• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2012 Phonetic variation in Gurindji Kriol and northern Australian English: a longitudinal study of fricatives in maternal speech Heather Buchan University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Buchan, Heather, Phonetic variation in Gurindji Kriol and northern Australian English: a longitudinal study of fricatives in maternal speech, thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, 2012. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3789 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Phonetic Variation in Gurindji Kriol and Northern Australian English: A Longitudinal Study of Fricatives in Maternal Speech A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy from University of Wollongong by Heather Buchan, BPsych (Hons) Faculty of Education 2012 iii Abstract Acquiring the native language involves learning to perceive and produce sound structures (phonology) of the speech input. Speech to children often contains phonological modifications, and across languages the speech input to which children are exposed contains phonetic variation associated with linguistic and socioindexical information. Previous studies have investigated phonetic variation in infant-directed speech (e.g. Davis & Lindblom, 2001; Fernald et al., 1989; Kuhl et al., 1997; Snow, 1977), and differences in phonological variation between child-directed and adult- directed speech (e.g. Bernstein-Ratner, 1984a, 1984b; Lee, Davis & MacNeilage, 2008; Lee & Davis, 2010). There are, however, few studies examining how and when phonetic variation in speech to children changes after infancy, as they get older. This thesis is a longitudinal investigation of phonetic variation in mothers’ speech to children (maternal speech) in two language varieties spoken in northern Australia, Gurindji Kriol and Australian English. Gurindji Kriol is an Australian Aboriginal mixed language that contains lexical forms and phonology from both the traditional language Gurindji and Kriol, an English-lexifier creole. There are no previous systematic quantitative studies on fricatives in Gurindji Kriol, or any Australian contact language, although impressionistically fricatives in Kriol-derived words are highly variable. Australian English also contains phonetic variation related to speech processes, such as consonant reduction in casual speech. There is, however, little prior research on phonetic variation that children are exposed to in Australian English. The purpose of this thesis was to provide quantitative analyses of fricative variation in maternal speech in Gurindji Kriol and northern Australian English as children aged from approximately 1;6 to 2;0 to 2;6. A subsidiary aim was to examine methodological iv issues in phonetic transcription when the transcribers are non-native speakers of the language. This thesis contains three empirical research studies. In Study 1 we added phonetic transcription and analysis to a subsample of a corpus of naturalistic family interactions in Gurindji Kriol created by Felicity Meakins between 2003 and 2007 as part of the Aboriginal Child Language project (ACLA-1, Simpson & Wigglesworth, 2008). Speakers were three Gurindji Kriol speaking women recorded at three timepoints, when the focus children were approximately 1;6, 2;0 and 2;6. We analysed stop-fricative variation in tokens of Kriol-derived words that could potentially be pronounced with a fricative, based on words that had fricatives in their English cognates. Results showed that words containing stop-fricative variation were more likely to be open-class than closed-class, with the variable segment most frequently word-initial and at labio-dental and alveolar places of articulation. Across all tokens with potential fricatives, the likelihood of fricatives in word-initial position significantly increased when children were 2;6. In tokens of words found to contain stop-fricative variation, word-medial fricatives were significantly more likely in mothers’ speech at child age 2;6. Analyses took into account phonological environments and interspeaker differences. Study 2 investigated fricative variation in the form of phonological reduction in northern Australian English maternal speech. A longitudinal audiovisual corpus of naturalistic family interactions was recorded and phonetically transcribed for this study. Speakers were five mothers who were native speakers of Australian English, and were recorded when their children were approximately 1;6, 2;0 and 2;6. We analysed deletion in word-initial /h/ and word-final /v/, common processes in casual speech, in mothers’ speech at each timepoint. Results showed a non-linear change in v overall deletion over time within a stable set of lexical items. Between child ages 1;6 and 2;0 deletion proportionately increased in mothers’ speech, while between 2;0 and 2;6 deletion proportionately decreased. Study 3 addressed a methodological issue of checking phonetic transcription with native speakers of Gurindji Kriol. Native speakers have implicit knowledge of Gurindji Kriol phonology that would be beneficial to understanding transcription ambiguities arising from perceptual bias, and for furthering our interpretation of phonetic variation in Gurindji Kriol. We used visual analogue scales to elicit native speaker perceptions on sound segments potentially pronounced as fricatives in Gurindji Kriol. Native speaker judgements on the scales were then compared to the IPA judgements made by non-native speaker phonetic transcribers. Results showed both agreements and discrepancies between native and non-native speakers for different types of judgements and segment word positions. Empirical findings in this thesis are discussed in terms of processes driving change in phonetic variation in mothers’ speech to children, such as fine-tuning to children’s own receptive and productive language development. Results have implications for theoretical models of children’s phonological acquisition, which must take into account variable phonetic detail in the input. Pedagogical implications are also discussed (in Chapter 7) in terms of how teachers can use information about Gurindji children’s home language to augment their language and literacy teaching. vi Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge and offer my heartfelt thanks to the many individuals who have made this thesis possible and my PhD experience one that I will cherish. I wish to thank my primary supervisor, Dr Caroline Jones, for the many opportunities she has afforded me and for her endless support and patience. Caroline encouraged me to pursue my own research ideas while also contributing her extensive knowledge and expertise, and I thank her for her contribution to this thesis and to my growth as a researcher. I am also thankful to my cosupervisor Dr Amanda Baker, whose involvement and insight helped to develop my ideas and my writing. I am very grateful to my associate supervisor Dr Felicity Meakins for contributing her substantial breadth of knowledge of Gurindji Kriol and linguistics in general. I also owe thanks to Felicity for sharing with us her corpus of Gurindji Kriol and allowing us to build on her extensive previous work in this project. I would also like to acknowledge Pete Ball at the University of Tasmania, whose knowledge and enthusiasm for psycholinguistics started my initial interest in the field. I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal Child Language project (ACLA- 1), which was the basis of Felicity’s work on the Gurindji Kriol corpus, and I am thankful to the ACLA PIs Jane Simpson and Gillian Wigglesworth for supporting the research in this thesis. I also acknowledge the Australian Research Council for financial assistance with my stipend, field work and conference trips (ARC Discovery Grant DP0985395 “Phonological development among child speakers of mixed language”, 2009-2012, C.I. Caroline Jones) and I thank Caroline for supporting my research through this grant. vii This research could not exist without the many people who assisted in my fieldwork, especially the speakers and their families, community leaders and organisations, and community Research Assistants in Katherine and Kalkaringi. I thank Gurindji Kriol speakers Cecelia Edwards, Anne-Maree Reynolds and Samantha Smiler for giving us permission to use the recordings of their families that Felicity Meakins had made. I am also incredibly grateful to the community research assistants in Kalkaringi: Trisha Morris, Kirsty Smiler, Jessica Vincent, Samantha Smiler, Anne- Maree Reynolds, Lisa Smiler, Leanne Smiler, and Rosemary Johnson. They taught me a lot, both for the research and on a personal level, and I treasure the friendships we have made. I also thank traditional owners in Kalkaringi for consulting with us on the project; their advice and direction was invaluable. I am very grateful to Leah Leaman who worked as a liaison and participant advocate, and provided guidance in my community visits. I am very appreciative of our evening chats in the garden and Leah’s extensive knowledge of the community and her readiness to share this with me. I wish to thank all the people in Kalkaringi and Daguragu who made my trips there interesting, informative and fun in many different ways. I am very grateful to the Katherine mothers Cathy, Eva, Kellie, Kim and

Load more

  284

Copy Link