Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:34:55.782Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

TH variation in Hong Kong English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2018

JETTE G. HANSEN EDWARDS Open the ORCID record for JETTE G. HANSEN EDWARDS [Opens in a new window]
JETTE G. HANSEN EDWARDS*
Affiliation:
Department of English, 3F Fung King Hey Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current study examines patterns of TH variation in Hong Kong English (HKE). In particular, it examines patterns in the realization of the voiceless interdental fricative /θ/ as the voiceless labiodental fricative [f],2 a process known as TH-fronting, as well as realization of the voiceless of TH as [s]. Previous research on HKE (Bolton & Kwok 1990; Hung 2000; Deterding et al.2008; Setter et al.2010) has established that TH-fronting is a variable phenomenon in HKE, with both intra- and inter-speaker variation, though no research to date has examined the social and linguistic constraints that govern this phenomenon in HKE. The current study also examines the realization of TH as [s], which has not been documented in previous research on HKE, but was found to be a variant of TH in the current study. This article thus examines the social (defined here as non-linguistic constraints such as gender, medium of instruction and proficiency) and linguistic (syllable position, linguistic environment, stress) factors which impact the realization of TH in HKE and whether these factors differ for the realization of TH as [f] or [s].

Keywords

phonologyTH-frontinglinguistic variationHong Kong English
Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 439 - 468
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blevins, Juliette. 2004. Evolutionary phonology: The emergence of sound patterns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bolton, Kingsley & Kwok, Helen. 1990. The dynamics of the Hong Kong accent: Social identity and sociolinguistic description. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 1 (1), 147–72.Google Scholar
Chan, Christina P. H. 2001. The perception (and production) of English word-initial consonants by native speakers of Cantonese. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics 6, 26–44.Google Scholar
Cheng, Kris. 2016. Less than 40% of HK primary schools conduct Chinese language lessons in Cantonese – survey. 26 May. www.hongkongfp.com/2016/05/26/fewer-than-40-of-hk-primary-schools-conduct-chinese-language-lessons-in-cantonese-survey/ (accessed 5 October 2017).Google Scholar
Clark, Lynn & Trousdale, Graeme. 2009. Exploring the role of token frequency in phonological change: Evidence from TH-fronting in east-central Scotland. English Language and Linguistics 13 (1), 33–55.Google Scholar
Deterding, David. 2006. The North Wind versus a Wolf: Short texts for the description and measurement of English pronunciation. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2), 187–96.Google Scholar
Deterding, David, Wong, Jennie & Kirkpatrick, Andy. 2008. The pronunciation of Hong Kong English. English World-Wide 29 (2), 148–75.Google Scholar
Edwards, Hansen, G, Jette. 2016. The politics of language and identity: Attitudes towards Hong Kong English pre- and post- the Umbrella Movement. Asian Englishes 18 (2), 157–64.Google Scholar
Hickey, Raymond. 2004. The phonology of Irish English. In Kortmann, Bernd et al. (eds.), Handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, 68–97. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Hung, Tony T. N. 2000. Towards a phonology of Hong Kong English. World Englishes 19 (3), 337–56.Google Scholar
Jones, Daniel, Roach, Peter, Setter, Jane & Esling, John. 2011. The Cambridge pronunciation dictionary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jongman, Allard, Wayland, Ratree & Wong, Serena. 2000. Acoustic characteristics of English fricatives. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 108 (3), 1252–63.Google Scholar
Kerswill, Paul. 2003. Dialect levelling and geographical diffusion in British English. In Britain, David & Cheshire, Jenny (eds.), Social dialectology: In honour of Peter Trudgill, 223–43. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Ladefoged, Peter & Maddieson, Ian. 1996. The sounds of the world's languages. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar
Lau, Melissa S. M. & Wong, Cathy S. P.. 2002. The perception of the interdental fricatives [θ] and [ð] in English words by Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking ESL learners. Proceedings of the 6th Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics International Conference, 1–30. Jeju National University, Korea.Google Scholar
Levon, Erez & Fox, Sue. 2014. Social salience and the sociolinguistic monitor: A case study of ING and TH-fronting in Britain. Journal of English Linguistics 42 (3), 185–217.Google Scholar
Lombardi, Linda. 2003. Second language data and constraints on manner: Explaining substitutions for the English interdentals. Second Language Research 19 (3), 225–50.Google Scholar
Nemser, William. 1971. An experimental study of phonological interference in the English of Hungarians. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Rau, D. Victoria, Chang, Hui-Huan Ann & Tarone, Elaine E.. 2009. Think or sink: Chinese learners’ acquisition of the English voiceless interdental fricative. Language Learning 59 (3), 581–621.Google Scholar
Schleef, Eric & Ramsammy, Michael. 2013. Labiodental fronting of /θ/ in London and Edinburgh: A cross-dialectal study. English Language and Linguistics 17 (1), 25–54.Google Scholar
Setter, Jane, Wong, Cathy S. P. & Chan, Brian H. S.. 2010. Hong Kong English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Sewell, Andrew & Chan, Jason. 2010. Patterns of variation in the consonantal phonology of Hong Kong English. English World-Wide 31 (2), 138–61.Google Scholar
Stibbard, Richard. 2004. The spoken English of Hong Kong: A study of co-occurring segmental errors. Language, Culture, and Curriculum 17 (2), 127–42.Google Scholar
Stuart-Smith, Jane, Pryce, Gwilym, Timmins, Claire & Gunter, Barrie. 2013. Television can also be a factor in language change: Evidence from an urban dialect. Language 89 (3), 501–36.Google Scholar
Stuart-Smith, Jane, Timmins, Claire & Tweedie, Fiona. 2007. ‘Talkin’ Jockney’? Variation and change in Glaswegian accent. Journal of Sociolinguistics 11 (2), 221–60.Google Scholar
Tabain, Marija. 1998. Non-sibilant fricatives in English: Spectral information above 10 kHz. Phonetica 55, 107–30.Google Scholar
Wells, J. C. 1982. Accents of English, 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wenk, B. J. 1979. Articulatory setting and de-fossilization. Interlanguage Studies Bulletin 4, 202–20.Google Scholar
Wood, Elizabeth. 2003. TH-fronting: The substitution of f/v for θ/ð in New Zealand English. New Zealand English Journal 17, 50–6.Google Scholar