Epenthesis, deletion and the emergence of the optimal syllable in creole: the case of Sranan

Consonant Change in English Worldwide

“…It reports findings from two case studies, one historical and one sociolinguistic/ variationist. It demonstrates the historical dimension of initial cluster loss in British English, reports on a quantitative variationist analysis of /hw-/ loss in New Zealand English and discusses modification and restructuring processes in Sranan, an English-based creole spoken in Suriname (Alber and Plag 2001). Based on an evaluation of spelling variations from several historical corpora, the historical study outlines the diachronic manifestation of cluster loss in Old and Middle English, tracing the loss of initial clusters such as */wl-/, */wr-/ or */hr-/.…”

“…Finally, the last point addressed is the heavy degree of restructuring and phonotactic reduction in the context of creolisation. Section 3.3 discusses effects of phonotactic transfer in language contact conditions and, following Alber and Plag (2001), considers them in a framework based on optimality theory. The findings are summarised and compared with the aim of identifying a common set of parallels and characteristics in initial cluster reduction in English. Chapter 4 discusses word-final cluster reduction.…”

“…Accordingly, CCR has been described as particularly prominent in contact-derived varieties with influence from other phonotactic systems; for instance, it is particularly high in early stages of language shift (Schreier 2003b) or creolisation (Patrick 1991), and initial cluster reduction is extensive in Sranan (Alber and Plag 2001), all of which strongly suggests that phonotactic change in English is mainly a function of external language change. According to Holm (1988: 109):…”

Epenthetic vowel quality in loanwords: Empirical and formal issues

“…word-final epenthetic vowels while word-initially deletion of a consonant in a cluster is preferred to satisfy syllable structure constraints (Alber and Plag, 2001). The words analyzed are not loanwords, strictly speaking, as Sranan is a Creole language in which the whole lexicon was replaced by superstrate lexical items, the superstrate having been English and Dutch.…”

L1 Shapes L2 Auditory Representation Elicited Imitation of Arabic-Speaking Learners of English

“…As a consequence, I expect that CA native speakers, upon reading and repeating English utterances (e.g., words and phrases) that contain three-and four-consonant clusters, will transfer their own prosodic strategy of epenthesis and insert a vowel to break up a cluster of these consonants. Transfer of prosodic strategies, especially vowel epenthesis, from L1 to L2 has been studied in the SLA literature, and it has been found that L2 speakers often resort to these strategies as repair tactics to simplify and modify L2 syllable structures (Alber, 2000;Alber & Plag, 1999;Alsin & Pisoni, 1980;Asci, 1996;Broselow, 1979Broselow, , 1987aBroselow, , 1987bBroselow, , 1988Broselow, , 1993Carlisle, 1991;Hansen, 2001Hansen, , 2004Kim & Jung, 1998;Tarone, 1978Tarone, , 1980Tarone, , 1987Weinberger, 1987). See (Broselow, 1979(Broselow, , 1987a(Broselow, , 1987b(Broselow, , 1988(Broselow, , 1992(Broselow, , 1993 for Arabic and (Dupoux, Kakehi, Hirose, Pallier, & Mehler, 1999) for Japanese.…”