Vowel Epenthesis in Arabic Loanwords in Hausa

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
MUFLEH ALQAHTANI ◽  
Rebecca Musa

<p>Vowel epenthesis is discussed in this paper as a phonological process utilized to avoid codas in Arabic loanwords in Hausa language in light of Optimality Theory (OT), as an analytical framework, even though this language permits codas in heavy syllables of the form CVC  (Caron, 2011). This process results in having disyllabic, trisyllabic, or qadri-syllabic words (words with four syllables) depending on the forms of Arabic loanwords as well as  mono-syllabic words with final bi-consonant clusters. This study primarily relies on extant literature including theses, books, articles. Furthermore, the authors’ intuition is crucially deemed the judge on the facts of the data . This paper concludes that codas in Arabic loanwords in Hausa motivate vowel epenthesis either once or twice, depending on the forms of words; i.e. disyllabic or monosyllabic. Also, the number of vowel insertion depends on the number of consonants in the coda postion, i.e. /CVCC/→ vowel epenthesis→ [CVC.C<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">V</span></strong>] or [CV.C<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">V</span></strong>.C<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">V</span></strong>].</p>

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 434-465
Author(s):  
Mufleh Salem M. Alqahtani

AbstractThis study sheds light on the relationship between the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) and syllable structure in Sabzevari, a Persian vernacular spoken in the Sabzevar area of Northeast Iran. Optimality Theory (OT), as a constraint-based approach, is utilized to scrutinize sonority violation and its repair strategies. The results suggest that obedience to the SSP is mandatory in Sabzevari, as shown through the treatment of word-final clusters in Standard Persian words which violate the SSP. These consonant clusters are avoided in Sabzevari by two phonological processes: vowel epenthesis and metathesis. Vowel epenthesis is motivated by final consonant clusters of the forms /fricative+coronal nasal/, /plosive+bilabial nasal/, /fricative+bilabial nasal/, /plosive+rhotic/, /fricative+rhotic/, and /plosive+lateral/. Metathesis, as another repair strategy for sonority sequencing violations, occurs when dealing with final consonant clusters of the forms /plosive+fricative/and / fricative+lateral/.


Author(s):  
Sandra Madureira

ABSTRACT Consonant clusters occur both in Portuguese and English. However, clusters are more productive in English than in Portuguese and there are sequences which are only found in English.This study focuses on the contrasts between American English and Brazilian Portuguese consonant clusters and on three strategies Brazilian learners tend to apply when producing them: adding the high front vowel (epenthesis) between the consonants in the clusters, discarding consonants, or introducing phonetic changes. The relevance of introducing English clusters to Brazilian learners of English is pointed out and discussed under the framework of the Speech Learning Model (SLM).


2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 131-168
Author(s):  
Maxime Turgeon-Rhéaume ◽  
Van Son Lai

The extant literature on the Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefits (GLWB) financial risk is abundant, however, few articles investigate the option offered to the policyholder with respect to the initiation of the contract and examine this impact on the profitability of the product for the insurer. We extend the analysis carried out by Huang et al. (IME, 2014) on the optimal initiation of the product with GLWB. First, we add an additional dimension in the analysis to account for the insurer losses as a function of the age for disbursement chosen by the policyholder. Then, we develop a novel analytical framework to determine by numerical methods the extent to which an insurer, expecting his client to choose when to receive benefits to maximize the value of his variable annuity contract, should change its actuarially fair fee structure. We show that the fair premium is a function of the insured policyholder age when he bought the contract. This result runs counter to the current fee structure and practice in the Canadian insurance industry with insurers charging a uniform level of fees regardless of the policyholder biological age when the contract is issued.


2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Auger

One striking feature of Vimeu Picard concerns the regular insertion of epenthetic vowels in order to break up consonant clusters and to syllabify word-initial and word-final consonants. This corpus-based study focuses on word-initial epenthesis. It provides quantitative evidence that vowel epenthesis applies categorically in some environments and variably in others. Probabilistic analysis demonstrates that the variable pattern is constrained by a complex interplay of linguistic factors. Following Labov (1972a, 1972b) and Antilla and Cho (1998), I interpret such intricate grammatical conditioning as evidence that this variation is a reflection of a grammatical competence that generates both categorical and variable outputs, and I propose an account within the framework of Optimality Theory. An analysis of individual patterns of epenthesis by members of the community reveals that, even though all speakers share the same basic community grammar, their use of epenthesis differs qualitatively as well as quantitatively. I show that individual grammars can be derived from the community grammar, and that Optimality Theory allows us to formalize the idea that individual grammars constitute more specific versions of community grammars.


1997 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Meline

The speech productions of 19 hard of hearing children between 5 and 12 years of age were examined for errors related to phonological process categories. For comparison, the subjects were divided into groups of 9 with Profound and 10 with Moderate to Severe hearing losses. There was a significant relationship between hearing loss and phonological errors. Seven phonological processes were evident in at least 33% of obligatory contexts. Prevalent processes included final consonant deletion and cluster reduction. The most prevalent deficiencies included / r/ and /1/ phonemes. Subjects with Profound hearing losses produced more errors over-all as well as more errors in each phonological process category. Subjects with Profound hearing losses frequently deleted entire consonant clusters, whereas subjects with Moderate to Severe hearing losses did not. Results are also discussed in relation to normal development.


Author(s):  
Gakuji Kumagai

English loanwords into Fijian undergo vowel epenthesis, as Fijian disallows coda consonants and consonant clusters. Vowel copy is an option for determining epenthetic vowel quality in loanword adaptation (Kumagai 2016a; Schütz 1978, 2004). The target of copy epenthesis seems to be either the preceding or following vowel of the epenthetic site. However, the choice of target vowel is indeterminate, as there is no vowel copy in Fijian native phonology. This paper offers a resolution to the problem by adopting an expanded version of prosodic projection theory (Martínez-Paricio 2012, 2013), in which feet are allowed to exhibit maximal/minimal projection. I propose Foot Condition, which requires the Foot[±max/±min] to circumscribe the vowel copy domain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 332
Author(s):  
Muhammad Asad Habib ◽  
Arshad Ali Khan

This study examines the process of vowel epenthesis used by the Punjabi speakers to integrate the English consonant cluster at onset position of the syllable. English and Punjabi are two different phonological system where English allows consonant cluster and complex consonants at onset while Punjabi only allows complex consonants. Hence for the integration of syllables with consonant cluster, Punjabi speakers have to insert a vowel to make the consonant configuration according to Punjabi phonotactics. The data for this study are collected from recordings of focus group discussions, interviews and video clips. The data are analyzed by using CV phonology and Distinct Feature theory. The results suggest that Punjabi speakers insert vowels to modify the English consonant clusters according to Punjabi phonological environment. Thus, they add another vowel node and resyllabify the consonant clusters. The mid central /ə/ vowel is the default epenthetic vowel while in some cases /e/ is also used before the consonant clusters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Metab Alhoody ◽  
Mohammad Aljutaily

The paper investigates the syllable structures of Qassimi Arabic (QA), which is a sub-dialect of Najdi Arabic (NA) and is spoken in the north-central region of Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Qassim Region. Within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT), we show how the well-formed syllable is derived from the interaction of constraints. We show how the OT captures some of the major processes for structuring the syllables of QA, such as syncope, epenthesis, and geminate. The analysis revealed that onsetless syllables are prohibited in QA. The dialect allows word-initial consonant clusters, which is a result of the syncope process. Coda clusters also occur in QA that must obey the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP); otherwise, epenthesis presents to repair the violation. As for the geminates, QA permits geminates medially and finally, but not initially. The data revealed that QA demonstrates seven fundamental syllable structures grouped into three categories: light syllables, as in CV; heavy syllables, as in CVV and CVC; and super heavy syllables, as in CVVC, CVCC, CCVVC and CVVCC.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinichi Shoji ◽  
Kazuko Shoji

<p>The current study examines Japanese loanwords from English in the framework of optimality theory (OT). The goal of this study is to investigate which vowels native Japanese-speaking borrowers epenthesize and when they delete consonants in modifying English source words. We aim to offer (i) a unified explanation with a single ranking of constraints for vowel epenthesis and (ii) a perceptual explanation for consonant deletion. Two experiments with native Japanese speakers were conducted to support the proposed analyses. The first experiment demonstrated that, when modifying illicit phonotactics in foreign words, native Japanese speakers select epenthetic vowels based on the constraint ranking of: Complex, CodaCond &gt;&gt; Max-IO  &gt;&gt; Palatal-Front, SyllableInventoryStructure (SIS), Ident-IO &gt;&gt; *Round, *Low &gt;&gt; *Front &gt;&gt; High &gt;&gt; Back &gt;&gt; Dep-IO. The second experiment revealed that Japanese loanwords can be subject to deletion of consonants rather than vowel epenthesis, due to the lack of perceptual salience; Japanese speakers delete consonants when they fail to perceive consonants in coda and clusters in source words, especially when the source words are aurally given.</p>


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