foreign accents: german speakers of english

intro to German language

• indo-european language

• variety of dialects

• similarities in phonology, vocabulary, syntax

• when language has restrictions on phonotactics it applies to every word (also non-native words)

problem: languages seek to overcome problems of borrowing a foreign word that violates their phonotactics

solution: it varies from language and creates accents

english example: problem: two stops cannot come at the beginning of words; also cannot stop + nasal combination

• words like ptolemy & gnostic will be pronounced differently by English speakers

  • will drop the first two consonants → [tɑləmi] & [nɑstɪk]

• worlds like Gdansk & knish will be pronounced differently by English speakers

  • will insert a vowel between the two consonants → [gədænsk] & [kənɪʃ]

Finnish: avoids syllables containing sequences of consonants

solution: tries to fix borrowed words with consonant clusters by trying to “repair” it

• deletion

  • in loan word first of a series of consonants get dropped (if they do not conform to its phonotactics)

    (CCCVNC) → (CVNCV)

    → addition of a final vowel to avoid consonant in the syllable-final position

Japanese: avoids syllables containing sequences of consonants

solution: insertion

• rule-governed (always works the same way)

  → easy to predict shape & pronunciation of loan words

  • the vowel /u/ is inserted, except after /t/ and /d/, where /o/ will be inserted

    → /bɑːθ/ → /basu/

    /kəntroʊl/ → /kontoroːru/

    → /u/ inserted in both words to keep the word-final syllables from ending in a consonant & second [o] inserted to prevent [t] & [r] from forming a cluster

sound substitution

a process whereby sounds that do not exist in the language when borrowing or trying to pronounce a foreign word

→ a few languages have fewer or more phonemes or allophones than English does → audible when non-native speakers of Eng pronounce Eng

• substitutions by non-native speakers and strategies for handling phonotactic both result in forein accents + changes in words that have been borrowed into another language

  • French speaker pronouncing Eng:

    • this [ðɪs] as [zɪs]

    • thin [θɪn] as [sɪn]

→ french phonemic inventory doesn’t contain ð/ or /θ/ so french speakers substitute with nearest equivalent sound the fricatives /z/ and /s/

German vs. Eng: Phonology

• broadly similar

• german accent more energetic articulation

  • tenser vowels

  • more explosive stop consonants (/p/, /t/, /k/)

  • more lip rounding/ spreading

• general lower or higher pitch

• frequent use of glottal stops before initial vowels

German vs. Eng: Phonology → vowels

• Shaded phonemes have (near) equivalents in German

• Unshaded phonemes are often confused:

  • /e/ and /æ/: bed /bed/ vs. bad /bæd/

  • /ɔː/ and /əʊ/: caught /kɔːt/ vs. coat /kəʊt/

  • /ʌ/ and /a/: cup /kʌp/ vs. German pronunciation with /a/

  • /eɪ/ and /eː/: late /leɪt/ pronounced as /le:t/

• Stressed vowels may be pronounced over-long:

  • man /mæn/ → /mæːn/

• Swiss speakers maybe nasalise

German vs. Eng: Phonology → consonants

• Shaded phonemes have (near) equivalents in German

• Unshaded phonemes are often confused:

  • /ʒ/ and /dʒ/ are rare in German: measure /ˈmeʒər/ and judge

  • /dʒʌdʒ/ /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /z/, /v/, /b/, /d/, /g/ do not occur at the end of words in German

  • /θ/ and /ð/ do not occur in German: think /θɪŋk/ and this /ðɪs/

  • Only one German phoneme in /v/ and /w/

  • /r/ be pronounced with the back of the tongue or as a flap

  • Dark /l/ does not exist in German; British English has three allophones

German vs. Eng: Phonology → additional phonological & orthographic features

• Stress

  • Similar patterns

  • German compounds stressed on first elements

  • few weak forms

• Intonation

  • Varies regionally in German;

  • north German intonation is like English

  • South German/Austrian has long rising glides in mid-sentences

• Juncture

  • Vowel-initial words often preceded by a glottal stop

• Spelling

  • Learners may transfer German spelling conventions to English (e.g. schopping, werry much)

• punctuation

  • Mostly similar

  • commas before all subordinate clauses

  • semi-colons less frequent