Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T09:22:56.323Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Multiple scansions in loanword phonology: evidence from Cantonese*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2008

Daniel Silverman
Daniel Silverman
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In loanword phonology we seek to uncover the processes by which speakers possessing one phonological system perceive, apply native representational constraints on, and ultimately produce forms which have been generated by a different phonological system. We are interested in how speakers instantiate segmental and prosodic structure on an input which may or may not abide by native rules. Crucial to this assumed strategy is the idea that loanwords do not come equipped with their own phonological representation. For any phonetic string, it is only native speakers for whom a fully articulated phonological structure is present; as we will see, the input to loanword phonology is merely a superficial non-linguistic acoustic signal. Thus as host-language speakers perceive foreign forms in accordance with their indigenous phonological system, they instantiate native phonological representations on the acoustic signal, fitting the superficial input into the native phonological system as closely as possible.

Type
Articles
Information
Phonology , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , August 1992 , pp. 289 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bauer, R. (1985). The expanding syllabary of Hong Kong Cantonese. Centre Langues de l'Asie Orientals 14. 99–111.Google Scholar
Cheung, Y. S. (1986). Xianggang Guangzhouhua yingyu yinyi jieci de shengdiao guilu. [Tonal rules for English loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese.] Zhongguo Yuwen 1986–1. 42–50.Google Scholar
Duanmu, S. (1990). A formal study of syllable, tone, stress and domain in Chinese languages. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Elman, J. L., Diehl, R. L. & Buchwald, S. E. (1977). Perceptual switching in bilinguals. JASA 62. 971–974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flege, J. E. & Wang, C. (1989). Native-language phonotactic constraints affect how well Chinese subjects perceive the word-final English /t/–/d/ contrast. JPh 17. 299–315.Google Scholar
Hashimoto, O.-K. Y. (1972). Phonology of Cantonese. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hayes, B. (1991). Metrical stress theory: principles and case studies. Ms, UCLA.Google Scholar
Itô, J. (1986). Syllable theory in prosodic phonology. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Google Scholar
Itô, J. (1989). A prosodic theory of epenthesis. NLLT 7. 217–259.Google Scholar
Kao, D. L. (1971). Structure of the syllable in Cantonese. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
McCarthy, J. J. & Prince, A. S. (1986). Prosodic morphology. Ms, University of Massachusetts, Amherst & Brandeis University.Google Scholar
Maddieson, I. (1985). Phonetic cues to syllabification. In Fromkin, V. (ed.) Essays in honor of Peter Ladefoged. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Whitaker, K. P. K. (1955/1956). A study on the modified tones in spoken Cantonese. Asia Major 5. 9–36, 184–207.Google Scholar
Yip, M. (1980). The tonal phonology of Chinese. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Yip, M. (1990a). The phonology of Cantonese loanwords: evidence for unmarked settings for prosodic parameters. To appear in Packard, J. (ed.) New directions in Chinese linguistics. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Yip, M. (1990b). From the foot down: prosodic phonology and morphology in Chinese. Paper presented at the East Asian Linguistics Workshop, UC Irvine.Google Scholar