The purpose of this study is to show that the phonetic changes wrought by assimilation in the development of the sound of Modern English are still at work. To do this, historical examples will be placed side by side with others from present-day English. No effort is made to restrict examples to any one dialectical area or time.

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Thesis (Sc. D.)—Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1976. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-149). / This electronic version was scanned from a copy of the thesis on file at the Speech Communication Group. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections

In the field of child language acquisition, in particular phonological acquisition, many have queried the role played by perception. The present study was undertaken to examine the perception of some speech sounds by children in the process of phonological development. Perception of the group of sounds known as fricatives was examined in a group of subjects aged 3;0 to 4;11. Pairs of nonsense syllables were presented to eight subjects in an AX paradigm. Results were examined for each fricative pair in terms of mean error rate. Some discussion of individual subjects was also included. Results showed that children find it more difficult to discriminate between some pairs of fricatives than others. In particular, the three voiced/voiceless minimal pairs: [sə-zə, ʃə- ʒə, fə-və] were found to be significantly more difficult to discrjurdnate than other pairs of fricatives. Findings were for the most part in agreement with the results of other similar studies. In addition, methodological problems inherent to the nature of the investigation were encountered and discussed. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

The schools of California are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibility in the assimilation of minority groups into participation in the full life of the community. Varied studies are underway to determine effective methods of meeting the needs of these groups of differing cultural, racial, language, and economic backgrounds. One of these areas of need is that that of speech, with which this study is concerned.

Leung, Ming Ming Grace. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-150). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; includes Chinese characters in appendix. / ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE) --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1. --- Background to this Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2. --- Purpose and Significance of this Study --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3. --- Organization of the Thesis --- p.3 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW / Chapter 2.1. --- Introduction --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2. --- /n/ and /l/ in English and Cantonese --- p.5 / Chapter 2.3. --- /n/ and /l/ Variation in Cantonese --- p.6 / Chapter 2.4. --- /n/ and /l/ Variation in Hong Kong English --- p.7 / Chapter 2.5. --- Language Transfer --- p.10 / Chapter 2.6. --- English Perception and Production by L2 Speakers --- p.20 / Chapter 2.7. --- Task Type --- p.34 / Chapter 2.8. --- Linguistic Environment --- p.40 / Chapter 2.9. --- Language Proficiency --- p.43 / Chapter 2.10. --- Summary --- p.45 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY / Chapter 3.1. --- Introduction --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2. --- Research Questions --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3. --- Research Methodology --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- Participants --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- Materials and Procedure --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- Data Recording and Data Transcription --- p.56 / Chapter 3.3.4. --- "Data Coding, Data Scoring and Data Analysis" --- p.56 / Chapter 3.4. --- Summary --- p.57 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- FINDINGS / Chapter 4.1. --- Introduction --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2. --- General Results in Descriptive Statistics --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.1. --- General Finding of English Production and Perception --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.1.1. --- Production of /n/and /l/ in Different Task Types --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2.1.2. --- Production of /n/ and /l/ in Different Following Linguistic Environments --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.1.3. --- Production of /n/ and /l/ with the Presence of a Second /n/ --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2.1.4. --- Production of /n/ and /l/ by Three Groups of Participants --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2.2. --- General Finding of Cantonese Production and Perception --- p.72 / Chapter 4.3. --- Results of VARBRUL Statistics --- p.76 / Chapter 4.3.1. --- Result of Accurate Production of /n/ --- p.81 / Chapter 4.3.2. --- Result of /n/ to /l/ Variation --- p.83 / Chapter 4.3.3. --- Result of Accurate Production of /l/ --- p.84 / Chapter 4.3.4. --- Result of /l/ to /n/ Variation --- p.85 / Chapter 4.4. --- Descriptive and VARBRUL Statistical Results regarding Four Research Questions --- p.87 / Chapter 4.4.1. --- Data for Research Question 1: To what extent does /n/ and /l/ variation of Cantonese play a role in /n/ and /l/ variation in the onset positionin English? --- p.88 / Chapter 4.4.2. --- Data for Research Question 2: How significant is English perception for English production? --- p.91 / Chapter 4.4.3. --- "Data for Research Question 3: How do Cantonese speakers of English perform in different task types (word list, passage, and natural speech) and is task type significant for English production?" --- p.94 / Chapter 4.4.4. --- "Data for Research Question 4: Which linguistic and/or non-linguistic factors, such as the linguistic environment, the presence of a second /n/ within the same syllable, and English proficiency/university major, may have an influence on /n/ and /l/ production in English?" --- p.95 / Chapter 4.5. --- Summary --- p.99 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION / Chapter 5.1. --- Introduction --- p.100 / Chapter 5.2. --- Research Question 1: To what extent does /n/ and /l/ variation of Cantonese play a role in /n/ and /l/ variation in the onset position in English? --- p.100 / Chapter 5.2.1. --- Discussion about /n/ and /l/ Variation in Cantonese --- p.101 / Chapter 5.2.2. --- Discussion about /n/ and /l/ Variation in English --- p.109 / Chapter 5.2.3. --- Transfer of /n/ and /l/ Variation in Cantonese to /n/ and /l/ variationin English --- p.113 / Chapter 5.3. --- Research Question 2: How significant is English perception for English production? --- p.117 / Chapter 5.4. --- "Research Question 3: How do Cantonese speakers of English perform in different task types (word list，passage, and natural speech) and is task type significant for English production?" --- p.124 / Chapter 5.5. --- "Research Question 4: Which linguistic and/or non-linguistic factors, such as the linguistic environment, the presence of a second /n/ within the same syllable, and English proficiency/university major, may have an influence on /n/ and /l/ production in English?" --- p.128 / Chapter 5.6. --- Summary --- p.137 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 6.1. --- Introduction --- p.142 / Chapter 6.1.1. --- Pedagogical Implication --- p.142 / Chapter 6.1.2. --- Limitations of the Current Study --- p.144 / Chapter 6.1.3. --- Suggestions for Further Studies --- p.145 / REFERENCES --- p.147 / APPENDIX A / APPENDIX B / APPENDIX C / APPENDIX D

Leung, Ming Ming Grace. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-277). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

All in all, the thesis tries to fill the research gap in the study of English pronunciation in a Hong Kong context. It exhausts the pronunciation of all types of English consonant clusters by native Cantonese learners of English, provides experimental studies to investigate the most effective approach to the acquisition of English consonant clusters, and applies Optimality Theory to elucidate the pronunciation phenomena found among Cantonese learners of English. / Apart from the inquiry into language pedagogy, this thesis also analyses and expounds the language phenomena of consonant cluster production through the application of Optimality Theory. From the data of the pre-test and post-tests, the pronunciation modification phenomena of subjects were summarised and analysed. It is found that subjects produced pronunciation forms that resembled that of native English speakers, but at the same time they produced forms that deviated from that of native English speakers. The most frequent pronunciation modifications are substitution and deletion. / Optimality Theory argues that phonological differences between languages are the results of the differences in the ranking of universal constraints; therefore, the preference towards certain modification phenomena and the production of certain pronunciation forms by Cantonese speakers can be viewed as the differences in the ranking of constraints between English and Cantonese. In the interlanguage phonology of Cantonese speakers, words like pray /pre I/ and find /faInd/ could become [pe I] and [faIn] phonetically. This can be explained by assuming that the English words are input to a phonology in which *COMPLEX (complex onset or coda is not permissible) is highly ranked, and that in order to observe this constraint, Cantonese learners of English might apply deletion to delete a consonant in syllables with consonant clusters. / Yam Pui Suen, Josephine. / "June 2005." / Advisers: G. Gong; J. Hung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0170. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-214). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

The purpose of this study was (1) the selection of consonant clusters of both English and Japanese; (2) the comparison and analysis of the clusters on the phonemic as well as phonetic level; and (3) the formulation of a hierarchy of difficulties encountered by the Japanese students in learning English consonant clusters.