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Vowel Epenthesis in Initial Consonant Clusters by Persian Speakers of English by Christina Akbari, M.A. CCC-SLP a Dissertation I

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Vowel Epenthesis in Initial Consonant Clusters by Persian Speakers of English by Christina Akbari, M.A. CCC-SLP a Dissertation I Vowel Epenthesis in Initial Consonant Clusters by Persian Speakers of English By Christina Akbari, M.A. CCC-SLP A Dissertation In COMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS Submitted to the Graduate Faculty Of Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY James Dembowski, Ph.D. CCC-SLP Committee Chairperson Katsura Aoyama, Ph.D. Committee Member Rajinder Koul, Ph.D. CCC-SLP Committee Member Sue Ann Lee, Ph.D. Committee Member Ali Roghani, Ph.D. Committee Member Robin Satterwhite, Ed.D., FACHE Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences December, 2013 Copyright 2013, Christina Akbari Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Christina Akbari, October 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my appreciation for the many people who have helped me make my dream of a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders come to fruition. First of all, I would like to thank my main advisor, Dr. Katsura Aoyama, for her undaunted help and support over these many years. She provided me with consistent guidance and support when the going got tough and encouraged me to persevere to reach the finish line. She continued to provide her support even with changes in her job and demands of a growing family. I will be forever grateful to her for her time, energy, and commitment to my success. I would also like to thank Dr. James Dembowski for his “realisms” and helping to clear the way when the path became a little uncertain. He always provided great advice and was willing to help me in any way possible. I would like to thank Dr. Rajinder Koul for accepting me into the Ph.D. program in the first place and giving me this opportunity. I would like to thank Dr. Ali Roghani for taking part in my committee even though this was outside of his department. I am thankful for his great questions and interesting thoughts/ideas that he brought to my attention during our meetings. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Sue Ann Lee for joining my committee and for making suggestions that truly helped to guide my focus for the dissertation. Secondly, I would like to thank my friends and family members for their support. I want to thank my two children, Ariana and Syrina, who were brave enough to make the move to Lubbock with me so that I could follow my dreams. In turn, I think that this move opened their eyes to the world outside of their small home town and helped them to realize that the world is full of opportunities. I also hope that they learned that you are ii Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Christina Akbari, October 2013 never too old to dream or to pursue your goals. I would like to thank my mother and father, Alvin and Catherine Van Marion, for instilling a good work ethic because without this, I do not think that completion of the dissertation would have been possible. I want to thank my husband, Hosain, for providing the support and encouragement for me to complete this process. I would like to thank Mrs. Vickie Brown, ESL teacher with Bridge City ISD, for providing her friendship, encouragement, and laughter over the years. Third, I would like to thank all of the Persian speakers who took part in my study. Many of these individuals were friends and family members. I appreciate the time that you took to help me with this study. I also would like to thank the other individuals who just volunteered for my study. Without you, this would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the Iranian Cultural Foundation in supporting my research. Thank you for providing a place for testing as well as advertising my need for participants on their website. Finally, I would also like to thank Dr. Cheryl Giddens for giving me an opportunity to work at Oklahoma State University – Tulsa. Having been a clinician for many years, I set out to complete a Ph.D. because it was the next step in line after a Master’s degree but also because it would provide me with new opportunities. I have enjoyed my time working as a clinician and feel that I have accumulated some great knowledge and skills that can be used for teaching and clinical supervision. I thank Dr. Giddens for believing in my abilities and giving me the opportunity to widen my horizons. This is a great beginning in academia and I look forward to many more years of teaching, supervision, research, and clinical work. iii Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Christina Akbari, October 2013 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... ii I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 3 Review of the Literature ........................................................................................................................... 5 Markedness .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Clusters ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Persian ................................................................................................................................................ 31 Differences between Persian and English .......................................................................................... 36 Epenthesis .......................................................................................................................................... 44 II. METHODS ............................................................................................................................. 60 Participants .............................................................................................................................................. 60 Materials and elicitation procedures ....................................................................................................... 62 Reliability ................................................................................................................................................ 64 Experimental Design ............................................................................................................................... 65 III. RESULTS .............................................................................................................................. 67 Sonority controlled double clusters ......................................................................................................... 67 Double and triple cluster comparisons .................................................................................................... 71 Acoustic characteristics of epenthetic and main vowels ......................................................................... 80 Durations ................................................................................................................................................. 80 F1 and F2 formant frequencies ................................................................................................................ 84 IV. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................ 93 Study limitations ................................................................................................................................... 100 Areas for further research ..................................................................................................................... 101 Clinical Implications ............................................................................................................................. 102 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 103 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 105 iv Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Christina Akbari, October 2013 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................ 114 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................ 115 Appendix C ................................................................................................................................ 118 v Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Christina Akbari, October 2013 ABSTRACT This study investigated initial consonant clusters produced by Persian speakers of English with an emphasis on vowel epenthesis. The occurrences of vowel epenthesis were examined in regards to the composition (obstruent + glide and obstruent + liquid) and complexity of initial consonant clusters (triple vs. double) where epenthesis was likely to occur. It was suggested previously that epenthesis may be
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