Sound change in spontaneous bilingual speech: A corpus study on the Cantonese n-l merger in Cantonese-English bilinguals

Soo, Rachel; Johnson, Khia A.; Babel, Molly

doi:10.31219/osf.io/9c3w6

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Finally, differences across languages may exist in bilingual populations, providing evidence of language-selective merger. Soo et al (2021) analyzed the acoustic properties of /l/ and /n/ in spontaneous Cantonese and English speech produced by Cantonese-English bilinguals. At the group level, the acoustic values of /l/ and /n/ (including mid-frequency spectral tilt and F2-F1 spacing) were less distinct in Cantonese than in English, which was considered evidence that /l/ and /n/ were merging in their Cantonese while the contrast was preserved in their English.…”

Section: Phonological Mergers In Speech Production and Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production and Perception Evidence of a Merger: [l] and [n] in Fuzhou Min

2022

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The current study investigated the merger-in-progress between word-initial nasal and lateral consonants in Fuzhou Min, examining the linguistic and social factors that modulate the merger. First, the acoustic cues to the l-n distinction were examined in Fuzhou Min. Acoustic analyses suggested a collapse of phonemic contrast between prescriptive L and N (phonemes in the unmerged system), with none of the six acoustic cues showing any difference across L and N. Linear discriminant analysis did identify acoustically distinct [l] and [n] tokens, although the mapping onto the phonetic space of prescriptive L and N substantially overlapped. Speakers of all ages and both genders tended to produce [l], and low vowels correlated with more [n]-like classification. In perception, AX discrimination data showed Fuzhou Min listeners confused both prescriptive L and N and acoustic [l] and [n]. Greater sensitivity to the acoustic differences occurred in the context of low vowels and a nasal coda, supported by the acoustics of the stimuli, and younger listeners were more sensitive to the difference between [l] and [n] than older listeners. In two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) identification, Fuzhou Min listeners also identified the merged form as L more frequently than N, with more L responses elicited in the context of low vowels and in the absence of nasal codas. Overall, although Fuzhou Min speakers produced some acoustically distinct [l] and [n] tokens in the context of a sound merger, these productions did not map onto prescriptive L and N. In addition, younger listeners were more sensitive to the acoustic distinction than older listeners, suggesting an emerging acoustic contrast possibly arising due to contact with Mandarin.

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Section: Phonological Mergers In Speech Production and Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%