Acquisition Of Hindi Contrasts By English Speakers: An Optimality Theoretic Account
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| Title | Acquisition Of Hindi Contrasts By English Speakers: An Optimality Theoretic Account |
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| Abstract | This paper provides an optimality theoretic account of perception of Hindi voicing and aspiration contrasts by English monolinguals. The participants were presented with minimal pairs of stop consonants belonging to three places of articulation, namely, bilabial, alveolar and velar. The minimal pairs varied in (a) voice; (b) aspiration; (c) voice and aspiration. The methodology involved taking a discrimination test wherein the English speakers reported whether the minimal pairs they heard were same or different. The findings were then subjected to quantitative analysis. The results show that aspiration distinction is clearly perceived by English monolinguals but voicing contrast is neutralized in the same position. The study adds to our knowledge of existing phonological theories such as Best’s perceptual Assimilation Model (2001) and p-maps (Steriade, 2001). Based on the phonetic results, an optimality theoretic framework is applied to describe the results. The framework involves the ranking of faithfulness and markedness constraints and presenting an initial stage grammar for the L2 English learner of Hindi. In the end, some predictions are made about the further acquisition of these non-native contrasts by L2 English learners. The study has useful implications for adult second language learners.-----V raziskavi je avtorica proučila sposobnost angleško govorečih monolongvistov, da v jeziku hindi pravilno zaznajo zvenečnost oz. aspiracijo. Sodelujočim je predstavila minimalne pare treh vrst zapornikov: dvoustničnih, dlesničnih in mehkonebnih. Besede v paru so se razlikovale po zvenečnosti (a), po aspiraciji (b), ali pa po zvenečnosti in aspiraciji (c). Metodologija je vključevala diskriminacijski test, kjer so sodelujoči ugotavljali enakost oz. neenakost besed iz minimalnega para. Rezultati kvantitativne analize so pokazali, da angleško govoreči monolingvisti dobro zaznavajo razliko v aspiraciji, problem jim predstavljajo pari z zvenečim oz. nezvenečim soglasnikov v istem položaju besede. Raziskava prispeva k poznavanju že obstoječih fonoloških teorij, kot so Asimilacijski model zaznavanja (Best, 2001) in p-porazdelitve (Steriade. 2001). Fonetični rezultati so interpretirani tudi v okviru optimalnostne teorije – rangirani so po zvestobi in po zaznamovalnostnih omejitvah –, in prestavljajo začetno stopnjo hindijske slovnice kot tujega jezika angleško-govorečih. Na koncu avtorica navaja svoja predvidevanja o naslednjih razvojnih stopnjah jezika hindi kot tujega jezika. Raziskava je tudi prispevek k znanju o učenju tujega jezika odraslih. |
| Publisher | Faculty of Arts |
| Date | 2012-01-23 |
| Source | Acta Linguistica Asiatica Vol 1, No 3 (2011) |
| Rights | Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) |