Articulation of Cantonese and English sibilants among bilingual speakers in Hong Kong

Abstract

<p>English influence has been argued to be responsible for the recent emergence of an allophonic split between alveolar [͡ts, ͡tsh] and alveolo-palatal [͡tɕ, ͡tɕh] alternants for the affricates of Hong Kong Cantonese (HKC). However, the phonetic similarity and phonological relationship between English and HKC sibilants has not been empirically established. This study uses ultrasound tongue imaging with synchronized audio and lip video to examine the production of English and Cantonese sibilants among native HKC speakers with varying levels of English proficiency. Participants recited a Cantonese word list containing Cantonese /s, ͡ts, ͡tsh/ and an English word list containing /s, ʃ, ͡tʃ, d͡ ʒ/. While L1 English, L2 English, and L1 HKC sibilants are largely similar in terms of spectral center of gravity, a high degree of interspeaker variability is observed in articulation, primarily with respect to lip rounding. These findings are considered with respect to their implications for theories of bilingual phonological representation and of contact-induced change.</p>