Title of Work
Functional load, token frequency, and contact-induced change in Toronto Heritage Cantonese vowels
Document Type
Presentation
Publication/Presentation Date
January 2020
Conference Location
New Orleans, LA
Abstract
Unlike many previous studies of heritage speakers showing phonological maintenance, this presentation will show evidence for a vowel merger among second-generation Toronto Cantonese speakers. Two pairs of vowels are tested for merger. Both pairs are hypothesized to merge due to the lack of similar contrasts in Toronto English: /y/~/u/ and /a/~/ɔ/. Results show merger for only /y/~/u/. This is argued to be due to the lower functional load of /y/~/u/ (three minimal pairs with /y/~/u/, but 105 minimal pairs for /a/~/ɔ/) and due to lower token frequency of /y/ and /u/ compared to /a/ and /ɔ/ in conversational speech.
Recommended Citation
Tse, Holman, "Functional load, token frequency, and contact-induced change in Toronto Heritage Cantonese vowels" (2020). English Faculty Scholarship. 49.
https://sophia.stkate.edu/english_fac/49
Included in
Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons, First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, Phonetics and Phonology Commons
