handout - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

The 32 nd Penn Linguistics Colloquium
23 February 2008
Phonetic and Phonological
Scansion in Loanword Adaptation
Charles B. Chang
University of California, Berkeley
cbchang@berkeley.edu
Adaptation as phonetic approximation
Acoustic perceptual similarity is responsible for the way source
language (L2) forms are mapped onto receptor language (L1) forms. forms
Silverman (1992): (1992) : two-tiered two tiered model of adaptation
Level 1: phonetic scansion of the L2 output
Level 2: L1 constraints imposed upon the input, UG principles may may
apply
phonological knowledge of L2 plays no role, the bilingual is minimally minimally
involved
Peperkamp (2005): (2005) : “loanword loanword adaptations are basically phonetic
rather than phonological in nature, and originate in the process of
phonetic decoding during speech perception” perception
Adaptation as phonological equivalence
L2-to L2 to-L1 L1 mapping occurs on the basis of phonological distance, not
phonetic distance.
LaCharité LaCharit & Paradis (2005): bilinguals introduce borrowings, they
know the L2 URs, UR constitutes the input to L1
An L2 segment is replaced by the phonologically closest L1 segment: segment:
English voiced stops closest phonetically to Spanish voiceless stops, stops,
but
mapped to the voiced stops
English [ɹ] [ ] closest phonetically to Japanese [w], but mapped to the rhotic [ɾ]
English high lax vowels /ɪ/ / / and /ʊ/ / / closest phonetically to Spanish/French mid
vowels, but mapped to their high vowels
Segmental deletions deletion and clear “spelling spelling adaptations” adaptations are extremely
rare in the loanword corpora examined by LaCharité LaCharit and Paradis.
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5
Outline
1. Research context and questions
2. Background on Burmese phonology
3. Phonological scansion in adaptation
4. Phonetic scansion in adaptation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Adaptation as phonetic approximation (2)
Kenstowicz (2003), Broselow (2004): (2004) : distinction between a grammar
of perception and a grammar of production
possible for L2 phonological distinctions to be heard, but not articulated articulated
by
speakers whose L1 does not have these distinctions
L2 distinctions may be able to perceived by non-native non native speakers, they are
unlikely to be when they occur in unfavorable contexts where robust robust
cues are
absent.
There is a range of theories that emphasize phonetic factors in
loanword adaptation, all of which state that in loanword adaptation adaptation
borrowers essentially mishear unfamiliar structures in foreign forms
as the perceptually closest L1 structure.
Research Questions
How much is loanword adaptation a phonological
vs. a phonetic process in Burmese?
What is the effect of bilingualism on the degree to
which adaptation is phonological vs. phonetic?
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Outline
1. Research context and questions
2. Background on Burmese phonology
3. Phonological scansion in adaptation
4. Phonetic scansion in adaptation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Background on Burmese phonology (2)
̃ ̃
Burmese vowel inventory
front central central
back
high i ɪ̃
u ʊ̃
mid e (ə) ɔ
low a ã
diph. ei ẽĩ ai ãĩ au ãũ ou õũ
five oral monophthongs + three nasal monophthongs
four oral diphthongs + four nasal diphthongs
mid central vowel /ə/ / / only in reduced, non-final non final ‘minor minor’ syllables
no low front vowel, no nasalized mid vowels, no /ɔi/ / / diphthong
Background on Burmese phonology (4)
Burmese phonotactics (also cf. Green 1995, 2002)
basic syllable structure C1C2V(V)C V(V)C3 C2 = glides /w, j/ (but *[ σ [-labial]+ labial]+j j )
C3 = /ʔ/ /
nasal vowels do not occur with glottal coda: *Ṽʔ] * σ
/ɔ/ / does not occur with glottal coda: *ɔʔ * ɔʔ] σ
/ai, ai, au/ au/
always occur in closed syllables (i.e. with glottal
coda): *ai] * ai] σ / *au] * au] σ
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Background on Burmese phonology
̥ ̥
̥
̥
Burmese consonant inventory
labial dental alveo. palatal velar glottal
stops p pʰ p b t tʰ t d k kʰ k g ʔ
affricates ʧ ʧʰ ʤ
fricatives θ ð s sʰ s z ʃ h
nasals m̥ m n̥ n ɲ̥ ɲ ŋ̥ ŋ
liquids l̥ l
flap ɾ
glides w̥ w j
voiced, voiceless unaspirated, and voiceless aspirated obstruents obstruent
voiced and voiceless sonorants (including nasals at four different different
places)
no labiodental fricatives or alveolar/retroflex approximant
Background on Burmese phonology (3)
Burmese tone inventory
̰
low [sù] [s ] ‘protrude protrude’
characteristics
med. long, low int., low/rising pitch
high [sú] [s ] ‘pricked pricked’ long, high int., high/falling pitch, often breathy
creaky [sṵ [su ] ‘collect collect’ short, high int., high/falling pitch, creaky
glottal [sʊʔ [sʊʔ]
] ‘put put on ring’ ring very short, high pitch, sharp glottal closure
tones are implemented via pitch and phonation
tone that falls on schwa is neutral
change in vowel quality with the glottal tone
Outline
1. Research context and questions
2. Background on Burmese phonology
3. Phonological scansion in adaptation
4. Phonetic scansion in adaptation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
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Phonological scansion in adaptation
English sounds are adapted on the phonemic level, not the
allophonic level.
English [pʰ] [ ] Burmese [p] [
̀ ̃ ̀ ̃
̃
̃
̃
e.g. penguin penguin > [pɪ̀ ̃.gw .gwɪ̀ ̃] Poland Poland > [pòù òù.l .là ̃]
Japan Japan > [dʒə [dʒə.pà
̃] computer computer > [kòù [kòù
̃.pjù jù.t .tà]
English [f] Burmese [pʰ] [
̃
̀ ̃
̀ ̃
e.g. file file > [pʰàì àì ̃] four four > [pʰóú óú]
film film > [pʰə.l .lɪ̀ ̃] feeling feeling > [pʰì.l .lɪ̀ ̃]
Phonological scansion in adaptation (3)
English sequences sequences
are adapted as sequences, sequences,
even when
there are very similar Burmese phonemes that could be
used as substitutes. substitutes
English [nju] Burmese [nǝju] [n ju], , not [ɲu] u]
e.g. New New York York > [nǝ.jú.jau jauʔ]
Phonological scansion in adaptation (5)
The adaptation of L2 allophonic details phonemic in L1 and
L2 phonemic details that are only allophonic in L1 indicates
an adaptation strategy that maximally preserves
phonological distinctions:
distinctions
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Phonological scansion in adaptation (2)
English sounds are adapted on the phonemic level, not the
allophonic level.
English [ɾ] [ ] Burmese [d] [
̃
e.g. ppowder owder > [pàù [pàù
̃.dà] radio radio > [jèì [jèì.dì.j
.jòù òù]
soda soda > [sʰòù [s òù.dà] video video > [bwì.dì.j [b .jɔ̀ ̀]
̃
̃
English [ɹ] [ ] Burmese [ɾ] [
e.g. rifle rifle > [ɾàì àì ̃.p .pʰè] rubber rubber > [ɾà.b .bà] ]
brake brake > [bə.ɾei [b eiʔ] drum drum > [də.ɾà [d ̃]
Phonological scansion in adaptation (4)
English contrasts that constitute allophony in Burmese are
not disregarded. disregarded
English lax vowels (e.g. [ɪ]) [ ]) Burmese lax vowels
with glottal tone (e.g. [ɪʔ]) [ ])
e.g. CD CD > [sì.d .dì] City City Mart Mart > [sɪʔ ɪʔ.tì.ma maʔ]
B.A. B.A. > [bì bì.ʔèì èì] B.Sc. B.Sc. > [bì bì.ʔɛʔ.s .sì]
Outline
1. Research context and questions
2. Background on Burmese phonology
3. Phonological scansion in adaptation
4. Phonetic scansion in adaptation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
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Phonetic scansion in adaptation
Corners of the corpus indicate a level of phonetic
scansion as well.
English TR̥ TR̥V
TʰVRV VRV
e.g. truck+car truck+car > [tʰə.ɾʌʔ [ ɾʌʔ.k .ká]
Christ Christ > [kʰə.ɾɪʔ [ ɾɪʔ]
cream cream soda soda > [kʰə.ɾɪ [ ɾɪ̀ ̀ ̃.s .sʰòù ̃ òù.d .dà]
phonetically voiceless sonorant interval leads to a different
adaptation of the preceding stops
Phonetic scansion in adaptation (3)
Phonologically equivalent structures are discriminated on
phonetic grounds.
English [k.C]/[t.s] [k.C] [t.s] [ʔ.C] .C], , but other C 1.C .C2 [C 1ǝ.C .C2 ]
e.g. Mazda Mazda > [mà.zə.d [m .dà] Bethlehem Bethlehem > [bɛʔ [bɛʔ.θə.l
.lì.hà hà ̃] ̃
October October > [ʔau [ auʔ.t .tòù òù.b .bà] Jetson Jetson > [dʒɛ [dʒɛʔ.s
.sʰɪ̀ ̀ ̃] ̃
only the coda-onset coda onset sequences with least perceptually salient codas are
adapted as coda + onset
Discussion
Aspects of the adaptation of English loanwords in Burmese
are indicative of both phonological and phonetic scansion of
the input.
faithful adaptation of distinctive L2 information that is non-
distinctive in L1, abstraction away from non-distinctive non distinctive L2
information that is distinctive in L1
effect of non-distinctive non distinctive phonetic detail
The results do not really provide support for the notion of a
two-level two level model - more likely that phonetic and phonological
knowledge are brought to bear on the problem of adapting a
loanword all at once.
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Phonetic scansion in adaptation (2)
Corners of the corpus indicate a level of phonetic
scansion as well.
English VNC(C) Ṽ̰ (not [v́ v́ ̃] ̃ or [v̀ v̀ ̃]) ̃
e.g. Sphinx Sphinx > [sə.p [s .pʰɪ̃ ̰̃ ̰ ] count count > [kã̰ [k ̰ṵ ̰̃ ̃ ]
phonetic laryngealization before voiceless stops leads to a
bias in tone assignment (cp. voiced stop environment)
Outline
1. Research context and questions
2. Background on Burmese phonology
3. Phonological scansion in adaptation
4. Phonetic scansion in adaptation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Discussion (2)
How bilingual are the borrowers?
British colonial rule exposure to English
in the recent past bilingualism was not uncommon, at least
among the formally educated (Baker and Jones 1998)
extent of bilingualism seems to have declined significantly over
the last 20-30 20 30 years (USDOS 2007)
English still used by the government and educated people, but
no longer the primary language of instruction in higher education education
(Thein 2004)
It is likely that the borrowers of these words were not
uniform in their English proficiency.
variation in borrowers’ borrowers degree of bilingualism may underlie the
mixed phonetic-and
phonetic and-phonological phonological nature of these adaptations
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Discussion (3)
Mixed adaptation strategies might arise from an
intermediate state of bilingualism: speakers are somewhat
proficient in English and apply an incomplete knowledge of
English phonology to loanword adaptation.
cp. language adapting phonetically or phonologically depending
on the L2 (e.g. the adaptation of French and German front
rounded vowels in Japanese, Dohlus 2005)
cp. language adapting L2 borrowings phonologically at one time
and phonetically at another time (e.g. Chinese borrowings in
Japanese during period of high bilingualism vs. low bilingualism, bilingualism,
cf. Heffernan 2005)
Outline
1. Research context and questions
2. Background on Burmese phonology
3. Phonological scansion in adaptation
4. Phonetic scansion in adaptation
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Thank you!
Acknowledgements:
Acknowledgements
Michele Cotton ▪ Larry Hyman ▪ Sharon Inkelas ▪ Keith Johnson
Mathias Jenny ▪ Michael Kenstowicz ▪ Javier Martín-Gonz
Mart González lez
Lynn Nichols ▪ Donca Steriade ▪ Bert Vaux ▪ Ingyin Zaw ▪ Jie Zhang
Harvard College Research Program
U.S. Department of Education
National Science Foundation
audience members at SEALS XVII and BLS 34
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Discussion (4)
Current evidence suggests that attention is paid to
phonology and phonetics at the same time, time,
even in the
same loanwords.
e.g. count > [ka̰ [kã̰
̃ṵ ̰̃ ̃]
present proposal: proposal:
this situation arises from an intermediate state
of bilingualism in which borrowers have some, but not full
knowledge of the phonology of L2
Conclusions
The findings in this study suggest that a model of loanword
adaptation incorporating both phonetics and phonology is
the most empirically sound.
loanword adaptations influenced by phonetic details of the input
bilinguals play a leading role in adaptation, allowing L2 phonology phonology
to have a profound effect on loanword adaptations in L1
Both the timing and degree of bilingualism seem to affect
the form of loanwords.
Burmese borrowers appear to use an incomplete knowledge of
the L2 phonology, resulting in loanword adaptations showing the
influence of both phonological and phonetic considerations
Selected References
Baker, Colin, and Sylvia Prys Jones. 1998. Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Education.
Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Broselow, Ellen. 2004. Language Contact Phonology: Richness of the the
Stimuli, Poverty of the Base. In
K. Moulton and M. Wolf, eds., Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the North East
Linguistics Society, Society,
Vol. 1, 1-21. 1 21. Amherst: GLSA.
Dohlus, Katrin. 2005. Phonetics or Phonology: Asymmetries in Loanword Loanword
Adaptations – French and
German Mid Front Rounded Vowels in Japanese. ZAS Papers in Linguistics 42:117-135. 42:117 135.
Heffernan, Kevin. 2005. Phonetic Similarity and Phonemic Contrast Contrast
in Loanword Adaptation. Toronto
Working Papers in Linguistics 24:117-123. 24:117 123.
Kenstowicz, Michael. 2003. Review Article: The Role of Perception Perception
in Loanword Phonology. A Review
of Les emprunts linguistiques d’origine d origine européenne europ enne en Fon by Flavian Gbéto, Gb to, Köln: K ln: Rüdiger R diger
Köpper pper Verlag, 2000. Studies in African Linguistics 32(1):95-112.
32(1):95 112.
LaCharité, LaCharit , Darlene, and Carole Paradis. 2005. Category Preservation and Proximity Proximity
versus Phonetic
Approximation in Loanword Adaptation. Linguistic Inquiry 36(2):223-258.
36(2):223 258.
Peperkamp, Sharon. 2005. A Psycholinguistic Theory of Loanword Adaptations. Adaptations.
In M. Ettlinger, N.
Fleisher, and M. Park-Doob, Park Doob, eds., Proceedings of the 30th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley
Linguistics Society, Society,
341-352. 341 352. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.
Silverman, Daniel. 1992. Multiple Scansions in Loanword Phonology: Phonology:
Evidence from Cantonese.
Phonology 9(2):298-328.
9(2):298 328.
Thein, Myat. 2004. Economic Development of Myanmar. Myanmar.
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies.
U.S. Department of State. 2007. 2007 Investment Climate Statement – Burma. Burma.
Washington, DC:
Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
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