cognitive processing used in spelling by looking at children's spelling errors. The authors examined 2 other types of data--children's serf-reported verbal protocols and on-line measures of spelling latencies. Elementary school children spelled 3 types of common 4-letter words, consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant, consonant-vowel-consonant--consonant, and consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e. Correctly and incorrectly spelled words were analyzed as a function of word type, verbal report, and keystroke latencies. Different typing patterns emerged for strategic and automatic reports and for different word types. Children seemed to use a relatively sequential read-out from long-term memory when directly retrieving a spelling, whereas they used a consonant pair strategy for final consonant clusters when sounding out words. Implications for spelling instruction are discussed. A number of variables are correlated with spelling ability. There is little doubt that phonological ability, exposure to print, working memory capabilities, reading ability, and an understanding of spelling regularities are predictors of spelling ability (see Curmingham & Stanovich, 1991; Frith, 1980; Griffith, 1991; Stage & Wagner, 1992; Treiman, 1993). However, little is known about the cognitive processes in which children engage while spelling. The goal of the present research was to learn more about children's thought processes during spelling. The information-processing framework provides one way to examine cognitive processing during spelling. Within this framework, the contributions of encoding, automatization, generalization, and strategy construction to children's cognitive processing are emphasized. These mechanisms are hypothesized to work together to improve children's thinking (Siegler, 1991). For example, the beginning speller may use a great deal of mental resources simply to encode words, perhaps resulting in a less efficient strategy choice when attempting to spell them. As knowledge of the phonological,