Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast
Experimental studies of the English contrasts between high vowels (sometimes referred to as a tense-lax contrast) have shown that phonation characteristics may play a role in maintaining the opposition in native varieties: tense vowels in English have been found to show a greater degree of breathine...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires du Midi
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Anglophonia |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/anglophonia/2058 |
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| author | Geoffrey Schwartz |
| author_facet | Geoffrey Schwartz |
| author_sort | Geoffrey Schwartz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Experimental studies of the English contrasts between high vowels (sometimes referred to as a tense-lax contrast) have shown that phonation characteristics may play a role in maintaining the opposition in native varieties: tense vowels in English have been found to show a greater degree of breathiness, while lax vowels exhibit a stiffer voice quality. The present paper investigates the degree to which Polish learners of English implement phonation differences in their L2 productions of tense vs. lax vowels. Results of an acoustic study suggest that L1 Polish speakers with a high level of English proficiency incorporate voice quality differences, while less proficient learners do not. Implications for the phonological representation of vowel quality are also discussed. It is argued that phonation characteristics can contribute to the realization of holistic phonological primes akin to those found in Element Theory, which allows us to better understand the evolutionary relationship between linguistic and extra-linguistic use of voice quality. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0d3f3ca348994b5dbe67cb6b40697f4a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1278-3331 2427-0466 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires du Midi |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anglophonia |
| spelling | doaj-art-0d3f3ca348994b5dbe67cb6b40697f4a2025-01-30T12:32:47ZengPresses Universitaires du MidiAnglophonia1278-33312427-04662019-11-012710.4000/anglophonia.2058Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrastGeoffrey SchwartzExperimental studies of the English contrasts between high vowels (sometimes referred to as a tense-lax contrast) have shown that phonation characteristics may play a role in maintaining the opposition in native varieties: tense vowels in English have been found to show a greater degree of breathiness, while lax vowels exhibit a stiffer voice quality. The present paper investigates the degree to which Polish learners of English implement phonation differences in their L2 productions of tense vs. lax vowels. Results of an acoustic study suggest that L1 Polish speakers with a high level of English proficiency incorporate voice quality differences, while less proficient learners do not. Implications for the phonological representation of vowel quality are also discussed. It is argued that phonation characteristics can contribute to the realization of holistic phonological primes akin to those found in Element Theory, which allows us to better understand the evolutionary relationship between linguistic and extra-linguistic use of voice quality.https://journals.openedition.org/anglophonia/2058VowelsL2 speechtense-lax contrastElement Theoryphonetics-phonology interface |
| spellingShingle | Geoffrey Schwartz Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast Anglophonia Vowels L2 speech tense-lax contrast Element Theory phonetics-phonology interface |
| title | Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast |
| title_full | Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast |
| title_fullStr | Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast |
| title_full_unstemmed | Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast |
| title_short | Voice quality and L2 proficiency in the English tense-lax contrast |
| title_sort | voice quality and l2 proficiency in the english tense lax contrast |
| topic | Vowels L2 speech tense-lax contrast Element Theory phonetics-phonology interface |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/anglophonia/2058 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT geoffreyschwartz voicequalityandl2proficiencyintheenglishtenselaxcontrast |