Geminate attrition across three generations of Farsi-English bilinguals living in Canada: An acoustic Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n3p151Abstract
The main goal of this study was to determine whether the geminate-singleton consonant length contrast attrites across three different generations of Farsi-English-speaking bilinguals living in Canada. The secondary aim of the study was to shed light on the role of universal phonetic factors on the process of geminate-singleton length contrast attrition in the same population. The effect of manner/class of sounds and voicing were examined as predictors of geminate attrition in eight Farsi-English-speaking bilinguals living in Toronto forming three categories of generations: first generation, 1.5 generation and second generation. The inclusion of the 1.5 generation category is novel and it refers to children of immigrants who came to Canada between the ages of five to fourteen. The productions of the bilinguals were compared with the productions of three homeland variety controls. A word-naming task, which included 108 words was conducted. 2398 tokens were analyzed acoustically using PRAAT. Attrition was defined in terms of changes in mean duration of geminates relative to their singleton counter-parts and percentage geminate-singleton degemination/category overlap. Mean durations were then analyzed using a 3-way, mixed-model, repeated-measures ANOVA. Results showed that geminates attrite across different successive generations. Moreover, there was some evidence to suggest that geminate realization across generations patterns with typological patterns previously reported, showing that universal phonetic principles such as aerodynamic constraints/articulatory difficulty and acoustic salience also constrain geminate realization in bilingual Farsi-English speakers. However, there was no evidence to suggest that more marked geminates suffer a higher degree of attrition. This is the first study to examine the attrition of a typologically marked contrast, which considers the role of universal phonetic principles, markedness in an understudied bilingual community across different generations.References
Al-Tamimi, J., & Khattab, G. (2015). Acoustic cue weighting in the singleton vs geminate contrast in Lebanese Arabic: The case of fricative consonants. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 138, 344–360.
Bailey, C.-J N. (1983). The patterning of sonorant gemination in English lects. In Fasold (ed.), Variation in the Form and Use of Language: a Sociolinguistics Reader, pp. 175–185. Washington DC: Georgeown University Press.
Baker, W., & Trofimovich, P. (2005). Interaction of native-and second-language vowel system(s) in early and late bilinguals. Language and speech, 48, 1–27.
Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. D. (2007). Nonnative and second language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. In M. J. Munro & O. S. Bohn (eds.), Second language speech learning: The role of language experience in speech perception and production, pp. 13–34. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Blevins, Juliette. (2004). Evolutionary Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Borrelli, D. A. (2013). Raddoppiamento sintattico in Italian: a synchronic and diachronic cross-dialectical study. Routledge.
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2012). Praat: doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 5.3. 39.
Brown, C. A. (1998). The role of the L1 grammar in the acquisition of segmental structure. Second Language Research, 14, 139–193.
Bybee, J. (2001). Phonology and language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bybee, J., & Hopper, P. (2001). Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Bullock, B. E., & Gerfen, C. (2004). Frenchville French: A case study in phonological
attrition. International Journal of Bilingualism, 8(3), 303-320.
Cao, X. (June, 2016). L1 Tone attrition among bilinguals in an L2 speaking environment.
Celata, C., & Cancila, J. (2010). Phonological attrition and the perception of geminate consonants in the Lucchese community of San Francisco (CA). International Journal of Bilingualism, 14, 1–25.
Chang, C. E. (2012). Rapid and multifaceted effects of second-language learning on first-language speech production. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 249–268.
Chung, S. (1997). Acculturation and identification in the" 1.5 generation" of Korean immigrants. Cultural Perspectives on Developmental Psychology.
Cohn, A. C., Ham, W. H., & Podesva, R. J. (1999, August). The phonetic realization of singleton-geminate contrasts in three languages of Indonesia. In Proceedings of ICPhS (Vol. 14, pp. 587-590).
Colantoni, L., & Steele, J. (2007). Acquiring /R/ in context. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29, 381–406.
Colantoni, L., & Steele, J. (2008). Integrating articulatory constraints in models of L2 phonological acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 1–46.
Cornwell, S. & Rafat, Y. (June, 2016). Heritage Dutch interdental fricative production. Paper presented at the 8th International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech (New Sounds). Aarhus University, Denmark.
Costamagna, L., Montilli, C., & Ricci, I. (2014). The role of prosodic features in the acquisition of consonant gemination by Chinese learners. Consonant gemination in first and second language acquisition, pp. 47–82. Pisa: Pacini editore
De Leeuw, E., Mennen, I., & Scobbie, J. M. (2013). Dynamic systems, maturational constraints and L1 phonetic attrition. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17, 683–700.
Delattre, P. (1968). Consonant gemination in four languages: an acoustic, perceptual and radiographic study. The General Phonteic Charactersitcs of Languages: Final Report.
Elmedlaoui, M. (1993). Gemination and Spirantisation in Hebrew, Berber, and Tigrinya: a Fortis-Lenis Module Analysis. Linguistica Communicatio, 1, 121-176.
Escudero, P. (2005). Linguistic perception and second language acquisition: Explaining the attainment of optimal phonological categorization. LOT Dissertation Series 113. Utrecht: LOT.
Flege, J. E. (1987). The production of ‘new’ and ‘similar’ phones in a foreign language: evidence for the effect of equivalence classification. Journal of Phonetics, 15, 47–65.
Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In W. Strange (ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-linguistic research, pp. 233–277. Timonium, MD: York Press.
Flege, J. E., Bohn, O. S., & Jang, S. (1997). Effects of experience on non-native speakers' production and perception of English vowels. Journal of phonetics, 25(4), 437-470
Fougeron, C., & Keating, P. (1997). Articulatory strengthening at edges of prosodic domains. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 101, 3728–3740.
Guion, S. G. (2003). The vowel systems of Quichua–Spanish bilinguals: Age of acquisition effects on the mutual influence of the first and second languages. Phonetica, 60, 98–128.
Han, M.S. (1992). The timing control of geminate and single stop consonants in Japanese: a challenge for nonnative speakers. Phonetica, 49, 102–27.
Han, M. S. (1994). Acoustic manifestations of mora timing in Japanese. The Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America, 96(1), 73-82.
Hansen, B. (2004). Persian geminate stops: Effects of varying speaking rate. In Agwuele, Augustine, Warren, Willis, Park, & Sang-Hoon (eds.), Proceedings of the 2003 Texas Linguistics Society Conference: Coarticulation in Speech Production and Perception, pp. 86–95. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Hayes, B., Kirchner, R., & Steriade, D. (2004). Phonetically based phonology. Cambridge University Press.
Hayes, B., & Steriade, D. (2004). Introduction: The phonetic bases of phonological markedness. In B. Hayes, R. Kirchner & D. Steriade (eds.), Phonetically-Based Phonology, pp. 1–33. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hrycyna, M., Lapinskaya, N., Kochetov, A., & Nagy, N. (2011). VOT drift in 3 generations of heritage language speakers in Toronto. Canadian Acoustics, 39, 166–167.
Jaeger, J. (1978). Speech aerodynamics and phonological universals. In Editors Names (eds.), Proceedings of the Chicago Linguistics Society, pp. 311-329. City: Publisher.
Khattab, G., & Al-Tamimi, J. (2014). Geminate timing in Lebanese Arabic: the relationship between phonetic timing and phonological structure. Laboratory Phonology, 5(2), 231-269.
Kawahara, S. (2007). Sonorancy and geminacy. In L. Bateman, A. Werle, M. O’Keefe and E. Reilly (eds.), University of Massachusetts Occasional Papers in Linguistics 32: Papers in Optimality Theory III, pp. 145–186. Amherst: GLSA.
Kaye, A. (2005). Gemination in English. English Today, 21, 43–55.
Kochetov, A. (2012). Linguopalatal contact differences between Japanese geminate and singleton stops. Canadian Acoustics 40, 28–29.
Köpke, B. & M. S. Schmid (2004). Language attrition: the next phase. In SCHMID, KÖPKE, KEIJZER & WEILEMAR (eds), 1-43.
Ladefoged, P. (1999). American English. In Editors Names (eds.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, pp. 41–44. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lavoie, L. M. (2015). Consonant strength: Phonological patterns and phonetic manifestations. Routledge.
Maddieson, I. (1984). Patterns of sounds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mah, J. and Archibald, J. (2003). Acquisition of L2 length contrasts. In Liceras, J.M., Zobl, H., & Goodluck, H., (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference, pp. 208–212. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla.
Mahootian, S. (1997). Persian. London: Routledge.
Major, R. C. (2001). The ontogeny and phylogeny of second language phonology. London: Lawrence Publishers.
Major, R. C. (1986). The ontogeny model: Evidence from L2 acquisition of Spanish r. Language Learning, 36, 453–504.
Major, R. C. (1992). Losing English as a first language. The Modern Language
Journal, 76(2), 190-208.
Mayr, R., Price, S., & Mennen, I. (2012). First language attrition in the speech of Dutch–English bilinguals: The case of monozygotic twin sisters. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15, 687–700.
Markus, E., Lippus, P., Pajusalu, K., & Teras, P. (2012). Three-way opposition of consonant quantity in Finnic and Saamic languages. In Nordic prosody: proceedings of the 11th conference, Tartu (pp. 225-234).
Mennen, I. (2004). Bi-directional interference in the intonation of Dutch speakers of Greek. Journal of Phonetics, 32, 543–563.
Mennen, I., Mayr, R., & Price, S. (2011). L1 attrition of prosody: The case of bilingual monozygotic twin sisters. Ms., Bangor University & Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Montrul, S. (2008). Incomplete acquisition in bilingualism: Re-examining the age factor. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Montrul, S. (2010). How similar are L2 learners and heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31, 167–207.
Montrul, S., & Ionin, T. (2010). Transfer effects in the interpretation of definite articles by Spanish heritage speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 13, 449–473.
Montrul, S., & Potowski, K. (2007). Command of gender agreement in school-age Spanish-English Bilingual Children. International Journal of Bilingualism, 11(3), 301–328.
Nespor, M., & Vogel, I. (1986). Prosodic phonology Foris. Dordrecht (1986 [1997]).
Nodari, R., Celata, C., & Nagy, N. (July, 2016). Immigrants’ speech: is phonetic attrition a
necessary precondition for phonological attrition to occur? Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Language Attrition, Cholchester, UK.
Obrecht, O. H. (1965). Three experiments in the perception of geminate consonants in Arabic. Language and Speech, 8, 31–41.
Ohala, J. (1983). The origin of sound patterns in vocal tract constraints. In P. MacNeilage (ed.), The Production of Speech, pp. 189–216. New York: Springer Verlag.
Peng, S. (1993). Cross-language influence on the production of Mandarin /f/ and /x/ and Taiwanese /h/ by native speakers of Taiwanese Amoy. Phonetica, 50, 245–260.
Podesva, R. (2002). Segmental contrasts on geminates and their implications for typology. A handout for a talk given at the LSA Annual Meeting.
Polinsky, M. (2007). Incomplete acquisition: American Russian. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 14, 191–262.
Rafat, Y. (2008). The acquisition of allophonic variation in Spanish as a second language. In S. Jones (ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Canadian Linguistic Association, pp. Vancouver, BC.
Rafat, Y. (2010). A socio-phonetic investigation of rhotics in Persian. Iranian Studies, 43, 667–682.
Rafat, Y. (2011). Orthography-induced transfer in the production of novice adult English-speaking learners of Spanish (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto).
Rafat, Y. (2015). The interaction of acoustic and orthographic input in the L2 production of assibilated/fricative rhotics. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36, 43–64.
Roach, P. (2000). English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Rumbaut, R. (2004). Ages, life stages, and generational cohorts: Decomposing the immigrant first and second generations in the United States. International Migration
Silva-Corvalán, C. (2003). Linguistic consequences of reduced input in bilingual first language acquisition. In S. Montrul & F. Ord..ez (Eds.), Linguistic theory and language development in Hispanic languages (pp. 375–397). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Review, 38, 1160–1205.
Solé, M. (1998). Phonological Universals: Trilling, voicing and frication. Berkeley Linguistics Society, 24, 427–442.
Sorianello (2014). Italian geminate consonants in L2 acquisition. In L. Costamagna & C. Celata (eds.), Consonant gemination in first and second language acquisition, pp. 25–46. Pisa: Pacini editore.
Schmid, M. S. (2002). First Language Attrition, Use and Maintenance: the Case of German Jews in Anglophone Countries. Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
Steriade, D. (1982). Greek Prosodies and the Nature of Syllabification. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT.
Tan, T. X. (2016). Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in 1.5 th Generation, 2nd Generation Immigrant Children, and Foreign Adoptees. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 18(5), 957-965.
Taylor, M. (1985). Some patterns of geminate consonants. The University of Chicago Working Papers in Linguistics, 1, 120–129.
Ulbrich, C. & Ordin, M. (2014). Can L2-English influence L1-German? The case of post-vocalic /r/. Journal of Phonetics, 45, 26–42.
Warner, N & Arai, T. (1999). Japanese mora-timing: A review. Phonetica, 58, 1–25.
Wolfram, W. & Schilling-Estes, N. (1998). American English: Dialects and variation. Malden, MA: Basil Blackwell.
