Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism
Vol. 8:3 (2018) ► pp.343–371

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Focus in Indian English and Hindi late and simultaneous bilinguals

 | Ocean County College
Published online: 26 July 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15009.pur
Abstract
The main objective of this study is to investigate the acoustic correlates of focus in late and simultaneous bilinguals of Hindi and Indian English (IE). The main acoustic correlates of focus in American/British English are duration, amplitude and F0 and in Hindi are duration, F0 excursion and post-focal pitch compression. In the present study, I look at duration, RMS amplitude and F0 excursion in broad focus, narrow focus and post-focus declarative present tense, past tense and perfect aspect (both transitive and intransitive verbs) Hindi and IE sentences, to explore if there are any differences in the two bilingual groups and to understand the acoustic correlates of focus in IE and Hindi.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Background Information
      • 1.1.1Focus
      • 1.1.2Focus in Hindi
      • 1.1.3Indian English intonation and focus
      • 1.1.4Language interaction in bilinguals
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Recordings
    • 2.2Speakers
    • 2.3Speech material
    • 2.4Measurements
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Indian English: duration
    • 3.2Indian English: RMS amplitude
    • 3.3Indian English: F0 excursion
    • 3.4Hindi: duration
    • 3.5Hindi: RMS amplitude
    • 3.6Hindi: F0 excursion
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (69)
References
Arvaniti, A. and M. Baltazani. 1999. Greek ToBI. Paper presented at the 14th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences Satellite Meeting.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baayen, R. H., Davidson, D. J., Bates, D. M. 2008. Mixed-effects Modeling with Crossed Random Effects for Subjects and Items. Journal of Memory and Language, 591, 390–412 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beckman, M. E., and Pierrehumbert, J. B. 1986. Intonational Structure in English and Japanese. Phonology Yearbook, 31, 255–309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bhatt, R. M. 2000. Optimal Expressions in Indian English. English Language and Linguistics, 4.1. 69–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., and Hakuta, K. 1994. In Other Words: The Psychology and Science of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
BirdSong, D. and Molis, M. 2001. On the Evidence for Maturational Constraints in Second Language Acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language 441: 235–249. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boersma, P. and Weenink, D. 2012. Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer (Version 5.3.35) [Computer program]. From [URL]
Botinis, A., Fourakis, M., Gawronska, B. 1999. Focus Identification in English, Greek and Swedish. Proceedings of the 14th international Congress of Phonetic Sciences San Francisco. 1557–1560.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cole, J. Hualde, J. I., Blasingame, M. Yoonsook Mo 2010. Shifting Chicago vowels: prosody and sound change. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2010. Chicago, USA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cooper, W. J., Eady, S. R. and Mueller, P. R. 1985. Acoustical Aspects of Contrastive Stress in question-answer contexts. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 771: 2142–2155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crystal, D. 1997. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Imperio, M. 1997. Breadth of Focus, Modality and Prominence Perception in Neopolitan Italian. OSU Working Papers in Linguistics 501: 19–39.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dohen, M. and Loevenbruck H., 2004. Pre-focal Rephrasing, Focal Enhancement and Post-focal Deaccentuation in French”, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Spoken Language Processing, 1313–1316, Jeju, Korea.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dupoux, E., Peperkamp, S. Sebastián-Gallés, N. 2009. Limits on Bilingualism Revisited: Stress ‘deafness’ in Simultaneous French–Spanish Bilinguals. Cognition.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dyrud L. O. 2001. Hindi-Urdu: Stress Accent or Non-stress Accent? M.A. Thesis. University of North Dakota.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erickson and I. Lehiste. 1995. Contrastive Emphasis in Elicited Dialogue: Durational Compensation. Proc. 13th ICPhS (Stockholm, Sweden), vol. 41, 352–55.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Estebas-Vilaplana, E. 2000. The Use and Realisation of Accentual Focus in Central Catalan with a Comparison to English. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University College, London, UK.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Féry, C. and Kügler, F., 2008. Pitch Accent Scaling on Given, New and Focused Constituents in German. Journal of Phonetics 361, 680–703. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flege, J., Schirru, C., & MacKay, I. 2003. Interaction Between the Native and Second Language Phonetic Subsystems. Speech Communication, 401, 467–491. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frota, S. 1993. On the Prosody of Focus in European Portuguese. Proceedings of the Workshop on Phonology. Lisboa: APL. 45–66.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fry, D. B. 1958. Experiments in the Perception of Stress. Language and Speech 271:765–768.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garcia-Lecumberri, M. L. 1995. Intonational Signaling of Information Structure in English and in Spanish: A Comparative study. Ph D dissertation. University College London.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gay, T. 1978. Physiological and Acoustic Correlates of Perceived Stress. Language and Speech 211: 347–353. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Genzel, S. and Kügler, F. 2010. Phonetic Implementation of Focal Prominence in Hindi. Speech Prosody Conference proceeding.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Government of India, 2002b. India 2002: A Reference Manual. New Delhi: Ministry of. Information and Broadcasting, Publications Division.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gussenhoven, C. 1983. Focus, Mode and the Nucleus. Journal of Linguistics 191, 377–417. Reprinted in Gussenhoven (1984). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guion, S. G. 2003. The Vowel System of Quichua-Spanish Bilinguals: Age of acquisition effects on the mutual influence of the first and second language, Phonetica 601, 98–128. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamers, J. and Blanc, M. 2000. Bilinguality and Bilingualism. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harnsberger, J. and Jasmeet J. 1996. Pitch Range and Focus in Hindi. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 99:2493. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harnsberger J. 1994. Towards an Intonational Phonology of Hindi. Unpublished manuscript. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2003. World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, J., & Newport, E. 1989. Critical Period Effects in Second Language Learning: The Influence of Maturational State on the Acquisition of English as a Second Language. Cognitive Psychology, 211, 60–99. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kachru, B. B. 2005. Asian Englishes: Beyond the Cathatnon. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kang, K.-H. & Guion 2006. Phonological Systems in Bilinguals: Age of Learning Effects on the Stop Consonant Systems of Korean-English bilinguals. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 1191, 1672–1683. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ladd, D. R., 1996. Intonational Phonology. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Y.-C., Xu, Y. 2010. Phonetic Realization of Contrastive Focus in Korean. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2010, Chicago, 1000331, 1–4.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lenneberg, E. H. 1967. Biological Foundation of Language. New York: Wiley. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyon, J. 1996. Becoming Bilingual: Language Acquisition in a Bilingual Community, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, England; Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maxwell, O., Fletcher, J. 2009. Acoustic and durational properties of Indian English vowels. World Englishes. 2009; 281: 52–70.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maxwell, O. 2014. The Intonational Phonology of Indian English: An Autosegmental-Metrical Analysis Based on Bengali and Kannada English. PhD dissertation, University of Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McGory, J. T. 1997. Acquisition of Intonational Prominence in English by Seoul Korean and Mandarin Chinese speakers, Ph.D. thesis, Ohio State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ménard, L., Loevenbruck, H. and Savariaux, C. 2006. Articulatory and Acoustic Correlates of Contrastive Focus in French Children and Adults. In Speech Production: Models, Phonetic Processes and Techniques, J. Harrington and M. Tabain (Eds.) 227–251.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mixdorff, H. 2004. Quantitative Tone and Intonation Modeling Across Languages. Proceedings of International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages: With Emphasis on Tone Languages Beijing, 137–142.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moore, R. R. 1965. A Study of Hindi Intonation. University of Michigan. (Unpublished dissertation).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moon, R. 2002. A Comparison of the Acoustic Correlates of Focus in Indian English and American English. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Florida.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Rourke, E. 2005. Intonation and Language Contact: A Case Study of Two Varieties of Peruvian Spanish, Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Patil, U., Kentner, G., Gollrad, A., Kügler, F., Féry, C., Vasishth, S. 2008. Focus, Word order, and Intonation in Hindi. Journal of South Asian Linguistics 11, 53–70.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peltola, M.S., Tamminen, H., Lehtola, H., Aaltonen, O. 2007. Balanced bilinguals have one Intertwined Phonological System. 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 6–10 August 2007, 1865–1868.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Penfield, W. and L. Roberts. 1959. Speech and Brain Mechanisms. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pickering, L. and Wiltshire, C. 2000. Pitch accent in Indian-English Teaching Discourse. World Englishes 191, 173–83. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2000. Pitch accent in Indian English TAs’ Teaching Discourse. World Englishes, 191:173–183. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pierrehumbert, J. B. 1980. The Phonetics and Phonology of English Intonation. PhD thesis, MIT. Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Platt, J, Webber, H. and Ho M. L.1984. The New Englishes. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Puri, V. 2013. Intonation in Indian English and Hindi late and simultaneous bilinguals. PhD dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rietveld, T, Kerkhoff, Gussenhoven, C. 2004. Word Prosodic Structure and Vowel Duration in Dutch. Journal of Phonetics 321, 349–371. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shosted, R., Carignan, C., and Rong, P. 2012. Managing the Distinctiveness of Phonemic Nasal vowels: Articulatory Evidence from Hindi. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 131(1): 455–465. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simonet, M. 2008. Language Contact in Majorca: An Experimental Sociophonetic Approach. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Singh, R. 2007. Reflections on English in India and Indian English (Target paper). Presented at the symposium on English in India and Indian English. Mysore: CIIL.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sundara, M., Polka, L., & Baum, S. 2006. Production of Coronal Stops by Simultaneous bilingual Adults. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 9(1), 97–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sundara, M., Polka, L., 2007. Discrimination of Coronal Stops by Bilingual Adults: The timing and nature of language interaction. Cognition (2007).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trudgill, P. 1995. Sociolinguistics. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toledo, G. 1989. Senales prosodicas del foco. Revista Argentina de Lingüística 5 (1–2): 205–230.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ueyama, M. and Jun, Sun-Ah. 1998. Focus realization in Japanese English and Korean English Intonation. In Hajime Hoji (a cura di), Japanese and Korean Linguistics 71. CSLI, Stanford University Press. 629–645.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vella, A. 1995. Prosodic Structure and Intonation in Maltese: Influence on Maltese English. Ph D dissertation. Edinburgh University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wells, W. 1986. An Experimental Approach to the Interpretation of Focus in Spoken English. In C. Johns-Lewis (Ed.). Intonation in Discourse. London: Croom Helm. 53–75.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wiltshire, C. R., and Harnsberger, J. D. 2006. The Influence of Gujarati and Tamil L1s on Indian English: a preliminary study. World Englishes 251, 91–104. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wiltshire, C. and Moon, R. 2003. Phonetic Stress in Indian English vs. American English. World Englishes, 22(3), 291–303. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xu, Y. and Xu, C. X., 2005. Phonetic Realization of Focus in English Declarative Intonation. Journal of Phonetics 331, 159–197. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xu, Y. 2011. Post-focal Compression: Cross Linguistic Distribution and Historical Comparison. ICPhS XVII: Hong Kong, 17–21.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Jabeen, Farhat & Bettina Braun
2025. How cross–linguistic influence affects the use of duration in the production and perception of corrective and non–corrective focus types. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 15:2 ► pp. 152 ff. DOI logo
Lee, Jonathan Him Nok, Regine Yee King Lai, Stephen Matthews & Virginia Yip
2024. Prosodic interaction in Cantonese-English bilingual children’s speech production. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 14:5 ► pp. 668 ff. DOI logo
Maxwell, Olga & Elinor Payne
2023. Investigating (Rhythm) Variation in Indian English: An Integrated Approach. In Speech Rhythm in Learner and Second Language Varieties of English [Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics, ], ► pp. 17 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue