Segment Composition as a Factor in the Syllabification Errors of Second-Language Speakers

A major goal of second-language acquisition research is to identify factors that influence speaker/listener errors. This study focused on the markedness of L2 consonant characteristics as one such factor. Markedness theory has well served the search for performance constraints that go beyond native-language interference. Its application to phonological errors in particular has been fertile ground for testing the claim that L2 errors reflect universal constraints on learning linguistic forms. Evidence for this claim has been sought more often from the syllabic structure of words than the properties of the speech sounds comprising it. Thus, given the universally favored CV syllable shape, L2 errors are expected to occur more often in the more marked syllable-final than syllable-initial word position. Our study revealed, however, that the markedness of the syllabic position can be neutralized by the type of consonant sounds that are perceived and produced: The expected rank ordering of initial and final consonant errors of Mandarin speakers of English did not conform to Anderson's (1987) hierarchy as predicted by a modified version of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis. These learners' syllable final/initial errors could be related to the consonant's manner and place of articulation, as well as to its voicing and sonority features as described in other studies; the greater vulnerability of their nasal than their oral stops to syllable position constraints implicates the markedness of the speech sounds themselves as a factor limiting performance.This study, then, adds to the growing body of evidence that L2 errors are differentially influenced by the inherent properties of the L2 speech sounds. The research focus on segmental sound properties becomes important in view of the fact that so much of the syllable structure research has focused on oral stops; our findings suggest that research on syllable structure constraints may not be generalized across sound classes. Furthermore, it is clear that multiple interacting factors must be taken into account in modeling L2 errors within a universal constraints framework

Consonant · Factor (programming language) · Linguistics · Mandarin Chinese · Markedness · Obstruent · Sonority hierarchy · Speech production · Syllabic verse · Syllabification · Syllable · Voice · Vowel · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Language Development and Disorders · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology · Speech and dialogue systems

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