TO EPENTHESIZE OR NOT? SEGMENT INSERTION IN MANDARIN LOANWORDS By Ho-Hsin Huang A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Linguistics—Doctor of Philosophy 2020 ABSTRACT TO EPENTHESIZE OR NOT? SEGMENT INSERTION IN MANDARIN LOANWORDS By Ho-Hsin Huang This dissertation investigates segment insertion through two contextualized loanword adaptation processes: intervocalic nasal and coda [m] adaptations, with corpus and experimental data. My research focuses are: 1) to identify the phonological environments of segment insertion in the target adaptation processes in my corpus data, and propose explanations for the insertion patterns in Standard Mandarin loanwords; 2) to verify my arguments with experimental data; 3) to examine whether bilingualism affects target segment adaptations; and 4) to discuss what linguistic mechanism controls the adaptation processes. Nasal insertion in Mandarin loanwords is considered an “unnecessary repair” since both English and Mandarin allow a syllable containing consonant-vowel-nasal. However, the existing loanwords show that nasal insertion has strong correlation to the prenasal vowel quality, and the primary word stress location in the source language. To trigger nasal insertion, the English prenasal vowel has to be lax (vowel type condition) and must bear the primary word stress (stress location condition), e.g. ˈDenis à [tan.niː.sɹ̩ ]. Nasal insertion rarely occurs when the prenasal vowel is tense or a diphthong, e.g. ˈLina à [liː.naː]. Variable adaptation occurs when the prenasal vowel is [ə], e.g. ˈTiffany à [tiː.fan.nei] ~ [tiː.fuː.niː]. Low back [ɑ] never triggers nasal insertion, e.g. Caˈbana à [khaː.paː.naː]. I propose that adaptors are sensitive to the fine acoustic cues of the prenasal vowel and stress syllabification pattern. I argue that the “unnecessary repair” is necessary for acoustic cue mapping so the input is perceptually similar to the output. Vowel epenthesis is argued to fix illicit coda [m] in Mandarin, but it is related to syllable location and the following consonant type. It occurs in word-medial and word-final coda positions. It never occurs in homorganic environments with a prenasal lax vowel, e.g. Columbia à [kɤː.lun.piːjaː]. However, with a prenasal diphthong or tense vowel, vowel epenthesis still appears. Variable adaptation is present when coda [m] is in word-medial position followed by an obstruent, e.g. Camden à [khaː.muː.təŋ] ~ [khən.tun]. I propose that vowel epenthesis takes place to preserve all the segmental information, although the output may be perceived as less similar to the input due to an excess vowel. Repairing with [n]/[ŋ] in homorganic environments not only preserves all the underlying features but also leads the output to be more perceptually similar to the input. Both modification methods suggest that coda [m] adaptation is motivated by phonological grammaticality, and acoustic cues play a relatively minor role. 33 Mandarin monolingual and 24 Mandarin-English bilingual speakers participated in the experiments. Test item structures followed the corpus generalizations. For intervocalic nasal adaptation, the results from both groups are similar to each other and to the corpus data patterns: participants were sensitive to prenasal vowel quality. Similar results from the two groups further confirm that nasal insertion is more phonetically driven. For coda [m] adaptation, the results from the bilingual participants follow the Preservation Principle, even in homorganic lax vowel environments. The monolinguals repair the coda [m] through epenthesis and nasal place change by chance. I suggest that the coda [m] adaptation process is phonologically driven. This dissertation demonstrates that nasal adaptations in Standard Mandarin are contextualized. Two adaptation processes with essential differences in grammaticality are controlled by different linguistic mechanisms. Intervocalic nasal adaptation supports the perception-based loanword model, whereas coda [m] adaptation supports the phonology-based model. Copyright by HO-HSIN HUANG 2020 For my parents, who have helped me in all things great and small. For Lin Laoshi, who has been the guiding light every step of the way by all means. For my husband, who has always encouraged me to pursue my dream. For my daughter, who is the most precious girl in my life. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been a long and difficult but also a wonderful and special journey. I asked myself numerous times: should I give up? I eventually chose to fight to the end. I was very lucky because not everyone has a chance to write a dissertation about their own research interests. I was very lucky because I did not have to walk through the tough time alone. I was very lucky because I have had people around me being helpful and supportive. Here, I would like to thank my committee, family, and friends. First and foremost, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to Dr. Yen-Hwei Lin for her consistent support and guidance during graduate school and my life. Lin Laoshi, you participated in most of the important moments in my life. You smooth away my perplexities and anxieties. To me, you are not just a professor who is wealthy in phonological knowledge and life experiences; you are also a very close friend who is willing to listen to my complaints and feel my happiness all the time. The role you play in my life is actually more like my mom in the US. I enjoyed every moment we spent together. You made me a stronger person. Lin Laoshi, thanks for being with me for overcoming life’s frustrations, and thank you for giving me the meticulous consideration and the selfless help. All the little unforgettable stories will remain in our minds. One of the luckiest things in my life is having you as my advisor and mentor. I would also like to thank Dr. Karthik Durvasula. Karthik, you are smart and attentive! You always understand my questions at first glance. You know I am a sensitive person and always handle my emotions just right. The first class I took with you was Lab Phonetics. We had to write article reviews every week. I still remember you told everyone that you liked my reviews a lot. vi Your encouragement motivated me to work harder and think deeper. Because of you I became a nasal person. I have a great committee. My sincere thanks go to Dr. Alan Beretta, Dr. Anne Violin-Wigent and Dr. Suzanne Wagner. Alan, thanks for your thoughtful comments and questions when I was writing my comps and dissertation proposal. I was happy that I went to Iceland with you and your lab team. We all enjoyed the beautiful nature and delicious food there. Suzanne, thanks for carefully reading through my papers all the time. Your comments made me a more detail-oriented researcher. I also need to thank you for providing me child care information when I felt helpless and guiding me through my re-admission process step-by-step. Anne, thank you for being a warm person all around. You not only helped me with my papers; you also helped me with my Designation B job promotion even when you had deadlines chasing after you. Every time you saw me out of energy in the hallway, you always offered me coffee. I still remember our last conversation in the pantry before the lockdown. I now take better care of myself. I also need to thank my teaching advisor, Dr. Chunhong Teng. Teng Laoshi, thanks for giving me the opportunity to be your TA. I admired your enthusiasm of teaching Chinese. You kept your teaching methods updated. I still remember those days we revised all the PowerPoint presentations slide by slide. Your training made me a good language instructor. I was really sad when you left the world. May you rest in peace. I would like to specially recognize Dr. Drew Trotter. Drew, you were my best friend during my graduate school life, and our friendship will continue. You also participated in many important moments in my life. You witnessed the relationship between me and Joe. Drew, thanks for listening to me and giving me sincere advice when I felt confused. Thanks for sharing funny pictures and videos after an exhausting day in graduate school. vii I also want to thank my baby cohort, Yingfei Chen, Chenchen Xu, and Qian Luo. I was alone during my pregnancy. Yingfei, Chenchen, and Qian chatted with me almost every night and comforted me. At the end, Yingfei’s son and my daughter were born on the same day. I wish to thank all the other faculty, staff, fellows of the Linguistic Department at Michigan State University, and Dr. Yi-Ping Wan at National Chengchi University in Taiwan. I appreciate you all being helpful and supportive. I also had fun learning at MSU. With you, my life here was colorful. Wan Laoshi, thanks for letting me use your lab to run the experiments. Without your help, I would not have completed the dissertation. I want to take this opportunity to show my deep gratitude to my mom Yueh-Nan Lee, my dad Chen-Tai Huang, my husband Joe Jalbert, and my baby girl Jacqueline. Mom and dad, thank you for being supportive on all the decisions I made and for listening to me when I felt miserable. Thank you for coming overseas to take care of Jacqueline when Joe and I needed you the most. Fate is wonderful, Joe. You appearing changed my life. Thank you for bearing with my grumpiness and being understanding during this stressful time and thank you for encouraging me to finish writing the dissertation. More importantly, thank you for being a good husband and a good dad. Jacqueline, thank you for being my daughter.