Phonetic variations and sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese: diachronic review, synchronic study and implications for speech sound assessment.
Clin Linguist Phon
; 29(5): 333-53, 2015 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25651195
ABSTRACT
The aim of this article was to describe phonetic variations and sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese (HKC) to provide speech-language pathologists with information about acceptable variants of standard pronunciations for speech sound assessments. Study 1 examined the pattern of variations and changes based on past diachronic research and historical written records. Nine phonetic variations were found. Five in syllable-initial and syllabic contexts (1) [n-] â [l-], (2) [Å-] â Ø-, (3) Ø- â [Å-], (4) [k(w)É-] â [kÉ-], (5) syllabic [ÅÌ] â [mÌ©]; and four in syllable-final contexts (6) [-Å] â [-n], (7) [-n] â [-Å], (8) [-k] â [-t], (9) [-t] â [-k]. Historical records demonstrated the pattern of variation and changes in HKC across time. In study 2, a large-scale synchronic study of speakers of differing ages was undertaken to determine acceptable phonetic variations of HKC for speech sound assessments. In the synchronic study, single-words were elicited from 138 children (10;8-12;4) and 112 adults (18-45 years) who spoke Cantonese and lived in Hong Kong. Synchronic evidence demonstrated five acceptable variants in syllable-initial and syllabic contexts (1) [n-] â [l-], (2) [Å-] â Ø-, (3) Ø- â [Å-], (4) [k(w)É-] â [kÉ-] and (5) syllabic [ÅÌ] â [mÌ©] and four incomplete sound changes in syllable-final contexts (6) [-Å] â [-n], (7) [-n] â [-Å], (8) [-k] â [-t] and (9) [-t] â [-k]. The incomplete sound changes may still be accepted as variants in speech sound assessments unless related speech problems are indicated.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Semantics
/
Speech Articulation Tests
/
Verbal Behavior
/
Phonetics
/
Language
Limits:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Child
/
Female
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Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Clin Linguist Phon
Journal subject:
PATOLOGIA DA FALA E LINGUAGEM
Year:
2015
Type:
Article