Interlanguage phonology in a Chaoyang speaker of Cantonese

Abstract of B.CogSci Thesis

LEE Nim Yan, Naomi

In Hong Kong, native Chaoyang speakers speaking Cantonese as a second language can be identified by their accent. This raises the question of how far they are able to acquire the phonological system of Cantonese. In this thesis, we investigate the vowel system of a Chaoyang speaker's interlanguage, in the
light of the differences between the Cantonese and Chaoyang vowel systems. Results show that the speaker used transfer and approximation to substitute for the Cantonese sounds which have no equivalent in Chaoyang dialect. Aspects of the Cantonese system which are not fully acquired include the marked vowels /y/, /oe/ and /eo/ and the length distinction between /a/ and /aa/.

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