This study hypothesizes that the Epenthetic Vowel (EV) that occurs in Spanish consonant clusters, although produced unconsciously, is part of the articulatory plan of the speaker. As part of the plan, the epenthetic vowel occurs more often in the least perceptually recoverable contexts in order to enhance them. To achieve a better understanding of the role of the epenthetic vowel, this study shows that the linguistic and phonotactic contexts condition the occurrence of these vowels. Specifically, it argues that linguistic and phonotactic contexts that are perceptually weak compel a significantly higher occurrence of EVs. The EV was analyzed from both production and perceptual standpoints. The results show that from the production standpoint, the occurrence of the EV is affected by the type of liquid that forms the clusters: in clusters with /r/ the variables that made a statistical contribution were post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.46), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.42). In the case of clusters with /l/ an EV has a higher probability of occurring in the context of bilabial consonants (odds ratio, 4.19), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.3). As for the effects of speech rate on the duration of EVs, the results show that speech rate accounts for 14% of the variation in an EV’s length. From the standpoint of perception, listening was divided into the tasks of perceptual identification and perceptual discrimination. The results show that the strongest predictor is the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.8). For the identification of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictor is the context of voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 4.42). Regarding identification of the Cl clusters, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 1.54) and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.39). With regard to the discrimination of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictors for perceptual recoverability are the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 2.22), and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.37), while for the Cl cluster, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 5.83) and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 3).

This study hypothesizes that the Epenthetic Vowel (EV) that occurs in Spanish consonant clusters, although produced unconsciously, is part of the articulatory plan of the speaker. As part of the plan, the epenthetic vowel occurs more often in the least perceptually recoverable contexts in order to enhance them. To achieve a better understanding of the role of the epenthetic vowel, this study shows that the linguistic and phonotactic contexts condition the occurrence of these vowels. Specifically, it argues that linguistic and phonotactic contexts that are perceptually weak compel a significantly higher occurrence of EVs. The EV was analyzed from both production and perceptual standpoints. The results show that from the production standpoint, the occurrence of the EV is affected by the type of liquid that forms the clusters: in clusters with /r/ the variables that made a statistical contribution were post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.46), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.42). In the case of clusters with /l/ an EV has a higher probability of occurring in the context of bilabial consonants (odds ratio, 4.19), and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 1.3). As for the effects of speech rate on the duration of EVs, the results show that speech rate accounts for 14% of the variation in an EV’s length. From the standpoint of perception, listening was divided into the tasks of perceptual identification and perceptual discrimination. The results show that the strongest predictor is the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 4.8). For the identification of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictor is the context of voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 4.42). Regarding identification of the Cl clusters, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 1.54) and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.39). With regard to the discrimination of the Cr clusters, the strongest predictors for perceptual recoverability are the interaction voiceless x post-tonic position (odds ratio, 2.22), and the labial place of articulation (odds ratio, 1.37), while for the Cl cluster, the strongest predictors are the tonic position (odds ratio, 5.83) and voiceless consonants (odds ratio, 3).

This is essentially a phonological analysis of the Dholuo loanwords derived from English and Swahili. This study examines loanword adaptation at three levels: phonemic, phonotactic and prosodic. The study analyses the strategies that the language has used in adapting the foreign phonemes to the native phoneme system. It also examines the way foreign consonant and vowel clusters are adapted to the Dholuo system and how the stress systems in the source languages are adapted to the Dholuo tonal pattern. The Dholuo principles of syllabification are also examined. On adaptation of incoming sounds into the language, the study determined that Dholuo replaces such foreign segments with native sounds which are acoustically and auditorily closest to the foreign sounds. Some foreign sounds, however, are adopted into the sound system of the language, either to fill some phonological gaps in the language or for non-linguistic factors, like the prestige value. The study found that the native speaker-hearer has knowledge of the possible phonetic sequences in his language and performs the simplest possible adaptation in the loanword to make it correspond to these well-formed sequences. This extends to the insertion or deletion of foreign segments to make a loanword conform to the syllable structure constraints of the native system. The study reveals that Dholuo employs several strategies to nativize unnatural, non-canonic syllable structures: epenthetic vowel insertion, extrasyllabic consonant or vowel deletion, devocalization of unnatural vowel sequences, addition of a final vowel, and in some cases, consonant clusters may be tolerated. At the suprasegmental level, the study reveals that stress in the source languages is generally rendered as high tone in the language, while the stressed vowel in the loanword generally determines the ATR harmony in the loanword. The study revealed that if the first syllable in the loanword is stressed, then the loanword will be rendered with +ATR in Dholuo, while an unstressed first syllable will lead to a loanword with –ATR harmony. The study concludes that the means employed by a given language for the adaptation of unnatural, non-canonic syllable shapes are, in a general sense, peculiar to that language, and have nothing to do with the internally-motivated morpheme structure or phonological rules of the target language. The study also concludes that foreign phonemes are directly mapped onto corresponding native phonetic forms, and there is very scarce evidence in the data to support the theory that loanwords are nativized at the abstract phonological level of the target language. / Thesis (DLitt (African Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / African Languages / unrestricted

Submitted by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2018-07-06T13:07:29Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_Marcia_Evangelista.pdf: 1527337 bytes, checksum: 2ba5b6dc7fd2bfb65909ac3a006d7598 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2018-07-06T14:10:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_Marcia_Evangelista.pdf: 1527337 bytes, checksum: 2ba5b6dc7fd2bfb65909ac3a006d7598 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-06T14:11:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_Marcia_Evangelista.pdf: 1527337 bytes, checksum: 2ba5b6dc7fd2bfb65909ac3a006d7598 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-23 / Sem bolsa / Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar e analisar, à luz da Teoria da sílaba (Selkirk, 1982) e daTeoria autossegmental (Clements & Hume, 1995), o processo epentético na aquisição do espanhol como L2, por falantes nativos do Português Brasileiro. A inserção do glide palatal [j] promove a formação de um ditongo crescente em contexto no qual inexiste na língua alvo. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, foram coletados dados de 34 graduandos do Curso de Letras Português e Espanhol da Universidade Federal de Pelotas do 1º, 3º e 7º semestre. Para a constituição do corpus, foi proposto um instrumento composto de leitura de palavras isoladas, leitura de frases e detextos autênticos, bem como entrevista sociolinguística. Após oitiva e codificação, os dados foram submetidos ao Programa Computacional GoldVarb 2001 (versão3.0b3); controlaram-se variáveis linguísticas e extralinguísticas. Os resultados apontaram que o contexto preferencial de inserção do glide palatal [j] é uma sílaba fechada, do padrão CVC, e que o contexto precedente e seguinte carregam, preferencialmente, uma vogal coronal média-alta; além disso, o nível principiante no estudo formal do espanhol-L2 é aquele que mais se sobressai no emprego do glide palatal. / This study has as main goal to investigate and analyze, under the Syllable Theory (Selkirk, 1982) and the Autosegmental Theory (Clements & Hume, 1995), the epenthetic process in the L2 Spanish Language Acquisition, by Brazilian Portuguese native speakers. The palatal glide insertion [j] promotes the formation of a rising diphthong in a contexto which there is not into the target language. In order to develop the research, it was collected data from 34 Letters Course students - Portuguese and Spanish; from first, third and seventh semester of Pelotas Federal University. For the corpus constitution, it was proposed an instrument composed by isolated words reading, sentences reading and authentic texts, as well as sociolinguistic interview. After the auditory and codificaton, the data were submitted to the GoldVarb 2001(3.0b3 version) Computational Program, it was controlled the linguistics and extralinguistics variables. The results showed that the preferred context of the palatal glide insertion [j] is a closed syllable, from CVC standard and that the previous and ahead contexto carry, preferably, médium-high vowel, besides that, the early level in the formal Spanish study as L2, is the one which stands out at the palatal glide usage.