Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese

Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ratte, Alexander Takenobu
Language:English
Published: The Ohio State University / OhioLINK 2011
Subjects:
Language
Linguistics
Language contact
Taiwan
Taiwanese
Mandarin
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1313497239
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu13134972392021-08-03T06:03:33Z Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese Ratte, Alexander Takenobu Language Linguistics Language contact Taiwan Taiwanese Mandarin This thesis is a study of language contact in Taiwan. Previous research (Ratte, 2009) has shown that voiced obstruents /g/ /b/ /dz/ are not being articulated by bilingual speakers of Taiwanese Southern Min and Mandarin, and suggests that these sound changes could be due to influence from Mandarin. This study investigates contact between the two languages in the framework of imposition proposed by Van Coetsem (1988). Recordings were collected of 15 young Taiwanese adults reading a word list, and their pronunciations were examined for evidence of contact-induced shift. The study finds that bilinguals from all over Taiwan are exhibiting the same shift, and that virtually all sound changes can be attributed to the imposition of Mandarin phonology, followed by analogy to Mandarin cognates for the choice of strategy. Mandarin agentivity on the part of bilinguals implies Mandarin dominance in Van Coetsem’s framework, leading to the conclusion that bilinguals in this study were less proficient in Taiwanese. Close scrutiny of Taiwanese society in the context of language contact also offers evidence contradicting a linguistic revival of Taiwanese, and suggests that there is little motivation for bilinguals to maintain Taiwanese. The study concludes that bilinguals are shifting towards Mandarin dominance, and concludes that both the continued social dominance of Mandarin and the emergence of a “New Taiwanese” identity may be responsible for these shifts. 2011-10-19 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1313497239 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1313497239 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Language
Linguistics
Language contact
Taiwan
Taiwanese
Mandarin
spellingShingle Language
Linguistics
Language contact
Taiwan
Taiwanese
Mandarin
Ratte, Alexander Takenobu
Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese
author Ratte, Alexander Takenobu
author_facet Ratte, Alexander Takenobu
author_sort Ratte, Alexander Takenobu
title Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese
title_short Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese
title_full Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese
title_fullStr Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese
title_full_unstemmed Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese
title_sort contact-induced phonological change in taiwanese
publisher The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2011
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1313497239
work_keys_str_mv AT rattealexandertakenobu contactinducedphonologicalchangeintaiwanese
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