Cross-language correspondences in the face of change: Phonetic independence versus convergence in two Korean-Mandarin bilingual communities

Abstract

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: We investigate the robustness of cross-language phonetic correspondences in two bilingual communities over time, focusing on whether corresponding sounds (e.g. Mandarin /s/ and Korean /s’/) remain coupled in the face of language change, or whether the categories diverge over time in younger, more proficient bilinguals. Design/Methodology/Approach: We quantify the extent of assimilation versus independence of categories across languages by comparing bilinguals’ production of place of articulation and laryngeal contrasts in Mandarin and Korean sibilants. Distinct language-internal changes were expected on each dimension. Data and analysis: 107 speakers varying in age (aged 19–83), gender, and dialect participated in the study. Acoustic measurements (center of gravity of frication, voice onset time) and statistical analyses were performed on a total of ~11,000 tokens. Findings/Conclusions: The extent of cross-language independence differed on the two dimensions. Corresponding segments across the two languages remained tightly coupled in terms of place of articulation, even in the face of change; on the other hand, a language-internal change in the Korean laryngeal contrast left corresponding Mandarin segments unaffected, resulting in divergence of originally corresponding categories. We also found unpredicted changes on each dimension, and these changes progressed concurrently in the two languages. Originality: The study of correspondences in the context of independent sound change provides a unique perspective from which to evaluate the robustness of cross-language interaction, and the parallel analysis of two separate dimensions in two communities adds to the generalizability of results. Significance/Implications: Most changes occurred concurrently in the two languages, suggesting that similar phonetic categories across languages can remain tightly coupled, even in highly proficient bilinguals where phonetic independence is expected. However, one of the primary expected changes (voice onset time merger in Korean) did not affect corresponding segments in Mandarin, indicating that the extent of cross-language independence in phonetic correspondences may differ even within the same population. We discuss potential reasons for the different results.

Phonetic similarity of /s/ in native and second language: Individual differences in learning curves

“…This confirms similar reports of relatively large L1-L2 contrasts in young, proficient speakers: early L1 Spanish learners of L2 English showed a larger contrast between their L1 Spanish and L2 English stop consonants than late learners, 26 and young Korean-Mandarin bilinguals showed a larger contrast in COG between their Korean and Mandarin sibilants than older L1 Korean L2 Mandarin speakers. 27 The higher COG for /s/ in L2 English than in L1 Dutch corresponds with a more forward tongue position in producing English /s/ than in Dutch /s/. Similar results have been reported for vowels too, with higher formants for English vowels than for Dutch vowels, again corresponding to a more forward tongue position in producing English vowels as compared to Dutch vowels.…”

Sound change in spontaneous bilingual speech: A corpus study on the Cantonese n-l merger in Cantonese-English bilinguals

“…In line with the (revised) Speech Learning Model [9,22], several studies have observed some degree of cross-language influence between the corresponding sounds in each language of a bilingual [23,24,25]. At the same time, the presence of similar or identical sounds in both languages does not necessarily entail a link between those two sounds, as similarity may only exist on the surface, masking independent sound categories across languages [26]. If Cantonese /n/ and /l/ are linked with English /n/ and /l/, then the merging of /n/ and /l/ in Cantonese should result in a similar narrowing of the acoustic distance between English /n/ and /l/.…”

“…The group-level analyses also demonstrate that cross-language differences are maintained: bilinguals' /n/ and /l/ categories are not inextricably linked across languages-English appears separate and Cantonese merged (cf. [26]). These results may, however, gloss over individual differences in the acoustic realization of these sounds, participation in or degree of merger, and cross-language links.…”

The Effects of Phonetic Duration on Loanword Adaptation: Mandarin Falling Diphthong in Chinese Korean

“…The majority of ethnic Koreans in China are bilingual, but the dominant language is shifting from Korean to Mandarin in many communities in China (Choi, 2001;Jin, 2008;Han, 2011Han, , 2014. In particular, Schertz et al (2017) found that younger speakers in Dandong use Korean less and consider themselves to be less proficient in Korean than in Mandarin, while older speakers are dominant in Korean and have relatively low Mandarin proficiency.…”