How similar are the formants in the speech of bilingual speakers?

Authors

  • Peggy P. K. Mok Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Holly S. H. Fung Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Grace W. L. Cao Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Chun Wai Leung Chinese University of Hong Kong

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.22946

Keywords:

bilingual vowels, accent, convergence

Abstract

This study investigated whether a stronger accent in the L2 of Cantonese-English bilingual speakers with high levels of English proficiency correlates with greater convergence of corresponding vowels (four monophthongs (/i a (a) c u/ and five diphthongs /ai au ei ci ou (eu)/) between their two languages in identical phonetic environments. No consistent effect of accent rating was found in either acoustic or perceptual similarity measures. Much individual variation and vowel-specific patterns were observed. The results demonstrate that the formant patterns in one language or one vowel cannot predict those in another language or another vowel, even with highly comparable materials and speakers with a relatively strong accent. Possible reasons and implications for the lack of correlation between accentedness and vowel convergence are discussed.

Author Biographies

  • Peggy P. K. Mok, Chinese University of Hong Kong

    Peggy Mok is a Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is interested in both speech production and perception, particularly with cross-linguistic and psycholinguistic perspectives. She investigates both segmental and prosodic aspects of speech. Speech acquisition in different contexts is an important theme in her research. Additionally, she is interested in forensic phonetics and the bilingual mental lexicon.

  • Holly S. H. Fung, Chinese University of Hong Kong

    Holly Fung received her B.A. and M.Phil. degrees in Linguistics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her main research interest is in speech prosody and its relationship with co-speech gestures. She co-authored a paper on the temporal coordination between focus prosody and pointing gesture in Cantonese.

  • Grace W. L. Cao, Chinese University of Hong Kong

    Grace Wenling Cao is a postdoctoral fellow working on forensic phonetics with a trilingual perspective under the RGC Postdocotral Fellowship Scheme at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She received her PhD degree in sociophonetics from University of York. Her recent publications include ‘L2 phonetic convergence of Hong Kong English’ in Language and Speech. She is interested in L2 sociophonetics, forensic phonetics of trilingual speech and language attitudes.

  • Chun Wai Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong

    Chun Wai Leung is an Assistant Lecturer at the English Language Teaching Unit at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, teaching and coordinating various English for Academic Purposes and English for Professional Purposes courses. He obtained his BA in Linguistics from University College London and MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge. His academic interests include Cantonese linguistics, English language pedagogy, and the interaction between Cantonese and English in bilinguals.

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Published

2023-08-16

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 1 (2023)

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Articles

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How to Cite

Mok, P. P. K., Fung, H. S. H., Cao, G. W. L., & Leung, C. W. (2023). How similar are the formants in the speech of bilingual speakers?. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 30(1), 52-86. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.22946