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Morphophonemic Variation in Clusters in Japanese English
Author(s) -
Sounders Neville J.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1987.tb00567.x
Subject(s) - morpheme , consonant cluster , morphophonology , linguistics , noun , psychology , variation (astronomy) , vowel , verb , phonology , consonant , philosophy , astrophysics , physics
This study examines the word‐final, voiceless, stop‐sibilant clusters formed by the attachment of [−z] morphemes to verbs and nouns in the spontaneous speech production of Japanese learners of English and finds that reduction is the favored production strategy; that noun attachments are subject to less error than are verb attachments; and that the initial consonant of the cluster affects the rate of omission. An acoustic study of the same clusters follows, which finds that the length of the [−z] morpheme in Japanese L2 English is shorter in the phonetic environment where there is greatest omission and longer when attached to nouns than when attached to verbs. It finds considerable evidence for post‐cluster epenthesis, even when a vowel segment follows, and for mid‐cluster epenthesis. The study also finds evidence that reduction and epenthesis are not alternative strategies in the resolution of production difficulties in L2 clusters.