African Englishes: acoustic analysis of vowels

Abstract

This paper focuses on acoustic analysis of African English (AfrE) vowels produced by a controlled sample of speakers from Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Adopting quantitative methods of data sampling and analysis, and holding dialectal factors as homogeneous as possible, this exploratory study subjects Schmied's (1991a) claim -that a major source of regional variation is the 'deviation' in the production of RP central vowel [‰] (as in bird) -to empirical scrutiny. Schmied contends that [‰] backs and lowers to [Å] in West African English, fronts and lowers to [a] or fronts to [e] in East African English, while in (Black) South African English it fronts to [e]. However, analysis of acoustic waveforms of AfrE vowels, produced by educated speakers of Bantu and Kwa languages, partially corroborate Schmied's contention. For instance, Ghanaian and Zimbabwean respondents in this study front the RP vowel [‰] to [e], while Kenyans lower it to [a]. The paper provides a methodological framework that will at least address some research concerns voiced over the years: lack of "objective, systematic study" (Abdulaziz 1991: 393), "deficiency in methodology" (Adegbija 1994: 53), and "overgeneralization" (Simo Bobda 2000: 264). Sustained empirical studies could eventually lead to a fresh perspective on AfrE's phonological variation.

An acoustic-articulatory study of bilingual vowel production: Advanced tongue root vowels in Twi and tense/lax vowels in Ghanaian English

“…However, the /u U/ vowels are produced with similar F1 and F2 values for almost all speakers, with some showing merger (GF01, GF02, GF03, GM02), which Huber (2004, 850) reports as characteristic of Ghanaian English. The /i/ and /e/ vowels are also realised with similar F1∼F2 values for some speakers, which has previously been reported by Mutonya (2008). While /ae A/ were not included in the statistical models, Figure 3 shows that some speakers produce /ae/ with lower F1 than /A/ (GM01, GF04), while others produce /ae/ with higher F1 than /A/ (GM02, GF02, GF03), accompanied by some variation in F2.…”

Zimbabwean English: A sociophonological exploration

“…African Englishes is a term that has been coined and is being widely used to specifically refer to varieties of English that are emerging in the African continent (also see Todd, 1982Todd, , 1984Bokamba & Todd, 1992;Mazrui & Mazrui, 1996;Arua, 1999;Adegbija, 1994;Igboanusi, 2006;Mutonya, 2008). The African Englishes paradigm mainly focuses on the ways in which English in its spread has been indigenized by native speakers of indigenous African languages.…”

Towards the Stabilisation of Zimbabwean English: Progress and Prospects

“…It is a feature of the Error Analysis theory, developed by Ellis (1992) which claims that L1 is responsible for errors made by learners of English as a second language, and refers to the variety of English produced by these learners as a learner variety. Mutonya (2008) consents as he argues that African Englishes are linguistically attained through learning processes of acquiring English by non-native speakers. In this regard, Makoni (1993) claims that ZE, as well as other African varieties of English, are mere interlanguage errors.…”