Cover not available

In:Exploring the Turkish Linguistic Landscape: Essays in honor of Eser Erguvanlı-Taylan
Edited by Mine Güven, Didar Akar, Balkız Öztürk and Meltem Kelepir
[Studies in Language Companion Series 175] 2016
► pp. 3–20

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

Vowel epenthesis in the acquisition of English /s/-clusters by Turkish speakers

 | Florida International University
 | Okan International University
Published online: 14 June 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.175.01yav
This study reports the results of a study we conducted with data from 25 L1 Turkish speakers’ production of English #sC clusters. We compared the productions of different #sC clusters. Most notable among these was the high importance of the homorganicity when C2 was a [-continuant] (i.e. /st/ and /sn/), but not when the same consonant was a [+continuant] (i.e. /sl/). Although a low success rate (long epenthetic vowel durations) is expectedly found with the negative sonority group, /sT/ sequences, this group also had the member (/st/) with best renditions. In summary, the results seem to draw a picture like the following: combinations [-cont., +coronal] (i.e. /st/ and /sn/) are the most successful, followed by, in descending order, [-cont., -coronal] (i.e. /sm), [+cont., +coronal] (i.e. /sl/), and [-cor, -SSP] (i.e. /sp, sk). Finally, we have entertained possible explanations through word and cluster frequencies in English, but these have not yielded any coherent account for the patterns found either.
References (40)
References
Abrahamsson, Niclas. 1999. Vowel epenthesis of /sCC/ onsets in Spanish/Swedish interphonology: A longitudinal study. Language Learning 49: 473-508. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barlow, Jessica. 2001a. Preliminary typology of initial clusters in acquisition. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 15: 9-13. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001b. The structure of /s/ sequences: Evidence from a disordered system. Journal of Child Language 28: 291-324. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boersma, Paul & Weenink, David. 2005. Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer. Version 5.4.12. <[URL]> (28 December 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Broselow, Ellen. 1993. Transfer and universals in second language epenthesis. In Language Transfer in Language Learning [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 5], Susan M. Gass & Larry Selinker (eds), 71-86. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cardoso, Walcir. 2008. The development of sC onset clusters in interlanguage: Markedness versus frequency effects. In Proceedings of the 9th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA) 2007, Roumyana Slabakova, Jason Rothman, Paula Kempchinsky & Elena Gavruseva (eds), 15-29. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cardoso, Walcir & Liakin, Denis. 2009. When input frequency patterns fail to drive learning acquisition of sC onset clusters. In Recent Research in Second Language phonetics /phonology: Perception and Production, Michael A. Watkins, Andreia S. Rauber & Barbara O. Baptista (eds), 174-202. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carlisle, Robert Stephen. 2006. The sonority cycle and the acquisition of complex onsets. In English with Latin Beat: Studies in Portuguese /Spanish –English Interphonology [Studies in Bilingualism 31], Barbara O. Baptista & Michael A. Watkins (eds), 105-137. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1991. The influence of environment on vowel epenthesis in Spanish/English interphonology. Applied Linguistics 3: 15-23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1992. Environment and markedness as interacting constraints on vowel epenthesis. In New Sounds 92: Proceedings of the 1992 Amsterdam Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech, Jonathan Leather & Allan James (eds), 64-75. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1997. The modification of onsets in a markedness relationship: Testing the interlanguage structural conformity hypothesis. Language Learning 47: 327-361. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carlisle, Robert Stephen & Cutillas Espinosa, Juan Antonio. 2015. The production of /sC/ onsets in a markedness relationship: Investigating the Ontogeny and Phylogeny model with longitudinal data. In Unusual Productions in Phonology: Universal and Language –Specific Considerations, Mehmet Yavaş (ed.), 183-205. New York NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
CELEX Lexical Database. <[URL]> (28 December 2014).
Clements, George N. 1990. The role of core syllabification. In Papers in Laboratory Phonology, 1: Between Grammar and Physics of Speech, John Kingston & Mary Beckman (eds), 283-333. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davis, Stuart. 1990. Italian onset structure and the distribution of il and lo . Linguistics 28: 43-55. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Enochson, Kelly. 2014. The effect of continuance on the L2 production of L2 clusters. In Selected proceedings of the 5th Conference on Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition-North America, Chia-Ying Chu, Caitlin E. Coughlin, Beatriz Lopez Prego, Utako Minai & Annie Tremblay (eds), 1-9. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fikkert, Paula. 1994. On the Acquisition of Prosodic Structure. PhD dissertation, Leiden University.
Fleischhacker, Heidi. 2001. Cluster-dependent epenthesis asymmetries. UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics 7, Papers in Phonology 5: 71-116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Giegerich, Heinz. 1992. English Phonology. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gierut, Judith. 1999. Syllable onsets: Clusters and adjuncts in acquisition. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 42: 708-726. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gerrits, Eric. 2010. Acquisition of /s/ clusters in Dutch-speaking children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 199-209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gerrits, Eric & Zumach, Anne. 2006. The acquisition of #sC clusters in Dutch. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4: 218-230. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goad, Heather. 2011. The representation of sC clusters. In The Blackwell Companion to Phonology, Marc van Oostendorp, Colin Ewen, Elisabeth Hume & Keren Rice (eds), 898-923. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hogg, Richard & McCully, Chris. 1987. Metrical Phonology: A Coursebook. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kager, Rene & Zonneveld, Wim. 1986. Schwa, syllables, and extrametricality in Dutch. The Linguistic Review 5: 197-221. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kenstowicz, Michael. 1994. Phonology in Generative Grammar. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kristoffersen, Kristian Emil & Simonsen, Hanne Gram. 2006. The acquisition of #sC clusters in Norwegian. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4(3): 231-240. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kucera, Henry & Francis, Winthrop Nelson. 1967. Computational Analysis of Present-day American English. Providence RI: Brown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parker, Steven. 2002. Quantifying the Sonority Hierarchy. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts.
Rebello, Jeanne Teixeria & Baptista, Barbara. 2006. The influence of voicing on the production of initial /s/-clusters. In English with Latin Beat: Studies in Portuguese/Spanish Interphonology [Studies in Bilingualism 31], Barbara Baptista & Michael Alan Watkins (eds), 139-154. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Samarajiwa, Carlton & Abeysekara, R.M. 1964. Some pronunciation difficulties of Sinhalese learners of English as a foreign language. Language Learning 14: 45-50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Singh, Rajendra. 1985. Prosodic adaptation in interphonology. Lingua 67: 269-282. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Steriade, Daniel. 1988. Review article: CV phonology: A generative theory of syllable. Language 64: 118-129. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trommolen, Meike. 1984. The Syllable in Dutch: With Special Reference to Diminutive Formation. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vitevitch, Michael & Luce, Paula. 2004. A web-based interface to calculate phonotactic probability for words and nonwords in English. Behavior Research Methods Instruments & Computers 36(3): 481-487. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yavaş, Mehmet. 2006a. Sonority and the acquisition of #sC clusters, Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4(3): 154-168.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yavaş, Mehmet & Core, Cynthia. 2006b. Acquisition of #sC clusters in English-speaking children. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4(3): 169-181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yavaş, Mehmet, Ben-David, Avivit, Gerrits, Ellen, Kristoffersen, Kristian Emil & Simonsen, Hanne Gram. 2008. Sonority and cross-linguistic acquisition of initial s-clusters. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 22(6): 421- 441. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yavaş, Mehmet & McLeod, Sharynne. 2010. Acquisition of #sC onsets in English-speaking children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 177-187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yip, Moira. 1988. The obligatory contour principle and phonological rules: A loss of identity. Linguistic Inquiry 19: 65-100.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue