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Revisiting phonotactic repairs in Cantonese loanword phonology: it’s all about sC

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Abstract

Different factors have been claimed to affect the choice of repair on English words with ill-formed Cantonese phonotactics in Cantonese loanword phonology. The first half of this paper presents experimental evidence showing that variation is observed only when repairing different onset cluster types: there is vowel epenthesis for s + consonant (sC) clusters but deletion of the second consonant for other (OR) clusters. I propose that the Syllable Mapping Grammar (SMG), the syllable structure mapping component of the perception grammar, drives such variation: Cantonese speakers assign different phonological representations based on cluster well-formedness. When they perceive words with an sC cluster, their SMG assigns [s] as syllabic. A full OT grammar is also provided. I present evidence for the knowledge of cluster well-formedness from speakers of languages like Cantonese where complex onsets are absent. Potential sources of such knowledge and other alternatives to my proposal are also discussed.

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Notes

  1. As pointed out by a reviewer, the generalization here focuses on English words with a simplex fricative coda. For words with a coda cluster in which one member is a fricative, please refer to Kenstowicz (2011).

  2. Since there is no voicing contrast in Cantonese, English words ending with the voiced fricatives were also used in this experiment.

  3. It is a simplified version of a family of constraints that bans syllabic consonants with different sonority profiles (e.g. *Peak/Stop ≫ *Peak/Fricative ≫ *Peak/Nasal…).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ellen Broselow, Christina Bethin, Michael Becker, and the anonymous JEAL reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. Part of this research was presented in the 4th Workshop on innovations in Cantonese Linguistics, the 27th Annual Conference of International Association of Chinese Linguistics, and Chicago Linguistics Society 55. I thank the audiences for their questions and comments. Thanks are also due to the participants of the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4376, USA

    Alex Hong-Lun Yeung

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  1. Alex Hong-Lun Yeung
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Correspondence to Alex Hong-Lun Yeung.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Stimuli for experiment 1

 

RP English

Epenthetic form

Deleted form

blank

blæŋk

peŋle:ŋ

pe:ŋ

bleep

blip

pi:li:p

pi:p

blink

blɪŋk

pɪŋlɪŋ

pɪŋ

block

blɒk

pɔklɔk

pɔk

clap

kʰlæp

khelep

khep

click

kʰlɪk

kheklek

khek

clip

kʰlɪp

khi:li:p

khiːp

clog

kʰlɒg

khɔklɔk

khɔk

flip

flɪp

fi:li:p

fi:p

flirt

flɜːt

fɜtlɜt

fɜt

flood

flʌd

fʌtlʌt

fʌt

flow

fləʊ

fowlow

fow

glare

ɡleə

ke:le:

ke:

gleam

gli:m

ki:li:m

ki:m

glow

gləʊ

kowlow

kow

glue

glu:

ku:lu:

ku:

plan

phlæn

phe:le:n

phe:n

play

phlej

phejlej

phej

plot

phlɒt

phɔtlɔt

phɔt

plug

phlʌɡ

phʌklʌ:k

pʌ:k

slam

slæm

si:lem

sem

slap

slæp

si:lep

sep

sleep

slip

si:lip

sip

slide

slajd

si:lajt

sajt

Appendix 2: Stimuli for experiment 2

 

RP English

Epenthetic form

Faithful form

Deleted form

advice

ədvaɪs

etwajsi

etwajs

etwaj

base

bejs

pejsi

pejs

pej

belief

bɪliːf

piliːfu

piliːf

piliː

bonus

bəʊnəs

pownʌsi

pownʌs

pownʌ

captive

kæptɪv

keptifu

keptif

kepti

cave

kejv

kejfu

kejf

kej

course

kɔːs

kɔːsi

kɔːs

kɔː

invoice

ɪnvɔjs

inwɔ:jsi

inwɔ:js

inwɔ:j

motif

məʊˈtiːf

mowti:fu

mowti:f

mowti:

motive

məʊtɪv

mowtifu

mowtif

mowti

office

ɒfɪs

ɔfʌsi

ɔfʌs

ɔfʌ

olive

ɒlɪv

ɔli:fu

ɔli:f

ɔli:

pass

pɑːs

pɑːsi

pɑːs

pɑː

police

pəliːs

powliːsi

powliːs

powli:

reserve

rɪzɜːv

wi:sɜːfu

wi:sɜːf

wi:sɜː

serve

sɜːv

sɜːfu

sɜːf

sɜː

service

sɜːvɪs

sɜːfʌsi

sɜːfʌs

sɜːfʌ

wife

wajf

wajfu

wajf

waj

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Yeung, A.HL. Revisiting phonotactic repairs in Cantonese loanword phonology: it’s all about sC. J East Asian Linguist 29, 279–309 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-020-09212-w

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