The Production of Chinese Affricates /ts/ and /tsh/ by Native Urdu Speakers

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that learners with different native language backgrounds have common difficulties in learning Chinese affricates but demonstrate in various patterns. While few studies investigated this issue of native Urdu speakers. To address the production of Chinese affricates /ts/ and /tsʰ/ by native Urdu speakers, speech materials, produced by two groups of subjects with different Chinese proficiency, were selected from the BLCU-SAIT speech corpus. The error rate and error types of their production of Chinese affricates /ts/ and /tsʰ/ have been discussed after transcription and data analysis. The results show that though there are no counterparts of Chinese affricates /ts/ and /tsʰ/ in Urdu, the error and the acquisition pattern of these two affricates, to some extent, affected by individual differences of their roles in Urdu except universal similarities and differences between two languages. The findings of this study shed some light on second language learning and teaching.