Nigerian English prosody
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of the language contact between the structurally diverse prosodic systems of English and the three major Nigerian languages were investigated acoustically in terms of speech rhythm, syllable structure and tonal structure.
Abstract: Nigerian English (NigE) prosody has often been described as strikingly different from Standard English varieties such as British English (BrE) and American English. One possible source for this is the influence of the indigenous tone languages of Nigeria on NigE. This paper investigates the effects of the language contact between the structurally diverse prosodic systems of English and the three major Nigerian languages. Reading passage style and semi-spontaneous speech by speakers of NigE, BrE, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were analysed acoustically in terms of speech rhythm, syllable structure and tonal structure. Results show that NigE prosody combines elements of intonation / stress languages and tone languages. In terms of speech rhythm, syllable structure and syllable length, NigE groups between the Nigerian languages and BrE. NigE tonal properties are different from those of an intonation language such as BrE insofar as tones are associated with syllables and have a grammatical function. Accentuation in NigE is different from BrE in terms of both accent placement and realisation; accents in NigE are associated with high tone. A proposal for a first sketch of NigE intonational phonology is made and parallels are drawn with other New Englishes.
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01 Jan 2007TL;DR: The authors charted the territory of postcolonial English as a field of linguistic investigation and discussed the evolution of post-colonized English: the dynamic model, linguistic aspects of nativization, and the cycle in hindsight.
Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Charting the territory: postcolonial English as a field of linguistic investigation 3. The evolution of postcolonial English: the dynamic model 4. Linguistic aspects of nativization 5. Countries along the cycle: case studies 6. The cycle in hindsight: the emergence of American English 7. Conclusion.
583 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, Ansaldo and Lim bring together research on multilingualism, code-switching, language endangerment, and globalisation into a comprehensive overview of world Englishes and creoles.
Abstract: Introducing new findings from popular culture, the globalised new economy and computer-mediated communication, this is a fascinating study of contact between languages in modern societies. Ansaldo and Lim bring together research on multilingualism, code-switching, language endangerment, and globalisation, into a comprehensive overview of world Englishes and creoles. Illustrated with a wide range of original examples from typologically diverse languages, including Sinitic, Autronesian, Dravidian and other non-Indo-European varieties, the book focuses on structural analyses of Asian ecologies and their relevance for current theories of contact phenomena. Full of new insights, it is essential reading for students and researchers across linguistics, culture and communication.
183 citations
TL;DR: This paper presented a comprehensive account of the discourse particles in colloquial Singapore English (SE), considering their etymology in the light of both structure and socio-history, and identified the most likely sources of SE particles, through a systematic comparison of the forms and functions of the SE particles with particles from the substrates, including, in particular, their original tone.
Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive account of the discourse particles in colloquial Singapore English (SE), considering their etymology in the light of both structure and sociohistory. While the object of many studies, mostly focusing on their meaning and use, and generally recognised as coming from Southern Chinese languages, the establishment of the origins and evolution of SE particles has not before been attempted. The thrust of this paper is thus twofold: (i) it outlines the linguistic ecology of Singapore over the decades and proposes a framework involving three ages in which different languages are recognised as dominant, influencing the feature pool in the evolution of SE, and (ii) it identifies the most likely sources of SE particles, through (a) a systematic comparison of the forms and functions of SE particles with particles from the substrates, including, in particular, their original tone, and (b) recourse to sociohistorical facts to support the linguistic postulation. I suggest that in an early era Bazaar Malay and Hokkien contributed the particles lah, ah and what, and Cantonese in a later age provided lor, hor, leh, meh and ma, inclusive of tone. This argument highlights issues interesting for contact dynamics and new varieties of English.
99 citations
Cites background from "Nigerian English prosody"
...…for other contact varieties whose substrates involve tone languages, for example, tones with grammatically contrastive function in Nigerian English (Gut, 2005), a subset of words marked for true tone in Portuguese- and English-lexifier Saramaccan (Good, 2004), use of both contrastive pitch accent…...
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...Journal compilation C© 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 472 Lisa Lim Gut, Ulrike (2005) Nigerian English prosody....
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...Similar observations have been made for other contact varieties whose substrates involve tone languages, for example, tones with grammatically contrastive function in Nigerian English (Gut, 2005), a subset of words marked for true tone in Portuguese- and English-lexifier Saramaccan (Good, 2004), use of both contrastive pitch accent and stress in Portuguese-lexifier Papiamentu (Rivera-Castillo and Pickering, 2004)....
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TL;DR: This paper investigated the effect of non-native pitch contrasts on the performance of bilingual Spanish-Catalan pitch contours, and found evidence for a process of phonetic category assimilation in second language learning.
Abstract: Thisstudyinvestigatesutterance-finalpitchaccentsindeclarativesintwocontactlanguages (Catalan and Spanish) as produced by two groups of Catalan‐Spanish bilinguals (Catalandominant and Spanish-dominant). It contributes to a growing body of research showing that bilinguals transfer the intonational patterns of their native language to their non-native language, and it provides a sociolinguistic profile of an intonational variable in a language contact situation. We also examine the interaction of native and non-native patterns within the performance of the bilinguals. Evidence is presented for the existence of a process of phonetic category assimilation of non-native pitch contrasts to native pitch contours, as well as for phonetic new-category formation in second language learning.
46 citations
Cites background from "Nigerian English prosody"
...Several recent papers have shown that bilinguals have a tendency to transfer the intonational patterns used in their native language to their non-native one (McGory 1997, Atterer & Ladd 2004, Elordieta & Calleja 2005, Gut 2005, O’Rourke 2005)....
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