Production and Perception of Cs Among Japanese

PRODUCTION AND PERCEPTION
OF CONSONANT CLUSTERS IN THE L2 PHONOLOGY

OF
JAPANESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH
A D is s e rta tio n
s u b m itte d to th e F a c u lty o f th e
G raduate School o f A rts and Sciences
o f G eorgetown U n iv e rs ity
in p a rtia l fu lfillm e n t o f the re q u ire m e n ts fo r the
degree o f
D octor o f P hilosophy
in L in g u is tic s
By
Yoshiho S hibuya, M .S.
W ashington, D.C.
M a rch 22, 2005
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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I
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
iir;j GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
This is to certify that we have examined the doctoral dissertation of
Yoshiho Shibuya
entitled Production and perception o f consonant clusters in the L2 phonology o f Japanese learners
o f English
submitted to the faculty o f Linguistics
in partial fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree o f
Doctor o f Philosophy.
This dissertation is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and any and all revisions required
by the final examining committee have been made.
Elizabeth Zsiga, Ph.D. J L jb U o S Z -

Thesis Advisor Signature D at*
Donna Erickson, Ph.D.

Committee Member Signature Date
Donna Lardiere, Ph.D.
Heidi E. Hamilton, Ph.D. jlG/Ql £> cfi)vtp)o-C

Director o f Graduate Studies Signature Date
This dissertation has been accepted by the Graduate School o f Arts and Sciences.
^
For the Dean Date
PRODUCTION AND PERCEPTION
OF CONSONANT CLUSTERS IN THE L2 PHONOLOGY
OF
JAPANESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH
Yoshiho S hibuya, M .S .
M entor^ E liz a b e th Zsiga, Ph.D .
ABSTRACT
S tudies on L2 phonology help us deepen o u r u n d e rsta n d in g o f
th e cognitive processes o f language le a rn in g . One area o f in te re s t is
how consonant cluste rs are re a lize d by speakers o f languages in w h ich
consonant cluste rs are p ro h ib ite d .
T h is d is se rta tio n used acoustic, a rtic u la to ry , and perception
da ta to in ve stig a te the re a liz a tio n o f consonant cluste rs by Japanese
iii
speakers. Japanese is a language w h ich d isa llow s com plex onsets.
T hus Japanese le a rn e rs o f E n g lis h ofte n face d iffic u lty in pro du cin g
them . Three experim ents w ere conducted u sin g E n g lis h pseudow ords
co n ta in in g com plex onsets: ( l) an acoustic exp erim e nt! (2) an
a rtic u la to ry (E M A ) e xperim ent! and (3) percep tio n te sts. D a ta were
collected and analyzed in order to dete rm in e how Japanese speakers
deal w ith com plex onsets o f E n g lis h . S pecifically, w h e th e r th e vow el
in tru d e d as a re s u lt o f th e ir ‘re p a ir’ s tra te g y was an epenthetic
(phonological) one or an excrescent (phonetic) one was in ve stig a te d .
I t was expected th a t an epenthetic vow el w o u ld show s im ila r p ro pe rtie s
to the u n d e rly in g phonological vow els w h ile an excrescent vow el w ou ld
be sh o rt and g ra die n t.
The re s u lts o f th e acoustic e xp e rim e n t suggested th a t a
phonological process was in vo lve d in vow el in s e rtio n b y Japanese
speakers w ith lo w e r-le ve l E n g lis h com petency because th e vow els often
showed s im ila ritie s to the u n d e rly in g vow els. The vowels in se rte d by
iv
m ore advanced speakers w ere d iffe re n t fro m th e u n d e rly in g vowels,
suggesting th a t phonetics m ay be involved. The re s u lts in the
a rtic u la to ry data supported th e acoustic fin d in g s. The perception
exp erim e nt re s u lts showed th a t an illu s o ry ep en the tic vow el was often
perceived even w hen th e re were no vow els w ith in consonant clusters.
To conclude, th e c u rre n t in v e s tig a tio n suggested th e p o s s ib ility
th a t b o th phonetics (in th is case the com plex co o rd in a tio n o f the
g e stu ra l m ovem ent o f a rtic u la to rs necessary fo r th e re a liz a tio n o f
consonant cluste rs) and phonology are in vo lve d in th e Japanese
speakers’ re a liz a tio n o f consonant clu ste rs and a lth o u g h th e y in te ra c t
w ith one a n oth er in a com plex way, th e y are a t w o rk separately. E ven
a fte r ce rta in phonological aspects o f L 2 seem to be acquired, g e stu ra l
co o rd in a tio n o f a rtic u la to rs (phonetics) seems to re m ain , re s u ltin g in
d iffic u lty o f overcom ing “ fo re ig n accent.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
F irs t o f a ll, I w o u ld lik e to express m y sincere g ra titu d e to a ll
th e m em bers o f m y co m m itte e ' E liz a b e th C. Zsiga, D onna E rickson ,
and D onna L a rd ie re , w ith o u t w hom I could n o t have com pleted th is
d isse rta tio n . M y special th a n ks go to L is a Zsiga, especially fo r not
h a v in g given up on me —fo r it took me so m any years to com plete th is
w ork. H e r patience and the w arm e st su p p o rt helped me even w hen I
th o u g h t I could n o t keep on going any m ore. She also ta u g h t me
e ve ry th in g I needed to w o rk as a p h on e tician/phonologist, b o th w h ile I
was a t G U and a fte r I le ft D.C. H e r guidance was indispensable to m y
w o rk and I am indebted to h e r fo r h e r in te lle c tu a l and in s ig h tfu l
suggestions.
D onna E rickso n lite ra lly saved me w hen I was com pletely a t a
loss. Because I had to come back to Japan and w o rk fu ll-tim e , i t was
v e ry d iffic u lt fo r me to continue m y research, b u t D onna spent hours
vi
w ith me, encouraged me, and p rovided me w ith m any specific ideas
and h e lp fu l advice. She k in d ly le t me sta y a t h e r a p a rtm e n t, le n t h e r
com puters, and ta u g h t me how to do experim ents. W ith o u t h e r
generous support, I could n o t have fin is h e d th e experim ents n o r the
d is se rta tio n its e lf.
I am also ve ry g ra te fu l to D onna L a rd ie re , w ho read m y
o rig in a l proposal and d ra fts w ith patience and gave me valuable
com m ents and criticism s. She also p rovided me w ith m any u se fu l
suggestions re g a rd in g lite ra tu re on language a c q u isitio n and L2
phonology, w h ich in s p ire d me g re a tly in va rio u s ways.
I w ish to th a n k H a ru o Kubozono fo r generously p ro v id in g me
w ith m any o f h is papers. I w ould also lik e to th a n k T a ke m i M ochida
a t N T T and E rik o fo r m a kin g E M A da ta ava ila ble .
M y special th a n k s go to D a lia and G ideon F rieder. I m et them
in B u ffalo , N Y in 1979, and since th e n th e y have tre a te d me as i f I was
a m em ber o f th e ir own fa m ily. I cannot th a n k them enough fo r th e ir
v ii
w a rm su p p o rt and encouragem ent. I w ou ld also lik e to express m y
personal g ra titu d e fo r M asano H id a ka , w ho helped me and m y ch ild re n
w hen we fir s t a rriv e d in D .C. in 1994. I owe a lo t to h e r generous
su p p o rt and encouragem ent.
I w ou ld lik e to th a n k Takae T sujioka, m y best frie n d a t GU,
w ith w hom I to o k m any o f the th e o re tic a l lin g u is tic s courses.
P re se ntin g o u r m orphology paper in Greece was the h ig h lig h t o f m y
graduate school days, b u t i t w ould n o t have happened i f n o t fo r Takae.
I am g ra te fu l to P a u l P o rtn e r, R a ffa e lla Z a n n u tin i, H ecto r
Campos, F a th e r S ara and everyone in the fa c u lty o f L in g u is tic s
D ep a rtm e n t, fro m w hom I lea rn e d so m uch. I also w ou ld lik e to th a n k
M anela D iez fo r h e r w a rm frie n d s h ip . She w as alw ays v e ry k in d and
supportive, n o t o n ly to me b u t also to m any o f th e fo re ig n stu d e n ts a t
G U w ho stu d ie d aw ay fro m hom e. I w a n t to th a n k K en N am ai,
M ean-Young Song and M oham m ad A lh a w a ry as w e ll as m y fo rm e r
classm ates a t G U fo r th e ir guidance, in s p ira tio n , and su p po rt. I
viii
especially w is h to th a n k M ih o F u jiw a ra , Renee O’B rie n , Dee C ain,
M its u k o Y am ura-Takei, S tefan K aufm ann, A tsu ko H onda, M a y u m i
N a ka n ish i, and Takuo H azu, am ong m any others. I enjoyed ta k in g
classes w ith them and lea rn e d a lo t fro m them .
I also owe m y special g ra titu d e to m y frie n d s in Japan, Ryoko
Takashim a, E tsu ko Yam am oto and A k ik o K ita g a w a fo r th e ir valuable
frie n d s h ip . T h e ir presence alw ays encouraged me in uncountable
w ays. I also w is h to th a n k a ll o f m y colleagues and stu d e n ts a t
H o k u rik u G a ku in J u n io r College fo r ta k in g p a rt in m y experim ents
and le ttin g me w o rk on m y research. I am g ra te fu l to K onom i, K im ik o ,
and M u ts u m i fo r th e ir g re at assistance. I am especially ind e b te d to
K o n om i fo r h e r extensive help.
I w ould lik e to dedicate th is d is s e rta tio n to m y fa m ily because
none o f th is was possible w ith o u t th e constant support, u n de rsta n d in g ,
and love o f m y fa m ily : m y fa th e r, la te m o th e r and grandm other, m y
husband Takeshi, m y s is te r M iho , and m y c h ild re n Ryosuke and R iho.
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Phonology/phonetics interface 4
1.3 Linguistic framework 6
1.3.1 Articulatory Phonology (Browman and Goldstein,1986) 6
1.3.2 Epenthesis vs. excrescence 9
1.3.3 Optimality Theory 13
1.4 Phonetics and Phonology in L2 Acquisition 15
1.5 Research Questions 22
1.6 Three experiments 26
1.7 Overview 30
CHAPTER II: PHONOLOGICAL THEORY AND PHONETIC ISSUES 31

2.1 Phonological background 31
2.1.1 Japanese and English sounds 31
2.1.2 Japanese and English syllable structures 39
2.1.3 Mora and syllable in Japanese 45
2.1.4 Japanese as a pitch-accented language 50
2.1.5 Japanese loanword phonology 55
2.2 Production and perception of consonant clusters 61
2.2.1 Articulatory Phonology: gesture and timing 62
2.2.2 EMA studies 65
2.3 Optimality Theory 69
2.4 L2 Phonology 78
2.4.1 Epenthesis and deletion 78
2.4.2 Saunders’ (1987) study 80
2.4.3 Broselow and Finer (l99l)’s study 84
2.4.4 Hancin-Bhatt and Bhatt (l997)’s Optimality Theory
approach 92
2.4.5 L2 postlexical processes - a study by Cebrian (2000) 102
x
2.4.6 Studies on articulatory timing in L2 105
2.4.7 A study on perception of consonant clusters 109
CHAPTER IIP EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND MATERIALS 114

3.1 Experiment L An acoustic experiment 115
3.1.1 Objectives 115
3.1.2 Experimental design of the acoustic experiment 120
3.1.2.1 Subjects 120
3.1.2.2 Materials 126
3.1.3 Procedures 131
3.1.3.1 Recordings 131
3.1.3.2 Acoustic Measurements 132
3.2 Experiment % An articulately experiment 134
3.2.2 Experimental design of the articulatory experiment 135
3.2.2.1 Subject 135
3.2.3.1 Recordings 136
3.2.3.2 Articulatory measurements 140
3.3 Experiment 3;A perception experiment 141
3.3.2 Experimental design of the perception test 142
3.3.2.1 Subjects 142
CHAPTER IV: ACOUSTIC EXPERIMENT RESULTS 148

4.1 Analysis 148
4.2 Acoustic analysis results 150
4.2.1 Presence/absence of intrusive vowels 150
4.2.2 Devoiced vowels 160
4.2.3 Underlying lot vs. /u/ 163
xi
4.2.3.1 Native English speakers 164
4.2.3.2 Japanese speakers 166
4.3 Quality of intrusive vowels for Japanese speakers 172
4.3.1 Intrusive vowels after ft, d/vs. after/s, b/ 173
4.3.2 Underlying vowels vs. intrusive vowels 177
4.3.2.1 Underlying lol vs. intrusive vowel after ft, d/ 178
4.3.2.2 Underlying fuJ vs. the intrusive vowel
after Is, b/ 180
4.3.2.3 F0 and Stress 183
4.4 Discussion and Conclusion to Experiment 1 187
CHAPTER V: ARTICULATORY EXPERIMENT RESULTS 194

5.1 Analysis 196
5.2 Articulatory Analysis Results 198
5.2.1 Underlying lol vs. kJ 198
5.2.2 Intrusive vowels after ft/ vs. after Is/ 200
5.2.3 Underlying vowels vs. the intrusive vowels 203
5.2.3.1 Underlying lol vs. the intrusive vowel
after /t/ 203
5.2.3.2 Underlying ful vs. the intrusive vowel
after Is/ 205
5.2.4 Results of devoiced vowels 207
5.4 Summary and further suggestions 220
CHAPTER VI: PERCEPTION EXPERIMENT RESULTS 223

6.1 Perception analysis results and discussion 223
6.1.1 Thstl 223
6.1.2 Thst2 229
6.1.3 Tfest3 232
xii
CHAPTER VII: GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 240
7.1 Findings in the acoustic experiment 241
7.2 Findings in the articulatory experiment 242
7.3 Findings in the perception experiment 243
7.4 Further discussions 244
APPENDIX A 248
APPENDIX B 249
BIBLOGRAPHY 250
xiii
CHAPTER I
IN T R O D U C T IO N
1.1 In tro d u c tio n
T h is d is s e rta tio n exam ines how Japanese speakers produce
and perceive E n g lis h consonant cluste rs and considers th e in te rp la y o f
phonology and phonetics in these processes. T h is stu d y w ill enhance
o u r u n d e rsta n d in g o f theories o f phonology and phonetics! i t w ill also
b e n e fit Japanese lea rn e rs o f E n g lish .
Japanese is a language whose sylla b le s tru c tu re s are m uch
m ore co nstrained th a n the E n g lis h ones! Japanese does n o t have
com plex onsets or codas (Vance, 1987), w h ile E n g lis h a llo w s both
com plex onsets and codas. Therefore, w hen n a tiv e Japanese speakers
produce E n g lis h consonant clusters, i t is expected th a t th e y w ill have
d iffic u lty p ro nouncing consonant clusters, and th a t th e y w ill use some
k in d o f ‘re p a ir’ s tra te g y in p roducing them . L o o kin g a t i t d iffe re n tly ,
th e y m ig h t tra n s fe r Japanese phonotactics in to E n g lish . The re p a ir
s tra te g y m ig h t be e ith e r phonological or phonetic. In such cases, i f
Japanese speakers in s e rt a vow el phonologically, i t w o u ld re s u lt in the
c re a tio n o f a C V sylla b le ; th is w ould su p po rt a b stra ct p honological
th e o rie s th a t inclu d e e n titie s such as syllables. T h is m eans th a t
w ith in u n iv e rs a l c o n s tra in ts o f gram m ar, th e re are c o n s tra in ts th a t
govern sylla b le s tru c tu re and lea rn e rs (in th is case Japanese speakers
o f E n g lish ) are tra n s fe rrin g th e sylla b le s tru c tu re o f th e ir L I
(Japanese) in to th e ir L 2 (E nglish). On th e o th e r hand, i f speakers
produce an in tru s iv e v o w e l'lik e tra n s itio n , b u t n o t a fu ll C V sylla b le ,
th e re p a ir w ould be classifie d as a phonetic process, and w o u ld le n d
its e lf to a n alysis in te rm s o f gesture "based th e o rie s such as B row m an
and G o ld ste in ’s (1986, 1988, 1992a, b) A rtic u la to ry Phonology. F rom
th is p o in t o f view, i t w ould be argued th a t since th e Japanese speakers
“ have little practice in the a rtic u la to ry co o rd in a tio n ” o f consonant
clusters (Tajim a, E rickson, & Nagao, 2000a, b), th e y produce then-
consonant gestures w ith in s u ffic ie n t te m p o ra l overlap, com pared to
n a tive speakers o f E n g lish , and th e re fo re produce a sh o rt vo w e H ike
tra n s itio n betw een the consonants.
A lth o u g h m any studies have been conducted on the issue o f the
a cq u isitio n o f consonant clusters, little acoustic o r a rtic u la to ry
e xa m in a tio n o f phonetic da ta has been conducted. W ith o u t such
e xa m in a tio n, however, it is d iffic u lt to kn o w how or to w h a t e x te n t
phonology and phonetics are in vo lve d in th e process. Three
e xperim ents w ere conducted in th e p re sen t stu d y and the re s u lts
showed th a t th e re seems to be in flu e n ce o f b o th p honotactics and
g e stu ra l tim in g p a tte rn s o f Japanese. The p o in ts argued here are
th a t in Japanese speakers’ p ro d u ctio n o f E n g lis h consonant clusters,
phonology and phonetics are b o th in vo lve d and th a t th e y in te ra c t in a
v e ry su b tle way. I t is the goal o f th is d is s e rta tio n to p ro vid e phonetic
evidence to co n trib u te to the u n d e rsta n d in g o f the issue o f the
phonology/phonetics in te rfa ce and to L 2 a cq u isitio n .
1.2 P honology/phonetics in te rfa ce
B o th phonetics and phonology are concerned w ith sounds, b u t
phonetics deals m o stly w ith sounds in a p h ysica l or p h ysio lo g ica l way,
such as how sounds are a rtic u la te d usin g d iffe re n t vocal organs, how
sounds are tra n s m itte d , and how th e y are perceived. O n the o th e r
hand, phonology is concerned w ith the sound system s and p a tte rn s o r
phonotactics in a given language.
So a q u estion arises. Does fo re ig n accent stem fro m
phonological differences in th e le a rn e rs’ L I and L2? O r does the
p honetic difference in co o rd in a tio n of a rtic u la to rs also a ffe ct
p ro nu n ciatio n ? I t seems th a t m any o f the previous studies have o n ly
focused on phonology, and less a tte n tio n has been p a id on phonetics.
T h is d is s e rta tio n fo llo w s Zsiga (2003) and argues th a t bo th phonology
and phonetics are in vo lve d in L2 le a rn e rs’ speech and th a t p honetic
research plays an im p o rta n t role as the basis fo r phonological research.
A ccording to Zsiga (2003), some n o nn a tive or L I a rtic u la to ry
tim in g p a tte rn s seem to be tra n s fe rre d to L2. In o th e r w ords, ju s t as
phonological tra n s fe rs are said to occur, p honetic o r g e s tu ra l tim in g
p a tte rn s seem to tra n s fe r as w e ll. T h is is an in te re s tin g issue to
explore because m any o f th e p revious phonological stu d ies on L2
seemed to la ck th is view o f phonetics as being in vo lve d in L 2 speech.
Phonology is categorical w h ile phonetics is g ra d ie n t, and th e y are
inseparable in va rio u s w ays. R e lyin g m e re ly on a tra n s c rip tio n o f
sounds and saying Japanese speakers delete or in s e rt a vow el in a
C C -cluster m ay n o t be s u ffic ie n t because th e re m ig h t be an in flu e n ce o f
e ith e r g e stu ra l overlap or la ck o f i t in th e process, w h ich m ay be
“ m asking” the acoustic cue to hu m an ears. The q u a lity o f the vow el
th e speaker produced needs acoustic e xa m in a tio n as w e ll. T h is
d is s e rta tio n trie s to exam ine th e acoustic, a rtic u la to ry , and p e rcep tu a l
effects o f Japanese speakers’ p ro du ctio n o f consonant clusters, based on
th e th e o ry th a t phonetics and phonology m ay b o th be in vo lve d in the
process.
1.3 L in g u is tic fra m e w o rk
The lin g u is tic fra m e w o rk used as th e basis o f th is d is s e rta tio n
is A rtic u la to ry Phonology (B row m an & G oldstein, 1986) and
O p tim a lity T h e o ry (P rince & Sm olensky, 1993). T h is section b rie fly
introduces th e ir th e o rie s and w h a t th e y p re d ic t fo r th is d is s e rta tio n .
1.3.1 A rtic u la to ry Phonology (B row m an & G oldstein, 1986)
B ro w m a n and G o ld ste in (1986, 1990, 1992a, b) proposed an
approach to phonological re p re se n ta tio n based on the ide a o f g e stu ra l
coordin a tion , ca lle d A rtic u la to ry Phonology. A ccording to th is theory,
consonants and vowels are m u tu a lly coordinated. Changes in
co o rd in a tio n m ay be responsible fo r changes in the w ay a sound
sequence is perceived. F o r exam ple, w hen tw o consonants are
adjacent to each o th e r in Enghsh, i t is o fte n the case th a t the
m ovem ent o f the closure fo r th e second consonant s ta rts before the fir s t
consonant’s a rtic u la tio n is com pleted. In o th e r w ords, th e re is
s ig n ific a n t overlap o f gestures. In fa s t or casual speech, g e stu ra l
overlap o f th e a rtic u la to rs o f the consonants can become so g re at th a t it
can cause the perception th a t a consonant has been deleted or
a ssim ilate d. W h a t sounds lik e d e le tio n m ay n o t be d e le tio n b u t the
re s u lt o f g e stu ra l overlap, th e a rtic u la tio n o f th e fir s t consonant being
com pletely m asked (overlapped) by th e fo llo w in g consonant.
O r the opposite m ig h t happen. F o r exam ple, a n o n-n a tive
speakers’ p ro d u ctio n o f consonant clu ste rs m ay n o t have enough
g e s tu ra l overlap and an e x tra vo w e l-like tra n s itio n m ig h t appear,
w h ich to hu m an ears m ig h t sound lik e an epenthetic vow el. Such
vo w e H ike sounds are w h a t L e v in (1989) ca lle d an “ excrescent vow el,” a
p honetic in tru s io n caused by th e speaker’s g e stu ra l co o rdin a tion .
W h a t th is suggests is th a t phonetic tra n s c rip tio n m ay n o t a ccu ra te ly
capture th e a c tu a l processes o f a rtic u la tio n , a lth o u g h th is k in d o f
g e stu ra l m ovem ent can be ca p tu red by acoustic and a rtic u la to ry
analyses. A rtic u la to ry Phonology helps us u n d e rsta n d th e g ra d ie n t
n a tu re o f phonetics and cate g o rica l n a tu re o f phonology.
W hat A rtic u la to ry Phonology p re d icts in th e Japanese
speakers’ p ro d u ctio n o f consonant cluste rs is th a t th e ir utte ra n ce s
m ig h t la c k enough g e s tu ra l overlap. I f the a m o un t o f overlap betw een
tw o consonants in a c lu s te r is n o t enough, less th a n w h a t n a tive
speakers n o rm a lly have, th e re s u ltin g p ro d u ctio n o f th a t p a rtic u la r
g e stu ra l o rg a n iza tio n leads to the perception th a t a vow el has been
inse rted , w here in fa ct i t is o n ly an e x tra vo w e H ike tra n s itio n .
1.3.2 E penthesis vs. excrescence
As m entioned above, o n ly a few stu d ie s have extended th e ir
e xa m in a tio n to a c tu a lly in ve stig a te th e q u a lity o f th e in tru s iv e vowels.
Thus, i t has n o t been made clear w h e th e r an in tru s io n is done
p h o n e tic a lly or phonologically. The differences betw een a phonetic
in tru s io n and a phonological in s e rtio n are discussed in L e vin 's (1989)
research.
A ccording to L e v in (1989), th e re are tw o k in d s o f vow el
in tru s io n processes: epenthesis (phonological in s e rtio n ) and
excrescence (phonetic in tru s io n ). In o rd e r to avoid th e confusion, le t
us m ake th e fo llo w in g d is tin c tio n : “ epenthesis” re fe rs to vowels th a t
are “phon o log ica lly in s e rte d ” (epenthesized vow els) as a re s u lt o f
‘re p a ir’ stra te g y fo r consonant clu ste rs by Japanese speakers. W ords
such as “excrescent” “in tru s iv e ” and “vo w e l-lik e tra n s itio n (sound)” are
used to describe vo w e l-like periods th a t have no phonological
re p re se n ta tio n .
I f a vo w e l-like sound arises due to changes in a rtic u la to ry
coordination, it is excrescence. The excrescent vow el is expected to
show g radient, co n tin u o u sly v a ry in g d u ra tio n (Levin, 1989). L e v in
(1989) exam ined th e P iro language, a m em ber o f the A ra w a ka n fam ily,
and H ua, a language o f the E a ste rn N ew G uinea H ig h la n d s, and found
th a t these languages e x h ib it excrescent vowels, vowels th a t are c le a rly
d iffe re n t fro m u n d e rly in g vow els o f th e language in several w ays. The
sum m arized p ro p e rtie s o f excrescent vow els by L e v in are- ( l) th e y p la y
no ro le in le x ic a l or p o st-le xica l processes; (2) th e y are s ig n ific a n tly
sh o rte r th a n re g u la r vow els; and (3) the tongue p o sitio n fo r th e m is
conditioned by su rro u n d in g consonants (th a t is, th e y act as som ething
lik e the m e d ia to r fo r a d jacent a rtic u la tio n s th a t re q u ire some degree o f
co n strictio n ). Because o f these p ro pe rtie s, excrescent vow els are
expected to show g ra d ie n t, v a ry in g d u ra tio n as w e ll as q u a lity,
depending on the s u rro u n d in g consonants (L e vin , 1989).
10
Excrescence can be understood in te rm s o f g e s tu ra l overlap.
G e stu ra l overlap (more specifically, la c k o f overlap) is the cause o f
excrescence, as sta te d above. B row m an and G oldstein argue th a t
w ords lik e ‘b ra y’ and 'b e ret' d iffe r n o t in th e presence o r absence o f an
e x tra vowel, b u t solely in te rm s o f th e degree o f overlap o f the
consonants. B row m an and G oldstein (1990a) used th e ir
co m p u ta tio n a l g e stu ra l m odel fo r g e n e ra tin g a co n tinu u m , w here the
degree o f o ve rla p /se p ara tio n was va rie d . T hey found th a t the
canonical o rg a n iza tio n fo r 'b ra y' and 'b e re t' d iffe re d in th a t the
gestures d id show some overlap fo r 'b ra y' b u t n o t fo r 'b e ret'. The
re s u lts o f th is stu d y suggest th a t th e reduced sylla b le d e le tio n is a
re s u lt o f an increase in g e s tu ra l overlap. T hey conclude, as
sum m arized in a la te r paper (1992b, p. 175), th a t “in a w ord lik e 'beret',
th e vow el in th e fir s t sylla b le ...m a y be a p p a re n tly deleted in
continuous speech, pro du cin g som ething tra n s c rib e d as [b ie i]. The
tendency ... show n to be a 'graded' one....” T h e y th e n cla im th a t in
11
flu e n t speech, “a ll ph on e tic u n its c o n s titu tin g a le x ic a l ite m are s till
present (B row m an & G oldstein 1992b, p. 175)” and o n ly th e a m o un t o f
overlap shows g ra d ie n t changes.
I f one o f the p ro p e rtie s o f the excrescent vow els is m e d ia tin g
th e a rtic u la tio n s o f adjacent consonants, th e y w ill be sch w a -like and
th e y m ay be view ed as w h a t B row m an and G oldstein (1992a) c a ll
“ ta rg e tle ss” schwa. “Targetless” schwa is characterized as h a v in g no
specified tongue p o s itio n o f its ow n (hence, targetless). A coustically,
th is k in d o f schwa is g e n e ra lly v e ry s h o rt in d u ra tio n and also shows
ch a ra cte ristics such as q u a lity variance and d u ra tio n a l variance. The
phonetic re p re se n ta tio n is q u a n tita tiv e in n a tu re , because i t involves
th e a rtic u la to rs (g e stu ral), whose o u tp u t n a tu ra lly is continuous and
g ra die n t, n o t ca te g o rica l (K e a tin g , 1988b; P ie rre h u m b e rt, 1990; am ong
others), and these are th e ch a ra cte ristics w h ic h excrescent vowels
m ig h t show.
O n th e o th e r hand, i f epenthesis ta ke s place, the vow el is
12
in s e rte d phon o log ica lly and the epenthesized vow el is expected to show
a categorical difference (K e a ting , 1988b; P ie rre h u m b e rt, 1990; am ong
others). I f th e re is an epenthetic vowel, i t is expected to be lon g e r and
d iffe re n t th a n th e excrescent one. Its d u ra tio n and fo rm a n t p a tte rn s
should be less va ria b le , and i t m ay p a rtic ip a te in phonological
a lte rn a tio n s ; th a t is, the vow el should have th e ch a ra cte ristics o f a fu ll
vow el th a t is in th e in v e n to ry o f the language. In th e p re sen t study,
th e n a tu re o f th e vow el (or vo w e l-like tra n s itio n ) in th e p ro d u ctio n o f
consonant cluste rs was inve stig a te d . The evidence shows th a t some
speakers produced epenthetic vowels, w h ile others produced excrescent
vowels.
1.3.3 O p tim a lity T h e o ry
O p tim a lity T heory (OT) (P rince & Sm olensky, 1993) is a
g ra m m a tica l fra m e w o rk w h ich looks a t language as a system o f
13
c o n flic tin g u n iv e rs a l co n stra in ts. OT assumes th a t lin g u is tic
co n stra in ts are u n ive rsa l, b u t viola b le . The co n stra in ts are ra n ke d
d iffe re n tly in each language so th a t th e surface fo rm (o u tp u t) is
‘o p tim a l’ in th e sense th a t i t o n ly vio la te s the low e st-ra n ked c o n stra in ts
in a given language. Therefore, cro ss -lin g u is tic v a ria b ility depends on
th e re la tiv e ra n k in g o f the co n s tra in ts w ith in a language. I f c e rta in
co n stra in ts are ra n ke d h ig h in one language, th e y m ay be n o t vio la te d
in th a t p a rtic u la r language b u t th e same co n stra in ts m ay be ra n ke d
lo w in a d iffe re n t language and are viola te d .
Two m a jo r types o f co n stra in ts, nam ely m arkedness and
fa ith fu ln e s s , are in c o n flic t in OT. A ccording to m arkedness
co n stra in ts, the o u tp u t m u st be ‘u n m a rke d ’. T h a t is, the o u tp u t has to
have values th a t are u n iv e rs a lly p re fe rre d and basic. F a ith fu ln e ss , on
th e o th e r hand, re q u ire s th e o u tp u t to be as close as possible to the
in p u t, i.e., no adding o r d e le tin g o f th e in p u t segm ents - th e o u tp u t has
to correspond to th e in p u t. The difference in th e sylla b le s tru c tu re o f
14
Japanese and E n g lis h can be captured by th e ra n k in g o f co n stra in ts
based on these tw o m a jo r types o f co n stra in ts. T hey p la y im p o rta n t
roles in d e te rm in in g th e sylla b le s tru c tu re . U s in g O T w ou ld h e lp us
u n d e rsta n d the L 2 phonology because OT provides a good account o f
th e in te ra c tio n s betw een developm ental effects and tra n s fe r in L2
sylla b les w ith in one g ra m m a tica l fra m e w o rk. OT w ill be discussed
m ore fu lly in C ha p te r II.
1.4 P honetics and Phonology in L 2 A c q u is itio n
M a n y studies have been conducted re c e n tly on L 2 phonology,
w ith th e u n d e rsta n d in g th a t ca re fu l in v e s tig a tio n o f L 2 a c q u is itio n
m ay help us u n d e rsta n d m ore fu lly th e cog nitive processes o f language
le a rn in g o r th e n a tu re o f language its e lf. There is a g row ing
awareness th a t n o t o n ly L I tra n sfe r, w h ich has o fte n been argued to be
one o f th e m a in fa cto rs th a t affects L2 phonology (Broselow, 1984;
15
H a n cin -B h a tt, 1994b; Sato, 1983; Tarone, 1980), b u t also u n iv e rs a l
processes o r co n stra in ts on lin g u is tic co m p le xity (M ajor, 1986; E ckm an
& Iverson, 1993; James, 1993; H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997, p .342) are
im p o rta n t factors a ffe c tin g L 2 phonology. S everal a tte m p ts have been
made to dem onstrate how these u n iv e rs a l c o n stra in ts and L I tra n s fe r
in te ra c t w ith each other, w ith th e focus on th e stro n g e xp la n a to ry
p o te n tia l o f phonological th e o ry and L 2 a c q u is itio n th e o rie s (E pstein,
F ly n n , & M a rto h a rd jo n o , 1996; Sato, 1983; Tarone, 1980; B roselow &
F iner, 1991! E ckm an & Iverson, 1993; H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997;
am ong others). W h ile these studies provide us w ith in s ig h ts on th is
im p o rta n t issue, m a n y o f th e m seem to focus m e rely on the
phonological aspect and little a tte n tio n has been p a id to th e p o s s ib ility
th a t phonetics, e ith e r u n iv e rs a l or language-specific, m ay in flu e n ce the
process o f language a cq u isitio n .
O n the o th e r hand some p honetic stu d ies such as Flege and
D a vid ia n (1984) w h ich in ve stig a te d tra n s fe r and developm ental
16
processes in a d u lt fo re ig n language speech p ro d u ctio n and Flege and
P o rt (1981) w h ich stu d ied cross-language p honetic in te rfe re n ce o f
A ra b ic to E n g lis h conducted research on L 2 phonetics, b u t w ith o u t
m uch reference to phonology. W h a t is la c k in g is in v e s tig a tin g L2
p ro d u ctio n bo th fro m phonological and p honetic p o in ts o f view.
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) conducted e xp erim e nts on
Japanese and S panish speakers le a rn in g E n g lis h to in v e s tig a te the
in te ra c tio n s o f tra n s fe r and developm ental effects (due to u n iv e rs a l
processes or c o n stra in ts) in the a c q u isitio n o f consonant clu ste rs in
sylla b le onsets as w e ll as codas. T h e ir s tu d y provides evidence to
su p p o rt th e idea th a t not o n ly developm ental effects b u t also tra n s fe r
effects p la y an im p o rta n t role in th e co n stru ctio n o f L 2 sylla b le
s tru c tu re s and th a t th e y in te ra c t w ith each o th e r in v a rio u s w ays.
They also argue th a t u sin g an OT (O p tim a lity T heory) approach
provides a b e tte r account th a n previous studies on the n a tu re o f these
effects. H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) defines a cq u isitio n in OT as
17
le a rn in g a n oth er co n fig u ra tio n o f th e ra n kin g s ! since O T assumes th a t
a ll the co n stra in ts are u n ive rsa l, the le a rn e r o n ly needs to le a rn th e ir
ra n kin g s. They assume th a t the le a rn e rs s ta rt o u t w ith th e ir L I
c o n s tra in t ra n k in g s and a rriv e a t ra n k in g s m idw a y betw een L I
ra n kin g s and L2 ra n k in g s th ro u g h p o sitive evidence, and th a t tra n s fe r
o f the L I ra n kin g s as w e ll as d iffic u lty caused by m arkedness
co n stra in ts seem to in te ra c t in th e process o f a c q u isitio n . T h e ir
d e fin itio n w ill be follow ed in the c u rre n t study.
W h ile these studies provide us w ith in s ig h ts on th e issue o f
in te ra c tio n o f L I tra n s fe r and developm ental processes, w h a t seems to
be la ck in g is stro n g p honetic evidence to su p p o rt th e ir fin d in g s . These
studies re ly solely on th e n a rro w phonetic tra n s c rip tio n s o f the
recordings based on the a u d ito ry im pressions o f tra n s c rib e rs and
n e ith e r acoustic n o r a rtic u la to ry da ta were exam ined. In fa ct, m ost o f
th e previous studies on L2 phonology seem to share th is sh o rtco m in g o f
no acoustic or a rtic u la to ry e xa m in a tio n o f p h o n e tic data. W ith o u t
18
such e xa m in a tio n, however, one know s n e ith e r w h e th e r phonetics is
a c tu a lly in vo lve d in th e process, n o r can one te ll to w h a t e x te n t i t is
invo lve d. B u t i t is an im p o rta n t issue th a t needs to be exam ined.
Zsiga (1995) discusses the im p o rta n t ro le th a t phonetics m ay
p la y in L 2 phonology. She argues th a t th e fo llo w in g th re e types o f
ru le s or sound p a tte rn s need to be considered: le x ic a l (K ip a rsky, 1985)
a lte rn a tio n s (ru le s th a t a p p ly w ith in w ords), p o stle xica l processes
(ru le s th a t a p p ly to w ords in phrases), and p h on e tic im p le m e n ta tio n or
re g u la ritie s (K e a ting , 1988; Cohn, 1990) (language-specific p a tte rn s in
th e im p le m e n ta tio n o f speech (Zsiga, 1995, p. 576)). Zsiga p o in ts o u t
th a t in m any cases le x ic a l and p o stle xica l ru le s behave d iffe re n tly
w h ile p o stle xica l ru le s and phonetic processes o fte n seem to behave in
a s im ila r way. S im ila rly , W einberger (1994) showed th a t po stlexica l,
b u t n o t lexica l, ru le s tra n s fe r to L2. Zsiga argues, fo llo w in g B row m an
and G o ld ste in ’s A rtic u la to ry Phonology (1986, 1990, 1992), th a t “ m any
i f n o t a ll p o stle x ic a l ‘ru le s ’ can be seen to re s u lt fro m h a b its o f
19
a rtic u la to ry co o rdin a tion (p. 577)” and th e re fo re should be described in
term s o f a rtic u la to ry tim in g ra th e r th a n fe a tu re -ch a n g in g ru le s as has
been done in previous studies. The basis fo r h e r a rg um e n t comes fro m
m any studies done on g e stu ra l overlap in p o stle xica l processes (e.g.
H ard ca stle , 1985; B arry, 1985; B ro w m a n & G oldstein, 1990; B yrd ,
1994; Zsiga, 1994.) Zsiga (1995) discusses several exam ples and
concludes th a t i t is g e s tu ra l overlap (B row m an & G oldstein, 1986, 1990,
1992) th a t lie s behin d some, b u t n o t a ll, p o s tle x ic a l processes. In o th e r
w ords, w h a t was th o u g h t to be th e re s u lt o f phonology m ay tu rn o u t to
be the re s u lt o f a rtic u la to ry tim in g p a tte rn s.
T h is k in d o f approach is w h a t seems to have been o fte n m issin g
fro m the studies done on L2 phonology w h ic h have been m entioned
e a rlie r (Sato, 1983; Tarone, 1980; B roselow & F in e r, 1991; E ckm an &
Iverson, 1993! H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997). A coustic and
a rtic u la to ry analyses o f re le v a n t d a ta are d e fin ite ly called for.
R e lyin g solely on (n a rro w ) phonetic tra n s c rip tio n (as in th e case o f
20
H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997, fo r exam ple) m ay n o t be enough,
considering th e influ e n ce o f g e stu ra l overlap and th e fin d in g th a t
p honetic and phonological processes, w h ile a ris in g fro m ve ry d iffe re n t
m echanism s, m ay be p e rce p tu a lly e q u iva le n t. B o th acoustic and
a rtic u la to ry da ta analyses are necessary because i t is such precise
analyses th a t can pro vid e people w ith ric h in fo rm a tio n th a t hu m an
ears o fte n cannot capture. T h is d is s e rta tio n is d iffe re n t fro m the
previous studies in th a t i t presents d a ta fro m acoustic, a rtic u la to ry ,
and perception experim ents on Japanese n a tive speakers’ re a liz a tio n o f
consonant clusters, and considers how phonetics and phonology are
in vo lve d in th e process.
One re ce nt w o rk by D avidson and Stone (2003) needs to be
m entioned because th e ir approach to consonant c lu s te r p ro d u ctio n
re fe rre d bo th to phonetics (excrescence) and phonology (epenthesis).
They in ve stig a te d epenthesis vs. g e stu ra l m is tim in g u sin g u ltra s o u n d
im a g in g o f th e tongue d u rin g speech. They argue th a t th e re p a ir (fo r
21
a p h o n o ta ctica lly ille g a l sequence) m ay in vo lve th e phonological
process o f epenthesis, b u t also i t is q u ite lik e ly th a t the re p a ir concerns
th e co o rd in a tio n o f gestures. T h a t is, speakers are “m is tim in g ” the
gestures fo r p roducing consonant-consonant sequences because th e y
are not fa m ilia r w ith such sequences and unable to a p p ly canonical
in itia l c lu s te r co o rdin a tion . They ca lle d th is g e s tu ra l m is tim in g . It
is p la u sib le th a t w h a t the Japanese speakers o f E n g lis h in the c u rre n t
experim ents are doing m ay be a case o f such g e stu ra l m is tim in g .
1.5 Research Q uestions
As m entioned above, Japanese does n o t a llo w consonant
cluste rs w h ile E n g lis h does. P revious stu d ie s have show n th a t
Japanese speakers m ay use e ith e r consonant d e le tio n o r vow el
in s e rtio n to s im p lify consonant cluste rs in E n g lis h syllables. T h a t is,
e ith e r epenthesis o r d e le tio n m ay ta ke place in loa n w ord phonology in
22
Japanese. However, fo r onsets, as sta te d in T ajim a, E rickso n , and
Nagao (2000a, b), m any n a tive speakers o f Japanese seem to produce
E n g lis h consonant clu ste rs w ith some k in d o f in tru s iv e , o r e p en the tic
vowels, ra th e r th a n u sin g d e le tio n (ehsion) as a strategy. A n acoustic
exp erim e nt conducted in th e c u rre n t stu d y confirm ed the e m p iric a l
evidence o f th e presence o f th e in tru s iv e vow els. N ote, however, th a t
a lth o u g h some previous studies (H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997; Sato,
1983; Saunders, 1987; T ajim a, E rickson , & Nagao, 2000a, b) have
argued fo r the presence o f e x tra vowels in th e p ro d u ctio n o f consonant
clusters by Japanese speakers, no acoustic experim ents have been
conducted on such data. Also, and m ore im p o rta n tly , acoustic an alysis
ahows the in v e s tig a tio n in to th e n a tu re o f th e vow el th a t appeared
betw een the consonants w ith in consonant clu ste rs - w h e th e r th e y are
e p en the tic or excrescent.
The specific questions addressed in the p re sen t s tu d y a re :
23
(1) H ow do n a tive Japanese speakers re a lize E n g lis h
consonant clusters (i.e., are in tru s iv e vowels a c tu a lly p re sen t in th e ir
pro du ctio n /p e rcep tio n o f consonant cluste rs) ?
(2) I f th e y do produce in tru s iv e vowels, is the vow el in se rte d
p h o n e tic a lly (excrescence) or p h on o log ica lly (epenthesis)?
I t is p re dicte d th a t the in tru s iv e vow el in Japanese speakers’
p ro d u ctio n o f consonant cluste rs w ou ld be a phonological one i f
ch a ra cte ristics in a) were observed (fo llo w in g L e vin , 1989), w h ile it
w ould be a phonetic one i f ch a ra cte ristics in b) w ere present:
a) Evidence fo r phonological processes
■ s im ila r to u n d e rly in g Japanese vow els (e ith e r /o/ o r /u /
depending on the preceding consonant)
■ respect Japanese phonotactics Qol a fte r /t, d / and /u / a fte r /s,
b/)
24
■ be consistent in q u a lity and d u ra tio n
■ p a rtic ip a te in phonological processes^ m ay be stressed or
accented
b) Evidence fo r phonetic processes
■ m ore schw a-like, and n o t the same as a Japanese vow el
■ do n o t respect Japanese phonotactics
■ n o t co n sisten t in q u a lity o r d u ra tio n
■ never stressed or accented (do not p a rtic ip a te in
phonological processes)
Therefore, d e te rm in in g th e n a tu re o f th e vow els th a t are in s e rte d is
c ru c ia l to th is d isse rta tio n .
1.6 Three experim ents
A ccording to L e v in (1989), a ca re fu l phonetic a n alysis o f the
25
da ta is essential, in o rd er to fin d o u t the n a tu re o f the in s e rte d vowels.
In o rd er to answ er the above research questions, th re e experim ents
were conducted and th e n a tu re o f the vow els th a t appeared in the
p ro d u ctio n o f E nghsh spoken by Japanese le a rn e rs was exam ined.
The fir s t e xp e rim e n t provides acoustic a n alysis o f Japanese
speakers’ p ro n u n c ia tio n o f E n g lis h consonant clusters. D u ra tio n and
fo rm a n t values are m easured. A lth o u g h acoustic a n alysis provides
m ore in fo rm a tio n th a n tra n s c rip tio n o f th e recordings, i t m ay not be
s u ffic ie n t because, as some p revious studies h ad show n (B yrd , 1992,
1996; B y rd & Zsiga, 1990; N olan, 1989) th e effect o f g e stu ra l overlap (cf.
B row m an & G oldstein, 1992) also needs to be ta ke n in to consideration.
W h a t seems lik e phonological d e le tio n in the acoustic da ta m ay
a c tu a lly be th e re s u lt o f g e stu ra l overlap, i.e., th e gesture o f th e second
consonant o ve rla p p in g (covering) th a t o f th e fir s t in consonant clusters.
Thus, it was considered w o rth w h ile to conduct an a rtic u la to ry
e xp e rim e n t to see w h e th e r th is is tru e o r n o t by e xa m in in g the
26
m ovem ent o f the tongue in p roducing these vowels.
The second e xp e rim e n t uses EM A (E lectro m a g n e tic
A rtic u lo g ra p h y ) in o rd e r to in ve stig a te the gestures o f lip and tongue
m ovem ent d u rin g E n g lis h consonant cluste rs produced by one
Japanese le a rn e r o f E n g lish . U sin g a rtic u la to ry E M A d a ta made it
possible to id e n tify th e m otions o f th e tongue and bps, w h ich are
c ru c ia l in id e n tify in g th e ch a ra c te ristic s o f the vow el in s e rtio n
processes m ore closely. The use and purpose o f E M A fo r th is stu d y
w ill be discussed in d e ta il in C h a p te r I I (S ection 2.4) and in C hapters
I I I (Section 3.2) and V, E xp e rim e n t 2.
D a ta co lle ctio n w as made possible courtesy o f N T T Speech
C om m unication Science L a b o ra to rie s, A tsu g i, Japan and th e te c h n ic a l
expertise o f D r. T. M ochida, and su p po rt o f D r. E rickso n a t G ifu C ity
W om en’s College in G ifu, Japan.
One advantage o f the a rtic u la to ry e xp e rim e n t was the
in v e s tig a tio n o f vow el devoicing in Japanese. Because o f the
27
w e ll-kn o w n devoicing ru le in Japanese (a h ig h vow el surrou n d e d by
voiceless consonants is g e n e ra lly devoiced in sta n d a rd Japanese), a
h ig h vow el th a t appears betw een tw o voiceless consonants w ill be
devoiced. I f th is occurs, even i f a person is p ro du cin g a vow el o r a
v o w e l-like tra n s itio n , i t is possible th a t th e vow el m ay n o t be perceived
a t a ll. In such cases, no fo rm a n t s tru c tu re w ill be v is ib le and vow el
q u a lity can n o t be m easured acoustically. O n ly a rtic u la to ry da ta can
provide us w ith th e da ta show ing th e presence o r absence o f a vow el in
such cases.
The th ird e xp e rim e n t stu d ie d th e perception o f consonant
clusters. Since Japanese and E n g lis h have c le a rly d iffe re n t
co n stra in ts on th e ir sylla b le s tru c tu re s (th is w ill be discussed fu rth e r
in Section 2.1.2 in C hapter II) , i t is in te re s tin g and w o rth in v e s tig a tin g
to fin d o u t n o t o n ly how cluste rs are re a lize d a co u stica lly and
a rtic u la to rily (in E xp e rim e n ts 1 and 2, re sp ective ly) b u t also how th e y
are perceived, bo th by Japanese speakers and by E n g lis h
28
speakers. S everal studies have been conducted on th e perception o f
consonant cluste rs (Treim an, 1988! W ang & D erw ing , 1993; Kubozono,
1993; Yoneda, 1998; am ong others). T h is stu d y confirm ed some o f the
previous fin d in g s th a t Japanese speakers o fte n “h e ar” vow els even
th o u g h th e re is no vow el a t a ll. The p re sen t stu d y also trie d to fin d
o u t how th e sylla b les “ created by an in tru s iv e vow el” were perceived by
n a tive Japanese speakers. The re s u lts o f E x p e rim e n t 3 (perception
te st) suggested th a t n a tive speakers and Japanese speakers do show
clear differences in th e ir p e rcep tio n o f consonant cluste rs. W hile
n a tive Japanese speakers o fte n perceived a vow el w h ich was not
a co u stica lly present, n a tive speakers o f E n g lis h never showed such
tendencies. T h is w ill be discussed in d e ta il in C hapter V I,
E x p e rim e n t 3.
29
1.7 Overview
The re s t o f th is d is s e rta tio n is organized as fo llo w s: C hapter
I I focuses on re vie w o f the lite ra tu re re le v a n t fo r th e p re sen t stu d y:
phonological th e o ry and p honetic issues. P honological background o f
Japanese and E n g lish , A rtic u la to ry Phonology, O p tim a lity Theory, and
L2 phonology are b rie fly review ed, m o stly focusing on sylla b le
s tru c tu re . In o rd er to in ve stig a te th e Japanese speakers’ re a liz a tio n
o f consonant clusters, the fo llo w in g th re e experim ents w ere conducted
in th e c u rre n t stu d y -■ E x p e rim e n t 1; an acoustic e xperim ent,
E xp e rim e n t 2- an a rtic u la to ry experim ent, and E x p e rim e n t 3: a
percep tio n exp erim e nt. C hapter I I I intro du ce s e x p e rim e n ta l design
and m a te ria ls fo r a ll th re e experim ents. C hapters IV, V, and V I deal
w ith th e re s u lts o f E xp e rim e n ts 1, 2, and 3 respectively. F in a lly , the
o v e ra ll discussion and conclusion are presented in C ha p te r V II.
30
Ch a p t e r ii
P H O N O L O G IC A L TH E O R Y A N D P H O N E T IC IS S U E S
2.1 P honological background
2.1.1 Japanese and E n g lis h sounds
Japanese and E n g lis h have a d iffe re n t set o f phonem es fo r both
vowels and consonants. In th is section, th e vow el in v e n to ry o f
Japanese and E n g lis h w ill be exam ined. Japanese is a language
w h ich has o n ly five vow els phonem ically, w hereas E n g lis h has m any
vowels as the fo llo w in g vow el in v e n to ry illu s tra te s -
( l) Japanese vow el system^
F ro n t C e n tra l B ack
H ig h /i/ i ‘stom ach’ /u / um a ‘horse’
k i ‘tre e ’ k u ‘phrase’
M id /e/ e ‘p ic tu re ’ /o/ oka ‘h ill’
ke ‘h a ir ’ ko ‘c h ild ’
Low /a / a k i ‘fa ll’
k a ‘m osquito’
31
(2) English vowel system^1
a. S im ple Vowels
F ro n t C e n tra l B ack
H ig h in
/i/ eat la l boot
beat pool
111 in k Id book
b it p u ll
M id lei egg l?rl e a rly hi la w
bet b ird th o u g h t
/a / o th e r
b u tto n
hi above 2
banana
Low /ae/ apple Id octopus
bat pot
b. D ip h th o n gs
le il ate /au/ ow l li& l ear

/sal ice loul open /eW a ir
h i/ o il AW poor
h&l fo u r
la & l a rt
L e t us now loo k a t th e vow els w h ich w ill be c ru c ia l to o u r experim ents
1 This inventory is based on American English. Scholars (and dictionaries)

employ different phonetic symbols for the English vowels.
2 h i is an unstressed vowel (schwa) in English.
32
later^ vow els /u / and lol. B o th Japanese and E n g lis h have these
vowels and in general, fo r bo th languages /u / is considered a h ig h back
vow el and lo l a m id back vow el. B u t th e re are differences as w ell,
w h ic h need to be m entioned. E n g lis h /u / is considered a
high/back/rounded/tense vow el w h ile Japanese /u / is o fte n tra n s crib e d
as an unrounded back vow el [ui]. I t is considered to have changed
overtim e fro m a rounded back vow el to an u nrounded back vowel.
Kubozono (1998) argues, however, th a t th is could n o t be th e case,
because changing fro m a m ore u n iv e rs a lly u n m arke d rounded back
vow el to a u n iv e rs a lly m a rked unrounded back vow el seems a ve ry
u n n a tu ra l process. He argues th a t th e problem lie s w here the m odern
Japanese /u / is analyzed as a back vowel. C om paring the tongue
po sitio n s o f E n g lis h /u / and Japanese /u/, he suggests th a t Japanese /u /
is in fa c t n o t a back vowel, b u t a vow el produced a t a p o sitio n
som ew hat m idw a y betw een the tongue fro n t and tongue dorsum . He
continues th a t Japanese /u / is n o t a m arked, u n n a tu ra l ‘unrounded’
33
back vow el, b u t is a vow el w h ich follow ed a n a tu ra l process such th a t
th e vow el lo s t roundedness as th e p o sitio n o f th e tongue m oved m ore
fo rw a rd over tim e . In the present study, however, Japanese /u / w ill
be considered as an unrounded back vow el fo llo w in g th e general
d e scrip tio n o f Japanese lu l and to be co n sisten t w ith the a rtic u la to ry
fin d in g s (in w h ich lo l and /u / are e q u a lly back).
The E n g lis h c o u n te rp a rt o f Japanese lol is loul as in ‘bo at,’ a
m id/back/rounded vow el and is considered to be a d ip h th o n g .
Japanese lo l is n o t a d ip h th o n g b u t is a sim ple vow el. In Japanese,
vowels are d istin g u is h e d by th e ir le n g th (i.e., long /V7 is p h o n e m ica lly
d is tin c t fro m s h o rt IV/). Thus, th e re are a num ber o f m in im a l p a irs
(w ords co n ta in in g a vow el th a t is lengthened vs. w ords c o n ta in in g a
vow el th a t is n o t lengthened) in Japanese, as illu s tra te d in the
exam ples below :
34
(3) Minimal pairs w ith long V [V] and short V [V]
a. ojisa n ‘u n cle ’ vs. o jiis a n ‘g ra n d fa th e r’
b. k e s ik i ‘scenery’ vs. k e e s ik i ‘fo rm ’
c. obasan ‘a u n t’ vs. obaasan ‘g ra n d m o th e r’
d. k u k i ‘stem , s ta lk ’ vs. k u u k i ‘a ir ’
e. to r i ‘b ird ’ vs. to o ri ‘s tre e t’
There are also vow el-vow el sequences s im ila r to E n g lis h dip h th o n g s
such as k au /k a u / ‘to b u y’ and k o i /k o i/ ‘carp’. These, however, are
g e n e ra lly considered as W sequences and n o t d iphthongs (Kubozono,
1998).
W h a t do these differences m ean as fa r as the values o f F I and
F2 are concerned? The frequencies o f th e fir s t and second fo rm a n ts
are c ru c ia l in c a rry in g vow el d is tin c tio n s . Vow el h e ig h t is n e g a tive ly
co rrela te d w ith th e frequency o f F 1. T h a t is, i f i t is a h ig h vow el its F 1
is low, w hereas a low vow el has h ig h F I. Backness or fro n tn e ss o f the
35
vowel, in a s im ila r way, is said to be co rrela te d w ith F2 such th a t i f i t is
a fro n t vow el its F2 is h ig h , w h ile a back vow el has low F2. Japanese
lo l is, therefore, expected to show h ig h e r F I th a n /u/, and lo w e r F2 th a n
/u/. In a s im ila r way, E n g lis h /u / is a h ig h vow el w h ile lo l is a m id
vowel, so l\ il should show lo w e r F I th a n lol.
N ext, Japanese and E n g lish consonants are exam ined.
C onsonants are g e ne ra lly d is tin g u ish e d by th re e param eters^ place o f
a rtic u la tio n , m anner o f a rtic u la tio n , and voicing.
(4) Japanese consonants:
^Place Bilabial Alveolar Alveo- Palatal

Manner palatal
Stops vd. b d
vl. P t
Fricatives vd. z
vl. [*] s [J] I?]
Affricates vd. [dz] [d^l
vl. [ts] [tfl
Approximants
liquid vd. r
glide vd. j
Nasals vd. m n
36
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ P la ce Velar Uvular Glottis
Manner " - - ....
Stops vd. g
vl. k
Fricatives vd.
vl. h
Affricates vd.
vl.
Approximants
liquid vd.
glide vd. w
Nasals vd. W N
In the Japanese consonant ch a rt, th e consonants in [ ] are not
phonemes, b u t are allophones in Japanese. [<j>], [dz] and [ts ] are
allophones o f fhl, /d/, and /t/ respectively, and appear o n ly before /u /
(p h o n e tica lly [ui]); [j], [5], f c ] , and [ t j] are allophones o f Is/, /h/, /d /3 and
/t/, w h ich appear before /i/. N stands fo r a m oraic n a sal in Japanese
and [rj] is an allop hone o f N before /g/.
3 [(I3] is also an allophone for /z/ before HI.

37
(5) English consonants:
Place Bi Labio Inter Alveolar

Manner labial dental dental
Stops vd.
Fricatives vd.
Affricates vd.
Approximants
liquid vd.
glide vd.
Nasals vd. m
Place Alveo- Palatal Velar Labio-

Manner palatal velar
Stops vd.
Fricatives vd.
Affricates vd.
Approximants
liquid vd.
glide vd.
Nasals vd.
As th e above exam ples show, th e re are m ore consonants in E n g lis h
th a n in Japanese. N ote th a t th e re are gem inates (long consonants) in
38
Japanese. S ingle consonants [C] and gem inates [CO are in co n tra st
in the fo llo w in g m in im a l p a irs:
(6) M in im a l p a irs w ith gem inates and single consonants
a. su p ai ‘spy’ vs. su p pa i ‘so u r’
b. k a ta ‘sh o uld e r’ vs. k a tta ‘b o ug h t’
c. ik a ‘squid’ vs. ik k a ‘(one) fa m ily ’
d. hosa ‘a ssista n t’ vs. hossa ‘fit, convulsion’
A s can be seen, bo th th e c o n tra st betw een lon g vowels vs. s h o rt vowels
and th e co n tra st betw een lon g consonants (gem inates) vs. single
consonants lead to separate words.
2.1.2 Japanese and E n g lis h s ylla b le s tru c tu re s
The c u rre n t stu d y focuses on th e issue o f L2 phonology, more
39
specifically, th e re a liz a tio n o f consonant cluste rs by th e Japanese
le a rn e rs o f E n g lish . I t is th e re fo re o u r n e xt ta s k to look in to the
sylla b le s tru c tu re s o f th e tw o re le v a n t languages, Japanese and
E n g lish .
Japanese is a language w ith fa irly sim ple sylla b le s tru c tu re ,
one w h ich does n o t have com plex onsets or codas (Vance, 1987). The
fo llo w in g is based on th e in v e n to ry o f Japanese sylla b les suggested by
Poser (1990).
(7) Japanese sylla b le s 4
Type E xam ple Gloss
CV to ‘door’
CV: too ‘to w e r’
CVG 5 to i ‘w a te r p ip e ’
CVN to N ‘to n ’
CVQ to tta ‘to o k’
CVN tye e N ‘ch a in ’
4 C = consonant, V = vowel, : =vowel length, G = glide, N = moraic (syllabic) nasal,

Q = the first half of geminate
5 Whether fin 01 or a i is a real glide or another full vowel is still controversial.
Here, Poser (1990) is followed.
40
CVGQ gendaikko ‘m odern y o u th ’
CGVQ6 tookyookko ‘T o kyo ite ’
C VNQ : ro n do N kko ‘L o nd o n e r’
E n g lish , on the o th e r hand, is less re s tric te d in its sylla b le
s tru c tu re s (Kenstow icz, 1994), a llo w in g b o th com plex onsets and codas.
Som ew hat s im p lifie d versions o f sylla b le s tru c tu re fo r th e tw o
languages are illu s tra te d below - 7
(8) Japanese sylla b le s tru c tu re
cr = (C) V (V /N /Q )
(9) E n g lis h sylla b le s tru c tu re
cr = (Co-3) v (V/C°-3)
W h a t these s im p lifie d sylla b le s tru c tu re s o f the tw o languages show is
6 Whether Japanese has an onset consonant cluster like this (CG) with a glide [j]
following a consonant is controversial, but this is not discussed in the present
study.
7 What is in the parenthesis ( ) is optional. The small numbers indicate the
possible number of consonants.
41
th a t E n g lis h allow s m uch m ore com plex co n stru ction s o f consonant
clusters th a n Japanese does. U p to th re e consonants are allow ed in
b o th onset and coda clusters. T h is, however, does n o t m ean th a t
E n g lis h allow s any consonants in any o rd er or p o sitio n in consonant
clu ste rs--ra th e r, th e co n stru ctio n o f com plex onsets and codas is s tric tly
re s tric te d fo llo w in g w hat is called th e S o n o rity Sequencing
G e n e ra liza tio n (SSG) o r S o n o rity Sequencing P rin c ip le (SSP) (S e lk irk
1982, K enstow icz 1994, Spencer 1996). The SSG (SSP) re q u ire s th a t
onsets rise, and codas fa ll, in s o n o rity to w a rd or from , the nucleus. In
o th e r words, segm ents w ith in a sylla b le te n d to be arranged in o rd er o f
decreasing so n o rity approaching th e sylla b le m a rg in s. T h is is
considered one o f the p rin c ip le s o f U G (Spencer, 1996, p. 89) w h ich
govern sylla b le s tru ctu re s. A n o th e r c o n s tra in t re la te d to th is w h ich
needs a tte n tio n is th e s o n o rity distance.
Segm ents can be arran g e d in a h ie ra rc h y o r scale o f s o n o rity as
depicted in ( 10) below^
42
(10) Sonority hierarchy
le a st sonorous <-----------------------------► m ost sonorous
stops —fric a tiv e s - nasals - liq u id s —glides - vowels
( ll) S o n o rity scale
stops - l; fric a tiv e s —2 ; nasals —3;
liq u id s - 4; glides - 58
M ore sonorous segm ents have a m ore open vocal tra c t, and th e re fo re
g re ater re la tiv e a m p litu d e , th a n less sonorous segm ents.
Languages d iffe r in th e ir re q u ire m e n ts fo r m in im a l distance in
sonority. F o r exam ple, language w ith a so n o rity distance s e ttin g o f 5
allow s no consonant clusters w h ile a language w ith a s e ttin g o f 3
allow s any c lu ste r w ith a t le a st a difference o f 3. T h is is called
M in im a l S o n o rity D istance (M SD ). E n g lis h allow s some consonant
clusters, w h ile Japanese allow s no consonant clusters as show n in (2)
8 (10) and (ll) are adapted from Young Scholten (1994).

43
and (3) above. In o th e r w ords, th e fa c t th a t no consonant clu ste rs are
allow ed in Japanese m eans th a t Japanese is a language w ith the
s o n o rity distance s e ttin g o f 5. E n g lis h is less co nstrained th a n
Japanese in its M S D se ttin g . I t a llo w s consonant clu ste rs such as
fric a tiv e s + liq u id s (so n o rity distance s e ttin g o f 3) as in ‘fly ’ and ‘th ro w ’
b u t not fric a tiv e s + nasals (so n o rity distance s e ttin g o f 2), show ing th a t
E n g lish is a language w ith th e s o n o rity distance s e ttin g o f 3. E n g lis h
coda s tru c tu re is s im ila r to th a t o f onset, b u t less so n o rity distance is
re q u ire d . Therefore, cluste rs w ith n a sal + o b stru e n t are o n ly possible
as codas (m onths, b u t n o t thnom *).
There are tw o o th e r th in g s th a t need to be ta k e n in to
consideration in E n g lis h consonant clusters- c o n stra in ts on place o f
a rtic u la tio n and s-a d ju n ctio n . E ven i f the s o n o rity distance is n o t
viola te d , th e re are c e rta in com binations th a t are not p e rm issib le in
E n g lis h onsets--the cluste rs /t l/ and /sr/. C lu ste rs such as /p w / and
/vw / are also ve ry ra re in E n g lis h (th e y are exam ples o f ty p ic a l
44
fo re ig n -o rig in w ords). These cluste rs are g e n e ra lly excluded fro m the
E n g lish sylla b le s because th e places o f a rtic u la tio n fo r th e fir s t and the
second m em ber o f th e clu s te r are the same o r v e ry close together.
I t is also necessary to look a t th e special consonant in E n g lish :
/s/. As sta te d above, E n g lis h allow s three-m em bered consonant
clusters (C C O ). H ow ever, th e o n ly possible C i in such clu ste rs is /s/,
as in structure, spring, and screen. Is/ is also special in th a t i t can
co n stru ct a c lu s te r w ith a lm o st any o th e r consonants (sm -, sn~, str, sp-,
etc.). Thus, s-a d ju n ctio n m u st be tre a te d d iffe re n tly w hen discussing
E n g lis h sylla b le stru ctu re s . We need to note the presence o f
four-m em bered clusters such as g lim p se d and texts, w h ich should also
be considered se p ara te ly since these com binations are created by
a d d itio n a l m orphem es (th ird person s in g u la r -s, p lu ra l -s).
F in a lly , i t should be noted th a t i f th e re are tw o o b stru en ts in
th e onset, th e y m u st b o th be voiceless ([sp], *[s b ] *[zb ] *[z p ]). The
basic E n g lis h sylla b le s tru c tu re te m p la te is as illu s t r a t e d in (8)
45
(Spencer, 1996, p. 91):
(12)
O nset Rhym e
Coda
N C oi C 02
2.1.3 M o ra and sy lla b le in Japanese
Japanese is classifie d as a m o ra -tim e d language w hereas
E n g lis h is said to be a sylla b le 'b a se d language (M cCawley, 1978).
The m ora is defined as “ a m in im a l u n it o f m e tric a l tim e o r w e ig h t” and
9 Here, 0 stands for onset, N for nucleus, and Co for coda.

46
“ a separate le ve l o f phonological re p re se n ta tio n .” 10 N a tiv e speakers o f
Japanese d ivid e w ords in to m orae w h ile n a tiv e speakers o f E n g lis h
divid e w ords in to syllables. F o r exam ple, Japanese speakers w ould
say th a t th e w ord ‘pen’ has tw o m orae (pe.N) w hereas E n g lis h speakers
w ould say th a t i t has one sylla b le. In Japanese, the m ora is
considered to p la y an im p o rta n t role in accounting fo r m any
phonological phenom ena, ju s t as the sylla b le is in E n g lish . Japanese
m ora is said to have one o f th e fo llo w in g th re e re a liz a tio n s (adopted
fro m T sujim ura^ 65):
(13) Japanese m ora s tru c tu re
a. (C)V
b. the fir s t p a rt o f a long consonant
c. N (m oraic nasal)
Exam ples fo r (13) u sin g some o f th e same exam ples as (7) fo r Japanese
10 This definition is from Crystal (2004).

47
sylla b les are show n in (14). 7 is used to in d ic a te a m ora.
(14) Japanese m orae
S yllable Type E xam ple M o ra co u nt Gloss
CV to 1 ‘d o or’
CV to.o 2 ‘to w e r’
CVG to .i 2 ‘w a te r p ip e ’
CVN to .N 2 ‘to n ’
CVQ to .t.ta 3 ‘to o k’
In (14), th e w ord to has one m ora, to.o, to.i, and to .N have tw o m orae,
and to .t.ta has th re e m orae. The w ord to.o is an exam ple o f (13a)
since i t has bo th V and C V types o f m ora, to .t.ta is and exam ple o f (13b)
w ith the fir s t p a rt o f a gem inate h a v in g one m ora, and to .N is an
exam ple o f (13c), as i t has a m oraic nasal. N ote th a t a w ord such as
to.iV consists o f one sylla b le and tw o m orae.
Kubozono (1989) analyzed the evidence fro m b lend speech
e rro rs made by Japanese and concluded th a t m ora indeed p la ys an
im p o rta n t ro le in Japanese phonology and th a t in speech p ro d u ctio n it
48
also is a psychologically re a l u n it to Japanese. Kubozono’s
(fo rth co m ing ) illu s tra tio n o f Japanese m ora system is show n below-
(15) a. a
(C) V
b. a
V V
(C) V
(16) a. M o ra ic n a sal (N ) kam e— kam eN ‘tu r tle — m ask’
b. S h o rt/lo n g vow el kado— kadoo ‘corner— flo w e r

a rra n g e m e n t’
c. M o ra ic o b stru e n t k a ta — k a tta ‘shoulder— w on’
d. D ip h th o n g sisa—s is a i ‘suggestion— p rie s t’
49
Japanese o n ly allow s m oraic na sal N and th e fir s t p a rt o f a gem inate
o b stru e n t Q (hom organic w ith the fo llo w in g consonant), as m entioned
e a rlie r. Thus, in (16) above, m oraic o b stru e n t shows w o rd -m e d ia l
exam ple w h ile o th e r exam ples are w o rd -fin a l ones.
2.1.4 Japanese as a pitch-accented language
Japanese is g e n e ra lly classifie d as a p itch -acce n t (non-stress)
language w h ile E n g lis h is considered a stress-accent language
(K in d a ic h i, 1967! M cCawley, 1968, 1978; Vance, 1987; H om m a, 1980;
Beckm an, 1986; Vance, 1987; Ladefoged, 1993; am ong others). Stress
is defined as a c e rta in type o f prom inence associated w ith a ce rta in
sylla b le in a given language. Stressed sylla b les are g e ne ra lly
pronounced w ith m ore energy (w ith g re a te r m u scu la r e ffo rt by the
speaker) and e x h ib it th e fo llo w in g c h a ra c te ris tic s : increased loudness
(increase in a m p litu d e ), p itc h change (increase or decrease in
50
fu n d a m e n ta l frequency), increase in d u ra tio n , and change in vow el
q u a lity. C om binations o f any o f the fo u r acoustic cues characterize
stressed sylla b les in E n g lish . Japanese, a non-stress-accent language,
is characterized by h a vin g p itc h accent. P itc h is the perceived q u a lity
o f sound m a in ly co rre la te d w ith fu n d a m e n ta l frequency (FO11). P itc h
accent, a type o f w ord accent, d istin g u ish e s w ords fro m one another.
In Japanese, w ords begin w ith a p itc h rise , and then, p o s itio n o f p itc h
fa ll is le x ic a lly m a rked (M cCawley, 1978; B eckm an & P ie rre h u m b e rt,
1986; Vance, 1987; am ong others). The exam ples below 12
dem onstrate p itc h accent contrasts in Japanese. F o llo w in g B eckm an
& P ie rre h u m b e rt (1986), th e accented sylla b le is m arked w ith a H * L
(fa llin g ) accent.
11 Other factors such as loudness may also affect how we perceive pitch (Denes &
Pinson, 1993).
12 Here, and also below, the examples of Japanese are based on Standard (Tokyo)
Japanese. Pitehaccent system varies greatly in different dialects of Japanese.
51
(17) a. k a ki-g a ‘persim m on-N O M ’ (no p itc h accent
specified)
L H H
P P P
I I I
ka k i - ga
b. k a ki-g a ‘fence-N O M ’ (p itc h accent * specified on

k i)
L H *L
li P li
I I I
ka k i - ga
c. k a ki-g a ‘oyster-N O M ’ (p itc h accent * specified on

ka)
H *L L
P P li
I I I
ka k i - ga
In (17),‘ga’ is a n o m in a tive m a rke r (a p a rtic le ). I t is a tta ch e d here to
show th a t th e re is no fa ll fro m H to L . Com pare th is w ith ka ki-g a
(‘fence-N O M ’) , w here the p itc h drops on ga, in d ic a tin g th a t th e re is a
52
p itc h accent on th e la s t sylla b le ki, and w ith ka ki-g a C oyster-N O M ’),
w here the p itc h drops on th e fir s t sylla b le ka. Note th a t th e re is
co n tra st in p itc h p a tte rn s in (9). P itc h drops a fte r the firs t, second, or
th ir d m o ra.13
U n lik e E n g lis h stress, Japanese p itc h accent is g e n e ra lly n o t
associated w ith d u ra tio n ; i t is p rim a rily associated w ith h ig h FO.
A ccording to H om m a (1980) and B eckm an (1986), stress-accent
languages such as E n g lis h use phonetic a ttrib u te s such as d u ra tio n
and loudness (besides p itc h ) to a g re ater e x te n t th a n n o n-stress’ accent
languages lik e Japanese do. T h e ir fin d in g s are in accord w ith S ugito
(1982, 1996), w ho concluded, based on h e r studies on Japanese, th a t
th e d u ra tio n a l difference is n o t th e m a in ch a ra cte ristics o f Japanese
p itc h accent.
As discussed so far, Japanese and E n g lis h d iffe r in th e ir
accentual systems^ stress vs. p itc h . T h is c h a ra c te ris tic is p ro m in e n t
13 Note that in Japanese pitch begins low, except (17c), where pitch accent is
specified on the first mora.
53
in Japanese loanw ords fro m E n g lis h as w e ll. In Japanese th e re is a
loa n w ord accent ru le kn o w n as the ‘a n te p e n u ltim a te ru le .’ A ccording
to th is ru le , the th ir d m ora fro m th e end o f th e w ord receives an accent
in loanw ords (M cCawley, 1968). A ccording to Kubozono (2001b), th is
ru le is applied to stru c tu re s w here epenthetic vowels are a lre a d y
in se rte d . In o th e r words, epenthetic vowels are ‘v is ib le ’ to th is ru le .
B elow are exam ples s im ila r to th e ones given in Kubozono (2001b).
Vowels in < > are epenthetic vow els and ( ’ ) is th e accent m a rk, w h ich
is placed a fte r th e m ora w ith th e accent.
(18) a. k ’ ,ra.s ‘class’
b. b. re ’.s.t<o> ‘b re ast’
c. p.r<o>.g’.ra.m ‘pro gra m ’
As (12) above shows, th e accent fa lls on the th ird m ora fro m th e end o f
th e w ord, and i t is clear th a t th is a n te p e n u ltim a te accent ru le does not
54
d is tin g u is h epenthetic vowels fro m non-epenthetic (i.e. u n d e rly in g )
vowels. In E xp e rim e n t 1, some Japanese speakers seemed to p u t
stress (accent) on the ‘in se rte d ’ vowel, s im ila r to exam ple (18) a.
k ’.ra.s above. T h is suggests th a t, a t le a st to those speakers,
th e vow el is in se rte d phon o log ica lly and n o t phonetically.
2.1.5 Japanese loa n w ord phonology
Languages m ay e ith e r delete o r in s e rt sounds in loanw ords
w hen the source language has a sylla b le s tru c tu re th a t is n o t id e n tic a l
to the b o rro w in g language. Languages d iffe r fro m one a n oth er not
o n ly on w h ich stra te g y is used (d e le tio n o r epenthesis) b u t also on
w h ich sounds are deleted or epenthesized. Japanese em ploys vow el
epenthesis as its re p a ir s tra te g y Ctto, 1989; K atayam a, 1998; O htake,
1996) fo r re a liz in g consonant cluste rs as w e ll as w o rd -fin a l consonants
in loanw ords. In such cases, a h ig h back v o w e l /u / (w hich is
55
p h o n e tic a lly an unrounded vow el [ui]) is g e n e ra lly in s e rte d as show n in
(13a). A fte r It l and /d/, however, a m id vow el lo l is g e n e ra lly (b u t n o t
alw ays) in s e rte d inste ad o f /u / as can be seen in (13b). I t is assum ed
th a t In i is an unm arked, d e fa u lt vow el in Japanese loa n w ord phonology,
w hereas lo l is a m arked vow el th a t appears o n ly a fte r coronals I t l or /d /
(Lovins, 1975! K atayam a, 1998; am ong others).
(19) E xam ples o f E n g lis h loanw ords in Japanese
a. C onsonant clu ste rs w ith 14
p la y /p le i/ -> pree
blue /b lu / -> b ru u
club /kL \b / -> k ra b 
glass /glaes/ -> gras
desk /desk/ -> desk
cream /k rim / k riim 
14 Here, < > represents an insertion.

56
b. Consonant clusters w ith <o>
tre a tm e n t /tritm o n t/ -> t< o > triit< o > m e n t< o >
dream /d rim / -> d < o > riim 
As shown in (19), lo l is o n ly and alw ays in se rte d a fte r I t l and Id/ w h ile
th e d e fa u lt vow el /u /15 is in s e rte d elsew here (a fte r fk/lgl, /p//b/, Is/, Ifl,
and /m l in th is case).
L e t us now exam ine m ore closely in w h a t co n ditio n s /u / is
avoided in Japanese. Japanese is a language th a t has a phonotactic
c o n s tra in t w h ich d isallow s /u / to appear a fte r It l and Id/ (* tu , * du).
See (20) fo r exam ples o f n a tiv e Japanese w ords w ith It/, Id/ and o th e r
consonants before /u/.
(20) E xam ples o f Japanese p honotactics fo r lu l
a. k u ru [k u iru i] ‘to come’
15 HI is sometimes used, but the number of occurrence is much less. This is not
discussed in the current study.
57
s u ru [suirui] ‘to do’
n u ru [nuxrui] ‘to p a in t! to a p p ly’
mu [m ui] ‘n o th in g ’
b u ri [b u iri] ‘y e llo w ta il’
z u ru i [d zu iru ii] ‘cu n n in g ’
b. * tu r u -> ts u ru [ts u iru i] ‘to suspend’
* tu ta -> ts u ta [ts u ita ] ‘iv y ’
*(re n g a )'d u k u ri -> (renga)-d z u k u ri [-d z u ik iu ri]

‘b u ilt w ith /o f (b ric k s)’
*(b in )-d u m e -> (bin)-dzum e [-dzuim e]

‘b o ttle d ’
As is clear in (20), o n ly a fte r It l and Id/, In i ([u i]) cannot appear. In
n a tive Japanese w ords, w here /u / is u n d e rly in g , It/ and Id l become the
a ffrica te s [ts ] and [dz]. A lso note th a t du o n ly appears w ord -m e d ia lly.
In the p re sen t Japanese consonant in ve n to ry, th e re is no d is tin c tio n
betw een /d u / and /zu/. A ccording to K o jie n D ictio n a ry, the fir s t sound
58
o f /du/ was pronounced as th e voiced coronal stop /d / u n til a ro un d 1300
A .D ., b u t g ra d u a lly i t became an a ffric a te /dz/, and got confused w ith a
fric a tiv e /z/ (around th e 16th C e n tu ry). N a tiv e speakers o f m odern
Japanese do n o t m ake any d is tin c tio n betw een /d u / and Izul', th e y are
b o th pronounced as /dzu/ and, perceived as /zu/. The sequence [dzu]
can also be d e rive d fro m u n d e rly in g /tu / o r [ts u ] (asin th e exam ples
above). In these words, i t is assum ed th a t th e fir s t sound o f -ts u k u ri
and -tsum e become voiced w hen th e y are jo in e d w ith a n o th e r noun.
L e t us now tu rn to loanw ords. F o llo w in g th is c o n s tra in t on *
tu , *d u in Japanese, consonant clu ste rs w ith It l in loanw ords become
e ith e r /to / (w here lo l is in s e rte d inste ad o f /u /) o r /ts u / (w here Is/ is
in s e rte d a fte r It/). Exam ples are given below '
(2 1)E xam ples o f loanw ords w ith I t l or /d/
a. I t l -> /to /
tra y /t r e i/ -> t< o > re e
59
d rive /d ra iv / -> d < o > ra iv/u /
s tre e t /s tr it/ -> s t< o > riit< o >
heat /h it/ -> h iit< o >
dead /ded/ -> dedd<o>
b. /t/ + /u / -> /tsu/, /dzu/ ([tsu i], [dzui])
tre e / t r i/ t< s u > rii
d raw ers /droa^z/ d<zu>roos
c. tw o /tu / -> t< s> u u
tu n a /tu n a / -> t< s> una
to u r /tua>7 -> t<s>uaa
In the present Japanese, m ost loanw ords w ith It/ and /d / become /to /
and /do/J o n ly a ve ry few exam ples o f /ts u / and /dzu/ are found. The
w ord ‘zuroosu’ (d<zu>roos) is a n old w ord w h ic h is no lo n g e r used.
60
‘ts u r ii’ (‘tre e ’) 16 is s till com m only used, b u t i t seems th e o n ly exception
since a ll the o th e r exam ples o f a ffric a tio n are found w ith in w ords in
(21c), w here /u / is u n d e rly in g ly present. In o th e r w ords, a ffric a tio n
occurs because /u / cannot be replaced by /o/ in these w ords, ju s t lik e the
cases in n a tive Japanese w ords. F ro m th is , i t is assum ed th a t in
Japanese loanw ord phonology, lo l is the vow el th a t is in se rte d a fte r /t/
o r /d/.
2.2 P ro d u ctio n and percep tio n o f consonant cluste rs
T h is section review s research on th e ro le o f th e phonotactic
p ro p e rtie s in the p ro d u ctio n and perception o f consonant clusters.
16 The exact reason as to why ‘tsurii’ exists in Japanese is out of the scope of the
present study. It may be for the avoidance of homophony since there is a word
‘torii’ (gateway at the entrance to a Shinto shrine) in Japanese or may be because
the word ‘tsurii’ was a very old loanword, as in the case with ‘dzuroosu’. It may
also be that the [tr] sequence is slightly affricated for native English speakers,
rending an affricate a more acceptable loanword adaptation.
61
2.2.1 A rtic u la to ry Phonology- gesture and tim in g
Browman and Goldstein (1986, 1990, 1992) proposed an
approach to phonological representation that they name Articulatory
Phonology. Articulatory Phonology is a theory which aims to integrate
phonetics and phonology by defining the basic unit of phonological
contrast as the articulatory gesture. In the framework of Articulatory
Phonology, phonological and phonetic representations are considered to
be the same. The articulatory gesture is considered as the basic unit
of phonological representation as well as its physical realization. An
articulatory gesture is an abstract characterization of articulatory
events, which may overlap in tim e in utterances.
Many researchers have investigated the gestures and timing in
a sequence of two consecutive consonants in English and have found
that there is significant overlap of gestures in such structures (Byrd,
1992, 1996; Zsiga, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003; Cebrian, 2000!
62
D avidson, 2003! am ong others). T h a t is, w hen tw o consonants are
adjacent to each other, i t is o fte n the case th a t the m ovem ent o f the
closure fo r th e second consonant s ta rts before the fir s t consonant’s
a rtic u la tio n is com pleted. A ccording to A rtic u la to ry Phonology, in fa s t
o r casual speech, g e stu ra l overlap o f th e a rtic u la to rs o f th e consonants
can become so great th a t i t can cause the perception th a t a consonant
has been deleted or a ssim ilate d. W h a t th is suggests (am ong o th e r
th in g s ) is th a t phonetic tra n s c rip tio n , w h ic h captures o n ly the
re s u ltin g acoustic o u tp u t m ay n o t a ccu ra te ly capture th e a ctu a l
processes o f a rtic u la tio n . W h a t seems to be d e le tio n m ay inste ad be
th e re s u lt o f g e stu ra l overlap, the a rtic u la tio n o f the fir s t consonant
b eing com pletely m asked (overlapped) by th e fo llo w in g consonant. If
th is is the case, clearly, a phonological ru le o f d e le tio n need n o t be
posited.
B y rd (1992, 1996) in ve stig a te s tim in g o f consonant sequences
in onsets vs. across w ord boundaries. She conducted a series o f
63
experim ents in v e s tig a tin g topics such as p e rcep tu a l effects o f g e stu ra l
overlap or coproduction on the fir s t consonant in a c lu s te r and
influences on a rtic u la to ry tim in g in consonant sequences. The re s u lts
o f the la tte r stu d y suggest th a t in te r-g e s tu ra l co o rd in a tio n is va ria b le
and affected by lin g u is tic fa cto rs. She considered b o th degree o f
te m p o ra l overlap and v a ria b ility in tim in g and found th a t place,
m anner, and sequence s y lla b ific a tio n were a ll dem onstrated to have an
effect on consonant sequence tim in g . S pecifically, B y rd fo u n d th a t the
tim in g o f ta u to s y lla b ic consonant sequences was m ore tig h tly
constrained th a n the tim e o f consonants across w ord boundaries.
A rtic u la to ry studies such as these dem onstrate th a t tim in g of
consonant sequences in onsets and codas is an im p o rta n t and learned
aspect o f E n g lis h p ro n u n cia tio n .
64
2.2.2 EMA studies
As m entioned b rie fly above, th e in v e s tig a tio n of the
a rtic u la to ry m ovem ent m ay be able to provide us w ith data w h ich
cannot be obtained in o th e r ways and w h ich are c ru c ia l in d e te rm in in g
th e n a tu re o f th e in se rte d vow els in th e c u rre n t proposed research.
Some o f the devices used fo r th e m easurem ent o f speech
p ro d u ctio n are- EPG (electropalatography), M R I (m agnetic resonance
im aging), u ltra so u n d , XRM B (x-ra y m icrobeam ), and EM A
(electrom agnetic a rticu lo g ra p h ). E M A is used fo r the c u rre n t study.
E M A is a device th a t can be used to acquire d a ta th a t concern
th e dynam ics o f speech. The m a in use o f th e E M A is c o lle ctin g data
about the m ovem ent o f a rtic u la to rs d u rin g speech p ro d u ctio n . The
E M A is a device w ith a lte rn a tin g m agnetic fie ld s (Schonle, e t al. 1987,
as cited in K a b u ra g i & H onda, 2002). Three tra n s m itte r coils th a t are
d riv e n by cu rre n ts o f d iffe re n t frequencies are used. S everal receiver
65
coils axe attached to th e subject’s a rtic u la to rs and the
ele ctrom a g n etica lly induced c u rre n ts in those re ce ive r coils are
m easured a t th e same tim e as th e ir p o sitio n s in the m id s a g itta l
m easurem ent plane are detected (K a b u ra g i & H onda, 2002).
A ccording to K a b u ra g i and H onda (2002), E M A devices are u se fu l tools
w h ich provide in fo rm a tio n on the p o s itio n and m ovem ent o f the
a rtic u la to rs in the vocal tra c t.
One o f th e advantages o f u sin g E M A is th a t one can avoid the
confounding in flu e n ce o f voicing. P revious studies have tended to
assume th a t a re a l vow el is in se rte d i f th e in te rv a l is voiced, and th a t
no re a l vow el is in se rte d i f th e in te rv a l is voiceless. I t m ay w e ll be the
case, however, th a t th e tongue m ovem ent is id e n tic a l in b o th cases. In
o th e r words, th e vo icin g m ay ju s t be an effect o f the la ry n g e a l sta te o f
the s u rro u n d in g consonants, and th e co o rd in a tio n o f the o ra l tra c t
a rtic u la to rs m ay n o t be in vo lve d a t a ll. T h is hypothesis suggests a
need fo r a closer e x a m in a tio n o f th e a r t ic u la to r y g e s tu re -- a n a c c u ra te
66
m easurem ent o f th e tongue and lip m ovem ent, and i t should be
possible to o b ta in such d a ta fro m th e E M A study. A n o th e r advantage
is th a t th e E M A devices are less inva sive com pared to some o th e r
devices such as x -ra y because th e y use s ta tic or a lte rn a tin g m agnetic
fields. A lso, th e y can be used to stu d y how a rtic u la to rs move over tim e
and the re la tio n s h ip betw een a rtic u la tio n and sound. K a b u ra g i and
H onda (2002) also p o in t o u t th a t th is k in d o f in fo rm a tio n is im p o rta n t
fo r u n d e rsta n d in g the re la tio n s h ip betw een acoustics and a rtic u la tio n
and th e d a ta obtained are u se fu l in th e in v e s tig a tio n o f th e speech
p ro d u ctio n process.
One o f the challenges fo r E M A has been how to a ccu rately
estim ate th e c o il p o sitio n s com pensating fo r head m ovem ent changes
w h ile th e speaker is ta lk in g . O th e r problem s in c lu d e : o ff-s a g itta l
m isa lig n m e n t and ro ta tio n o f th e re ce ive r coils, w h ich m ay lead to
serious m easurem ent errors. T h re e -dim e nsio n a l E M A should solve
th is problem , b u t because o f va rio u s co m p u ta tio n a l problem s, m ost
67
E M A fa c ilitie s are s till 2-dim ensional. Also, som etim es coils, even
th o u g h sm all, can in te rfe re s lig h tly w ith p ro n u n cia tio n o f a lve o la r or
d e n ta l consonants, w h ich use th e tongue tip as the p rim a ry a rtic u la to r.
A lth o u g h th e E M A device does have some disadvantages, i t seems to be
best su ite d fo r the use fo r th e c u rre n t stu d y because the purpose o f the
e xp erim e nt is to in ve stig a te w h e th e r o r not th e subject produces a
vow el (or a vo w e l-like sound) in h e r p ro d u ctio n o f consonant cluste rs
and to exam ine w h e th e r th e a rtic u la to ry re s u lts are in accordance w ith
th e acoustic re s u lts or not. Also, E M A is a good to o l fo r e xa m in in g the
a rtic u la to ry n a tu re o f the devoiced vowel, fo r w h ich acoustic
m easurem ents can n o t be made.
There are no o th e r E M A stu d ie s o f consonant cluste rs or
vow els17 fo r Japanese speakers o f E n g lish . One stu d y u sin g E M A is
E rickson, A bram son, M aekaw a, and K a b u ra g i (2001). U sin g E M A
17 Hashi, Westbury, and Honda (1998) have collected XRMB data for some
consonant clusters (about 5 vowels as produced by Japanese and English
speakers), but have not analyzed the data yet. For American English vowels,
Erickson et al. (1999, 2000, 2001, 2004a, b) compared emphasized vowels with
non emphasized vowels.
68
recordings o f speech produced b y tw o speakers o f E n g lis h , th e y
exam ined bo th acoustic and a rtic u la to ry p ro p e rtie s o f e m o tion a l
utterances in spoken E n g lish , and also an a d d itio n a l perception te s t
w as conducted to see how th e utterances were perceived. The re s u lt o f
th e ir stu d y suggested th a t liste n e rs perceived the in te n d e d em otions
w e ll and a rtic u la to ry se ttin g s and fo rm a n ts were both affected by the
em o tio n a l content o f the speaker.
2.3 O p tim a lity T heory
O p tim a lity T h e o ry (OT) is a g ra m m a tica l fra m e w o rk w h ich was
in tro d u ce d and developed by P rince and S m olensky (1993). O T looks
at language as a system o f c o n flic tin g u n iv e rs a l co n stra in ts.
C o n s tra in ts are ra n ke d d iffe re n tly in each language. A c tu a lly
occu rrin g o u tp u ts are “ o p tim a l” in th a t th e y v io la te o n ly the
lo w e st-ra n ke d co n stra in ts. Two m a jo r c o n s tra in t types th a t are in
69
c o n flic t in OT are m arkedness and fa ith fu ln e s s. M arkedness re q u ire s
the o u tp u t to be ‘u n m a rke d .’ M a rke d values are g e n e ra lly less favored
(avoided) w hereas u n m arke d values are considered basic in gram m ars
and p re fe rre d . W hen com paring tw o s tru ctu re s, one is considered
m ore m arked th a n th e o th e r i f th a t s tru c tu re is used o n ly to create
co n tra st. F a ith fu ln e s s re q u ire s th e o u tp u t to be as close as possible to
th e in p u t. W hen fa ith fu ln e s s co n s tra in ts are fu lly sa tisfie d , the
o u tp u t is id e n tic a l to the in p u t. A ccording to OT, cro ss -lin g u is tic
v a ria b ility depends on th e re la tiv e ra n k in g o f the co n stra in ts w ith in a
language. I f c e rta in co n stra in ts are ra n ke d h ig h in one language,
those co n stra in ts m ay n o t be v io la te d in th a t p a rtic u la r language b u t
th e same c o n stra in ts m ay be ra n ke d lo w in a d iffe re n t language and
th erefore vio la te d .
H ow does OT fra m e w o rk tre a t sylla b le stru ctu re ? L e t us
intro du ce the basic sylla b le typology discussed in K ager (1999).
A ccording to K ager (p. 93'98), th e presence o f an onset is an u n m arke d
70
situation which can be expressed in a constraint as follows^
(22) On s e t
*[o V (‘S yllables m u st have onsets.’)
I f a language has th is c o n s tra in t ra n ke d h ig h , sylla b les are re q u ire d to
have onsets. A n o th e r c o n s tra in t th a t should be in tro d u ce d is the
follow ing-'
(23) NO-CODA
*C ]o (‘S ylla b les are open.’)
In Japanese, bo th (22) and (23) are n o t ra n ke d h ig h e st since Japanese
allow s sylla b les w ith o u t onsets (e.g., i l il ‘stom ach,’ e le i ‘p ic tu re ’) as
w e ll as sylla b les w ith codas (e.g., hon /hoN / “book,’ k itte /k it.te / ‘stam p’).
N ote th a t in Japanese o n ly c e rta in consonant types (m oraic na sal N
71
and the fir s t p a rt o f a gem inate) are allow ed in coda p o sitio n .
Japanese is a language th a t does n o t a llo w com plex onsets or
codas. Thus it re q u ire s c o n stra in ts such as th e fo llo w in g :
(24) * Com plex ons
*[o CC (‘O nsets are sim p le .’)
(25) * Com plex cod
*C C ]o (‘Codas are sim p le .’)
A ccording to these, Japanese is a language in w h ich *COMPLEX ONS is
undom inated.
H ow does OT capture vow el epenthesis then? I f an epenthesis
takes place, a vow el w h ich is not present in th e in p u t is added — a
v io la tio n o f fa ith fu ln e s s . In some languages such as Japanese,
however, th is is s till p re fe rre d th a n h a v in g com plex onsets because “ the
72
costs o f in s e rtin g a (n o n -u n d e rlyin g ) segm ent are less th a n those o f
im p e rfe ct sylla b le s tru c tu re .” (Kager, 1999, p. 98). T h a t is, the
s y lla b le -s tru c tu re c o n s tra in t is ra n ke d h ig h e r th a n the fa ith fu ln e s s
c o n s tra in t a g ain st epenthesis.
As m entioned e a rlie r, Japanese is a language w ith fa ir ly sim ple
sylla b le s tru c tu re , one w h ich does n o t have com plex onsets o r codas
(Vance, 1987). B asically, th e sylla b le s tru c tu re is a = (C) V (V/N /Q ).
I t does n o t a llo w com plex onsets, so i f a fo re ig n w ord enters Japanese
and i f th a t w ord does n o t conform to th is Japanese phonotactics, it
undergoes epenthesis (Vance, 1987; K atayam a, 1998; Kubozono, 2001b).
No consonant d e le tio n is found in Japanese loanw ords (K atayam a,
1998). The re le v a n t c o n s tra in ts fo r th e epenthesis in Japanese
loa n w ord are show n below (a fte r M a cC a rth y & P rince, 1995, p. 264):
(26) a. *COMPLEX: No com plex onsets (codas) are allow ed.
73
b. M AX-IO : E ve ry segm ent in th e in p u t has a
correspondent in the o u tp u t. (No de le tio n )
c. DEP-IO: E ve ry segm ent in the o u tp u t has a

correspondent in the in p u t. (No
epenthesis)
(26a) is the sam e as (24) *COMPLEX 0NS (‘onsets are sim ple’) and (25)
*COMPLEX C0D (‘Codas are sim ple.’) above.
MAX is a fa ith fu ln e s s c o n s tra in t w h ich d isa llo w s d e le tio n
(Kager, 1999, p. 205). I t re q u ire s th a t the o u tp u t have a ll the
elem ents o f the in p u t (base). I f (26b) is undom inated, every segm ent
o f the in p u t appears in th e o u tp u t. DEP is also a fa ith fu ln e s s
c o n stra in t, w h ich re q u ire s the o u tp u t n o t have segm ents th a t are not
p a rt o f its in p u t. (26c) th u s does n o t a llo w epenthesis. The fa c t th a t
Japanese p re fe rs epenthesis (in s e rtio n o f a segm ent) ra th e r th a n
d e le tio n suggests th a t in Japanese MAX is ra n ke d h ig h e r th a n DEP.
Two m ore c o n stra in ts need to be in c lu d e d 1NO-CODA (as in (23) above)
74
and CODA-COND. Japanese has fa irly s tric t re s tric tio n on coda
consonants in th a t the coda consonants m u st share th e place o f
a rtic u la tio n w ith the fo llo w in g onset consonant. Japanese o n ly allow s
m oraic n asal N and the fir s t p a rt o f a gem inate o b stru e n t. T h a t is, a
coda does n o t have independent place o f a rtic u la tio n . T h is is sta te d as
fo llo w s (Kager, 1999, p. 131, a fte r Ito , 1989):
(27) CODA-COND
*Place]o
A ccording to (27), “ a coda cannot license place fe a tu re s” (Kager, 1999, p.
131). The o n ly coda consonants th a t do n o t v io la te th is c o n s tra in t are
those th a t share place o f a rtic u la tio n w ith the fo llo w in g onset. Thus,
ik k a ‘fa m ily ’ does n o t vio la te (27) w h ile itk a o r ip k a does. I f an in p u t
fo rm vio la te s the CODA'COND c o n stra in t, th e v io la tio n can be re p a ire d
b y epenthesis o f a vowel, w h ich tu rn s th e o ffe n d ing coda in to an onset.
75
The re le v a n t ta b lea u fo r Japanese epenthesis is give n below.
(27) above is shown as *CODA PLACE in th e fo llo w in g . In th is tab lea u ,
a dot indicates a sylla b le boundary.
(28) Tableau fo r Japanese (ra n k in g to determ ine epenthesis)
Inputs MAX-IO * Com plex *CODA PLACE DEP-IO

/snok/ On s e t
a. snok. *! *!
b. suno.ku * *
c. so.ku *! *
d. so. *
e. sok. *! *!
f. sno.ku *! *
A lth o u g h candidate (b) vio la te s DEP-IO, i t is c o rre c tly chosen as
o p tim a l. T h is is because i t sa tisfie s o th e r co n stra in ts, w hereas
candidates o th e r th a n (b) vio la te th e o th e r h ig h e r-ra n k e d co n stra in ts.
76
In other words, in Japanese, DEP-IO is lower ranked th an MAX-IO,
* Complex On s e t , and *C o d a -Pla c e .
E n g lis h ra n k in g s are d iffe re n t fro m Japanese as the fo llo w in g
ta b le a u illu s tra te s -
(29) Tableau fo r E n g lis h
Inpu t: MAX-IO i DEP-IO ^Com plex *CODA PLACE

/snok/ On s e t
a. snok. * *
b. suno.ku i *1 *
c. so.ku 1 *|
d. so. * !
e. sok. *! *
f. sno.ku *! *
Candidate (a) violates * COMPLEX ONSET, and *CODA PLACE, but since
it satisfies other higher-ranked constraints such as MAX-IO and DEP-IO,
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i t is chosen as th e o p tim a l form . Thus in E n g lish , *COMPLEX ONSET
and *CODA PLACE are ra n ke d low e r th a n MAX-IO and DEP-IO.
2.4 L 2 Phonology
2.4.1 E penthesis and d e le tio n
Since Japanese, characterized as a C V language, is m uch m ore
re s tric te d th a n E n g lis h in its sylla b le in v e n to ry (i.e., Japanese
in v e n to ry is a subset o f E n g lis h p o s sib ilitie s ), i t has been argued th a t
L I tra n s fe r is th e m ost p ro m in e n t source o f sylla b le s tru c tu re e rro rs
th a t Japanese le a rn e rs o f E n g lis h m ake (H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997!
Sato, 1983; Saunders, 1987; W einberger, 1994, 1997).
One o f the e a rlie s t studies on sylla b le s tru c tu re e rro rs was
conducted by O ile r (1974, as cite d in Saunders, 1987), w ho suggested
th a t th e p re fe rre d s tra te g y th a t L 2 le a rn e rs em ploy was th e use o f
epenthetic vowels. O ile r dem onstrated th a t L 2 learners epenthesize
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vow els in d iffic u lt cluste rs w h ile L I le a rn e rs te n d to use d e le tio n .
Since O iler, num erous studies have in ve stig a te d sylla b le s tru c tu re s o f
L I and L2 and how th a t affects the p ro d u ctio n o f consonant clu ste rs in
L2 (H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt 1997; Ioup, 1984! Ito , 1987! Sato, 1987;
Saunders, 1987; Tarone, 1976, 1980; L e vin , 1987; W einberger, 1990;
am ong others). T hey show th a t bo th epenthesis and d e le tio n are
common stra te g ies em ployed by L2 le a rn e rs and L I tra n s fe r does a ffe ct
L2 phonology a c q u is itio n greatly. In th e e a rly studies w here the focus
was m a in ly on th e differences betw een L I and L2, researchers
discussed th is issue w ith in th e fra m e w o rk o f the C o n tra stive A n a lysis
H ypothesis and a ttrib u te d a ll th e e rro rs to L 2 tra n s fe r (see Broselow,
1987 fo r review ).
S everal studies in th e fie ld o f L2 phonology have focused on the
issues th a t are closely re la te d to re a liz a tio n o f consonant cluste rs
(Tarone, 1980; Sato, 1983; Saunders, 1987; H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt,
1997! am ong others). In the next section, le t us loo k a t Saunders’
79
study, w h ich is re le v a n t to the present study, in d e ta il.
2.4.2 S aunders’ (1987) stu d y
Saunders (1987) in ve stig a te d m orphophonem ic v a ria tio n in
clusters in Japanese E n g lish . He exam ined and analyzed da ta th a t
are re la te d to difficulties encountered by Japanese le a rn e rs o f E n g lis h
in th e ir p ro d u ctio n o f tw o E n g lis h bim o rp h em ic s to p -fric a tiv e cluste rs
{z} s (th ird person s in g u la r p re sen t tense m orphem e to verbs and the
p lu ra l m orphem e to nouns). The a im o f h is s tu d y was to determ ine
w h e th e r the phonem ic e n viro n m e n t affected th e le ve l o f e rro r and the
d u ra tio n o f the fric a tiv e . He conducted tw o studies, the m orphem e
stu d y (L2 a d u lt lo n g itu d in a l stu d y o f m orphem e developm ent in
spontaneous speech) and th e acoustic s tu d y (a re a d in g designed
sp e cifica lly to e lic it occurrences o f th e cluste rs fo r acoustic analysis).
The th re e cluste rs he exam ined w ere : /ps/, /ts / and fks/.
80
S aunders’ (1987) re s u lts fo r the m orphem e studies revealed
th a t in b o th verbs and nouns, c lu s te r re d u ctio n occurred m ore
fre q u e n tly in It/ th a n fk l o r /p/clusters, show ing th a t th e preceding
consonant d id a ffe ct th e ra te o f om ission. He th e n conducted a
phonetic co n te xt e xp erim e nt to exam ine w h e th e r om ission ra te s o f the
same types o f clusters w o u ld re ve a l a s im ila r p a tte rn to th e d u ra tio n o f
th e fric a tiv e segm ent. The re s u lts con firm e d th is in th a t th e re were
no om issions o f /s/ a fte r fk l, and some a fte r /p/, w h ile Is/ a fte r It/ was
often o m itte d . The m ean d u ra tio n o f Is/ (the m orphem e -s) w as m uch
s h o rte r a fte r It/ th a n a fte r fk l o r /p/, except in one subject, whose re s u lts
showed the opposite tendency.
I t is in te re s tin g to note th a t S aunders’ (1987) m entions th a t
epenthesis was an im p o rta n t com ponent in the p ro d u ctio n o f consonant
cluste rs in E n g lis h fo r Japanese speakers. A lth o u g h the ra te o f its
occurrence w as low, he m e n tion s th a t th e re w as some evidence o f ve ry
sh o rt voiced ep en the tic vow els in consonant clusters. Furtherm ore,
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Saunders (1987, p. 259) says th a t th e re were cases w here “silence or
some fo rm o f acoustic a c tiv ity n o t connected w ith e ith e r th e [s] o r the
ensuing vow el segm ent.” M id 'c lu s te r epenthesis in h is s tu d y showed
d iffe re n t tendencies in th a t, according to Saunders, th e vow els were
devoiced (or w hispered) m ore often. He argues th a t th e difference in
th e spectrogram s suggests the e p en the tic devoiced vow els th a t are
tra n s fe rre d fro m Japanese phonology are p re sen t o n ly fo r the fric a tiv e s
in /-ps/ and /-ks/, n o t in M s/. He suggests based on th e acoustic
evidence th a t voiceless epenthetic vow els m ay be present, b u t since h is
s tu d y d id n o t include an a rtic u la to ry exp erim e nt, th is could not be
confirm ed.
To conclude, S aunders’ (1987) fin d in g s inclu d e the fo llo w in g : ( l)
th e ra te o f Japanese speakers’ om ission o f th e hz} m orphem e va rie d
according to bo th th e g ra m m a tica l category (m ore om ission fo r the
p lu ra l {'z} m orphem e th a n the th ir d person s in g u la r); (2) th e preceding
p honetic e n viro n m e n t (m ore om ission and sh o rte r d u ra tio n o f /s/ a fte r
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It l th a n /p / or fkl)', (3) the subjects tended to in s e rt epenthetic segm ents
w ith in and fo llo w in g a cluster. Saunders argues th a t th e reason fo r
sh o rte r d u ra tio n o f /s i a fte r It/ is because Japanese speakers
tra n s fe rre d th e Japanese a ffric a te [ts].
W h ile h is s tu d y reveals th a t th e re is m assive tra n s fe r o f
sylla b le s tru c tu re co n s tra in ts as w e ll as o f some segm ents fro m L I to
L2, c o n firm in g m any o th e r stu d ies m entioned above, i t does n o t go
beyond th a t. The p o s s ib ility th a t some developm ental effects such as
discussed e a rlie r (u n iv e rs a l co n s tra in ts such as M S D ) m ay be in vo lve d
in the process is la c k in g fro m h is study. Also, S aunders never
discusses a p o s s ib ility th a t a rtic u la to ry re o rg a n iza tio n , as opposed to
phonological epenthesis, m ay be ta k in g place. W he th e r th e vow els he
te rm s “ep en the tic” are a c tu a lly in s e rte d phon o log ica lly o r in tru d e d
p h o n e tic a lly fo r ease o f a rtic u la tio n is not clear.
M ore recently, research focus has s h ifte d to id e n tify in g the
effect o f u n iv e rs a l developm ental processes or c o n s tra in ts (Eckm an,
83
1987, 1991J B roselow & F in e r, 1991! H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997! Ito ,
1987; Sato, 1987; am ong others). In the fo llo w in g sections, B roselow
and F in e r 1991 and H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt 1997 w ill be ta k e n up.
2.4.3 B roselow and F in e r ( l9 9 l) ’s s tu d y
B roselow and F in e r (1991) discussed the effects o f b o th tra n s fe r
and u n iv e rs a l c o n stra in ts on L 2 a c q u is itio n o f phonology and syn ta x.
A ssum ing S o n o rity Sequencing G e n e ra liza tio n (SSG: segm ents w ith in
a sylla b le te n d to be arranged in o rd er o f decreasing so n o rity
approaching th e sylla b le m argins; in tro d u ce d in 2.1.2) and S o n o rity
Scale (in tro d u ce d in 2.1.2), th e y argued th a t cluste rs in w h ich
consonants are closer in s o n o rity are m ore m arked th a n cluste rs in
w h ic h consonants are fa rth e r a p a rt on th e so n o rity scale. The
(u n ive rsa l) SSG18 is com bined w ith th e (language p a rtic u la r) s e ttin g o f
18 As Broselow and Finer points out, relative sonority is generally assumed to

show some minor variation across languages (cf. Selkirk, 1984; Zee, 1988;
84
th e M SD (M in im a l S o n o rity D istance; in tro d u ce d in 2.1.2) and th e y
to g e th e r co n stra in th e s tru c tu re o f consonants. One o f the m a in
questions asked in Broselow and F in e r’s stu d y was th e re la tiv e
im portance o f m arkedness and tra n s fe r. In th e ir study, th e y defined
m arkedness as a set o f p a ram e te rs and p a ram e te r se ttin g s, w h ich is
given by U G ; tra n s fe r is defined as th e c a rry in g over o f th e p a ram e te r
s e ttin g o f L I in to L2. T hey argued th a t the le a rn e rs appear to a rriv e
a t a p a ram e te r s e ttin g w h ich is m id w a y betw een th e s e ttin g o f th e ir L I
and L2, and th a t bo th tra n s fe r (learners u sin g th e p a ra m e te r s e ttin g o f
th e ir L I as th e s ta rtin g p o in t) and m arkedness (e rro rs made by
le a rn e rs re fle c tin g th e m arkedness h ie ra rc h y in th e p a ra m e te r
se ttin g s) in te ra c t in th e process o f a cq u isitio n . F o r exam ple, Japanese,
a language w h ic h does n o t a llo w any consonant clu ste rs (i.e., its M SD
s e ttin g is 5) is ve ry re s tric tiv e and unm arked, w h ile E n g lish , w h ich
allow s m ore com plex onsets th a n Japanese (i.e., its M S D s e ttin g is 3),
is m ore m arked,
among others).
85
B roselow and F in e r (1991) conducted an e xp e rim e n t to te s t the
a b ility o f le a rn e rs to acquire L2 consonant clu ste rs th a t d iffe re d in
degrees o f m arkedness. They in ve stig a te d w h e th e r th e m in im a l
s o n o rity distance p a ram e te r is set a t a new va lu e d u rin g th e sylla b le
s tru c tu re a c q u isitio n o f E n g lish . They argue th a t th e need to keep the
degree o f s o n o rity difference in th e speakers’ n a tiv e language ( L l) is
also respected in L2, re s u ltin g in cross-language tra n s fe r (see S e lk irk ,
1982; B roselow & F in e r, 1991 fo r d e ta il). F ro m the cross-language
tra n s fe r p o in t o f view, the M SD m odel p re d icts onset sequences w ith a
lo w e r M S D s e ttin g th a n the le a rn e r’s L l w ill be m ore d iffic u lt to
acquire th a n cluste rs w ith a h ig h e r M SD s e ttin g . H ow ever, fro m the
p o in t o f vie w o f developm ental m arkedness effects, i f th e M SD o f the
tw o consonants is low, the a cq u is itio n o f the c lu s te r w ill be m ore
d iffic u lt due to th e u n iv e rs a l co n stra in ts on s o n o rity sequencing (i.e., in
com plex onsets, la rg e r differences in s o n o rity are m ore p re fe rre d th a n
sm a lle r differences). Thus, according to B roselow and F in e r’s M SD
86
m odel, b o th L l sequencing p o s s ib ilitie s and u n iv e rs a l sequencing
co n stra in ts affect th e L2 speakers’ a c q u is itio n o f consonant clu ste rs in
sylla b le onsets.
In o rd er to in ve stig a te th is , th e y conducted an e xp e rim e n t
designed to te s t th e a b ility to m a ste r L2 consonant clu ste rs th a t
d iffe re d in degrees o f m arkedness, w ith 32 subjects (24 n a tiv e speakers
o f K orean and 8 n a tiv e speakers o f Japanese) u sin g w ords w ith in itia l
clusters p r, br, f r and py, by, fy. The M SD p re d icts th a t clu ste rs w ith
o b s tru e n t'ris more m arked (m ore d iffic u lt to acquire) th a n o b stru e n t
because r, a liq u id , is less sonorous th a n y a glide. They also assumed,
fo llo w in g some versions o f th e s o n o rity h ierarchy, th a t voiceless stops
are less sonorous th a n voiced ones and stops are less sonorous th a n
fric a tiv e s . The re la tiv e m arkedness re la tio n s h ip s re fle c tin g th is is as
fo llo w s (B roselow & F in e r, 1991, p. 41):
87
(30) less m a rk e d . more m arked
Cy .C r
pC .bC. .fC
The p re d ic tio n th a t im m e d ia te ly fo llo w s th e above is th a t p y is the
easiest and f r is th e m ost d iffic u lt to acquire. Since o b stru e n ts are
less sonorous th a n liq u id s and glides, and liq u id s are less sonorous
th a n glides, a ll o b s tru e n t-y cluste rs were p re dicte d to be less
p ro b le m a tic th a n o b s tru e n t-r clusters. B roselow and F in e r (1991) say
th a t th e re s u lts supported th e ir p re d ic tio n in generab th e nu m be r o f
e rro rs seemed to re fle c t th e p re dicte d degree o f m arkedness defined by
th e M S D param eter, a lth o u g h the to ta l num ber o f a c tu a l e rro rs was
ve ry sm a ll. However, a lth o u g h b o th K orean and Japanese are m uch
m ore re s tric tiv e th a n E n g lis h in the onset and o n ly a llo w a subset o f
those p e rm itte d in E n g lis h and bo th tra n s fe r and m arkedness p re d ic t
th a t th e C y clu ste rs should be easier th a n th e C r clusters, th e number
88
o f e rro rs th a t the speakers made d id n o t show such re s u lts : py, by, and
p r clusters showed alm ost no differences in e rro r ra te s. Based on th is
re s u lt, B roselow and F in e r conclude th a t the subjects have s im p ly
m astered these consonant cluste rs and th u s no tra n s fe r effect, c a rry in g
over th e p a ram e te r s e ttin g o f the L l to L2, was seen. However, th e y
p o in t o u t in th e ir footnote th a t i t is possible th a t some o f the m istakes
in v o lv in g d e le tio n o f y m ay be a ttrib u te d to E n g lis h s p e llin g convention.
F o r Japanese speakers, C y cluste rs are not d iffic u lt to produce because
o f m any loanw ords and onom atopoeias e x is tin g in Japanese. S im p ly
fo llo w in g M SD does n o t seem to w o rk here. They also p o in te d o u t th a t
br was m ore d iffic u lt th a n b y or p r, saying th a t th is was co rre ctly
p redicted by M SD , w ith the assum ption th a t p (a voiceless o b stru e n t) is
less sonorous th a n b (a voiced o b stru en t).
One m ore th in g to be noted is th e ‘re p a ir’ stra te g y em ployed by
speakers. They argue th a t th e e rro rs are a ll in th e d ire c tio n o f
m a kin g the sylla b le s tru c tu re less m arked. The le a rn e rs e ith e r in s e rt
89
a vow el and create tw o C V syllables, or th e y delete the second
consonant. T h is seems to su p p o rt the hypothesis th a t le a rn e rs use
e ith e r vow el epenthesis or consonant d e le tio n in o rd er to conform to
th e ir L l sylla b le stru ctu re s, b u t a closer look a t the re s u lt, as w e ll as
w h a t is sta te d above (sim ple m is p ro n u n cia tio n led by E n g lis h sp e llin g )
reveals th a t fo r s y lla b le -in itia l p o sitio n , Japanese speakers g e n e ra lly
p re fe r one ‘re p a ir’ strategy, nam ely, vow el epenthesis. A ccording to
th e analysis o f e rro r types made by Japanese speakers, th e re w as a
to ta l o f fo u r m istakes, a ll o f w h ich were th e type CCV —> CVCV, vow el
-in s e rtio n ty p e 19.
B roselow and F in e r (1991) in ve stig a te d w he the r m ore m arked
cluste rs (clusters w h ich are closer in so n o rity) are m ore d iffic u lt to
le a rn th a n th e less m arked ones. The re s u lts o f th e ir s tu d y suggest
th a t le a rn e rs seem to converge on a s e ttin g o f th e p a ram e te rs th a t is
som ewhere m id w a y betw een th e L l and L2 se ttin g s. In o th e r w ords,
19 According to Saunders (1987), Japanese speakers tend to delete consonants

word-finally.
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th e y seem to su p p o rt the assum ption th a t lea rn e rs begin w ith L l
s e ttin g and move to w a rd L2 se ttin g . They conclude th a t p rin c ip le s o f
U G co n stra in L2 a cq u is itio n and L2 le a rn e rs do have access to UG, b u t
th a t a d u lt le a rn e rs appear to tra n s fe r th e ir L l p a ra m e te r se ttin g s
regardless o f w h e th e r th e ir L l s e ttin g is m ore o r less m a rked th a n the
L 2 s e ttin g (p. 55).
The present s tu d y is based on the g ra m m a tica l fra m e w o rk o f
OT. B roselow and F in e r (1991) defined m arkedness as a set o f
param eters and p a ram e te r se ttin g s give n by U G and tra n s fe r as the
c a rry in g over o f th e p a ram e te r s e ttin g o f L l in to L2. In OT, a ll th e
co n stra in ts are u n iv e rs a l and c ro s s -lin g u is tic v a ria b ility is dependent
upon the re la tiv e ra n k in g o f th e c o n s tra in ts w ith in a language.
Broselow and F in e r (1991) argued th a t the le a rn e rs seem to a rriv e a t a
p a ra m e te r s e ttin g m idw a y betw een th e ir L l s e ttin g and L 2 s e ttin g ,
and th a t bo th tra n s fe r and m arkedness in te ra c t in th e process o f
a c q u is itio n . In OT, i t is assum ed th a t th e le a rn e rs s ta rt w ith th e ir L l
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c o n s tra in t ra n k in g s and, w ith p o sitive evidence, change the ra n k in g in
th e d ire c tio n o f th a t found in th e L2. R e ra n kin g is n o t insta nta ne o u s,
however, and m ay n o t be com plete, so th a t in te rm e d ia te stages can be
found.
2.4.4 H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (l9 9 7 )’s O p tim a lity T h e o ry approach
W h ile agreeing w ith B roselow and F in e r’s (1991) conclusion th a t
U G p rin c ip le s in c lu d in g th e M SD do co n stra in th e range o f hypotheses
fo r L2 lea rn e rs and th a t the L 2 le a rn e rs’ responses are som ewhere
in te rm e d ia te in m arkedness betw een th e L l and L2, H a n c in -B h a tt and
B h a tt (1997) p o in t o u t th a t the re s u lts o f Broselow and F in e r’s stu d y
fa ile d to provide a stro n g a rg um e n t fo r tra n s fe r. T h is is because bo th
K orean and Japanese d id not have com plex onsets to begin w ith .
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) say th a t w h e th e r or n o t the d iffic u lty
these le a rn e rs are fa cin g are due to a tra n s fe rre d p a ra m e te r s e ttin g or
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due to p rin c ip le s o fU G is ye t to be answered.
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) in ve stig a te d th e in te ra c tio n s o f
tra n s fe r and developm ental effects (due to u n iv e rs a l processes or
co n stra in ts) in the a c q u is itio n o f consonant clu ste rs and argue th a t the
effect o f tra n s fe r cannot be supported by th e evidence show n by
B roselow and F in e r. H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) follow ed
B roselow and F in e r’s (1991) M in im a l S o n o rity D istance P a ra m eter
S e ttin g m odel. T hey tested B roselow and F in e r’s M S D m odel more
c a re fu lly by e xa m in ing S panish speakers, whose L l has some com plex
onsets as w e ll as Japanese speakers, whose L l has v irtu a lly no
com plex onsets. 10 speakers o f Japanese and 10 speakers o f S panish
read E n g lis h pseudowords th a t w ere m onosyllabic and w ith va rio u s
c lu s te r types. H a lf th e w ords had sim ple onsets, and th e o th e r h a lf
had com plex onsets th a t contained consonant cluste rs o f d iffe re n t types.
H a lf o f th e codas were sim ple w h ile th e o th e r h a lf h ad consonant
cluste rs. The types o f cluste rs used in th e ir s tu d y w ere 12 stop +
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g lide-clusters, 12 stop + liq u id -c lu s te rs , and 12 fric a tiv e +
liq u id s -c lu s te rs as w e ll as single consonants fo r onsets and 12 liq u id +
stop-clusters, and 12 liq u id + fric a tiv e -c lu s te rs and 12 liq u id +
nasal-clusters as w e ll as single consonants fo r codas. S panish
speakers were chosen because S panish is a language th a t could e x h ib it
evidence o f (positive) tra n sfe r. Since S panish, lik e E n g lish , allow s
consonant cluste rs o f C C -type as onsets, th e re expected to be a
fa c ilita tiv e effect fo r the lik e onsets. Spanish, on the o th e r hand, does
n o t a llo w w o rd -fin a l com plex codas, so th e developm ental effects
c o n s tra in in g th e p ro d u ctio n o f such coda consonant clu ste rs were
expected to be seen. T hey p re d icte d th a t S panish speakers w ould, due
to the tra n s fe r o f th e ir n a tiv e M SD p a ram e te r s e ttin g in to E n g lish ,
m ake few er e rro rs on “ stop + liq u id ” and “fric a tiv e + liq u id ” cluste rs
th a n Japanese speakers! b o th Japanese and S panish speakers w ould
m ake m ore e rro rs in “ fric a tiv e + liq u id ” onsets th a n in “ stop + liq u id s ”
because o f th e ir difference in M S D s e ttin g (2 vs. 3); Japanese speakers
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w ould e x h ib it m ore e rro rs in these th a n in “ stop + g lid e .” The
speakers’ responses were tra n s c rib e d in n a rro w p honetic tra n s c rip tio n s
fro m the recordings. They found th re e m a in categories o f e rro rs ;
consonant deletion, vow el epenthesis, and c lu s te r d eletion.
The hypotheses presented e a rlie r (based on th e M S D m odel)
w ere g e n e ra lly supported by the re s u lts o f th e ir e xp erim e nt. F o r the
onsets, o ve rall, the Japanese speakers showed s ig n ific a n tly more
e rro rs on th e “s to p /fric a tiv e + liq u id ” onsets, a lth o u g h th e y had more
experience le a rn in g E n g lish . The second hypothesis, th a t th e re is an
inverse re la tio n s h ip betw een d iffic u lty in p ro d u ctio n and so n o rity
difference, was o n ly p a rtia lly supported. R esults con firm e d the
fin d in g s o f B roselow and F in e r (1991) th a t th e Japanese speakers had
a lre a d y acquired the p ro d u ctio n o f py, by, and p r onsets, because th e re
were o n ly few e rro rs found. The re s u lts fo r codas w ere d iffe re n t fro m
th e onset re s u lts in th a t no m a in effect fo r language w as observed.
The difference betw een Japanese and S panish speakers d id n o t reach
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significance fo r a ll the coda types.
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) th e n com pared th e e rro r types in
com plex onsets versus codas and suggested th a t th e re w as a sym m etry
betw een codas and onsets- d iffe re n t ‘re p a ir’ stra te g ie s were used
depending on the p o sitio n o f consonant cluste rs in a given sylla b le .
Speakers tended to epenthesize vow els s y lla b le -in itia lly w hereas th e y
tended to delete consonants s y lla b le -fin a lly .
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997), fo llo w in g S ilve rm a n (1992),
suggest th a t w o rd -in itia l p o s itio n is m ore s a lie n t th a n w o rd -fin a l
p o sitio n and th a t because o f th is , bo th consonants in C C -clusters in the
onset are m ore lik e ly to be perceived in the in p u t, re s u ltin g in
epenthesis ra th e r th a n deletion. H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997)
fu rth e r p o in t o u t th a t a lth o u g h bo th tra n s fe r and m arkedness p re d ic t
th a t th e C y clu ste rs should be easier th a n th e C r clusters, th e num ber
o f e rro rs th a t the speakers made d id n o t show such re s u lts : py, b y and
p r clusters showed alm ost no differences in e rro r rates. T hey conclude
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th a t th e subjects have p ro ba b ly m astered these consonant clu ste rs and
th u s no tra n s fe r effect was seen. I t is also p la u sib le th a t E n g lis h
sp e llin g is a ffe ctin g the re s u lt as w e ll.
T h e ir fin d in g s about onsets are as fo llo w s : A lth o u g h M SD
g e ne ra lly co rre c tly p re d icts e rro r ra te s fo r E S L le a rn e rs (“ fric a tiv e +
liq u id ” is easier th a n “stop + liq u id ” ), i t also p re d icts in co rre c t re s u lts
(S panish speakers should have little d iffic u lty w ith “stop + g lid e ”)
suggesting th a t language’specific irre g u la ritie s th a t also a ffe ct L2
phonology cannot be ca p tu red by th e M SD m odel. T h e ir fin d in g s
about codas a re : Coda cluste rs can also be accounted fo r by th e M SD
m odel. I t co rre ctly p re d icts th a t the E S L le a rn e rs w ill have less
d iffic u lty pro du cin g com plex codas as th e s o n o rity distance betw een the
tw o consonants increases. T h e ir s tu d y explored the da ta m ore closely
th a n B roselow and F in e r (1991) b y n o t o n ly e xa m in in g e rro r ra te s b u t
also e rro r types and th is p rovided th e m w ith th e evidence th a t the
cross’language tra n s fe r effect is s ig n ific a n t, and is more robust th a n
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p re dicte d by th e M S D m odel presented in Broselow and F in e r. The
re s u lts o f th e ir stu d y stro n g ly suggest th a t tra n s fe r in te ra c ts w ith
developm ental e rro rs. T hey fo u n d evidence fo r tra n s fe r effects, in
a d d itio n to developm ental effects th a t are n o t language specific, and
argue th a t in o rd er to capture the in s ig h ts fro m the M SD m odel as w e ll
as the a d d itio n a l da ta discussed in th e ir study, a n oth er fra m e w o rk
w h ich allow s g re a te r p re cisio n to describe b o th developm ental effects
and tra n s fe r is needed. They th e n argue th a t O p tim a lity T h e o ry (OT)
offers a b e tte r account th a n does the M S D m odel since the M S D m odel
does not m ake p re d ictio n s on language "specific p honotactics nor
system atic e rro rs w hereas OT does.
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997) em ployed OT as th e ir
g ra m m a tica l fra m e w o rk to discuss L 2 sylla b le s tru c tu re . One o f the
advantages o f OT is th a t i t accounts fo r u n iv e rs a l effects in so n o rity
sequencing as w e ll as language-specific ones, and fo r tra n s fe r and
developm ental effects, w ith o u t in c o rp o ra tin g o th e r m odels o r analyses.
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In n o nn a tive borrow ings, th e fo re ig n w ords are assum ed to have
d iffe re n t c o n s tra in t ra n kin g s th a n n a tive w ords. The ra n k in g s m ay
v a ry depending on the degree to w h ich th a t p a rtic u la r w ord is
a ssim ila te d in to the gram m ar. In o th e r w ords, i f a c e rta in w ord is
w e ll-a ssim ila te d , i t is subject to the n a tiv e ra n k in g s, b u t i f i t is not
w e ll-a ssim ila te d , i t is subject to a n o nn a tive ra n k in g . They extend
th is to L 2 a c q u isitio n and speculate th a t th e le a rn e rs (w ith th e ir L l
ra n k in g s) need to le a rn the n o nn a tive ra n k in g s o f the L 2 . They define
a c q u is itio n in OT as le a rn in g a n o th e r c o n fig u ra tio n o f th e ra n k in g s.
Since OT assumes th a t a ll th e co n stra in ts are u n ive rsa l, th e le a rn e rs
o n ly need to le a rn th e new (L2) ra n kin g s . The idea b e hin d th is is th a t
th e L l phonology is fir s t tra n s fe rre d in to th e in itia l sta te o f th e L2
(fo llo w in g e.g., Broselow & F in e r, 1991) and th a t th ro u g h exposure to
L2 form s, th e lea rn e rs s ta rt to re ra n k th e co n stra in ts. L e a rn e rs’
v a ry in g levels o f p ro ficie n cy can th e n be ca p tu red in te rm s o f the
degree to w h ich th e ir ra n k in g s get closer to those o f L2.
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As discussed in Section 2.1.2 above, E n g lis h and Japanese
syllable s tru c tu re s are q u ite d iffe re n t and th e ir c o n s tra in t ra n k in g s are
d iffe re n t. In E n g lis h * COMPLEX ONSET and *CODA PLACE are ra n ked
low e r th a n MAX-IO and DEP-IO w h ile in Japanese DEP-IO is low e r
ra n ke d th a n MAX-IO, * COMPLEX ONSET, and *CODA-PLACE.
H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997, p. 367) address s ig n ific a n t in s ig h ts in to
th e stu d y o f L2 usin g OT. T hey argue th a t one “ a p p ro p ria te d ire c tio n
fo r research on L 2 a cq u is itio n ” is to discover “ w h ich o f th e u n iv e rs a l
c o n stra in ts get re ra n ke d and w hen, re la tiv e to each other.”
W h ile b o th o f the studies in tro d u ce d above, especially th e stu d y
b y H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997), provide us w ith v e ry in te re s tin g
and im p o rta n t in s ig h ts in to L2 phonology, th o ro u g h p h o n e tic stu d y is
la ckin g . B o th B roselow and F in e r (1991) and H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt
(1997) fo u n d ve ry few e rro rs in L 2 le a rn e rs ’ speech. I t is possible,
however, th a t th e re were m istakes, o r m iss-tim in g s, th a t can be
revealed by acoustic a n alysis b u t th a t m ig h t n o t be ca p tu red in a
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phonetic tra n s c rip tio n . They focus m a in ly on the phonological aspect
and little a tte n tio n seems to have been p a id to th e p o s s ib ility th a t
phonetic m is s -tim in g m ay be in vo lve d in th e process. In these studies,
th e da ta was tra n sc rib e d in n a rro w p honetic tra n s c rip tio n s fro m the
recordings, b u t n e ith e r acoustic nor a rtic u la to ry data w ere c a re fu lly
exam ined. W ith o u t such e xam ination, however, the role o f phonetics
in vo lve d in the process m ay n o t be assessed. W h a t we need is to
explore the p o s s ib ility o f phonology/phonetics in te rfa ce , re g a rd in g the
re a liz a tio n o f L 2 syllables. In o th e r words, m ore ca re fu l e xa m in a tio n
of th e da ta th ro u g h acoustic and a rtic u la to ry a n a lysis and
d e te rm in a tio n o f how phonetics m ay be in vo lve d in th e re a liz a tio n o f
consonant clu ste rs are called for.
As in tro d u ce d in C hapter I above, Zsiga (1995) discusses the
im p o rta n t ro le th a t phonetics m ay p la y in L 2 phonology and argues
th a t some p o stle xica l ‘ru le s ’ m ay have re su lte d fro m h a b its of
a rtic u la to ry co o rd in a tio n and th u s, should be described in te rm s o f
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a rtic u la to ry tim in g , ra th e r th a n fe a tu re -ch a n g in g (phonological) ru le s .
In order to determ ine the possible role o f phonetics in vo lve d in the
processes o f L 2 sound a cq u isitio n , i t is necessary to conduct both
acoustic and a rtic u la to ry experim ents and c a re fu lly analyze the data.
2.4.5 L 2 p o stle xica l processes —a s tu d y b y C ebrian (2000)
L e t us now re vie w one recent s tu d y on L 2 p o stle xica l processes.
C ebrian (2000) conducted a s tu d y on L 2 a c q u is itio n o f fin a l voiced
obstruents. M ore specifically, he exam ined th e in te rfe re n ce o f L l
ru le s (voicing n e u tra liz a tio n ) in th e a cq u is itio n o f a m arked L 2 fe a tu re
(w o rd -fin a l vo icin g co n tra st). Tw elve n a tiv e C a ta la n subjects
p a rtic ip a te d in the e xp e rim e n t and th e ir p ro d u ctio n o f E n g lis h
w o rd -fin a l o b stru en ts in fo u r d iffe re n t e n viro n m en ts were exam ined.
Based on the assum ption th a t w o rd -fin a l d evoicing is an
exam ple o f an ‘u n m arke d u n iv e rs a l tendency (Eckm an, 1991! Yavas,
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1994)’ as w e ll as th e a rticu la to ry-b a se d assum ption th a t tra n s fe ra b ility
o f L l ru le s to L 2 derives fro m th e d iffic u lty in a lte rin g th e ‘fo ssilize d ’
a rtic u la to ry tim in g h a b its (C ebrian, 2000, p .7), C eb ria n expected
d iffic u lty in the a c q u is itio n o f ta rg e t fin a l voiced o b stru en ts. H is
p re d ic tio n th a t L l (C atalan) ru le s are tra n s fe rre d to L 2 (E n g lish ) was
in general supported b y the re s u lts o f th e experim ent.
One o f th e fin d in g s in h is s tu d y was prevalence o f FO D (fin a l
o b stru e n t devoicing) in in te r language (IL ), w h ic h he a ttrib u te s to the
jo in t effect o f its presence in C a ta la n (L l), its u n iv e rs a l n a tu re (being
unm arked), and th e d iffic u lty o f its suppression (FO D is v e ry d iffic u lt
to suppress w hen i t is a ru le in the speakers’ L l) . The re s u lts o f h ig h
p ro d u c tiv ity o f FO D by C ata la n speakers contrasted w ith those by
S panish speakers, whose n a tive language does n o t have FO D, w h ich
showed th e v a rie ty o f responses such as le n itio n ([w a jd] “ w id e ” ),
d e le tio n ([d ra ] “ d ru g ”), paragogic vow el (ba[g9] “bag” ) as w e ll as fin a l
devoicing (cra tp ] “ crab”). A paragogic vow el can be understood as
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being in se rte d to conform to the phonology o f Spanish, th u s i t is
considered an e p en the tic vowel. In h is study, w h ile C a ta la n speakers
showed v e ry h ig h percentages o f FO D, the S panish subject showed
fin a l devoicing o n ly 7% o f th e tim es.
Based on the re s u lts o f the e xp e rim e n t w h ich revealed a
considerable difference in the e x te n t o f tra n s fe r (betw een vo icin g and
devoicing processes), he concluded th a t th e lo w incidence o f th e vo icin g
ru le s can be a ttrib u te d to the effect o f the “ w ord in te g rity ” in the IL ,
w h ich p ro h ib its the a p p lic a tio n o f ru le s across w ord boundaries, w h ile
the h ig h p ro d u c tiv ity o f FO D can be e xp la in e d by the com bined e ffe ct o f
tra n s fe r and u n iv e rs a l processes. N ote th a t FO D ’s u n m arke d
u n iv e rs a l n a tu re by its e lf cannot account fo r these re s u lts . The
predom inance o f FO D can o n ly be e xp la ine d by b o th its presence in the
L l and its u n iv e rs a l unm arkedness. O therw ise, FO D w ould be
p re d o m in a n t in bo th S panish and C a ta la n speakers as w e ll as speakers
o f o th e r languages.
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2.4.6 Studies on articulatory tim ing in L2
N o n n a tive tim in g p a tte rn s have been found to be im p o rta n t
because th e y seem to a ffe ct in te lb g ib ility (A nderson-H sieh, Johnson, &
K oehler, 1992; T a jim a , P o rt, & Dalby, 1997! am ong o thers). For
exam ple, A nderson-H sieh, Johnson, and K o e hle r (1992) in ve stig a te d
th e re la tio n s h ip betw een n a tiv e speakers’ jud g m e n ts o f nonn a tive
p ro n u n cia tio n . S pecifically, th e y stu d ie d and com pared how deviance
in segm entals, prosody (supra-segm entals) and sylla b le s tru c tu re a ffe ct
jud g m e n ts on o v e ra ll in te lb g ib ility and a cceptability. U sin g the
p ro n u n cia tio n subtest o f the S P E A K Test (used fo r e v a lu a tin g the
speaking p ro ficie n cy of In te rn a tio n a l Teaching A ssista n ts at
u n iv e rs itie s in th e U .S.), th e y conducted experim ents to see w h e th e r
n a tive speaker judges w ou ld re a ct to deviance in a ll m a jo r areas o f
p ro n u n c ia tio n in the same w ay o r w h e th e r each one o f the areas affects
th e in te lb g ib ility and a cc e p ta b ility d iffe re n tly . The areas were-
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segm entals (vowels and consonants), prosody (supra-segm entals such
as stress and in to n a tio n as w e ll as tim in g , p h rasin g , and rh y th m ),
voice q u a lity (in a p p ro p ria te p o s tu rin g o f th e a rtic u la to rs such as the
tig h t-ja w e d posture) and sylla b le s tru c tu re (a d d itio n o r d e le tio n o f a
segm ent or sylla b le). T h e ir re s u lts in d ic a te d th a t n o n n a tive tim in g
p a tte rn s do influ e n ce n a tive speakers’ ju d g m e n t o f a c c e p ta b ility and
in te llig ib ility .
Tem poral s tru c tu re o f languages v a ry and such v a ria tio n m ay
cause fo re ig n accent th a t m ay in te rfe re w ith in te llig ib ility in
com m unication. T ajim a, P ort, and D a lb y (1997) in ve s tig a te d how the
te m p o ra l p ro p e rtie s o f n o n n a tive speech a ffe ct in te llig ib ility . The
m a in q u estion o f th e ir s tu d y w as w h e th e r or not nonn a tive
(foreign-accented) utterances im prove in in te llig ib ility w hen th e y are
in s tru m e n ta lly “corrected” (m odified) to resem ble the te m p o ra l
ch a ra cte ristics o f a n a tiv e speaker. T hey s y n th e tic a lly a lig n e d the
d u ra tio n o f acoustic segm ents o f a Chinese speaker speaking in E n g lis h
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w ith th a t o f a n a tiv e speaker o f E n g lish . W ith respect to a n u m be r o f
te m p o ra l p ro p e rtie s (such as sylla b le p a tte rn in g , speaking ra te , and
stre ss-re la ted d u ra tio n a l contrast), E n g lis h spoken w ith a Chinese
accent deviates fro m the n a tive norm , and such deviance does affect
in te llig ib ility . The re s u lts o f th e ir stu d y suggested th a t te m p o ra l
m a n ip u la tio n d id m ake some utterances m ore in te llig ib le . T h e ir
fin d in g s suggest the im portance o f tim in g in th e in te llig ib ility o f L2
utterances.
O th e r studies have revealed th a t L l tim in g p a tte rn s are
tra n s fe rre d to L 2 . In o th e r w ords, ju s t as phonological tra n s fe r are
said to occur, phonetic (g e stu ra l) tim in g p a tte rn s m ay also tra n s fe r.
In a s tu d y e xa m in in g w ord -to -w o rd a rtic u la to ry tim in g w h ich
com pared E n g lis h speakers and R ussian speakers, Zsiga (2003)
in ve stig a te d how tra n s fe r and lin g u is tic u n ive rsa ls a ffe ct L2
a rtic u la tio n . In h e r study, Zsiga (2003) p o stu la tes th e occurrence o f
a rtic u la to ry tim in g tra n s fe r in E n g lis h R u s s ia n IL . S pecifically, it
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was expected th a t considerable overlap a t w o rd boundaries w o u ld be
observed in th e speech by E ngbsh speakers speaking in R ussian,
re s u ltin g in fin a l consonant a ssim ila tio n s and deletions w hereas
R ussian speakers w ere expected to show m ore L l- lik e (R u ssia n -like )
p a tte rn s w hen speaking in E n g lish . As fo r tra n s fe r o f tim in g p a tte rn s,
Zsiga p o in ts o u t th a t n a tive speakers o f R ussian seemed to tra n s fe r
th e ir L l a rtic u la to ry tim in g p a tte rn s w h ile n a tiv e speakers o f E n g lis h
tended to use a d e fa u lt tim in g p a tte r in th e ir L2 speech. Zsiga (2003,
p. 423) a ttrib u te s th is a sym m etry in tra n s fe r effects to “the
re c o v e ra b ilitiy p rin c ip le (W einberger, 1994a): O n ly p a tte rn s th a t were
consistent w ith re c o v e ra b ility w ere ca rrie d over fro m L l to L 2 .” W hen
th e ra n k in g o f re c o v e ra b ility is as is ty p ic a l fo r language lea rn e rs, and
i f i t does n o t c o n flic t w ith the phonetic a lig n m e n t c o n s tra in ts o f the
le a rn e r’s L l, tra n s fe r fro m L l to L 2 occurs, as in the case o f R ussian
speakers tra n s fe rrin g th e ir L l tim in g p a tte rn s to L2. F o r n a tive
speakers o f E n g lish , the n a tive p a tte rn o f overlap across w ord
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boundaries co n flicts w ith re co ve ra b ility, and so does n o t tra n s fe r.
Zsiga suggests th a t tra n s fe r o f a rtic u la to ry tim in g p a tte rn s fro m L l to
L2 m ay occur w ith in s m a lle r phonological co n stitu e nts, b u t n o t across
w ord boundaries. T h is is consistent w ith th e previous suggestions
(B row m an & G oldstein, 2000; Zsiga, 2000) th a t the a rtic u la to ry
c o n stra in ts lin k in g gestures across w ord boundaries are lo w e r ra n ke d
th a n those w ith in sm a lle r phonological dom ains. Zsiga’s stu d y c le a rly
suggests th a t stu d yin g a rtic u la to ry p a tte rn s in L2 a c q u is itio n is
im p o rta n t.
2.4.7 A s tu d y on perception o f consonant clu ste rs
D upoux, K a ke hi, H irose, P a flie r & M e h le r (1999) conducted
fo u r cro s s-lin g u istic experim ents on F rench and Japanese hearers (10
o f each) in o rd e r to in ve stig a te w h e th e r p honotactic p ro p e rtie s o f
Japanese, w h ich has a ve ry reduced set o f sylla b le types, induce th e m
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to perceive vowels th a t are n o t present (“illu s o ry ” vowels). The re s u lts
o f th e ir experim ents s tro n g ly suggest th a t Japanese, b u t n o t French,
lis te n e rs ‘h eard’ th e illu s o ry vowels betw een consonants.
In th e ir study, D upoux e t al. conducted fo u r e xp erim e nts to fin d
a possible e xp la n a tio n fo r vow el epenthesis in Japanese loanw ords.
There is more th a n one p o s s ib ility th a t m ay account fo r th is
phenom ena - it m ay be caused by th e in flu e n ce o f Japanese
o rth o g ra p h y o r by the d iffic u lty in p ro n u n c ia tio n . The m a in purpose
o f th e ir stu d y was to propose a th ir d p o s s ib ility : vo w e l epenthesis
occurs a t the p e rcep tu a l level.
E x p e rim e n t 1 was conducted to assess th e e x te n t o f the
epenthesis effect, u sin g nonw ord s tim u li w ith a co n tin u u m ra n g in g
fro m tris y lla b ic tokens (such as ebuzo) to d is y lla b ic tokens (such as
ebzo). H ere, the le n g th o f the vow el /u / betw een consonants fbl and /z/
were va rie d . They do n o t m e n tio n w h e th e r th e subjects w ere to ld th a t
th e w ords th e y were lis te n in g to were F re n ch or Japanese, so i t is n o t
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clear w h ich language the subjects th o u g h t th e y w ere h e arin g .
Japanese subjects re p orted the presence o f the vow el [u ] in to ke n s lik e
ebzo. F rench subjects, on the o th e r hand, re p o rte d th e presence o f an
e p en the tic vow el less o fte n th a n the Japanese did. D upoux e t al.
(1999) conclude th a t Japanese speakers produce ep en the tic vow els in
C O clu ste rs because th e y ‘h e a r’ vowels in C O clu ste rs. Japanese
speakers even had tro u b le d is c rim in a tin g ebzo fro m ebuzo, one w ith no
vow el a t a ll and one w ith a com plete vow el. There was v e ry little
evidence th a t the p ro ficie n cy le ve l o f th e p a rtic ip a n ts p la ye d a role in
th e p a tte rn s o f data. Based on th e ir fin d in g s, the a u th o rs conclude
th a t in o rd er to account fo r p h o n o ta ctica lly b a s e d a s sim ila tio n , i t is
necessary to in clu d e speech perception.
The c u rre n t proposed research exam ines the p ro du ctio n , as
w e ll as the perception, o f consonant cluste rs by Japanese speakers, and
th e re s u lt m ay te ll us w h e th e r th e ir fin d in g s about th e percep tio n can
be extended to p ro d u ctio n or not. F u rth e rm o re , in th e ir study, the
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p a rtic ip a n ts liste n e d to the s tim u li w ith o u t being to ld w h ich language
th e y w ere h e a rin g . In the proposed research, th e subjects are to ld
w h e th e r th e y are p ro d u cin g /liste n in g to Japanese o r E n g lis h . I t is
in te re s tin g to fin d o u t i f th is w ill m ake any difference in the re s u lts.
The re s u lts o f th e ir s tu d y suggest th a t Japanese speakers seem to be
“h e a rin g ” vowels th a t do not e xist. I f th a t is th e case, i t is w o rth
in v e s tig a tin g i f th e vow el th e y th in k th e y are h e a rin g is a c tu a lly [u], a
h ig h back 20 vow el th a t is supposed to appear a fte r consonants such as
lb / and /p / according to Japanese phonotactics, o r m ay be any vowel,
such as a schwa. These p o in ts can o n ly be m ade clear th ro u g h a close
acoustic e xa m in a tio n such as th e one proposed in th e p re sen t study.
Also, D upoux e t al. m e n tio n th a t the subjects' p ro ficie n cy d id n o t a ffect
th e ir fin d in g s. W h e th e r th is tu rn s o u t to be tru e fo r p ro d u ctio n can
also be teste d in th e c u rre n t proposed study. In th e perception
e xp e rim e n t o f the p re sen t study, n a tiv e speakers o f E n g lis h also
20 Whether this /u/ sound is a high back vowel will be questioned later in chapter
III.
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p a rtic ip a te . I t is w o rth in v e s tig a tin g how and to w h a t degree the
re s u lts o f th e ir perception te s t d iffe r (or show s im ila rity ) com pared to
th e Japanese speakers’ re s u lt.
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CHAPTER III
E X P E R IM E N T A L D E S IG N A N D M A T E R IA L S
The research questions th a t have been addressed so fa r and w ill be
explored in th is section are w h e th e r in tru s iv e vow els are p re sen t o r not
in the re a liz a tio n o f E n g lis h consonant cluste rs by Japanese speakers
and, i f th e y are, w h e th e r the in s e rtio n process is phonological or
phonetic.
In o rd e r to address these questions, the fo llo w in g th re e
experim ents were conducted in the c u rre n t s tu d y -- E x p e rim e n t 1: an
acoustic experim ent, E x p e rim e n t 2- an a rtic u la to ry e xperim ent, and
E x p e rim e n t 3: a percep tio n e xperim ent. C hapter I I I intro du ce s
e xp e rim e n ta l design and m a te ria ls fo r a ll th re e experim ents.
C hapters IV, V and V I deal w ith th e re s u lts o f E xp e rim e n ts 1, 2, and 3
respectively. F in a lly , th e o ve ra ll discussion and conclusion are
presented in C ha p te r V II.
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3.1 E xp e rim e n t 1- A n acoustic e xp e rim e n t
3.1.1 O bjectives
The objective o f th e in v e s tig a tio n in E x p e rim e n t 1 is to
in ve stig a te th e p ro d u ctio n o f consonant clu ste rs by Japanese speakers
o f E n g lish . B y m easuring d u ra tio n , FO, F I, and F2 o f vow els in
E n g lish w ords w ith consonant cluste rs and com paring th e m w ith those
o f u n d e rlyin g vowels, we hope to a sce rta in i f vow el in tru s io n takes
place o r n o t and i f i t does, w h e th e r i t is done p h on o log ica lly or
phonetically. H ere, phon o log ica lly in s e rte d vow els (epenthesized
vowels) re fe r to vow els th a t are in se rte d as a re s u lt o f a ‘re p a ir’
s tra te g y fo r consonant cluste rs by Japanese speakers. W ords such as
“ epenthetic” and “phonological” are used fo r such vowels. I t is
expected th a t the vowels w ill be d iffe re n t depending on th e context (the
preceding consonant). S pecifically, i t is expected th a t /o/ w ill appear
w hen preceded by /t/ o r /dJ and /u / elsew here fo llo w in g Japanese
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phonology. In th e present experim ent, It, d/ vs. Is, b/ w ill be exam ined.
W ords such as “excrescent” “in tru s iv e ” and “vow eH tke tra n s itio n
(sound)” are used to describe phonetic tra n s itio n s th a t have no sta tu s
as phonological vowels.
The c u rre n t e xp e rim e n t tests the fo llo w in g hypotheses:
(1) Japanese speakers produce a vow el o r a vo w e l-like
tra n s itio n in th e ir p ro d u ctio n o f consonant clusters,' th e y do n o t delete
consonants.
(2) I f Japanese speakers do in s e rt vow els phonologically, /o/ is
p re dicte d to appear a fte r It, d/ w h ile /u / is p re d icte d a fte r Is, hi. I t is
th erefore p re dicte d th a t the fo rm a n t frequencies w ill be d iffe re n t, i.e.,
F I w ill be h ig h e r and F2 w ill be low er, fo r th e vow el th a t appears a fte r
It, d/.
(3) I f th e in tru s iv e vow el is accented (stressed), i t is a
phonological vow el. Japanese speakers te n d to re ly on p itc h
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difference and n o t d u ra tio n a l difference fo r stre ssin g E n g lis h vowels.
Thus, re la tiv e ly h ig h FO w ill in d ica te epenthesis.
A lth o u g h FO values alone m ay n o t be s u ffic ie n t fo r d e te rm in in g
w h e th e r th e speakers are in s e rtin g a vow el p h on o log ica lly or
phonetically, increased vow el p itc h o fte n in d ica te s the presence o f a
vow el in Japanese, since Japanese is a p itch -acce n t language. Japanese
p itc h accent is g e ne ra lly not associated w ith d u ra tio n , b u t is p rim a rily
associated w ith h ig h FO as m any previous stu d ie s have show n (Hom m a,
1980; Beckm an, 1986; S ugito, 1982, 1996! am ong others). T h is
ch a ra c te ris tic is p ro m in e n t in Japanese loanw ords fro m E n g lis h as
w e ll. A ccording to a loa n w ord accent ru le kn o w n as the
‘a n te p e n u ltim a te ru le ’ in Japanese, the th ir d m ora fro m th e end o f the
w ord receives an accent in loanw ords (M cCawley, 1968). As
in tro d u ce d e a rlie r, Kubozono (in press) argues th a t th is ru le is applied
to stru c tu re s w here ep en the tic (i.e. phonological) vowels are a lre a d y
in s e rte d ; i.e., ep en the tic vowels are ‘v is ib le ’ to th is ru le . As the
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exam ples in C ha p te r I I h ad shown, th is a n te p e n u ltim a te accent ru le
does n o t d is tin g u is h ep en the tic (phonologically in se rte d ) vowels fro m
non-epenthetic (u n d e rlyin g ) vow els. Note th a t th is a n te p e n u ltim a te
ru le is v e ry com m on in Japanese loa n w ord phonology (K atayam a,
1998! Kubozono, 2001b, 2002; M aCaw ley, 1968; am ong others). W hat
is p re dicte d th e n is th a t th e vowels w ould be accented i f th e y are
u n d e rly in g ly p re sen t o r epenthesized. They w ou ld n o t be accented i f
th e y are not in se rte d phonologically, i.e., i f th e vow el th a t appears in a
consonant clu ste r is n o t an e p en the tic one b u t an excrescent one, then,
i t w ould n o t be accented.
It is also p re d icte d th a t epenthesis is m ore lik e ly w ith
lo w e r-le ve l speakers th a n w ith h ig h e r-le v e l speakers. L e t us consider
th is in OT fra m e w o rk. In OT, language is a system o f c o n flic tin g
u n iv e rs a l c o n stra in ts th a t are vio la b le . G ram m ars o f in d iv id u a l
languages d iffe r not in w h a t k in d o f c o n stra in ts th e y have, b u t in how
ra n k in g s are arranged. E ach language is assum ed to have its own
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ra n k in g s o f th e co n stra in ts so th a t th e o u tp u t is ‘o p tim a l’ in th e sense
th a t i t o n ly vio la te s the low e st-ra n ked c o n s tra in ts in a given language.
I t is th e re fo re assum ed th a t th e re la tiv e ra n k in g s o f th e co n stra in ts
w ith in a given language determ ine c ro s s-lin g u istic v a ria b ility .
F o llo w in g H a n c in -B h a tt and B h a tt (1997), a cq u isitio n in OT is defined
as le a rn in g an oth er c o n fig u ra tio n o f the ra n k in g s . A ll th e co n stra in ts
are u n iv e rs a l in OT, so th e le a rn e r le a rn s the c o n s tra in t ra n k in g s o f L2.
H ere, the in itia l sta te o f L 2 a cq u is itio n is assum ed to be th e L I ra n k in g .
The le a rn e rs begin w ith the L I ra n k in g s and g ra d u a lly move to w a rd
L 2 ra n k in g s. I t is assum ed th a t new in p u t (o f L2, p o sitive evidence)
trig g e rs th e re -ra n k in g o f co n stra in ts. I t is expected th a t m ore o f the
advanced le a rn e rs (h ig h e r-le ve l speakers) w ho have m astered L2
ra n k in g w ould m ake few er in s e rtio n m istakes th a n th e less advanced
le a rn e rs (low e r-le ve l speakers) because the Japanese speakers’
le a rn in g m ay be fa c ilita te d due to th e p o sitive evidence o f L2
(consonant cluste rs are allow ed in E n g lis h ).1 The re s u lts o f the
1 This prediction is supported by the results found in some of the previous

119
experim ents w h ich w ill be discussed here, however, seem to
dem onstrate th a t th e le a rn in g process m ay n o t be so s tra ig h tfo rw a rd ,
and th a t bo th phonology and phonetics are in vo lve d in th is process.
T h is w ill be discussed fu rth e r la te r.
3.1.2 E x p e rim e n ta l design o f th e acoustic e xp e rim e n t
3.1.2.1. Subjects
Three groups o f subjects to o k p a rt in th is e xp e rim e n t. The
fir s t group consisted o f five Japanese, who w ere a ll fem ale stu d e n ts in
th e E n g lis h and C om m unication D e p a rtm e n t a t H o k u rik u G a ku in
J u n io r College. The subjects received snacks fo r th e ir p a rtic ip a tio n in
th e experim ent. T h e ir ages w ere betw een eighteen and tw enty, and
a ll o f th e m were vo lu n te e rs. A ll o f the p a rtic ip a n ts w ere bo rn and
ra ise d in th e H o k u rik u area, an area by the coast o f th e Sea o f Japan,
studies (Broselow & Finer, 1991! Hancin-Bhatt & Bhatt, 1997), in which only a
few of such syllable errors by Japanese speakers were observed.
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in the w e ste rn /n o rth e rn p a rt o f Japan, across fro m Tokyo. They had
never liv e d in fo re ig n co untries n o r o th e r p a rts o f Japan p rio r to th is
experim ent. None o f th e m had any h e a rin g im p a irm e n ts or speech
im pedim ents. In order to avoid u n n a tu ra ln e ss in the p ro d u ctio n o f
th e te s t sentences, the purpose o f the e xp e rim e n t was n o t to ld to them ,
b u t the w hole procedure o f th e e xp erim e nt w as c le a rly explained, and
th e stu d e n ts w ere to ld th a t th e re w ould be no p u n ish m e n t or
disadvantage caused b y n o t p a rtic ip a tin g in th e e xp e rim e n t. Since
E n g lis h p ro ficie n cy le ve l m ay affect the re s u lts o f th e e xperim ent, it
was im p o rta n t to e sta b lish a m ethod fo r assessing the speaker’s
E n g lis h competence. The p a rtic ip a n ts w ere jud g e d as h a vin g
in te rm e d ia te -le v e l p ro ficie n cy in E n g lish , based on th e fo llo w in g
c rite ria :
( l) T h e ir grades in conversation courses offered a t H o k u rik u
G a ku in J u n io r College. The conversation courses are ta u g h t
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by the th re e n a tive speaker teachers o f E n g lis h (one C anadian
and tw o A m ericans) a t H o k u rik u G a ku in J u n io r College, who
have a m aster's degree in T E S L /T E F L and have E n g lis h
te aching experience in Japan fo r m ore th a n th re e years. The
course re q u ire s several o ra l e xa m in a tio ns (in te rv ie w ty p e tests)
and students are ra te d on a scale o f A to C by these n a tive
speaker teachers.
(2) The re s u lt o f th e T O E F L T T P e xa m in a tio n conducted less
th a n th re e m onths p rio r to the e xperim ent.
A lth o u g h p ro n u n c ia tio n s k ills m ay n o t be d ire c tly re la te d to th e above
c rite ria (especially ( 2) above), i t w as considered to be b e tte r to choose
the p a rtic ip a n ts whose E n g lis h p ro ficie n cy levels were fa ir ly s im ila r in
order to avoid any unnecessary confusion.
The fo llo w in g c rite ria was added a fte r the above, to te s t fo r the
effect o f p ro n u n c ia tio n s k ills .
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(3) T h e ir E n g lis h p ro n u n c ia tio n assessed by tw o Japanese
teachers of E n g lish , w ho have a m aster's degree in
T E S L /T E F L /h n g u istics and have been te a ch in g phonetics and
p ro n u n c ia tio n courses a t H o k u rik u G a ku in J u n io r College fo r
over fifte e n years.
Thus, ( l) and (2) o f th e above c rite ria were ta k e n in to co n sid e ra tion in
d e te rm in in g th e E n g lis h p ro ficie n cy le v e l o f th e p a rtic ip a n ts and the
th ird one was used to determ ine th e ir p ro n u n c ia tio n s k ills . Table 1
shows th e subjects’ levels.
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Table 1
Subjects’ E n g lis h p ro ficie n cy levels
(1) (2) TOEFL - (3) Overall

Speaker Conversation ITP score Pronunciation judged
course grade level level
J1 B/C 413 Low 3
J2 B/C 410 Low 3
J3 B 393 Intermediate 2
Higher-
J4 A/B 400 1
intermediate
Higher-
J5 A/B 397 1
intermediate
As shown in Table 1 above, th o u g h th e subjects w ere a h considered to
be in te rm e d ia te -le v e l by c rite ria ( l) and (2), as a re s u lt o f c rite ria (3),
tw o o f th e subjects were judged lo w e r-in te rm e d ia te (le ve l 3) and tw o
w ere judged h ig h e r-in te rm e d ia te (le ve l l), w ith the one re m a in in g
fa lh n g som ew hat in betw een (interm ediate^ le v e l 2).
The second group consisted o f th re e n a tiv e speakers o f E n g lish .
There w ere tw o A m ericans (one m ale and one fem ale) and one
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C anadian m ale, between th e ages o f th irty -fiv e and fo rty -fiv e . The
tw o A m e rica n subjects were bo th b o rn and ra ise d in C a lifo rn ia and the
C anadian subject was b o rn and ra ise d in th e w estern p a rt o f Canada.
They a ll spoke E n g lis h w ith no noticeable d ia le c ta l differences and
were a ll teachers a t H o k u rik u G a ku in J u n io r College. As was the
case w ith the Japanese p a rtic ip a n ts , th e y w ere n o t to ld the purpose o f
th e experim ent, b u t the procedure o f the e xp erim e nt was c le a rly
explained and th e y a ll vo lu n te e re d th e ir tim e . None o f th e m had any
h e a rin g im p a irm e n ts or speech im pedim ents.
The th ir d group consisted o f one Japanese fem ale fro m
H iro s h im a 2 in h e r 30’s w ho had liv e d in th e U.S., Canada, and
E urope fo r several years. T h is p a rtic u la r subject was chosen to serve
as a subject fo r a d iffe re n t e xperim ent, so th e c rite ria used fo r
assessing h e r E n g lis h p ro ficie n cy were d iffe re n t. The assessm ent was
done by D r. D onna E rickso n p rio r to th e e xp e rim e n t and th e subject
2 The data collected by Dr. Donna Erickson of Gifu City Women’s College, Gifu,
Japan were used. The data w as collected at the time when EMA recordings took
place.
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was assessed as in te rm e d ia te advanced th ro u g h casual conversation
conducted in E n g lis h .3
3.1.2.2 M a te ria ls
T a rg e t sequences in th e c u rre n t e xp e rim e n t w ere b o th E n g lis h
and Japanese pseudowords w ith CV, CCV o r CCCV sylla b les. E n g lis h
pseudowords (w ith C, CC and CCC as onsets) and Japanese
pseudowords (w ith CV s tru c tu re in accordance w ith Japanese
phonology) w ere used. P re lim in a ry te s tin g in d ic a te d th a t i t was v e ry
d iffic u lt fo r b o th Japanese and n a tive speakers o f E n g lis h to read a
m ixed lis t; th e re fo re , fo r the c u rre n t e xperim ent, tw o separate sets o f
sentences were used. Two k in d s o f E n g lis h pseudowords, one w ith
CC- and C C C -clusters as onsets and th e o th e r w ith C V -syllables, were
placed in E n g lis h sentences, along w ith the E n g lis h in s tru c tio n . The
3 This subject was studying at a university in the U.S. for about two years, so her
TOEFL score was estimated as over 500; she also lived in Canada for two years.
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E n g lis h pseudo w ords were m in im a l p a irs such as ‘tro k ’ - ‘to ro k u ’ and
‘sn u k’ ■ ‘su n u ku .’ Japanese pseudow ords were a ll w ith CV-type
sylla b les since no C O clu ste rs are allow ed in Japanese. T hey were
placed in Japanese sentences w ith in s tru c tio n s given in Japanese .4
W hen p roducing consonant clusters in E n g lish , as described e a rlie r,
some Japanese speakers were expected to in s e rt /o/ a fte r It/ o r Id/, and
/u / a fte r Is/ or lb/', or, th e y m ig h t produce a vo w e l-like tra n s itio n
regardless o f th e place o f a rtic u la tio n o f th e preceding consonant. In
ord er to a scertain the acoustic ch a ra cte r o f th e vowels th a t appear
betw een the consonant clusters, It, d/ vs. Is, h i consonants in the fir s t
p o sitio n o f the CC(C) s tru c tu re s were com pared.
The w ords th a t were used in th e p re sen t e xp erim e nt are lis te d
below. W ords in Table 2a (W ord lis t l) are "E n g lis h " pseudow ords
w ith nonsense sylla b les w h ich are s im ila r p h o n o ta ctica lly to E n g lis h
sylla b les b u t w h ich do n o t obey Japanese phonotactics. T hey include
4 Japanese sentences were written in Japanese, but since the content is the same,
only the English version is included in the appendix.
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w ords w ith CC and CCC clusters. S im ila rly , w ords in Table 2b are
"Japanese" pseudowords w ith corresponding nonsense sylla b le s th a t
fo llo w Japanese phonotactics . 5 In the fo llo w in g tables, C C-type
in d ica te s th e consonants in the consonant clu s te r and <V > shows the
vow el expected i f th e speakers were a d he rin g to Japanese phonological
co n stra in ts. W ords w ith a consonant c lu s te r are C C ’typ e sylla b les
and w ords w ith an u n d e rly in g vow el are C V 'type sylla b le s. The
speakers were asked to read a random ized lis t c o n ta in in g the
e xp e rim e n ta l w ords. The subjects read th e w ords in a s h o rt sentence
as follow s6:
a. E n g lis h sentence- "S a y now."
b. Japanese sentence- "K ore-w a desu." (T h is is

.)7
5 The Japanese pseudowords were presented in Japanese orthography using

kana.
6 In both English and Japanese sentences, the test was embedded in a sentence
to avoid utterance final elongation effects; also it was preceded by a vowel to
allow us to measure the duration of the onset C, in case it became necessary.
When the subjects were reading the Japanese words, the script were presented in
Japanese (using kana), in order to enhance naturalness.
7 Japanese sentences were written in Japanese also.
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B y speaking a Japanese or E n g lis h sentence, th e p a rtic ip a n ts were
sure o f the language th e y were speaking, even though th e w ords used
were a ll pseudowords.
Table 2a
W ord lis t l 8: E n g lis h pseudowords
W ords w ith a W ords w ith an

C O typ e <V>
consonant c lu s te r u n d e rly in g vow el
/t/ + tro k to ro k u
/o/
sonorant tr u k to ru k u
/d / + d ro k doroku
lo/
sonorant d ru k d o ru ku
/s/+ snok sunoku
/u l
sonorant sn u k su n u ku
fb/+ b ro k b u ro k u
/u /
sonorant b ru k b u ru k u
/st/+ s tro k su to ro ku /u / a fte r /s/
sonorant s tru k s u to ru k u /ol a fte r It/
8 The word list used for the experiment (randomized for the experiment, with a
reading instruction) is attached as Appendix 1.
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Table 2b
W ord lis t 2- Japanese pseudowords
C C 'type W ords w ith an u n d e rly in g vow el

to ro k u
h i + sonorant
to ru k u
doroku
id / + sonorant
d o ru ku
sunoku
/s/+ sonorant
su n u ku
b u ro k u
fh/+ sonorant
b u ru k u
su to ro ku
/s t/+ sonorant
s u to ru k u
I t was expected th a t i f vow el in s e rtio n takes place, i t w ould
lead to th e cre a tio n o f an in itia l C V s y lla b le in CC s tru c tu re s , as in
C i< V > C 2. H ere, <V> is used to in d ica te a vow el o r a vo w e l-like sound
th a t appears w ith in CC clu ste rs. For CCC s tru ctu re s,
C i< V i> C 2< V 2>C 3 was expected. In the c u rre n t exp erim e nt, the w ords
w ith CCC s tru ctu re s were ‘s tro k ’ and ‘s tru k .’ In these w ords, < V i>
was expected to be devoiced i f i t is a h ig h vow el because o f the
devoicing ru le in Japanese (a h ig h vow el su rrou n d e d by voiceless
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consonants is generally devoiced in standard Japanese).
3.1.3 Procedures
3.1.3.1 Recordings
P a rtic ip a n ts were recorded in a q u ie t room usin g a good q u a lity
tape recorder and e ith e r a head-w orn m icrophone or a hand-held
microphone. P rio r to recording, each subject was given the set o f
sentences to read. In s tru c tio n s were provided in E n g lis h fo r E n g lis h
w ords and in Japanese fo r Japanese words. Japanese p a rtic ip a n ts
were fir s t given the w ords w ith ty p ic a l CV Japanese syllables and were
to ld th a t th e y were Japanese nonsense words. T hey were th e n
in s tru c te d to read the words aloud, in a n a tu ra l way. A s im ila r
procedure was follow ed fo r the E n g lis h nonsense w ords (the
p a rtic ip a n ts were to ld th a t th e y were E n g lis h nonsense words).
N a tive speakers o f E n g lis h follow ed the same procedure as the
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Japanese p a rticip a n ts, b u t th e y were asked to read the w ords in the
E n g lish w ord lis t only (no Japanese words), a t a n o rm a l rate. They
were asked to repeat the sentences five tim es, so fo r Japanese speakers,
the tokens collected were (20 E n g lis h sentences + 10 Japanese
sentences) x 5 p a rtic ip a n ts x 5 re p e titio n s (a to ta l o f 750 tokens), and
fo r native speakers o f E nglish, 20 E n g lis h sentences x 3 p a rtic ip a n ts x
5 re p etitio n s (a to ta l o f 300 tokens).
3.1.3.2 Acoustic M easurem ents
Two d iffe re n t sets o f data were used fo r acoustic m easurem ents.
The fir s t set o f data was obtained fro m five Japanese subjects and
three n ative speakers! the second set was ta k e n fro m th e acoustic data
o f the E M A experim ent, b oth o f w h ic h w ill be discussed in C ha p te r V I.
F o r the five Japanese subjects and three n a tive speakers o f
E nglish, the acoustic d ata fo r each p a rtic ip a n t were converted in to a
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16kHz wavefile, using the softw are p rogram W aveS urfer
(w ww .soeech.kth.se/wavesurfer ).9 F o r each utterance, a waveform ,
spectrogram , fu n d a m e n ta l frequency and F I , and F2 w ere analyzed.
Specifically, m easurem ents were made fo r the d u ra tio n (o f the
inte rcon so n an tal in te rva l), FO, F I, and F2 ( if any o f these were
present). Form ants were com puted by L P C (lin e a r p re d ictive coding)
and FO, by ESPS (E ntropic Speech Processing System).
B o th the waveform s and spectrogram s o f the in tru s iv e and
u n d e rly in g vowels were exam ined w h ile lis te n in g to th e segments a t
the same tim e . The presence o f a vow el was generally d e term ined by
F I and F2, voicing, and a vow el-like p a tte rn in the w aveform . T h a t is,
w hen there was audible sound, visib le F I and F2, a vo w e l-like complex
(periodic) p a tte rn in the w aveform and an increase in a m p litu d e , i t was
considered th a t there was a vow el or a vo w e l-like tra n s itio n .
F o r each utterance, d u ra tio n was m easured in th e fo llo w in g
9 WaveSurfer is an open source speech tool, which has been developed at the
Centre for Speech Technology at KTH.
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way- the vowel onset was defined as th e p o in t where th e re was an
a b ru p t increase in a m p litu d e accompanied by a change in w aveform
p a tte rn , or where there was onset o f p e rio d ic ity o f vow el-like sounds in
the w aveform and vocalic fo rm a n t stru ctu re s. Offset was defined as
th e p o in t where the opposite o f these were found. E v a lu a tin g the
value o f FO was sometimes d iffic u lt, especially because FO can and does
change rapidly, even d u rin g a single vowel. A n effect o f su rro u n d in g
consonants was also expected.
3.2 E x p e rim e n t 2- A n a rtic u la to ry e xp erim e nt
3.2.1 Objectives
The objective o f E x p e rim e n t 2 is to investigate i f the re su lts
found in E xp e rim e n t 1 can be supported by a rtic u la to ry d ata as w ell.
The re su lts o f the acoustic m easurem ents suggested th a t the E M A
subject, J 6 , con sta n tly produced a vow el lik e sound in h e r production of
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consonant clusters and the acoustic re su lts suggested th a t the
in se rtio n m ay have been done phonologically. The a rtic u la to ry
experim ent seeks co n firm a tio n o f these results.
A n o th e r objective o f th is e xp erim e nt is to exam ine the
a rtic u la to ry n a tu re o f the devoiced vowel, fo r w h ic h acoustic
m easurem ents could n o t be made.
3.2.2 E x p e rim e n ta l design o f the a rtic u la to ry experim ent
3.2.2.1. Subject
The subject was a fem ale speaker o f Japanese in h e r th irtie s
fro m H iro sh im a , id e n tifie d as J 6 in E x p e rim e n t 1 above. The
speaker’s E n g lis h proficiency level ha d been assessed as in te rm e d ia te
advanced by Dr. E rickson (G ifu C ity Women’s College).
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3.2.2.2 M aterials
T arget sequences in the c u rre n t e xp erim e nt were th e same as
th e ones used in E x p e rim e n t I- Japanese pseudowords (w ith CV
stru c tu re fo llo w in g Japanese phonology) and E n g lis h pseudowords
(w ith CC and CCC as onsets) embedded in Japanese and E n g lis h
sentences respectively.
3.2.3 Procedures
3.2.3.1 Recordings
The a rtic u la to ry recordings were made a t the same tim e as the
acoustic recordings, w ith the 2D E M A system at NTT Speech
C om m unication Science Research Laboratories, A tsugi, Japan. The
e xp e rim e n ta l w ords were random ized. The speaker produced ten
re p e titio n s o f random ized E n g lis h and Japanese c a rrie r sentences in
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w h ich were embedded the ta rg e t words (nonsense pseudo-words in the
case o f the Japanese sentences). However, o n ly the fir s t five o f th e ten
re p etitio n s were analyzed fo r the c u rre n t experim ent. The tokens
were (20 E n g lish sentences + 10 Japanese sentences) x 1 p a rtic ip a n t x
5 re p e titio n s = 150 tokens.
The speaker continued reading the sentences in a n a tu ra l
manner, w h ile E M A recordings were made w ith in a w in d o w fram e o f 20
sec, w ith a bre ak in recordings o f about 3 seconds betw een fra m e s10.
A lth o u g h video recording was done a t the same tim e, i t is n o t used fo r
system atic analysis in th e c u rre n t study.
I n order to record a rtic u la to ry m otions using E M A , receiver
coils were attached to the ( l) low e r inciso r (m andible) (2) up pe r lip, (3)
low er lip, and (4) T1 (tongue tip), (5) T2 (tongue blade), and T3 (tongue
dorsum). T l, T2, and T3 were attached along th e lo n g itu d in a l sulcus
o f the speaker’s tongue. The positions o f the coils were m easured a t a
sam pling frequency o f 250 Hz. F or the c u rre n t experim ent, three coils
10 Acoustic recording conducted at the same time was continuous.

137
were attached to the subject’s tongue (tip, blade, and dorsum ) and the
tongue m otions were m easured a t three points. The positions o f the
tra n s m itte r coils determ ine the coordinate system (K a b u ra g i & Honda,
1997) w ith the o rig in positioned s lig h tly in fro n t o f and below the chin.
F o r the E M A data, a ll values are positive, w ith in cre a sin g ly positive
y v a lu e s in d ic a tin g incre a sing ly raised ja w o r tongue dorsum , and
incre a sin g ly positive x-values, incre a sing ly re tra cte d ja w or tongue
position. The placem ent o f the coils is depicted in F ig u re la (courtesy of
A k in o ri F u jin o , N T T Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan), and a p ictu re ta ke n
o f the subject d u rin g the experim ent is shown in F ig u re lb .
138
F ig u re la
C oil placem ent
F ig u re lb
P ictu re o f th e subject w ith coils
139
The tongue dorsum m ovem ent fo r Japanese /u / is generally considered
more fro n te d whereas th a t fo r lo l is more backed, so the coil attached a t
the tongue dorsum was th o u g h t to be crucial. I t was considered
w o rth w h ile to exam ine tongue dorsum m ovem ent characteristics o f the
vowel occurring between the consonant Is/ and It/ as in ‘s tro k ’ o r ‘s tru k ’
as well, because in the p re lim in a ry experim ent, an /u /-like sound was
heard alth ou g h there was no acoustic trace in te rm s o f fo rm a n t
frequencies or p itc h because o f vow el devoicing. S im ila rly, i t w ou ld be
in te re s tin g to see i f th e re w ould be any re s id u a l tongue dorsum
m ovem ent ch a racteristic o f th e vow el lo l a fte r It/ or Id/ consonants.
3.2.3.2 A rtic u la to ry m easurem ents
A rtic u la to ry m easurem ents were made fo r the x-y p e lle t
positions fo r the upper and low er lip (U L, L L ), fo r the m andible (J), and
the tongue ( T l, T2, T3) a t the tim e o f m a xim u m ja w opening fo r the
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utterance, using a M A TLA B -based analysis program , courtesy J. Dang,
ATR Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan. For each o f the utterances,
a rtic u la to ry (as w e ll as acoustic) m easurem ents were made a t the
tim e o f m a xim u m ja w opening fo r the vowels.
3.3 E x p e rim e n t 3 : A perception e xp erim e nt
3.3.1 Objectives
The objective o f the perception e xp erim e nt is to inve stig a te i f
Japanese speakers were able to hear th e difference between CC
(consonant clusters w ith no vowels) and CVC stru ctu re s. I n order to
exam ine how the inse rted vowels were perceived, three kin d s o f
perception tests were conducted: ( l) tw e n ty fo u r Japanese students
listened to the Japanese speakers’ utterances, (2) the same group o f
subjects as ( l) listen e d to the E n g lis h speakers’ utterances, and (3) five
native speakers o f E n g lis h listen e d to the utterances o f th re e native
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speakers of English (as control).
The purpose o f th e fir s t and second tests was to fin d out
w h e th e r the in tru s iv e vow el was perceived as a phonological vow el by
Japanese students or not and i f so, w h a t vow el i t is th a t th e y th o u g h t
th e y were hearing. The th ir d te st was a co n tro l te s t inte nd e d to fin d
ou t how an in tru s iv e vow el was perceived by n a tive speakers o f
E nglish.
3.3.2 E x p e rim e n ta l design o f th e perception te st
3.3.2. 1. Subjects
Two groups o f subjects took p a rt in th e perception experim ent.
The fir s t group consisted o f tw e n ty -fo u r Japanese, who were a ll female
students in the E n g lis h and C om m unication D e p a rtm e n t a t H o k u rik u
G a ku in J u n io r College. T h e ir ages were between eighteen and tw enty,
and a ll o f th e m were volunteers. The five students who p a rtic ip a te d
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in E x p e rim e n t 1 were also included in th is group. A ll o f th e subjects
were born and raised in the H o k u rik u area. T hey had never liv e d in
fo reign countries n o r o th e r p a rts o f Japan p rio r to th is experim ent.
None o f th e m had any h e a rin g im p a irm e n ts. A lth o u g h the purpose o f
th e experim ent was n o t to ld to them , the whole procedure o f the
experim ent was clea rly explained, and the students were to ld th a t
there w ould be no p u n ish m e n t or disadvantage caused by not
p a rtic ip a tin g in the experim ent. The subjects were students who
belonged to in te rm e d ia te and advanced groups a t H o k u rik u G a ku in
J u n io r College.
The second group consisted o f five n a tive speakers o f E nglish.
They were a ll fem ale A m erican students a t Georgetown U n ive rsity.
They a ll spoke E n g lis h w ith no noticeable d ia le ctica l differences.
None o f th e m had liv e d in Japan nor stu d ied Japanese p rio r to the
present experim ent. As was the case w ith the Japanese subjects, th e y
were not to ld the purpose o f the present experim ent, b u t the whole
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procedure o f the experim ent was explained to th e m and th e y a ll
volunteered th e ir tim e. None o f them had any h e a rin g im p a irm e n ts.
3.3.2.2 M a te ria ls
The m a te ria l used in the c u rre n t e xp erim e nt was one re p e titio n
o f the recorded utterances collected fo r E x p e rim e n t 1 above.
T w enty-four Japanese subjects listened to the recordings o f E n g lis h
pseudo words (w ith CC and CCC as onsets) read by the five Japanese
speakers 11 and the three n a tive speakers o f E nglish. Five n ative
speaker subjects o n ly listen e d to the recordings of E n g lis h
pseudowords read by three n a tive speakers as control. T h is is to
compare th e ir re su lts w ith those o f the Japanese listen e rs so th a t how
pseudowords w ith b oth C C-clusters and CV-sequences produced by
native speakers o f E n g lis h are perceived co rrectly w hereas the same
words m ay n o t be co rrectly perceived by the Japanese listeners.
11 Recorded utterances of Jl, J2, J3, J4 and J5 are used in Experiment 3.

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The words used in this experiments were as follows^
Table 3
W ord lis t !•' E n g lish pseudowords used in E x p e rim e n t 3
Words w ith Words w ith an

C C 'type a consonant u n d e rly in g vow el <V>
cluster (C V 'type syllable)
Itl + tro k to ro k u
lo l
sonorant tr u k to ru k u
/d/ + d ro k doroku
lo l
sonorant d ru k d o ru ku
/s/+ snok sunoku
lu l
sonorant sn u k s u n u ku
lb l+ b ro k b u ro k u
/u /
sonorant b ru k b u ru k u
/st/+ s tro k su to ro ku lu l a fte r Is/
sonorant s tru k s u to ru k u lo l a fte r It/
3.3.3 Procedures
The w ords were played to the Japanese subjects in a q u ie t room
usin g a tape recorder. The E n g lis h subjects listened to the utterances
u sin g a S O N Y com puter usin g a headphone. The ta s k was to circle
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the w ord w h ich th e y th o u g h t th e y were hearing. The sheets used fo r
th is experim ent were o f tw o kin d s - an E n g lis h one and a Japanese one,
both w ith the same lis t o f words, b u t the in s tru c tio n given in E n g lis h
fo r n a tive E n g lis h speaker subjects and in Japanese fo r Japanese
speakers. Subjects were in s tru c te d to circle one o f the fo llow ing: No
vowel ( if th e y th in k there is no vow el a t all), /u/ ( if th e y th in k th e y
heard a /u / sound), lo l ( if th e y th in k th e y heard a lo l sound), or a schwa
( if th e y th in k th e y heard a vo w e H ike sound b u t could n o t id e n tify
w h e th e r i t was lo l o r lul). 12 A n exam ple o f th e a ctu a l sheet and w h a t
the tape said are as follows:
In s tru c tio n : Please circle th e one you th in k you hear.
1. tro ' to ro - tu ro ' to r e
(Tape says, “ Say “tro k ” now.” )
2. dro- doro- duro- doro-

(Tape says, “ Say “ d o ru k u ” now.” )
12 The students had already learned the schwa sound in their phonetics class
prior to this experiment. However, the use of a schwa may not have been
appropriate since some of them were expected to have forgotten what they had
learned.
146
F o r 1 above, the ta rg e t was “tro k ” and the choices were “tro% toro-,
turo-, toro-.” F or 2, the ta rg e t was “ d o ru k” and the choices were
“ dro-, doro-, d u ro -, d o ro \”
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C h a p t e r IV
A C O U S T IC E X P E R IM E N T RESULTS
The previous chapter presented the e xp e rim e n ta l design and m a te ria ls
fo r the three experim ents used to exam ine the n a tu re o f vow el
in se rtio n by three n ative speakers o f E n g lis h and six Japanese
speakers. C hapter IV discusses acoustic re s u lts fro m E x p e rim e n t 1.
4 .1 A n a lysis
D u ra tio n , FO, F I , and F2 were used as dependent variables.
Differences between u n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g luJ as w e ll as the
q u a lity o f the vowels th a t appeared a fte r tw o d iffe re n t contexts (a fte r It,
d/ vs. Is, hi) were exam ined.
The fo llo w ing are the research questions th a t were tested:
( l) Were there vowels a t all?
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(2) H ow are u n d e rly in g /o/ and lu l different? (effect o f vow el
q u a lity on FO, F I, F2, and d u ra tio n )
(3) Does context m ake a difference? (Isl fb l vs. It/ Id / on FO,
F I , F2, and d u ra tio n )
(4) A re the vowels th a t appear a fte r consonants id e n tic a l to lo l
and lul? (CC vs. CVC)
(5) A re E n g lis h and Japanese pseudowords d iffe re n t in term s
o f the FO, F I , F2 and d u ra tio n o f the ta rg e t vowels
Five re p e titio n s o f each w ord were produced b y each subject. Each
subject is analyzed separately in the fo llo w in g section because subjects
were lik e ly to d iffe r g re a tly in fo rm a n t values, rate, and E n g lis h
proficiency.
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4.2 Acoustic analysis re su lts
4.2.1 Presence/absence o f in tru s iv e vowels
The fir s t research question w as:
Do Japanese speakers produce a vow el (or a vo w e l-like sound)
or delete consonants in th e ir p ro du ctio n o f consonant clusters?
In o ther words, w he the r there are vowels or not is tested. The
waveform s and spectrogram s o f a ll tokens were exam ined fo r the
presence or absence o f a vow el w ith in the consonant clu ste r fo r both
the n ative E n g lis h speakers and the Japanese speakers. A vow el was
judged to be present i f a t least three o f th e fo llo w in g were observed: ( l)
voicing in the waveform ; (2) a visible fo rm a n t s tru ctu re , especially F I
and F2, in the spectrogram ! (3) an increase in a m p litu d e and (4) vow el
periodic p a tte rn s in the waveform .
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F o r the n a tive E n g lish speakers, no tokens were judged to have
vowels present. F igures la th ro u g h I f show ty p ic a l examples o f n a tive
speakers' p ro n u n cia tio n of words w ith a consonant clu ste r
Ctrok,‘b ro k,‘sn u k’) and w ords w ith an u n d e rly in g vow el
(‘to ro k u ’‘b u ro k u ’‘s u n u ku ’) .
F o r th e n ative Japanese speakers, on the other hand, 100 % o f
the tokens were judged to have vowels (or a vow el-like tra n s itio n )
present. T h is was the case w ith a ll speakers. F igures 2a th ro u g h 2j
below show examples o f Japanese speakers' p ro n u n c ia tio n o f w ords
w ith consonant clusters. Those fo r u n d e rly in g vowels are also shown
fo r comparison. I n the figures, <V> indicates an in tru s iv e vow el and
(u) indicates a devoiced vow el .1
1 Japanese speakers were devoicing the word-final lul.

151
Figure la. ‘trok’ as produced by N1
■
■■
r' v
F ig u re lb . ‘to ro k u ’ as produced by N 1
2425
.. d i i i L L U L l k J u M k
iTf| iT W r fl^ “ WrrrTrrf‘ rrr#

■3494
kH i
j j y 1- . . . . .. . 'U '- ■i d - -
— —
:■
1_
i ' 1 ____ —
r ~ T - T ~ l— T •••■1— T"”7—r—f '" “.... 7—i—V“ “ m —T*T—r - ’T •••t - t - t- t... r * ... • ...■■... .... »... ...............'... ■... ■<... i :... r ““r““ ' i — r “ r “ v— p * i— r ~ t “
cm * 7 ,7 0 .. ? 7S 7 .8 0 ? Is 7 »0 7 .9 5 8 DO 8 . OS 8 .1 9 . IS 8 .2 0
t o I r o k u
152
Figure lc. ‘brok’ as produced by N2
1
8172
fs nil WmM flTi A^ ftl v

w i i ™
-9234
kHz
7-
6 -
5 J
4-
s T ,J! ^ '
3- , #>J * s*1 A - ♦ 1 ' V
2-
1 - ———...■ ■ ■ ■■1'( I ■
Q B B B
■
1 ' 1 * 1 ' i ' 1 * i • 1 1 ' 1 ‘
b i* * 10.58 10.60 10.62 10.64 10. 6 10.68 L0.70 10.72 10.74 10.76 10.78 10.80 10.82 10 84 10.86 1(
b r o k
F ig u re Id . ‘b u ro k u ’ as produced by N2
4778
iit f iid L L U J if t L L y f e lf t lf f lb n l l
nyi
T f T t t h *
-7 2 5 0
kH i
7 -
„ . . * f ' r ¥ j -* -i
6 -
5 -
4 -
3 - ■v ■ " "
■ ifi T ■
“ *■
.
", 1 , t
]
■. * * .J. .. 4 t.
H A **'
2 -
1 -
1 _U - J A. K. . . . It
\ ij p ^ i i ^ w p g p y
: - T - r T T n - r . 1 | T T - T -r -i-T -T -r -T I- J r-r-1 ■ j- r - r - T - *
t iM ID 1 5 .2 5 5. 3 0 1 5 .3 5 1 5 .4 0 1 5 .4 5 1 5 .5 0 1 5 .5 5 5 .6 0 1 5 .6 5 IS -7 (| > .7 5 1 5 .1
u
b u r O
k
153
Figure le. ‘snuk’ as produced by N3
F ig u re If. ‘s u n u k u ’ as produced by N 3
i.'f:
154
Figure 2a. ‘trok’ as produced by J1
32767
-32763
Figure 2b. ‘toroku as produced by J l
32767
155
Figure 2c. ‘brok’as produced by J2
Figure 2d. ‘buroku’ as produced by J2
11402
156
Figure 2e. “brok’ as produced by J3
2455
f f f l
f w | O T
■2632
KHZ
7 -
6-
5- , . l, " '*>
3-
_
2-
' L'7'
1-
r - '..........i......... ........T......... 7..........T " ...... 1.......... i 1 ’ 1 ‘ I ’ 1 • 1 ..........1.......... i .....

t im * 9 .C 6 9 .0 6 9 .1 0 9 . . I __ 9 1 4 ____ 9 . 1 6 9 .1 8 9 . 2 0 ______ 9 . 2 2 _____ J U I * . ______.? 2 6___ 9 . 2 9
b o
r k
< v >
Figure 2f. ‘buroku’ as produced by J3
3293
......u U U IillllJ U k A
'5635
kHz
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
1 ■■.,1"
2 - -------^ x li. ■' ■.j" ;j»i>
___
1-
i 1 i t ' i ' 1 ’ I ' 1 , . | . j . , . | . | i n t j • 1

t,i» * 14.60 14.62 14. 1 14.66 14.68 14 70 14.72 L4.74 14.76 14.78 14.80 14.82 14.84 1 .86 14.88 .4.
u r o k ( u )
b
157
Figure 2g. ‘trok’ as produced by J4
F ig u re 2h. ‘to ro k u ’ as produced b y J4
3278?
*’■.■.£-•: ■
“
158
Figure 2i. ‘snuk’ as produced by J5
32737 |
■32766 I
1 *1 —!*
1i . r .
t l“ ! 9S 7. 00 ?. 0 * 7 .1 0 7 6 7 .2 0 1 25 7. D 7 .3 5 7 .4 0 7 .4 5 7 .5 0 7 . 5S
S <v> n u
k ( u )
F ig u re 2j. ‘s u n u k u ’ as produced by J5
32757
v ju il8 U U M Iu llU I« l
im r
-32766
kHz
7 -
i
6-
5-
■ * '■
4 .
3-
2 - lb* ^ m 'm t m & r -
1 _| IV ■ ''in: \ . . . . - '/
r . _ - r „ r -T „ 7- . r— r „ r _. TTT T“ T^“ T
T ..r ..r r . r ........v ...v ...r .......1- . r -T „ T ...r ...J...,T .......r......-T....r.....r T~r -r~ i
tifct 9 .1 0 9 .1 i I 9 .2 0 .2 5 9 .3 0 9 .3 5 9 .4 0 9 .4 5 9 . 50
s U n U k ( u )
159
As can be seen in the Japanese subjects’ figures above, F I and F2 were
visible in the spectrogram and vow el-like periodic p a tte rn s were
present in the w aveform . G enerally there were an increase in
am p litu d e and audible sound as w ell. Also, i t was clear th a t no
consonants were deleted in the p ro duction o f consonant clusters.
Thus, hypothesis ( l) above was confirm ed — th e Japanese
speakers consistently produced an epenthesis or in tru s iv e vow el in
th e ir p ro duction o f consonant clusters and did n o t delete consonants a t
all. N a tiv e E n g lis h speakers produced consonant clusters w ith no
such in te rv e n in g vowels o r vow el-like tra n s itio n s .
4.2.2 Devoiced vowels
L e t us now discuss devoiced vowels. N a tiv e speakers o f
Japanese generally devoice h ig h vowels /i/ and /u / w hen th e y appear
between voiceless consonants. W hen th is occurs, no FO, F I , or F2 data
160
can be collected or analyzed. In the present experim ent, the fo llo w in g
w ord p a irs could not be compared acoustically because the u n d e rlin e d
/u / in these w ords were devoiced in Japanese speakers’ utterances^
‘stro k ’ vs. ‘su to ro ku ’ and ‘s tru k ’ vs. ‘s u to ru k u ’. These are excluded
fro m fu rth e r analysis in the acoustic experim ent because o f th is
devoicing phenomena.
In a ll tokens o f ‘s tro k ’ and ‘s tru k ,’ a vow el was judged to be
present based on measures o f d u ra tio n (length), even i f no voicing was
present and no fo rm a n t stru ctu re s were visible. These tokens were
counted as "voiceless (devoiced) vowels." Since fo rm a n ts o f such
vowels could n o t be m easured and th e ir d u ra tio n could n o t be
separated fro m the voiceless consonants s u rro u n d in g them , th e y are
no t included in the s ta tis tic a l analyses discussed below. A n example
is shown in F ig u re 3 below^
161
Figure 3
A n exam ple o f a voiceless vow el in ‘s tro k ’ /s < V > tro k / as

produced by J1
1198
... - ■— - ■
-2305 i
7-
jr * * .-1 -
A *.
6 -
5 : ?
4-
'■ a*.*
*■’ ,i. ,.i. *: n*-' *
’T,,;.. ...
•
M.'t -dM -"I.1
".’ - f t .
3-! ■ “ ;
2-
..I _
1-
.
r r __,— , — ,—
m m ----------------
..... r r ■■■■».............-i .... .... .................. r .... ■,.... t - ... --. 7 .... i ..... 1..... r.... >
e-im« 1.66 1 -6 8 1 -7 0 1 .7 2 1 .7 1 .7 6 1 .7 8 1 .8 0 1 .8 1 .8 4 1 .8 6 1 .9 8 1. P~ _A-. 2 1 .! l 1 .9 6 1 .9 8
S < v>+ t <v> S O k ( u )
The re su lts suggested th a t in a ll cases o f the Japanese subjects’
p ro d u c tio n 2 o f CC structures, a vow el (or a v o w e H ike tra n s itio n )
appeared, w h ile no such sound was present in the n a tive speakers’
p ro duction o f consonant clusters. Devoiced vowels w ill be discussed in
C hapter V I, th ro u g h the E M A a rtic u la to ry d ata analyses.
2 The vowel /u/ after /k/at the end of the word was also devoiced.
162
4.2.3 Underlying /o/ vs. lul
The second research question to be tested was the following:
Do Japanese speakers in s e rt vowels phonologically or
phonetically?
I f it is a phonological inse rtio n , /o/ is predicted to appear a fte r It, d/
w h ile /u / is predicted a fte r Is, b/. I n order to te s t w he the r in tru s iv e
vowels are more /o/-like o r /u/-like, the n a tu re o f u n d e rly in g /o/ and /u/
fo r these speakers m u st be established.
Japanese u n d e rly in g (lexical) lol, w h ich is a m id back vowel,
should show h ig h e r F I and low e r F2 th a n Japanese /u/, w h ic h is a h ig h
ce n tra l vowel. S im ila rly fo r E n g lis h u n d e rly in g vowels, a m id back
vow el lol should show h ig h e r F 1 th a n a h ig h back vowel /u/.
163
4.2.3.1 Native English speakers
The w ords th a t were exam ined are lis te d in Table 1, w here the
measured vowels are underlined, /u/ in ‘sutoroku, s u to ru k u ’ (a fte r /s/)
was n o t m easured because i t was devoiced in Japanese speakers’
utterances and could not be compared, a lth ou g h the E n g lis h speakers
d id n o t devoice it.
Table 1
Vowels exam ined fo r native E n g lis h speakers
Vowels m easured
E n g lis h pseudowords
(u n d e rly in g only)
toroku, to ru k u ,
lo l a fte r It, d/ doroku, doruku,
sutoroku, s u to ru k u
sunoku, sunuku,
/u / a fte r Is, hi
b uroku, b u ru k u
Table 2 below shows the re s u lt o f the acoustic analysis o f the
164
utterances by the three n a tive speakers o f E n g lish . Here, N stands
fo r n a tive speakers. U n d e rly in g vowels (i.e., as specified by the
lexicon) are w ritte n as /u/ or lol. A t'te s t was done to see i f the
m easured values were s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t. The figures in the
colum ns represent the values, bold indicates significance, * * indicates
pc.O l, and * indicates p<.05. F o r each speaker, F I is s ig n ific a n tly
h ig h e r and F2 s ig n ific a n tly low er fo r lo l th a n fo r Ini. The re su lts here
show th a t the n a tive speakers’ lo l is low e r and more back th a n /u/.
O n ly one speaker (Speaker N3) showed a s ig n ific a n t difference in FO.
Table 2
U n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g /u / fo r n a tive E n g lis h speakers
D u ra tio n (s) FO (Hz) F l(H Z ) F2(H Z)

Speaker lo l /u / P lo l /u / P lo l /u / P lol /u / P
N1 .122 .096 ** 125 126 431 326 903 1426 **
N2 .101 .060 ** 111 119 381 330 ** 1070 1294 **
N3 .227 .312 ** 209 223 * * 417 348 ** 1128 1645
165
D u ra tio n is also diffe re nt, b u t n o t always in the same d irection. F or
N1 and N2, the m ale speakers, lo l is longer th a n /u/. O n ly fo r N 3 (a
fem ale speaker), /u / is longer th a n lol. The fa ct th a t fo r N 3 syllables
w ith /u / had b oth m uch longer d u ra tio n and h ig h e r p itc h th a n syllables
w ith lo l indicate th a t fo r th is speaker the stress was d iffe re n t fo r the
w ords w ith /u / syllables th a n those w ith lol syllables. The other
speakers (N 1 and N2) pronounced a ll the tokens w ith stress on the
second syllables. N3, however, pronounced w ords such as “b u ro k u ”
w ith stress on the fir s t syllable, and words such as “to ro k u ” w ith stress
on the second.
4.2.3.2 Japanese speakers
L e t us now tu r n to th e Japanese speakers’ re su lts. Here,
pseudowords were embedded in E n g lis h sentences and Japanese
speakers th o u g h t th a t th e y were speaking in E n g lish . H o w are th e ir
166
u n d e rly in g lo l and /u / different? O n ly u n d e rly in g vowels a fte r It, d/
and Is, b/ are fir s t compared, so the w ords th a t were exam ined fo r
Japanese speakers are the same as those fo r n a tive speakers, as shown
in Table 1 above. In i in ‘sutoroku, s u to ru k u ’ (a fte r Isl) was not
m easured because it was devoiced in th e Japanese speakers’
utterances.
Table 3 shows the difference between u n d e rly in g lo l vs.
u n d e rly in g lu l fo r Japanese speakers.
Table 3
U n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g lu l fo r Japanese speakers

speaking in E n g lish
D u ra tio n (s) F 0 (Hz)

Speaker lol lu l P lo l lu l P
J1 .061 .043 ** 255 260
J2 .048 .033 ** 237 238
J3 .047 ** 253 239 *
.068
J4 .077 .066 * 220 214
J5 .077 .046 ** 240 235
J6 .083 .066 ** 221 230
167
F1(H Z) F2(H Z)
Speaker lo l lu l P lo l In i P
J1 503 479 ** 1404 1589 **
J2 472 436 ** 1506 1646 **
J3 513 473 ** 1262 1644 **
J4 583 506 ** 1345 1520 **
J5 506 438 ** 1309 1670 **
J6 444 427 * 1220 1575 **
O verall, a ll speakers showed s ig n ific a n t differences in d u ra tio n , F I and
F2 for u n d e rly in g lo l and lul. T h is shows th a t these acoustic values do
d is tin g u is h these phonemes and th a t Japanese speakers’ u n d e rly in g lo l
is d iffe re n t fro m lul.
As fo r d u ration, fo r a ll speakers the re su lts dem onstrated th a t
u n d e rly in g lol was s ig n ific a n tly longer th a n u n d e rly in g lu l, w h ich is
consistent w ith the general fin d in g th a t lo w vowels have longer
d u ra tio n th a n h ig h vowels (e.g., Lehiste, 1970), due ve ry lik e ly to the
increased ja w opening accom panying low vowels (Lindblom , 1967).
F o r FO, no s ig n ific a n t difference was observed fo r speakers
except fo r J3, who showed an effect o f in trin s ic vow el pitch , i.e., FO was
168
h ig h e r fo r the h ig h vowel /u / th a n the low vow el lol (see e.g., Lehiste,
1970; also, Rossi & Ausseterre, 1981, who argue th a t the action o f the
tongue muscles fo r vowel p ro du ctio n causes v a ria tio n in the
h y o id -la ry n x position, and th u s e x e rtin g a te n sion on th e vocal folds,
re s u ltin g in increased FO).
The m ost noticeable difference between u n d e rly in g lo l and /u /
was predicted to be found in the values o f F I and F2. I t was expected
th a t lo l has h ig h e r F I and low e r F2 th a n Ini. The re s u lts here
confirm ed th is prediction. There was s ig n ific a n t difference between
u n d e rly in g lo l and u n d e rly in g lu l fo r F I and F2 fo r a ll speakers, w ith
F I values alw ays being h ig h e r and F2 low er fo r u n d e rly in g lol th a n
u n d e rly in g /u/. Note th a t the re s u lt o f the n a tive speakers o f E n g lis h
showed a s im ila r tendency to th is.
F o r comparison, le t us look a t how u n d e rly in g lo l and /u/ were
d iffe re n t in Japanese. The vowels in th e w ords exam ined are shown
in Table 4 below and the m easured acoustic values o f these vowels are
169
shown in Table 5 below.
Table 4
Vowels in Japanese words
Vowels m easured
Japanese pseudo words
(u n d e rlyin g only)
to roku, to ru k u ,
lo l a fte r It, d/ doroku, doruku,
sutoroku, s u to ru k u
sunoku, sunuku,
/u / a fte r Is, b/
b u roku , b u ru k u
Table 5
U n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g lu l fo r Japanese speakers

speaking in Japanese
Japanese D u ra tio n (s) F0 (Hz)

Speaker lo l lu l P lo l lu l P
J1 .061 .051 ** 257 260
J2 .059 .058 237 241
J3 .075 .051 ** 269 250
J4 .063 .050 * 234 222
J5 .061 .043 ** 251 245
J6 .079 .051 ** 227 233
170
Japanese F I (HZ) F2(H Z)
Speaker lo l lu l P lo l lu l P
J1 503 492 1397 1534 *
J2 499 458 ** 1387 1650 **
J3 535 492 ** 1305 1700 **
J4 557 519 ** 1391 1573 **
J5 535 456 ** 1415 1733 ■kk
J6 452 430 1193 1500 *
Japanese speakers’ u n d e rly in g lo l and lu l fo r Japanese pseudowords
are compared here. O verall, i t seems th a t the p a tte rn s are s im ila r to
those found in u n d e rly in g lol vs. u n d e rly in g In i fo r Japanese speakers
speaking in E n g lis h —FO showed no difference, F 1 is generally h ig h e r
and F2 is low er fo r lo l th a n fo r lul. F2 was s ig n ific a n tly h ig h e r fo r /u/
th a n fo r lo l fo r a ll the subjects, in d ic a tin g th a t lu l is a rtic u la te d w ith a
more ce n tra l tongue position. A lth o u g h the difference is not
s ig n ific a n t fo r J1 and J 6 , F I is low e r fo r lu l th a n fo r lo l fo r a ll the
subjects. T h is is consistent w ith previous acoustic studies o f Japanese
and E n g lis h vowels, e.g., H a s h i et al., 1998.
171
4.3 Quality of intrusive vowels for Japanese speakers
Since in tru s iv e vowels appeared only in Japanese speakers’
utterances, i t is necessary to exam ine i f the vowels th a t appear a fte r It,
d/ in Japanese subjects’ consonant clusters have h ig h e r F I and low er
F2 th a n those th a t appear a fte r /s, b/. I f th e y do, th e y are s im ila r to
th e ir u n d e rly in g counterparts and th is suggests th a t we m ay conclude
th a t the vowels th a t appeared are in fa ct phonologically inserted.
Below th e hypotheses to be tested are presented again:
(1) I f vowels are inse rted phonologically, i t is predicted th a t
lo l w ill be inse rted a fte r It, d/ and lu l a fte r Is, hi.
(2) I t is therefore predicted th a t F I w ill be h ig h e r and F2 w ill
be low er a fte r It, d/.
(3) I f th e in tru s iv e vow el is accented (stressed), i t is a
phonological vowel. Japanese speakers tend to re ly on p itc h
172
difference and not d u ra tio n a l difference fo r stressing E n g lis h vowels.
Thus, re la tiv e ly h ig h FO can be ta k e n to ind ica te epenthesis.
4.3.1 In tru s iv e vowels a fte r It, d/ vs. a fte r Is, b/
L e t us now investigate i f the above p redictions h old tru e or not.
Table 6 shows the differences between the vow el th a t appeared a fte r It,
d/ vs. the vow el th a t appeared a fte r Is, hi.
Table 6
The in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r It, dI vs.
Is, h i for Japanese speakers speaking in E n g lish
E n g lis h D u ra tio n (s) F 0 (Hz)

A fte r A fte r A fte r A fte r
Speaker P P
It, d/ Is, hi It, d/ Is, h i
J1 .047 .038 ** 260 257
J2 .054 .047 ★ 238 240
J3 .046 .046 242 227 **
J4 .064 .070 213 208

J5 .040 .037 232 227
J6 .062 .039 ** 215 217
173
F I (HZ) F2(H Z)
A fte r It, A fte r Is, A fte r It, A fte r
Speaker P P
d/ hi d/ Is, hi
kk kk
J1 505 468 1471 1616
k* kk
J2 488 455 1502 1628
k
J3 473 448 1641 1560
kk
J4 437 496 1404 1464
k
J5 448 428 1691 1626
kk kk
J6 429 393 1428 1596
U n lik e the re su lts fo r the u n d e rly in g vowels, those fo r th e above vowels
are m ixed and more complex. A ll speakers showed some s ig n ific a n t
differences between the in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r /t, d/
(where lo l is expected i f phonological) and th e in tru s iv e vow el th a t
appeared a fte r Is, h i (where lu l is expected i f phonological), b u t i f we
look a t the values closely the re s u lts were d iffe re n t according to the
speakers.
I t is expected th a t i f the speaker does n o t produce a vow el or
vo w e H ike sound a t all, the d u ra tio n w ill be zero. Note th a t a ll the
‘in tru s iv e ’ vowels were acoustically present in th e Japanese speakers’
results, i.e., the d u ra tio n o f the inte rco n so n a n ta l in te rv a l could be
174
measured, w h ile no vowels were present in the n ative speakers’ results.
F ir s t o f all, le t us note th a t J l, J2, and J 6’s re su lts showed
strong s im ila ritie s . F or J l, J2, and J 6 , there was s ig n ific a n t
difference between the vow el-like sound th a t appeared a fte r /t, d/ and
a fte r Is, h i fo r d u ra tio n , F I and F2. The vow el th a t appeared a fte r It,
d / was longer th a n th a t a fte r Is, b /, a re s u lt s im ila r to th a t o f the
u n d e rly in g lo l vs. /u/. There were no s ig n ific a n t d u ra tio n a l differences
between th e m fo r J3, J4, and J5. F I and F2 were fo u n d to be
s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t in J l , J2, and J 6 also. T h e ir F I values were
s ig n ific a n tly h igher, w h ile F2 values were s ig n ific a n tly low er, fo r lol
th a n fo r /u/. T h is suggests th a t fo r these three speakers, the vow el
th a t appeared a fte r It, &/ is low er and more back th a n th e vow el a fte r Is,
hi. T h a t is, th e vowels th e y are in tru d in g were d iffe re n t according to
the preceding consonant and the values o f the in tru s iv e vowels tended
to be s im ila r to those o f the u n d e rly in g ones. F ro m th is , we m ay
conclude th a t the hypotheses we stated above h old fo r speakers J l, J2,
175
and J 6 . I n o th e r words, these three speakers seem to be in s e rtin g
d is tin c t phonological vowels according to the phonotactics o f Japanese.
F o r speaker J4, only F I showed a s ig n ific a n t difference, and the
difference was in the opposite d ire c tio n fro m th a t predicted. J4 ’s F I
value is ve ry d is tin c t fro m the others in th a t i t is a c tu a lly low e r a fte r It,
d/ th a n a fte r Is, hi. T h is suggests th a t the vow el a fte r It/ or Id/ is more
/u/-like (higher), w h ic h is not according to th e pre dictio n o f Japanese
phonotactics.
F o r speaker J3, no such conclusion can be draw n. J3 alone
showed a s ig n ific a n t difference in FO between the vowel a fte r It, d/ and
th a t a fte r Is, hi. F I fo r J3 was also s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t (p<.05) and
i t showed a s im ila r tendency (h igher F l ) to J l, J2, and J 6, b u t the
difference was sm a lle r and there was no s ig n ific a n t difference in F2.
F ro m th is, i t is d iffic u lt to m ake conclusive statem ents about the
n a tu re o f J3 ’s vowels.
For J5, sim ilarly to J3, F l showed some significant difference.
176
The vow el a fte r It, d/ has s ig n ific a n tly h ig h e r F l th a n /u/, suggesting
th a t th is vowel m ay be a m id vow el lik e lol. However, d u ra tio n o f the
vowels was ve ry s h o rt fo r th is speaker. I t m ay ju s t be th a t th e basic
vow el difference is overwhelm ed by the influence o f th e preceding
consonant, w ith its tendency to raise F2. B u t w ith the lim ite d data
here, we cannot conclude a n yth in g . I t is also in te re s tin g to note th a t
fo r J3 and J5, the vow el th a t appeared a fte r It, d/ is a c tu a lly m ore fro n t
th a n th a t a fte r Is, hi, a lth ou g h the difference is in s ig n ific a n t. W hat
these re su lts seem to suggest is th a t the vowels J3, J4, and J5 are
producing do n o t fo llo w phonological p a tte rn s and the in tru s iv e vowels
and u n d e rly in g vowels seem to behave quite d iffe re n tly fro m one
another.
4.3.2 U n d e rly in g vowels vs. in tru s iv e vowels
In th is section, u n d e rly in g vowels and the vowels th a t appeared
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between C l and C2 in consonant clusters are compared. Results are
ve ry m ixed.
4.3.2.1 U n d e rly in g lo l vs. in tru s iv e vow el a fte r It, dJ
Table 7 shows the differences between u n d e rly in g lo l vs. the
vow el th a t appeared a fte r It, d/, w h ic h is expected to be s im ila r to lo l i f
Japanese phonotactics is followed.
Table 7
U n d e rly in g lo l vs. the in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r It, d/

fo r Japanese speakers speaking in E n g lis h
D u ra tio n (s) F0 (Hz)

A fte r A fte r
Speaker lol P lo l P
It, d/ It, d/
Jl .061 .047 ** 255 260
J2 .048 .054 237 238
J3 .068 .046 ** 253 242
J4 .077 .064 ** 220 213 *
J5 .077 .040 ** 240 232 *
J6 .083 .062 ** 221 215
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FlCHZ) F2(H Z)
A fte r A fte r
Speaker lol P lo l P
It, d/ It, d/
Jl 503 505 1404 1471 **
J2 472 488 * 1506 1502

J3 513 473 ** 1262 1641 **
J4 538 437 ** 1345 1404

J5 506 448 ** 1309 1691 **
J6 444 429 * 1220 1428 **
One th in g to be noted here is th a t a ll speakers showed some s ig n ific a n t
difference between u n d e rly in g lo l and the vow el th a t appeared a fte r It,
d/, and no speakers showed the exact same tendency — the re su lts
va rie d speaker by speaker. D u ra tio n alone cannot be used to id e n tify
w h a t k in d o f vow el the in tru s iv e vow el is! however, the m a in purpose o f
the e xa m in a tio n o f d u ra tio n is to fin d out i f the Japanese speakers are
a c tu a lly pro du cin g a vow el (or a vow el-like tra n s itio n ) or not. I f i t was
a phonetic in tru s io n , we w ould expect the sound to be s h o rte r th a n the
u n d e rly in g vow els .3 The re su lts were generally in accord w ith th is
3 Note that the opposite does not necessarily hold. Phonologically inserted
vowel could be short. In fact that is what J6 ’s results suggest.
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assum ption - the u n d e rly in g lo l was s ig n ific a n tly longer th a n the
vowels a fte r It, d/. Note also th a t a lth o u g h the vow el th a t appeared
a fte r It, d/ was sh o rte r th a n the u n d e rly in g lol, there was s till
su b s ta n tia l d u ra tio n to it. O n ly J2 showed no s ig n ific a n t difference in
d u ra tio n both for u n d e rly in g and in tru s iv e vowels.
J l, J2, J3, and J6’s FO values were about the same fo r both
u n d e rly in g lo l and th e vow el th a t appeared a fte r It, d/. I n fact,
a lth ou g h the difference is o n ly sm all, J l and J2 were producing the
vow el th a t appeared a fte r It, d/ w ith h ig h e r p itc h th a n its u n d e rly in g
counterparts.
4.3.2.2 U n d e rly in g lu l vs. the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r Is, h i
Table 8 shows the re su lts fo r u n d e rly in g lu l vs. the vow el a fte r
Is, hi. I t is predicted th a t the vow el w ou ld show s im ila ritie s to the
u n d e rly in g lu l sound i f the speakers followed Japanese phonotactics.
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Table 8
U n d e rly in g /u / vs. the in tru s iv e vowel th a t appeared a fte r Is, b/

A fte r A fte r
Speaker lu l P In i P
Is, hi Is, b/
Jl .043 .038 260 257
J2 .033 .047 ** 238 240
J3 .047 .046 239 **
227
J4 .066 .070 214 208
J5 .046 .037 235 227
J6 .066 .039 ** 230 217
F l(H Z ) F2(H Z)
A fte r A fte r
Speaker lu l P /u / P
Is, b/ Is, hi
Jl 479 468 1589 1616
J2 436 455 * 1646 1628
J3 473 448 ** 1644 1560
J4 506 496 1520 1464
J5 438 428 1670 1626
J6 427 393 ** 1575 1596
As is clear fro m the above table, the re su lts here were d iffe re n t fro m
those fo r u n d e rly in g lo l vs. the vow el a fte r It, d/ in th a t three speakers,
J l , J4, and J5, showed no s ig n ific a n t difference a t a ll betw een the tw o
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kin d s o f vowels. I n fact, only few sig n ific a n t differences were observed
fo r a ll speakers and even w hen there were some s ig n ific a n t differences,
th e y were often in the opposite direction. F o r speakers J2 and J6, the
d u ra tio n a l differences were sig n ific a n t b u t u n d e rly in g /u / was s h o rte r
th a n th e vow el a fte r /s, b/ fo r J2 w hile J6 showed the opposite results.
T h a t is, J2 was a c tu a lly producing the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r Is, b/
s ig n ific a n tly longer th a n the u n d e rly in g /u/, suggesting th e p o s s ib ility
o f a phonological in se rtio n . O n ly speaker J3 showed s ig n ific a n t
differences in FO. Note th a t J3 was the o n ly speaker who showed
sig n ific a n t difference in FO fo r u n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g lu l as w e ll
as the vowel a fte r It, d/ vs. vow el a fte r Is, hi. T h is m ay be due to the
w ay J3 was pronouncing the words (J3 was probably stressing the
vowels),4 b u t fu rth e r exa m in a tio n is called fo r to c la rify th e reason fo r
th is difference.
J2, J3, and J6 ’s F l values were s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t fo r the
4 As mentioned earlier, Japanese speakers tend to associate high pitch (rather

than length) with stressed syllables.
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tw o k in d s o f vowels, b u t the d ire ctio n was inconsistent - F 1 was h ig h e r
fo r J2, b u t low er fo r J3 and J6. T h a t is, o nly fo r J2, u n d e rly in g /u / was
low er th a n the sound a fte r fb, s/. F in a lly , i t is in te re s tin g to note th a t
no s ig n ific a n t differences were seen fo r F2 in a ll speakers. Some
speakers showed h ig h e r F2 fo r u n d e rly in g /u / w h ile others showed the
opposite tendency.
4.3.2.3 FO and Stress
The th ir d hypothesis stated above was th a t i f th e in tru s iv e
vow el is accented (stressed), i t is a phonological vowel. Thus,
re la tiv e ly h ig h FO w ould indicate epenthesis. As m entioned in
C hapter I I I , because Japanese is a pitch-accent language, th e presence
o f a vow el is often ind ica te d by increased vowel p itch . Japanese
loanw ord accent ru le kn o w n as the ‘a n te p e n u ltim a te ru le ’ (introduced
in C hapters I I and I I I ) places an accent (high FO) on the th ir d m ora
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fro m the end o f the w ord (McCawley, 1968). A ccording to Kubozono
(in press), epenthetic vowels are ‘v isib le ’ to th is ru le . The vowels
w ould be accented if th e y are e ith e r u n d e rly in g ly present or
epenthesized. On the o ther hand, th e y w ould not be accented i f th e y
are inse rted phonetically.
In tw o ( J l and J2) o f the Japanese speakers’ utterances in th is
experim ent, there were cases where the accent clea rly fe ll on th e th ir d
m ora fro m th e end o f the word, even though there was no u n d e rly in g
vowel present. In o th e r words, the in tru s iv e vowel seemed to be
accented. T h is m ay suggest th a t, a t least to some speakers such as J l
and J2, the vow el was a ctu a lly an epenthetic one and not a phonetic
one.
In order to exam ine w h e th e r the vowels are accented or not, the
FO values o f these vowels to those o f others in the same w ord are
compared. I f these vowels are re lia b ly and q u a n tifia b ly accented,
th e n th e y m u st be epenthetic vowels, and the hypothesis (3) is
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confirmed.
Table 9
C om parison o f FO w ith in a w ord fo r J 1 and J2
in tru s iv e V u n d e rly in g V
P E
Speaker t< V > ro k t< V > ro k to ro k u to ro k u
Jl 280 238 ** 266 256 **
J2 257 229 ** 239 234
According to the ante p en u ltim a te ru le , the th ir d m ora fro m the end o f a
w ord receives an accent (McCawley, 1968). F o llo w in g th is ru le , in
w ords such as ‘to ro k u ’, the vowel lo l a fte r It, d/ (the th ir d vow el fro m the
end o f the w ord) w ould be accented and have h ig h e r FO th a n the vow el
lo l a fte r /r/. Thus, the p re d ictio n fo r the p itc h fo r ‘to ro k u ’ w ould be
H LL. T h is p re dictio n was generally borne out. FO was h ig h e r fo r the
vowel in the a n te p en u ltim a te syllable (the vow el a fte r It/) th a n fo r the
vow el in the p e n u ltim a te syllable (the vow el a fte r ItI). A lth o u g h the
difference in FO was s ig n ific a n t o n ly fo r J l, both J l and J2’s re su lts
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showed th a t FO was h ig h e r fo r the vow el in the a n te p e n u ltim a te
syllable th a n th a t in the p e nu ltim a te .
F or the w ords w ith the in tru s iv e vow el such as ‘tr o k ’ (t<V > rok),
the only vow el u n d e rly in g ly present is /o/ a fte r /r/, so i t should be
stressed (and have h ig h FO) i f no epenthesis takes place. However, i t
was n o t the case fo r both J1 and J2. The re su lts show th a t FO was
s ig n ific a n tly h ig h e r fo r the in tru s iv e vow el th a n fo r the u n d e rly in g
vowel.
The re su lts fo r ‘tro k ’ are ve ry s im ila r to those fo r ‘to ro k u ’. The
same a n te p en u ltim a te ru le seems to have been applied here (assum ing
the presence o f a nother in tru s iv e vowel in coda position). I t seems
th a t these Japanese speakers (who in se rte d an in tru s iv e vow el as a
re p a ir stra te g y fo r avoiding consonant clusters) also in se rte d a vow el in
coda position, cre a ting a C <V>C VC<V> stru c tu re . T h a t is, the
speakers J1 and J2 were a c tu a lly fo llo w in g Japanese loanw ord
phonology and produced ‘tro k ’ as i f i t were ‘to ro k u ’, accenting the
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in tru s iv e vow el (the a n te p en u ltim a te vowel). T h is suggests th a t the
in tru s iv e vow el m ay be an epenthetic one. These re su lts give fu rth e r
support to the hypothesis th a t J1 and J2 are in s e rtin g epenthetic
vowels.
4.4 Discussion and C onclusion to E x p e rim e n t 1
Table 10 below is a su m m ary table fo r the fin d in g s o f
E xp e rim e n t 1;
Table 10
S um m ary o f the re su lts o f E x p e rim e n t 1
Speaker Vowels after It, dJ and Vowel after It, d/ Vowel after It, d/
Is, b/ are different is same as lol is stressed
J1 V V
J2 V V V
J3
J4
J5
J6 V
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The fir s t hypothesis we have tested in th is e xp erim e nt was th a t
Japanese speakers produce a vow el or a vow el-like sound in th e ir
production o f consonant clusters,' th e y do n o t delete consonants. The
re su lts presented above confirm ed th is hypothesis. Japanese
speakers’ speech revealed th a t th e y produced consonant clusters w ith a
vowel or a vow el-like tra n s itio n in 100 % o f tokens, w h ile th e n ative
speakers cle a rly did not in tru d e a vow el w hen producing consonant
clusters, fin d in g s ve ry s im ila r to those by Tajim a, E rickson, and Nagao
(2000 a, b). This, however, seems to co n tra d ict the fin d in g s reported
in some o f the previous studies such as the one by Broselow & F in e r
(1991), in w h ich the n um ber o f vow el in se rtio n s was said to be quite
few. One o f the reasons fo r th is difference m ay be th a t th e ir subjects’
E n g lish leve l was h ig h e r th a n the subjects in th e present study. As
m entioned earlier, i t was predicted th a t the speakers’ E n g lis h level
m ig h t be one o f the factors a ffecting the p ro duction o f consonant
clusters. L o w e rle v e l speakers were predicted to show more
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phonological in s e rtio n th a n the higher-level speakers, assum ing th a t
the learners begin w ith L I se ttin g and move to w a rd L 2 se ttin g
(follow ing W exler & M a n zin i, 1987J Broselow & Finer, 1991).
I t was expected th a t more advanced speakers who have
sw itched to a new param eter s e ttin g (from L I s e ttin g to L 2 setting)
w ould m ake few er m istakes. The re su lts o f the experim ents, however,
were m ixed. F irs t, we need to separate E n g lis h p ro ficie n cy level fro m
the p ro n u n cia tio n s k ill. As shown earlier, m ost o f the speakers’
E n g lis h proficiency level was about th e same — in te rm e d ia te - and
th e ir T O E F L scores were sim ila r. E n g lis h proficiency le ve l o f speaker
J 6 , th e E M A subject, was supposed to be m uch h ig h e r th a n the five
stu d e n t subjects. However, the re su lts o f E x p e rim e n t 1 revealed th a t
generally speaking, J 6’s re su lts were s im ila r to those found in speakers
J 1 and J2, whose E n g lis h level was judged low est am ong five.
One more th in g th a t needs to be m entioned is th a t m any o f the
previous studies lacked acoustic m easurem ents. One o f the reasons
189
fo r conducting th is research was th a t often research on consonant
clusters re lie d solely on the n a rro w phonetic tra n s c rip tio n and no
acoustic data were c a re fu lly exam ined. In some o f th e utterances in
the present experim ent, the d u ra tio n o f the in tru s iv e vowels was ve ry
sh o rt and was alm ost im possible to hear. In such cases, o n ly a fte r the
w aveform and spectrogram were examined, the presence o f an
in tru s iv e vowel was confirm ed. I t m ay be the case th a t th e difference
between our fin d in g s and some o f the previous studies m ay have
re su lted fro m th is difference in how m easurem ent was done.
The second hypothesis was th a t i f Japanese speakers in s e rt
vowels phonologically, /o/ is predicted to appear a fte r /t, d/ w h ile /u / is
predicted a fte r /s, b/. I t was therefore predicted th a t F I w ou ld be
h ig h e r and F2 w ill be lower, fo r the vowel th a t appears a fte r It, d/.
D iffe re n t re su lts were obtained fo r d iffe re n t speakers, w h ic h suggests
th a t some speakers were in s e rtin g phonological vowels w hile the
others were producing vowels phonetically. The th ir d hypothesis was
190
th a t i f the in tru s iv e vowel was stressed, i t is a phonological vowel, and
th is was confirm ed in J1 and p a rtia lly in J2.
The sum m ary to th is section is as follow s ^
a. A ll o f the Japanese speakers’ p ro n u n cia tio n s of
consonant clusters were q u ite d iffe re n t fro m th a t o f native
speakers o f E n g lish . None o f the Japanese subjects were
‘n a tiv e -lik e ’ (i.e., E n g lis h -lik e ’) in th e ir p ro du ctio n o f consonant
clusters. E ve ry subject produced a vow el or a vow el-like
tra n s itio n between C l and C2 in CC-clusters.
b. Speakers J1 and J2 seemed to be in s e rtin g vowels
phonologically - the vowels inse rted a fte r C l in C C-clusters
were epenthetic, not excrescent, vowels, because the vow el th a t
appeared a fte r It, d/ fo r these speakers showed s im ila rity to
u n d e rly in g /o/.
c. FO values o f the in tru s iv e vowels fo r J 1 (and J2, to some
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extent) were s ig n ific a n tly high, suggesting th a t p itc h accent
w as placed on the in tru s iv e vowel. She m ay be fo llo w in g the
Japanese a n te p e n u ltim a te accent ru le . Since th is is a
phonological ru le , the vow el th a t in her p ro du ctio n of
consonant clusters m u st be an epenthetic vowel,
d. D a ta fro m the o th e r subjects were ra th e r inconclusive,
b u t i t seems th a t speaker J4 d id not in s e rt a phonological vowel.
The q u a lity o f the vow el th a t appeared in J4’s p ro duction o f
consonant clusters d id n o t show s im ila ritie s to the u n d e rly in g
vowels. We can conclude th a t she only produced a vow el-like
tra n s itio n fo r the ease o f pro nu n ciatio n . In o th e r words, i t is
presum ed th a t the g e stu ra l m ovem ent o f h e r a rtic u la to rs did
n o t have enough overlap fo r consonant clusters, re s u ltin g in an
e xtra vow el-like sound. Since the Japanese speakers "have
little practice in the a rtic u la to ry coordination" (Tajim a,
Erickson, & Nagao, 2000a, b) o f consonant clusters, the am ount
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o f the te m p o ra l overlap o f the consonants in sequence is not
enough, compared to th a t o f the n a tive speakers o f E n g lish .
O v e ra ll fin d in g s above suggest th a t J 1, J2, and J 6 seemed to be
in s e rtin g epenthetic vowels w hile J3, J4, and J5 were producing
excrescent vowels. The speaker’s E n g lis h speaking le ve l seems to be
p la y in g some role in th e ir production o f consonant clusters as well,
since J1 and J2 were assessed as low e r-in term e d ia te. J 6 , however,
was more advanced, so the p re d ictio n was o n ly p a rtia lly confirm ed.
F u rth e r s tu d y on more subjects fro m d iffe re n t p ro n u n c ia tio n levels is
necessary to investigate th is. In the n e xt section, C ha p te r IV,
a rtic u la to ry data for J 6 w ill be presented and discussed.
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CHAPTER V
A R T IC U LA T O R Y E X P E R IM E N T RESULTS
C hapter V discusses a rtic u la to ry re s u lts fro m E x p e rim e n t 2. I t deals
w ith the n a tu re o f the g e stu ral m ovem ents o f the a rtic u la to rs in
producing in tru s iv e vowels. As b rie fly m entioned in C ha p te r IIP
E xp e rim e n ta l D esign and M a te ria ls , the a rtic u la to ry electrom agnetic
a rtic u lo g ra p h (EM A) e xperim ent was lim ite d to one subject, since th is
type o f experim ent requires the use o f special fa c ilitie s . 1 F u tu re w o rk
w ill be necessary to fu lly inve stig a te the differences between n ative
speakers’ and Japanese speakers’ vow el a rtic u la tio n .
F ro m E M A recordings o f coil positions placed on th e jaw, bps
1 As mentioned in Chapter I, Introduction, the articulatory EMA

(Electromagnetic articulograph) data were made available to us by Dr. Donna
Erickson of Gifu City Women’s College, Gifu, Japan through the courtesy of NTT
Communication Science Research Laboratories, Atsugi, Japan, with the help of
Dr. T. Mochida. Data had been collected at NTT laboratories as part of a larger
research study on articulation by Japanese and American speakers of English,
funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education. Part of the above data was used
to investigate the articulatory characteristics of the inserted vowels.
194
and tongue, the positions o f the a rtic u la to rs associated w ith th e vowels
can be id e n tifie d , and thereby the characteristics o f the vow el in s e rtio n
processes can be b e tte r id e n tifie d . W h a t has been found th ro u g h the
acoustic analysis above supported the hypotheses th a t the Japanese
speakers produce a vowel or a vow el-like tra n s itio n as a re p a ir stra te g y
fo r producing consonant clusters.
O th e r fin d in g s include th a t some o f the low er-level speakers
were in s e rtin g vowels phonologically w h ile some o f the more advanced
speakers seemed to be producing a vow el -like tra n s itio n phonetically.
The subject who p a rtic ip a te d in the present E M A s tu d y had been
assessed as a more advanced speaker ,2 b u t the subject’s acoustic data
suggested th a t she co n sta n tly produced a vow el-like sound between
CC-clusters, w ith characteristics o f th e o f the fu ll vowel.
In v e s tig a tin g the a rtic u la to ry data w ill focus on w h e th e r the
subject’s a rtic u la to ry data reveals s im ila r re su lts as the subject’s
acoustic ones did and i f i t is indeed a phonological in se rtio n .
2 Her English proficiency level is described in Chapter III (Section 3.2.2).

195
Specifically, w h e th e r or not the a rtic u la to r positions fo r the in tru s iv e
vowels are s im ila r to those fo r u n d e rly in g vowels, ju s t as a difference
was seen in the acoustic data, w ill be exam ined. Also, a lth o u g h no
m easurem ent could be ta k e n fo r devoiced vowels in the acoustic
experim ent, th e y can be exam ined in th e a rtic u la to ry data.
5.1 A n a lysis
U sin g E M A , recorded positions o f receiver coils attached to the
( l) low e r inciso r (m andible) (2) u p pe r lip , (3) low e r lip , and (4) T1
(tongue tip ), (5) T2 (tongue blade), and T3 (tongue dorsum ) were used
as dependent variables. D ifferences between u n d e rly in g lo l vs.
u n d e rly in g /u / as w e ll as the q u a lity o f the vowels th a t appeared a fte r
tw o d iffe re n t contexts (a fte r /t, d/ vs. /s, b/) were exam ined. I n the
E M A d ata in cre a sin g ly positive y-values indicate incre a sing ly raised
ja w o r tongue dorsum , and in cre a sin g ly p o sitive xw alu e s indicate
196
incre a sin g ly re tra cte d ja w or tongue position.
The research questions tested were as fo llo w s 1
(1) H o w are /o/ and lu l different? (effect o f vow el q u a lity on jx,
jy, ulx, uly, llx , lly, t l x , tly , t2x, t2y, and t3x, t3y)
(2) Does context m ake a difference? (The effect o f a
preceding /s/ /b/ vs. th a t o f /t/ /d/ on jx, jy, ulx, uly, llx, lly, t l x , tly ,
t2x, t2y, and t3x, t3y)
(3) A re the vowels th a t appear a fte r the above consonants
id e n tic a l to u n d e rly in g vowels /o/ and /u/? (CC vs. CVC)
The speaker produced te n re p e titio n s o f each sentence w ith a
pseudoword (as described in C ha p te r I I I , Section 3.1.2.2), b u t o n ly the
fir s t five o f th e te n re p e titio n s are analyzed.
197
5.2 Articulatory Analysis Results
5.2.1 U n d e rly in g lo l vs. /u/
Tables below show the m ean value fo r each m easurem ent p o in t
(the places where pellets were attached). T’tests were done to asses
sig n ific a n t differences in a rtic u la tio n between lol and Ixil. In the
tables below, u n d e rly in g vowels are w ritte n as /u/ or lol', fo r the
in tru s iv e vowels, the term s ‘a fte r I t f or ‘a fte r 1st are used; the figures in
the colum ns represent the m easured values, bold num bers indicate a
s ig n ific a n t difference, * * indicates p<.01, and * indicates p<.05. Table
1 shows the re su lts o f the a rtic u la to ry values o f the utterances fo r
u n d e rly in g lo l (values in fir s t colum n) and u n d e rly in g /u / (values in
second column).
198
Table 1
U n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g /u/
u lx (mm) u ly (mm) llx (mm)
lol lu l P lo l In i P lo l lu l P
5.39 5.40 15.27 15.42 ** 5.86 5.91
There is no U pp e r lip is Low er lip is s lig h tly
s ig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n tly raised more fro n te d fo r lol
between lo l and lu l fo r fo r lu l th a n fo r lol. th a n fo r /u/
backness o f upper lip . (in s ig n ific a n t
difference).
lly (mm) t l x (mm) t l y (m m )

lol lu l P lo l lu l P lo l lu l P
13.33 13.35 8.71 7.91 ** 14.31 14.55 **
Low er lip is s h g h tly Tongue tip is Tongue tip is

h ig h e r fo r lu l, b u t the s ig n ific a n tly more s ig n ific a n tly low e r
difference is backed fo r lo l th a n fo r lol th a n lul.
in s ig n ific a n t. lul.
t 2x (mm) t 2y (mm) t3 x (m m )
lol lu l P lo l lu l P lo l lu l P
10.08 9.38 ** 15.32 15.35 11.08 10.53 **
Tongue blade is Tongue blade is about Tongue dorsum is

s ig n ific a n tly more the same height, b u t s ig n ific a n tly more
backed fo r lol. s h g h tly low e r for lol. backed fo r lol.
t3 y (mm) jx (m m ) jy (m m )
lol lu l lo l lo l lu l P lo l lu l P
** ** 12.73 12.94 **
15.59 1 15.82 7.63 7.51
Tongue dorsum is Ja w is s ig n ific a n tly Jaw is s ig n ific a n tly
s ig n ific a n tly low er more backed fo r lol low e r fo r lo l th a n /u/.
fo r lol th a n lul. th a n lul.
199
S ig n ific a n t differences were the follow ing: fo r u n d e rly in g lot, upper
lip was lower, suggesting th a t lo l was produced w ith more rounded lip
position th a n lul. Tongue tip was low er and more backed, tongue
blade was lower, tongue dorsum was low er and more backed fo r lo l th a n
fo r lul. The subject’s ja w was also low e r and more backed fo r lo l th a n
u n d e rly in g lu l. These values suggest th a t th e subject was producing
u n d e rly in g lo l d iffe re n tly fro m u n d e rly in g lul'- lo l was cle a rly low er and
more backed th a n lul. A lowered, more backed tongue fo r lo l compared
to /u/ was also reported by H a s h i et al. (1998), fo r Japanese vowels.
5.2.2 In tru s iv e vowels a fte r It/ vs. a fte r 1st
Table 2 shows the m ean values fo r the vow el a fte r It/ vs. a fte r Is/.
The fir s t values in the colum ns are fo r th e vowel a fte r It/ and the
second ones are fo r a fte r Is/. The purpose here is to determ ine
w h e th e r the tw o vowels are a rtic u la te d in a s im ila r m a nner o r not.
200
Table 2
The in tru s iv e vow el a fte r It/ vs. Is/
u lx (mm) u ly (m m ) llx (mm)

a fte r a fte r a fte r a fte r a fte r
P P a fte r It / P
ft/ Is/ Itl Is/ Is/
5.53 5.5 15.28 15.26 5.96 6.01
Difference is not D ifference is not D ifference is not
sign ifica nt. U pper s ig n ifica n t. U pper s ig n ific a n t. Low er
lip is s lig h tly more lip is s h g h tly lip is s h g h tly more
fro n te d a fte r It/. h ig h e r a fte r Itl. fro n te d a fte r Itl.
lly (mm) t l x (mm) t l y (mm)

P P a fte r It / P
Itl Is/ Itl Isl Isl
13.42 13.40 13.42 13.40 13.42 13.40
D ifference is not D ifference is not
D ifference is not
s ig n ifica n t. sig n ific a n t. Tongue
sign ifica nt. Low er
Tongue tip is tip is s h g h tly low er
lip is s h g h tly h ig h e r
s h g h tly more a fte r Itl.
a fte r Itl.
backed a fte r Itl.
t 2x (m m ) t 2y (mm) t3 x (m m )
afte r a fte r a fte r a fte r a fte r It a fte r
P P P
Itl Isl Itl Isl 1 Is/
9.96 9.84 15.34 15.42 10.98 10.93
D ifference is not D ifference is not D ifference is not
sig n ifica n t. Tongue
sig n ific a n t. Tongue sig n ifica n t.
blade is more backed blade is low er a fte r
a fte r Itl. Itl.
201
t3 y (m m ) jx (mm) jy (mm)
P P a fte r It / P
Itl Is/ Itl Isl Is/
15.75 15.78 7.59 7.56 12.79 12.89 **
D ifference is not D ifference is not Ja w for the vowel

sig n ifica n t. Tongue sig n ifica n t. Jaw is a fte r I t l is
dorsum is s h g h tly s h g h tly more s ig n ific a n tly low e r
low e r a fte r Itl. backed a fte r Itl. th a n a fte r Isl.
S ig n ific a n t difference was found o n ly in th e ja w h eight, w h ic h was
low e r fo r the vow el a fte r Itl vs. th a n a fte r Isl. The others were a ll
in s ig n ific a n t. I t is necessary to note th a t differences are in the
d ire c tio n expected i f lo l is inse rted a fte r Itl, b u t do n o t reach
significance. F o r the vowel a fte r Itl, the upper lip tended to be more
fro n te d and higher, low er lip more fro n te d and higher! tongue tip , blade,
and dorsum also more back and lower, and th e ja w tended to be more
back. A lth o u g h there were no s ig n ific a n t differences in lip/tongue
a rtic u la tio n fo r the vowels inserted a fte r I t l and a fte r Isl, the tendency
was fo r the vow el in se rte d a fte r It l to be more /o/-like th a n th a t a fte r Isl.
The in te re s tin g observation is th a t the ja w gesture is s ig n ific a n tly
202
different.
5.2.3 U n d e rly in g vowels vs. the in tru s iv e vowels
5.2.3.1 U n d e rly in g lo l vs. th e in tru s iv e vow el a fte r Itl
Table 3 shows the differences between u n d e rly in g lo l and the
in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r Itl.
Table 3
U n d e rly in g lo l vs. the in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r Itl
u lx (mm) u ly (m m ) llx (m m )
a fte r a fte r a fte r
lo l P lo l P lol P
Itl Itl Itl
5.26 5.53 ** 15.23 15.28 kk
5.86 5.96 **
U pper lip is U pp e r lip is Low er lip is

s ig n ific a n tly more s ig n ific a n tly raised fo r s ig n ific a n tly more
fro n te d fo r u n d e rly in g lol. fro n te d fo r
u n d e rly in g lol. u n d e rly in g lol.
203
lly (m m ) t l x (mm) t l y (mm)
lo l P lo l P lol P
Itl Itl Itl
13.36 13.42 8.70 8.55 ** 14.40 14.58 **
There is no Tongue tip is Tongue tip is

s ig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n tly more s ig n ific a n tly low e r
in th e h e ig h t o f the back fo r lol. fo r lol.
low er lip , b u t lol is
s h g h tly lower.
t 2x (m m ) t 2y (mm) t3 x (mm)
lo l P lo l P lol P
Itl Itl Itl
15.1 **
10.02 9.96 15.34 11.04 10.98
9
There is no Tongue blade is There is no
s ig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n tly low e r s ig n ific a n t difference
in the backness o f fo r lol. in the backness o f
tongue blade, b u t lol tongue dorsum , b u t
is s h g h tly more lo l is s h g h tly more
backed. backed.
t3 y (mm) jx (mm) jy (mm)

lo l P lo l P lol P
Itl Itl Itl
15.68 15.75 * 7.69 7.59 ** 12.67 12.79 **
Tongue dorsum is Ja w is s ig n ific a n tly Jaw is s ig n ific a n tly

s ig n ific a n tly low er for more backed fo r lol. low er fo r lol.
lol.
S ig n ific a n t differences were found fo r u n d e rly in g lol, com pared to the
204
in tru s iv e vowel th a t appeared a fte r Itl'- th e upper lip was more fro n te d
and raised, low er lip was more fronted, tongue tip was low e r and more
backed, tongue blade and dorsum were lower, and ja w was low e r and
more backed. T h is suggests th a t J 6 inse rted a vow el a fte r I t l w hich
was d iffe re n t fro m the u n d e rly in g lol. T h is re s u lt ta ke n w ith the above
re s u lt suggests th a t a rtic u la tio n fo r the vow el in se rte d a fte r Itl,
a lth ou g h d iffe re n t fro m th a t a fte r Is/ in te rm s o f the ja w gesture, is
N O T the same as th a t fo r the phonological (not-inserted) lol.
5.2.3.2 U n d e rly in g lu l vs. the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r Is/
Table 4 shows the differences between u n d e rly in g /u/ and the
in tru s iv e vowel th a t appeared a fte r Is/.
205
Table 4
U n d e rly in g /u / vs. the in tru s iv e vowel th a t appeared a fte r /s/
u lx (mm) u ly (mm) llx (m m )

/u / P /u/ P lu l P
Is / Is / Is /
5.40 5.50 ** 15.31 15.26 5.91 6.00
U pper lip is There is no s ig n ific a n t L o w er lip is
s ig n ific a n tly more difference in the s ig n ific a n tly more
fro n te d fo r h e ig h t fo r upper lip ; fro n te d fo r
u n d e rly in g /u/. /u / is s h g h tly higher. u n d e rly in g /u/.
lly (mm) t l x (mm) t l y (m m )

/u / P /u/ P /u/ P
/s / /s Is /
13.39 13.40 8.57 8.53 14.63 14.63
There is no There is no s ig n ific a n t There is no
sig n ific a n t difference in the s ig n ific a n t
difference in the backness o f the tongue difference in the
h e ig h t o f th e low er tip ! /u / is s h g h tly more tongue tip .
lip. backed.
t 2 x (m m ) t 2 y (mm) t3 x (m m )
/u / P /u/ P /u/ P
Is / Is / Is /
9.86 9.84 15.45 15.42 10.92 10.93
There is no There is no s ig n ific a n t There is no
sig n ific a n t difference in the s ig n ific a n t
difference in the h e ig h t o f tongue difference in the
backness o f tongue blade. backness o f
blade. tongue dorsum.
206
/u/ P /u / P /u / P
/s / /s / /s /
15.79 15.78 7.53 7.56 12.92 12.83 *
There is no There is no s ig n ific a n t The ja w

sig n ific a n t difference in the s ig n ific a n tly
difference in the backness o f jaw . h ig h e r fo r /u/.
h e ig h t o f tongue
dorsum.
There were o nly a few s ig n ific a n t differences in the a rtic u la to ry data.
One s ig n ific a n t difference was in te rm s o f the ja w gesture: i t was
s ig n ific a n tly h ig h e r fo r the u n d e rly in g lu l th a n th a t fo r the vowel
inse rted a fte r Is/. Also the lip s showed s ig n ific a n t differences. The
subject’s upper hp and low er hp were s ig n ific a n tly more fro n te d fo r
u n d e rly in g /u / th a n fo r the vowel a fte r /s/. None o f the others proved
to be s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t.
5.2.4 R esults o f devoiced vowels
As m entioned earlier, Japanese speakers generally devoice h ig h
207
vowels w h ich appear between voiceless consonants. In th e present
experim ent, the fo llo w in g w ord p a irs could not be compared
acoustically because o f th is devoicing phenom ena: ‘s tro k ’ vs. ‘s u to ro k u ’
and ‘s tru k ’ vs. ‘s u to ru k u ’ fo r the vow el /u / w h ic h appears between /s/
and Itl. As /u/ was devoiced in m ost o f the Japanese speakers’
utterances, no d u ra tio n , FO, F I, o r F2 data were collected in the
acoustic experim ent. The E M A a rtic u la to ry d ata were collected and
the values are shown in Table 5. In th e fo llo w in g table, ‘Dev’ is used
to indicate th a t i t is a devoiced vowel. D ev7u/ refers to u n d e rly in g lu l
w h ic h was devoiced as in ‘sutoroku, s u to ru k u .’ D e v V refers to the
devoiced in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r Is/ as in ‘strok, s tru k .’
208
Table 5
Devoiced lu l vs. the devoiced in tru s iv e vow el a fte r /s/
u lx (mm) u ly (mm) llx (mm)

Dev- Dev- Dev-
D ev V Dev- V Dev- V
P P P
/u / a fte r /u / a fte r /u/ a fte r
/s/ /s/ /s/
15.4
5.55 5.45 15.39 5.87 5.97
2
There is no There is no There is no s ig n ific a n t
sig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n t difference in the
in the backness fo r difference in the backness o f low e r hp!
upper hp! devoiced h e ig h t fo r upper devoiced u n d e rly in g
u n d e rly in g /u / is hp. /u / is s h g h tly more
sh g h tly higher. fronted.
lly (mm) t l x (mm) t l y (mm)

Dev- Dev- Dev-
Dev- V Dev- V Dev- V
P P P
/u / a fte r /u/ a fte r /u / a fte r
/s/ /s/ Is/
13.48 13.48 7.88 7.87 14.39 14.37
There is no There is no There is no s ig n ific a n t
s ig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n t difference in the
in the h e ig h t o f the difference in the tongue tip .
low er hp. backness o f the
tongue tip .
209
t 2x (mm) t 2 y (mm) t3 x (mm)
Dev- D ev Dev-
D ev V D ev V D ev V
P P P
/u / a fte r /u/ a fte r /u / a fte r
/s/ /s/ Is/
9.26 9.31 15.42 15.38 10.53 10.56
There is no There is no There is no
s ig n ific a n t s ig n ific a n t s ig n ific a n t difference
difference in the difference in the in the backness o f
backness o f tongue h e ig h t o f tongue tongue dorsum .
blade. blade.

D ev Dev- D ev
Dev- V D ev V Dev- V
P P P
/u/ a fte r /u / a fte r /u / a fte r
/s/ Is/ /s/
15.64 15.57 7.55 7.55 12.97 12.97
There is no There is no There is no
s ig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n t difference s ig n ific a n t
in the h e ig h t o f in th e backness o f difference in the ja w
tongue dorsum. jaw . height.
I n a ll the m easurem ent points, the subject’s u n d e rly in g devoiced /u /
and devoiced in tru s iv e vow el a fte r Is/ showed no s ig n ific a n t difference.
T h is suggests th a t the subject was producing u n d e rly in g and in tru s iv e
vowels ve ry s im ila rly to one another. T h a t the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r
Is/ was a ctu a lly /u /-like suggests th a t the process was a phonological
210
one. Note, however, th a t devoicing could also be a type o f phonetic
overlap due to g lo tta l opening o f the voiceless consonant Is/.
Before discussing the above results, le t us s ta r t by re vie w in g
the acoustic re su lts fo r J 6 fro m E x p e rim e n t 1. Since the vowels a fte r
/t, d/ were collapsed and a fte r /s, b/ were collapsed fo r E x p e rim e n t 2,
th e re su lts fo r o n ly It/ and /s/ are presented here, w h ic h are s lig h tly
d iffe re n t fro m w h a t we observed in C hapter IV .
Table 6
a. Acoustic re su lts o f the u n d e rly in g /o/ vs. /u / (a fte r /t, s/ only)
D u ra tio n (s) F 0 (Hz)

Speaker /o/ /u / P /of /u/ P
J6 .082 .070 223 241
F I (HZ) F2(H Z)
Speaker /o/ /u/ P /o/ /u / P
J6 447 414 1195 1719 **
211
b. Acoustic results of the intrusive vowel after /t/ vs. /s/

a fte r a fte r a fte r a fte r
Speaker P P
Itl Is/ It l Is/
J6 .063 .035 ** 215 242
F1(H Z) F2(H Z)
a fte r a fte r a fte r a fte r
Speaker P P
It l Isl Itl Is/
J6 432 378 1400 1741 **
c. Acoustic re su lts o f the u n d e rly in g /o/ vs. the in tru s iv e vow el

a fte r /t/

a fte r a fte r
Speaker lo l P lo l P
Itl It l
J6 .082 .063 ** 223 215
F1(H Z) F2(H Z)
a fte r a fte r
Speaker lo l P lo l P
It l It l
J6 447 432 1195 1400 **
d. Acoustic re su lts o f the u n d e rly in g /u/ vs. the in tru s iv e vowel
a fte r /s/
D u ra tio n (s) FO (Hz)

a fte r a fte r
Speaker lu l P lu l P
Is/ Is/
J6 .070 .035 ** 241 242
F I (HZ) F2(H Z)
a fte r a fte r
Speaker lu l P In i P
Is/ Is/
J6 414 378 1719 1741
L e t us sum m arize w h a t has been found fo r th e acoustic data, based on
the above, and compare w ith the a rtic u la to ry re su lts fo r J6-
( l) U n d e rly in g lo l and u n d e rly in g /u / (a fte r It, si only)
A coustic re s u lts ' These vowels were not s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t
except fo r F2. O n ly F2 was s ig n ific a n tly low e r fo r lol, w h ic h suggests
th a t the subject’s lo l was more back th a n /u/. O the r differences were
in s ig n ific a n t, b u t the subject’s u n d e rly in g lo l tended to be longer and
low e r th a n /u/. FO was the same fo r both.
213
A rtic u la to ry re s u lts ' The subject’s u n d e rly in g lo l com pared to
u n d e rly in g /u / was produced w ith a low e r upper lip and a s lig h tly
fro n te d low er lip . No lip p ro tru s io n fo r lu l was observed. The tongue
showed th a t the subject’s lo l was produced in a low er and more backed
position, w h ich is consistent w ith lo l being a m id back vowel. In
general, one o f the biggest differences between th e p ro duction o f lo l and
lu l is the ja w p o sition —the ja w is low er and more backed fo r lol th a n
lul.
C onclusion•' The acoustic and a rtic u la to ry re s u lts above
suggest th a t the subject’s lo l is generally low e r and more back th a n lul.
(2) The in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r It/ vs. Is/
A coustic re s u lts ■A d u ra tio n a l difference was cle a rly observed.
The in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r Itl, w h ic h was expected to be
lo l i f Japanese phonotactics is followed, was s ig n ific a n tly longer th a n
the one a fte r Isl. I t was a general tendency across speakers to produce
214
u n d e rly in g lo l longer th a n lu l, so the longer vow el segm ent a fte r It/ m ay
suggest th a t the vow el was more /o/’lik e . F2 was also s ig n ific a n tly
d iffe re n t low er fo r the vow el a fte r Itl, w h ich suggests th a t i t was more
back th a n the one a fte r Is/. T h is also supports p o s tu la tin g the vow el
a fte r It/ to be more /o/-like (since s im ila r fin d in g s w ere rep orted fo r
u n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g lul).
A rtic u la to ry re s u lts ' O n ly th e ja w h e ig h t showed s ig n ific a n t
differences h e re : the vow el in se rte d a fte r I t l involved a low e r ja w th a n
th a t a fte r Isl. T h is is congruent w ith the acoustic fin d in g th a t the
vow el a fte r I t l was longer th a n th a t a fte r Is/ (i.e., a positive co rrela tio n
between ja w h e ig h t and d u ra tio n was reported by e.g., E rickson, e t al.
1998). A low e r ja w was also found fo r u n d e rly in g lol vs. u n d e rly in g lul,
w h ic h suggests th a t the vow el in se rte d a fte r I t l was m ore /o/-like th a n
/u/-like.
The o th e r a rtic u la to ry differences were in s ig n ific a n t, b u t also
in the d ire c tio n o f an /o/'type vow el a f t e r Itl and an /u /-lik e v o w e l a fte r
215
Is/. T h a t is, fo r the vow el inse rted a fte r Itl, th e subject’s bps tended to
be more p ro tru de d and higher, s im ila r to w h a t was found fo r
u n d e rly in g lo l vs. u n d e rly in g lu l. Also, fo r the subject’s tongue
position, there was a tendency fo r the tongue dorsum to be low er and
more backed fo r the vow el inse rted a fte r It/ th a n a fte r Is/. T h is is
s im ila r to w h a t was found fo r the difference between u n d e rly in g lo l and
u n d e rly in g lul.
C onclusion■ The fin d in g th a t the ja w h e ig h t was low e r fo r the
vow el inserted a fte r It l th a n fo r th a t inserted a fte r Is/ suggests th a t the
sound J6 was producing a fte r I t l was more lik e lo l th a n lul', th is is
consistent w ith the fin d in g th a t the vow el a fte r Itl was longer th a n th a t
a fte r Is/. Also, th o u g h the differences in tongue p o sitio n d id not tu r n
ou t to be s ig n ifica n t, th e tendency was th a t fo r the vow el a fte r Itl, J6 ’s
tongue was more backed and lower, w h ich seems to suggest th a t the
sound J6 was producing a fte r I t l and a fte r Is/ were d iffe re n t. Note
th a t both I t l and Is/ are coronals so the tongue positions fo r th e m are
216
s im ila r to one another! therefore the differences we found m ay be due
to differences in production o f the in tru s iv e vowels.
(3) The u n d e rly in g lo l vs. the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r I t l
A coustic re s u lts ' There was a s ig n ific a n t difference in
d u ra tio n . The in tru s iv e vow el th a t appeared a fte r Itl was s ig n ific a n tly
sh o rte r th a n u n d e rly in g lol. J6’s F2 was also s ig n ific a n tly low e r fo r lo l
th a n the vow el a fte r Itl. T h a t is, u n d e rly in g lo l was more back th a n
the vowel a fte r Itl. O ther differences were in s ig n ific a n t.
A r tic u la to r y re s u lts ' F o r the bps, i t was fo u n d th a t the
u n d e rly in g lo l was low er and more p ro tru d e d th a n the in tru s iv e vow el
a fte r Itl, suggesting th a t J6 ’s lo l is more rounded th a n the in tru s iv e
vowel. Also, the tongue was generally low e r and more backed, and so
was the jaw, w h ich suggests th a t compared to u n d e rly in g lol, the
in tru s iv e vow el was not as low o r backed.
C onclusion' F ro m the above results, i t seems th a t, a lth o u g h
there were some s im ila ritie s , J6’s u n d e rly in g lo l was a rtic u la te d
217
d iffe re n tly fro m the vow el th a t appeared a fte r Itl, and th e acoustic
re su lts were in general in accordance w ith th is . The tongue being
low e r and more back is ch a racteristic o f lol, b u t th is is n o t found in the
in tru s iv e vowel a fte r Itl. T h is suggests th a t J 6 is in s e rtin g some k in d
o f vowel, ra th e r th a n an lo l per se, in order to avoid a CC syllable onset.
(4) The u n d e rly in g lu l vs. the in tru s iv e vowel a fte r Is/
Acoustic re s u lts ' I t was expected th a t the u n d e rly in g lu l and
the in tru s iv e vowel w ould reveal stro n g s im ila ritie s . A s ig n ific a n t
difference found was only in d u ra tio n . The subject’s u n d e rly in g lu l
was longer th a n the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r Is/.
A rtic u la to ry results- The subject’s lip s and ja w h e ig h t showed
a few s ig n ific a n t differences. J 6 ’s ja w was s ig n ific a n tly higher, and
the upper lip and low e r lip were s ig n ific a n tly more fronted, fo r the
u n d e rly in g lu l th a n th a t fo r the vow el in se rte d a fte r Is/. However, no
difference was found in th e tongue position, suggesting th a t these tw o
vowels were produced sim ila rly.
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C onclusion■ In both the acoustic and a rtic u la to ry data, there
were only s m a ll differences between the tw o, w hich suggests th a t, fo r
th is subject, u n d e rly in g /u / was very s im ila r to the vow el th a t appeared
a fte r /s/; th is is w h a t was expected and suggests th a t speaker J 6 m ay
be in s e rtin g /u / phonologically. However, since in se rte d /u / is
s ig n ific a n tly sh o rte r th a n the u n d e rly in g /u1, th is suggests th a t maybe
i t is not a pure phonological in se rtio n . The s ig n ific a n t d u ra tio n a l
difference is in te re stin g . I t m ay be th a t the speaker J 6 is a c tu a lly
in s e rtin g /u/ phonologically as both the acoustic and a rtic u la to ry d ata
suggest, b u t a t th e same tim e J 6 m ay be aware th a t there should n o t be
a vow el a fte r /s/ since J 6 is speaking in E n g lish , re s u ltin g in a ve ry
sh o rt vowel. The same m ig h t be said o f lo l vs. the vowel a fte r It/, since
we see in te rm e d ia te /oM ype values. Since the data in the present
stu d y are lim ite d , fu rth e r research is necessary to c o n firm th is .
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5.4 S u m m a ry and fu rth e r suggestions
A su m m ary o f w h a t has been seen in th is chapter is as fo llo w s :
The vow el a fte r I t l has low er ja w p o sitio n th a n the vowel a fte r
Isl. There were no s ig n ific a n t differences in tongue or lip position, b u t
trends were in th e d ire ctio n o f a lower, backer, ro u nd e r vow el a fte r It/
th a n a fte r Is/. The vowel a fte r Is/ was not d iffe re n t fro m u n d e rly in g lul,
b u t the vowel a fte r It/ was less round, backer, and low e r th a n lol.
G iven th a t there were s ig n ific a n t acoustic differences between
th e vowels a fte r It l and Is/, i t was s u rp ris in g th a t tongue and lip
a rtic u la to ry measures were not s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t. I t is possible,
however, th a t lack o f significance is due to s m a ll sample size. Note
th a t differences in d ire ctio n o f the a rtic u la to ry m easures was
consistent w ith the acoustic measures.
The re su lts found fo r J 6 showed th a t, a lth o u g h the vow el she
was in tru d in g a fte r It/ and Is/ revealed some s im ila ritie s to th e ir
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u n d e rly in g counterparts according to Japanese phonotactics, th e y were
n o t re a lly th e same. I t is possible th a t J 6 was a c tu a lly tr y in g to avoid
producing a clear lo l o r clear lu l fo llo w in g Japanese phonotactics.
B eing a fa ir ly advanced speaker, J 6 did not stress the in tru s iv e vow el
(u n like J l) , suggesting th a t J 6 was aware th a t she was speaking in
E n g lish and knew th a t there should n o t be a vowel in s e rte d in the
consonant clusters in E n g lish . The d u ra tio n o f J 6’s in tru s iv e vowels
was generally s h o rte r th a n the u n d e rly in g vowels, w hich also seems to
suggest th a t J 6 was tr y in g not to in s e rt a fu ll vowel. Note, however,
th a t there was cle a rly a vowel, as both acoustic and a rtic u la to ry data
dem onstrated.
Were those excrescent vowels then? A lth o u g h i t is h a rd to
conclude fro m th e lim ite d sample, the fo llo w in g a rg um e n t is proposed-
there is phonological vow el in s e rtio n in J 6’s p ro duction o f consonant
clusters - i.e., J 6’s in tru s iv e vowels were epenthetic vowels. The
reasons fo r th is a rg u m e n t are th a t ( l) a t least a fte r It/, where lo l was
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expected, the d u ra tio n was .63 ms, w h ich is a s u b s ta n tia l le n g th (given
th a t a fu ll vow el was .82 ms) and (2) th e fo rm a n ts o f the in tru s iv e
vowels were generally clear, w hich also suggests a re a l vowel.
However, in addition, we suggest there is some influence o f
phonetic d iffic u lty fo r speaker J 6 . T h a t is, J 6 seemed to be m a k in g a
gesture (jaw and lip s m ovem ent) to reduce the co m p le xity o f the
syllable onset. We suggest th a t a phonological vow el in s e rtio n occurs,
b u t because the speaker knows th a t the vow el is not supposed to be
present, the vow el is subject to phonetic s h o rte n in g and reduction.
Thus, the vow el a fte r It l is s ig n ific a n tly d iffe re n t fro m the vow el a fte r
Is/ in te rm s o f vow el q u a lity and d u ra tio n .
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CHAPTER VI
P E R C E P T IO N E X P E R IM E N T RESULTS
C hapter V I discusses th e re su lts o f E x p e rim e n t 3: perception tests.
Three tests were conducted to investigate w h e th e r Japanese speakers
were able to hear the difference between a C C 'd u s te r and a CVC
sequence w hen lis te n in g to E n g lis h speech.
6.1 P erception analysis re s u lts and discussion
6.1.1 Test 1
In Test 1, tw e n ty -fo u r Japanese students liste n e d to the
Japanese speakers’ utterances o f E n g lis h pseudowords (w ith CC and
CCC as onsets) read by five Japanese speakers. A ll the utterances
th a t were analyzed in E x p e rim e n t 1 except fo r those o f J 6 , the subject
o f E xp e rim e n t 2, were inclu d ed in E x p e rim e n t 3. The subjects o f th is
perception te st were students who belonged to in te rm e d ia te and
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advanced groups a t H o k u rik u G a k u in J u n io r College (the same
proficiency level as the subjects in E xp e rim e n t l).
Table 1 shows the re su lts o f Test 1 in te rm s o f percent o f tim e s
listen e rs perceived a ce rta in vowel (or no vowel), percentages in bold
indicate the percent o f tim e s th e y co rrectly perceived the intended
vowel.
Table 1
R esults o f Japanese subjects’ perception o f Japanese speakers’

utterances
no
lu l lo l schwa
Vowel Words vow el
(%) (%) (%)
(%)
u n d e rly in g to roku, to ru k u
11.8 8.7 71.9 7.7
lo l doroku, d o ruku
u n d e rly in g sunoku, su n uku
22.7 57.3 5.7 9.3
lu l b uroku, b u ru k u
in tru s iv e V tro k , tr u k
22.1 32.0 33.0 12.9
a fte r It, d/ drok, d ru k
in tru s iv e V snok, sn u k
26.3 50.6 8.5 14.7
a fte r Is, hi brok, b ru k
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As can be seen fro m Table 1, re su lts obtained here varied. There were
m any cases where the intended lexicon ite m was n o t perceived
correctly even fo r the vowels th a t are u n d e rly in g ly present. For
u n d e rly in g lol, 71.9% o f the subjects th o u g h t th e y heard an u n d e rly in g
lol', 16.4% th o u g h t th a t the vowel th e y heard was e ith e r lu l o r schwa,
and 11.8% th o u g h t th a t there was no u n d e rly in g vowel. Note th a t
only 57.3% o f the subjects co rrectly perceived the u n d e rly in g lu l and
22.7% o f the tim e subjects heard no vow el sound in w ords w ith
u n d e rly in g /u/. O n ly 5.7% th o u g h t th a t the vow el th e y heard was lol.
As fo r the in tru s iv e vowels, a fte r It, d/, o n ly 22.1% o f the
subjects correctly perceived th a t there was no vowel. A b o u t an equal
num ber o f the subjects chose e ith e r lu l or lol, and 12.9% o f the subjects
chose schwa. Note th a t the percentage fo r lu l and lo l (about 32%) is
la rg e r th a n th a t fo r no vowel. F o r the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r lb, si, a
s im ila r tendency was observed. The correct answers were o n ly 26.3%
fo r the consonant clusters w ith Ibl or Is/. Note th a t the p a tte rn s fo r
225
‘sunoku’ and ‘b u ro k u ’ are alm ost p a ra lle l to those fo r ‘snok’ and ‘b ro k ’-
there is a strong tendency (about h a lf o f the tim e ) n o t to re p o rt lu l
between consonants, w h e th e r i t is present or not. The p a tte rn s fo r
u n d e rly in g and epenthetic lo l are d iffe re n t: u n d e rly in g lo l is fa irly
co rrectly id e n tifie d in a p lu r a lity o f cases (about 70%), b u t subjects
heard lu l or no vowel a t a ll more th a n 20% o f the tim e. Note th a t
schwa is chosen only 7.7% o f the tim e. F o r the in tru s iv e vowel, the
subjects showed a stro n g tendency to choose some k in d o f vow el sound
(/u/, lol, or schwa).
Since the re su lts o f the acoustic e xperim ent showed th a t the
speakers were in tru d in g a vow el or a vow el-lik e sound in a ll cases, i t
was expected th a t o n ly a s m a ll n u m be r o f the subjects w ould choose ‘no
vowel’ th ro u gh o u t. The re su lts showed, however, th a t 22.1% o f the
tim e fo r n o n-u n d erlyin g lo l and 26.3% o f the tim e fo r n o n -u n d e rlyin g lul,
subjects th o u g h t there was no vowel. F u rth e rm o re , even w hen there
w ere underlying vowels, 11.8% of the tim e for underlying lo l and 22.7%
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o f the tim e fo r u n d e rly in g /u /, subjects th o u g h t there w eren’t any
vowels. T h is seems to suggest th a t the Japanese subjects had
d iffic u lty id e n tify in g the absence/presence o f vowels. Moreover, i t
seems th a t fo r Japanese speakers, i t is especially h a rd to te ll the
presence o f the vowel w hen the vow el is /u/.
As the speaker differences were addressed in the previous
chapters, le t us now break down th e above re su lts in to tw o groups and
com pare: J1 and J2 (whose acoustic re s u lts suggested th e presence o f
epenthetic vowels) vs. J3, J4, and J5 (whose acoustic re s u lts suggested
excrescent vowels, n o t epenthetic). T h e ir re su lts are shown in Table 2.
U n d e rly in g vowels are w ritte n as lo l or Ini', fo r the in tru s iv e vowels, the
term s ‘a fte r I t f or ‘a fte r /s/’ are used; the num bers in bold ind ica te the
percent o f tim es the lis te n e r co rrectly perceived the intended lexicon
ite m ! s ig n ific a n t differences are ind ica te d by * * (p<. 0 l), and *
( p < 0 5 ).
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Table 2
Results of Japanese subjects’ perception of J1/J2 vs. J3/J4/J5
no V /u / lo l hi
Vowel Words Subjects
(%) (%) (%) (%)
J1/J2 16.2 13.5 62.5 7.8
toroku, toruku
lo l J3/J4/J5 7.3 3.8 81.3 7.6
doroku, doruku **
J1/J2 21.4 54.2 7.8 16.7

sunoku, sunuku
lu l J3/J4/J5 24.0 60.4 3.5 11.8
buroku, buruku
J1/J2 17.7 16.7 52.1 13.5

a fte r trok, tru k
J3/J4/J5 26.4 47.2 13.9 12.2
It, d/ drok, druk •k ** **
J1/J2 21.9 50.5 12.5 15.1

a fte r snok, snuk
J3/J4/J5 30.6 50.7 4.5 14.2
Is, hi brok, bruk
S ig n ific a n t differences were observed between th e tw o groups
o nly fo r the u n d e rly in g lo l and the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r It, d/. F o r the
u n d e rly in g lo l in ‘toroku, to ru k u , doroku, d o ru k u ’ 16.2% o f the tim es
the subjects heard no vow el fo r speakers J1 and J2 w h ile only 7.3%
heard no vowel fo r speakers J3, J4, and J5. Note th a t a lth o u g h the
difference d id n o t reach significance, the percentage o f correctly
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he arin g the intended lexicon is cle a rly low e r fo r J1/J2 th a n fo r J3/J4/J5
th ro ughout. T h is seems to suggest th a t the listen e rs had more
d iffic u lt tim e id e n tify in g th e presence/absence o f in tru s iv e vowels fo r
J1 and J2.
F or the in tru s iv e vow el a fte r It, d/, the s ig n ific a n t differences
between the tw o groups were even clearer. Note th a t the n u m be r o f
the tim es subjects heard no vow el (correctly) was s ig n ific a n tly less fo r
J1/J2 th a n fo r J3/J4/J5. M ore subjects he ard no vow el fo r J3/J4/J5
th a n fo r J1/J2. I t is in te re s tin g th a t th e vow el the subjects th o u g h t
th e y heard v a rie d ; a p lu ra lity o f the subjects heard lo l a fte r It, dl fo r
J 1/J2’s utterances w hile the vow el was In i fo r those o f J3/J4/J5. These
re su lts seem to be consistent w ith the re su lts found in E x p e rim e n t 2.
6.1.2 Test 2
The same group o f Japanese students (tw e n ty fo u r subjects)
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listened to the E n g lis h speakers’ utterances in Test 2 and the re su lts
are shown in Table 3.
Table 3
R esults o f Japanese subjects’ perception o f n a tive speakers’

utterances
no V lu l lol schwa
Vowel
(%) (%) (%) (%)
u n d e rly in g lol 2.2 1.9 92.8 3.1
u n d e rly in g I vlI 6.9 85.3 1.7 6.1
a fte r It, d/
(CC-cluster) 66.4 17.6 5.2 10.9
a fte r Is, h i
(CC-cluster) 43.3 37.5 3.0 16.2
As the acoustic re su lts in C hapter I V dem onstrated, u n lik e Test 1, none
o f the native speakers inse rted a vow el in th e ir p ro du ctio n o f consonant
clusters, so i t was expected th a t the re s u lts here w ould be fa ir ly sim ple.
They seem to suggest th a t generally speaking the Japanese subjects
were able to hear u n d e rly in g lo l and lu l co rrectly (85.3-92.8%). On the
o ther hand, quite a few o f the Japanese speakers s till h e ard an illu s o ry
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vow el sound even though the n a tive speakers were not producing a
vowel or even a vow el-like tra n s itio n a t a ll in th e ir p ro du ctio n o f
consonant clusters. T h is tendency to hear an illu s o ry vow el was
stronger fo r /u/. A lth o u g h there was no /u / a fte r Is, h i in the native
speakers’ production, only 43.3% o f the subjects were able to correctly
id e n tify consonant clusters. There was a stro n g preference fo r /u/
(37.5%) over lol (3.0%). Note th a t schwa (about 11% to 16% regardless
o f the preceding consonant) was heard as an illu s o ry vow el more often
th a n lol.
F or the n a tive speakers’ utterances, the subjects also listen e d to
and id e n tifie d the presence/absence o f the vowel /u / between tw o
voiceless consonants Is/ and It l since i t was expected th a t the native
speakers o f E n g lis h w ould n o t follow the Japanese devoicing ru le fo r
lul.
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Table 4
Results o f Japanese subjects’ perception o f n a tive speakers’

utterances fo r /u/ between Is/ and It/
noV In i lo l schwa
Vowel Words
(%) (%) (%) (%)
sutoroku,
u n d e rly in g lu l
s u to ru k u 0.6 81.1 0.5 17.8
C O c lu s te r s tro k
(no vowel) s tru k 59.4 10.0 1.1 29.4
I n general, the Japanese subjects were able to co rrectly hear the
u n d e rly in g lu l (81.1%); the num ber o f the tim es schwa was heard
instead o f lu l was 17.8%. F or the C O cluster, however, the subjects
seemed to have more d iffic u lty . O n ly 59.4% o f the tim e th e y co rrectly
id e n tifie d the C O c lu s te r as h a vin g no vowel. The percent o f the tim e
the subjects th o u g h t th e y heard schwa was h ig h e r (29.4%) th a n lul.
6.1.3 Test 3
To compare the re su lts w ith those o f n a tive Japanese speakers,
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five E n g lis h native speakers listened to n a tive speakers’ utterances.
As expected, the re su lts showed th a t the native speaker subjects were
able to id e n tify the absence/presence o f the vow el co rrectly — a ve ry
d iffe re n t re s u lt fro m th a t o f Japanese subjects. The re su lts are shown
in Table 5 given below :
Table 5
Results o f n a tive speakers’ perception o f n a tiv e speakers’

utterances
no V lu l lo l schwa
Vowel
(%) (%) (%) (%)
lo l 0 0 100 0
lu l 0 100 0 0
a fte r It, d/
(C C 'd u s te r) 100 0 0 0
a fte r Is, b/
(CC-cluster) 100 0 0 0
Three tests were conducted to investigate th e Japanese
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speakers’ and n a tive E n g lis h speakers’ perception o f consonant clusters.
The re su lts revealed th a t the absence/presence o f a vow el was easily
perceived by n a tive speakers o f E n g lish , b u t Japanese subjects tended
to have d iffic u lty in id e n tify in g th e absence/presence o f a vowel.
One exp la n a tion fo r th is is th a t in the Japanese w r itin g system,
there is no concept o f “vowel” (or “ consonant” ) as fo u n d w ith the
alphabetic w r itin g system-' the fu n d a m e n ta l u n it is a single kana
sym bol re p re se n tin g a single m ora (w hich can be decomposed in
alphabetic te rm s as CV, or V, or sylla b ic nasal). In th is sense, also,
the n ative Japanese in tu itio n o f vow el m ay n o t be as stro n g as th a t fo r
speakers o f a language such as E nglish.
A n o th e r p o in t to be m entioned is th a t fo r the u n d e rly in g vowels,
there was a sym m etry in the perception o f th e tw o vowels. W hile
71.9% correctly perceived u n d e rly in g lol, i t was o n ly 57.3% fo r
u n d e rly in g /u/; 11.8 % th o u g h t th a t there was no vowel w hen i t was
a c tu a lly lol, whereas 22.7% chose no vowel w hen i t was lul. S im ila rly,
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w hen the inse rted vow el was expected to be lol, about equal n um ber o f
the tim es (32-33 %) the subjects chose lo l and lu l, b u t only 8.5% chose
lo l w hen i t was expected to be lul. T h is preference o f lu l over lol m ay
be explained by the assum ption th a t in Japanese lu l is the d e fa u lt
vow el and th is seems to hold n o t o n ly in th e ir p ro du ctio n b u t also in
th e ir perception o f consonant clusters.
The re su lts o f Test 1 in d ica te d th a t Japanese subjects generally
heard some k in d o f vow el in CC-clusters, w h ic h is consistent w ith the
re su lts o f the acoustic analysis th a t showed the presence o f an
in tru s iv e vow el a fte r a consonant. However, the vow el the subjects
chose d id not seem to m atch w h a t the acoustic re su lts suggested.
Note th a t even fo r u n d e rly in g vowels, the perceived vow el q u a lity often
varied. T h is seems to suggest th a t fo r m ost o f th e subjects, the nature
o f the vowel was not ve ry clear.
Japanese subjects often heard a d e fa u lt vow el lu l even w hen no
vow el was inserted. T h is is in accordance w ith the research by
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Dupoux, K akehi, Hirose, P a llie r and M e h le r (1999) th a t Japanese, b u t
n o t French, subjects ‘heard’ illu s o ry vowels between consonants .1 In
th e ir study, a ll Japanese subjects perceived an illu s o ry epenthetic [u]
vow el w ith in consonant clusters. The re su lts found here su p po rt the
general assum ption in Japanese th a t the vow el /u/ is the unm arked,
d e fa u lt vowel. The reason w h y few er people chose schwa is probably
because no subject re a lly produced schwa, a vow el not in Japanese
vow el inventory, in consonant clusters. T h is m ay also be because th e y
tended to perceive a vow el as the m ost u n m a rke d vow el /u / ra th e r th a n
schwa w hen th e y are n o t sure w h ich vow el i t is. A lth o u g h th e y were
to ld th a t the w ords were E n g lis h words, th e y s t ill p re fe rre d /u/.
S im ila rly, th e fa ct th a t more subjects chose schwa th a n /o/ m ay suggest
th a t /o/ is considered th e m ore m arked vow el in Japanese - the vow el
only appears as an epenthetic vow el a fte r /t, d/.
One more th in g th a t needs consideration is the effect o f the
listen ers’ expectation. These listeners were able to tell th a t the
1 Their study is introduced in more detail in Chapter II (Section 2.4.7) above.

236
speakers were Japanese w hen lis te n in g to th e utterances and i t is
lik e ly th a t th e y tended to th in k th a t even w hen th e y th o u g h t th e y
heard a vowel, i t m ay be a consonant cluste r and there should not be a
vowel, kn o w in g th a t often Japanese speakers produce an e x tra vow el
between consonants. T h is assum ption is supported by the fa ct th a t in
general th e y were able to hear the u n d e rly in g /u/ and lo/ in native
E n g lis h speakers’ utterances.
S u m m a ry o f the fin d in g s fo r Japanese speakers is :
a. th e y sometimes do not hear vowels th a t are
u n d e rly in g ly there. T h is is especially tru e o f /u/.
b. th e y often hear vowels th a t are n o t there, especially /u/.
c. th e y m iss-hear /o/ as /u/ (and sometimes /u / as /o/).
Conclusions we can d ra w fro m the above are th e follow ing:
a. Japanese listeners at th is proficiency lev el cannot make
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an accurate d is tin c tio n between a clu ste r and a CVC sequence
w hen lis te n in g to E n g lish speech.
b. There seems to be some influence o f the Japanese
system^ /u / is a d e fa u lt vowel in Japanese; no clusters are
allow ed in Japanese.
c. T hey m ay be using th e ir knowledge to “ undo le a rn e r
strategies.” T h a t is, th e y m ay be try in g not to h e ar a vow el in
w h a t m ig h t be a consonant cluste r because th e y kn o w th a t
Japanese speakers often in tru d e an e x tra vow el w hen
producing consonant clusters. As m entioned above, th e y were
able to id e n tify the presence o f u n d e rly in g vowels more often
fo r n ative speakers th a n fo r Japanese speakers.
Note th a t the above fin d in g s fro m perception tests were in
general in accordance w ith the fin d in g s fro m the acoustic experim ent
in th a t i t was more d iffic u lt fo r the listen e rs to perceive consonant
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clusters in J1 and J2, the low er-level speakers whose acoustic re s u lts
suggested epenthesis, th a n in J3, J4 and J5, th e speakers who d id not
seem to be in tru d in g a vowel phonologically b u t were producing
excrescence (in tru d in g a vow el-like tra n s itio n a l sound) in consonant
clusters. T h is suggests a p o s s ib ility th a t a t lea st some o f the listen e rs
were h e a rin g some difference in phonological in s e rtio n and phonetic
in tru s io n o f vowels. F in a lly note th a t the re s u lts s tro n g ly suggested
th e influence o f the syllable s tru c tu re in Japanese phonology on the
perception o f consonant clusters. I n more th a n 50% o f th e tim es,
Japanese listen e rs made e rrors id e n tify in g th e absence o f a vow el a fte r
/s/ and Pol in CC stru ctu re s. Note also th a t the vow el th a t was chosen
m ost often was /u/, the d e fa u lt vowel th a t appears a fte r Is/ and Pol in
Japanese loanw ord phonology.
239
C h a p t e r VII
GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The a im o f th is d isse rtatio n has been to investigate Japanese speakers’
pro duction and perception o f E n g lis h consonant clusters. Three
experim ents were designed to te s t how Japanese speakers realized and
perceived consonant clusters, w h ich do n o t occur in Japanese
phonology. T h ro u g h close e xa m in a tio n o f the data, we fo u n d th a t
Japanese speakers produced and perceived a vowel o r a vow el-like
tra n s itio n in consonant clusters, w h ic h som etimes re su lted in cre a ting
a CV-syllable. Also, i t was th e m a in goal o f th is d isse rta tio n to
determ ine w he the r the process invo lve d in the p ro du ctio n o f consonant
clusters were phonological o r phonetic. In th is chapter, we w ill
sum m arize o u r fin d in g s and fu rth e r discuss these issues.
240
7.1 Findings in the acoustic experiment
The re su lts found in the acoustic e xp erim e nt in C hapter I V
tested the fo llo w in g hypotheses^ ( l) Japanese speakers produce a
vow el or a vo w e H ike tra n s itio n in th e ir p ro du ctio n o f consonant
clusters; (2) The process involved is a phonological one i f Japanese
speakers in s e rt vowels fo llo w in g Japanese phonotactics — specifically,
/o/ a fte r /t, d/ and /u/ a fte r /s, b/; (3) I f there was stress on the in tru s iv e
vowel, i t is a phonological vowel. The re su lts o f E x p e rim e n t 1
generally confirm ed a ll three o f these. Japanese speakers were found
to in s e rt a vow el (or a vow el-like tra n s itio n ) co n sta n tly a fte r the in it ia l
consonant in consonant clusters. F o r three out o f six Japanese
subjects, th e in tru s iv e vowels th a t appeared were context-dependent
on a t least some acoustic measures and differences th a t were found
were generally in the d ire ctio n o f fo llo w in g Japanese phonotactics.
These differences suggest th a t these subjects were indeed in s e rtin g
241
epenthetic vowels. F u rth e rm o re, the FO p a tte rn s in tw o o f the
subjects revealed th a t th e y seemed to be stressing the in tru s iv e vowel,
another piece o f evidence fo r the phonological n a tu re o f the vow el
inse rtio n . The other three subjects d id n o t show evidence of
epenthesis. I t has been argued th a t these subjects were n o t in s e rtin g
vowels phonologically b u t were e x h ib itin g decreased overlap between
consonant gestures, re s u ltin g in a vow ehlike tra n s itio n between the
consonants.
7.2 F in d in g s in th e a rtic u la to ry exp erim e nt
Basically, the same hypotheses were exam ined in E x p e rim e n t 2
in C hapter V and the re su lts were generally found to be consistent w ith
our fin d in g s in 6.1. E M A was used to te s t how one Japanese speaker
realized consonant clusters. A lth o u g h the in tru s iv e vowels were not
exactly produced as th e ir u n d e rly in g counterparts, the m ovem ents o f
242
a rtic u la to rs such as lips, jaws, and tongue generally tended to show
p a tte rn s fo r /o /'lik e vowels a fte r It, d/ and /u /-like vowels a fte r Is, hi,
s im ila r to w h a t was seen in the acoustic data. Based on the results,
the fo llo w in g is proposed: a phonological vow el in s e rtio n occurs, b u t
because the speaker knows th a t the vow el is n o t supposed to be present,
the vow el is subject to phonetic sh o rte nin g and reduction.
7.3 F in d in g s in th e perception e xperim ent
Three tests were conducted in E xp e rim e n t 3 in C h a p te r V I to
exam ine how the Japanese speakers and n a tive E n g lis h speakers
perceive E n g lis h consonant clusters. The re su lts o f Test 1 and 2
showed th a t Japanese speakers often get confused over w h ic h vowel
th e y are h e a rin g or w he the r the vow el is present or not. Test 3
showed th a t alth ou g h m a n y o f th e Japanese subjects were found to
have tro u b le id e n tify in g the absence/presence o f a vowel, i t was easily
243
perceived by native E n g lis h speakers. There was a sym m e try in the
perception o f the tw o vowels — i t seemed th a t Japanese speakers
tended to hear lu l more th a n /o/. T h is m ay be because fo r Japanese
speakers, /u/ is the m ost u n m arke d d e fa u lt vowel.
7.4 F u rth e r discussions
R esults found in th is d is s e rta tio n stro n g ly suggested th a t there
is inte r-su b ject v a ria b ility as w e ll as the influence and in te ra c tio n o f
phonetics and phonology in L2 p ro n u n cia tio n . F or some speakers, the
re su lts suggested th a t the process involved in th e ir in tru s iv e vowels
could be id e n tifie d as phonological, show ing ch a racteristics of
epenthetic vowels such as longer d u ra tio n , clearer form ants, and
s im ila r tendencies to the vowels th a t w ou ld have appeared fo llo w in g
Japanese loanw ord phonology. The fin d in g o f epenthesis supports the
acoustical, a rticu la to ry, and psychological re a lity o f syllables and
244
s y lla b le 's tru c tu re constraints fo r these Japanese speakers. Since
Japanese, characterized as a CV language, is m uch more re s tric te d
th a n E n g lish in its syllable in v e n to ry (i.e., Japanese in v e n to ry is a
subset o f E n g lis h possibilities), i t has been argued th a t L I tra n s fe r is
the m ost p ro m in e n t source o f syllable s tru c tu re e rrors th a t Japanese
learners o f E n g lis h make (H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997! Sato, 1983!
Saunders, 1987; W einberger, 1994, 1997). The fin d in g s o f the c u rre n t
research seem to be consistent w ith th is.
In OT te rm s (follow ing H a n c in -B h a tt & B h a tt, 1997), the
learners (w ith th e ir L I ra n kin g s) are speculated to le a rn the nonnative
ra n k in g s o f th e L2 and re ra n k the co n stra in ts th ro u g h exposure to L2
form s. I f lea rn e rs’ v a ry in g levels o f proficiency can be captured in
term s o f th e degree to w h ic h th e ir ra n k in g s get closer to those o f L2, i t
is assumed th a t less advanced speakers are considered to have not
re ran ke d the co n stra in ts yet.
On the other hand, some o f the more advanced speakers have
245
already re ran ke d the co n stra in ts fo r syllable s tru ctu re s and moved
fro m L I (Japanese) ra n k in g to L 2 (E nglish) ra n k in g . Note th a t the
fa ct th a t such speakers s till in tru d e a vow el-like tra n s itio n seems to
support the a rticulatory-based phonetic approach th a t gestural
coordination o f L2 s t ill needs to be learned.
A lth o u g h some o f the data were ra th e r inconclusive, i t has been
argued th a t the q u a lity o f the vow el th a t appeared in some o f the
Japanese speakers’ productions o f consonant clusters was a vow el-like
tra n s itio n , w hich was produced fo r ease o f a rtic u la tio n . It is
considered th a t the a m ount o f the te m p o ral overlap o f the consonants
in sequence is n o t enough fo r these speakers compared to th a t o f the
native speakers o f E n g lish . T h is re s u lt supports gesture-based
theories.
Speaker J 6 , according to h e r a rtic u la to ry and acoustic results,
m ay be in an in-betw een stage o f language a cq uisition . I t seems th a t
b oth phonetic and phonological processes are in te ra c tin g in the
246
production of consonant clusters.
Finally, i t should be em phasized th a t clearly, tw o types o f
processes - phonology and phonetics - were involved and i t is
necessary to tease them a p a rt carefully. The three experim ents in the
present stu d y often showed re su lts th a t were d iffic u lt to in te rp re t-
a lthough th e re su lts were generally consistent fo r each subject, the
subjects d id vary, and differences in th e predicted d ire c tio n were not
alw ays sig n ifica n t. The in te rp la y o f phonology and phonetics in the
re a liz a tio n o f consonant clusters was ve ry complex, show ing subtle,
complex inte ractio n s. A s ig n ific a n t fin d in g o f th is in v e s tig a tio n was
th a t th ro u g h e xa m in a tio n o f the acoustic and a rtic u la to ry d ata a strong
influence o f L I in the a b stra ct knowledge o f “ syllables” could be seen.
The fin d in g s here were lim ite d because o f the s m a ll sam ple size,
however, and fu rth e r in v e s tig a tio n w ith la rg e r samples is called for.
247
a p p e n d ix A
English Sentences
These are nonsense w ords in E nglish. Please read th e m a t a n o rm a l
reading rate. Please pause a little a fte r each sentence. S ta rt w ith
th e num bers (e.g. One, Say ... now). Please read each sentence five
tim es.
1 . Say “ tro k ” now.

2 . Say “ d o ru ku ” now.
3 . Say “b ro k” now.
4 . Say “b ru k ” now.
5 . Say “ su to ru k u ” now.
6 . Say “ s tru k ” now.
7 . Say “ snuk” now.
8 . Say “ to ro k u ” now.
9 . Say “ b u ro ku ” now.
10. Say “to ru k u ” now.
11. Say “s tro k ” now.
12. Say “su to ro ku ” now.
13. Say “b u ru k u ” now.
14. Say “ s u n u ku ” now.
15. Say “snok” now.
16. Say “sunoku” now.
17. Say “ doroku” now.
18. Say “tr u k ” now.
19. Say “ d ru k ” now.
20 . Say “ d ro k” now.
248
Ap p e n d ix B
Japanese Sentences
c: A&BA§n©M^©&V'>#§g©Aofc;£:-?:1~o WM.(D7, t : — K t:\ f i o

§ 0 t M / u X : < f z £ i ^ o Â©Fa]&— <tz£i ô
Xl < f z $ ^ m : 1
. Z t l ^ e t K D X Z s 5JLf2lA>t'<
1 .
Ztllt rt t £ < j X t
2. rt t 3< j xt
3 . e t u i r ^ '6 <J Xto
4. c tU i <J Xto
5. <J Xto
6 . ztilt <J Xto
7 . Z t l l t r - f© <J Xto
00
Ztllt <J Xto

CD
<J Xto
10. Z t l t e r £6'< J Xto
249
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PRODUCTION AND PERCEPTION

OF CONSONANT CLUSTERS IN THE L2 PHONOLOGY

Yoshiho S hibuya, M .S.

All rights reserved.

ProQuest Information and Learning Company

This is to certify that we have examined the doctoral dissertation of

submitted to the faculty o f Linguistics

in partial fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree o f

by the final examining committee have been made.

Elizabeth Zsiga, Ph.D. J L jb U o S Z -

Donna Erickson, Ph.D.

Donna Lardiere, Ph.D.

Heidi E. Hamilton, Ph.D. jlG/Ql £> cfi)vtp)o-C

OF CONSONANT CLUSTERS IN THE L2 PHONOLOGY

JAPANESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

M entor^ E liz a b e th Zsiga, Ph.D .

S tudies on L2 phonology help us deepen o u r u n d e rsta n d in g o f

th e cognitive processes o f language le a rn in g . One area o f in te re s t is

how consonant cluste rs are re a lize d by speakers o f languages in w h ich

consonant cluste rs are p ro h ib ite d .

T h is d is se rta tio n used acoustic, a rtic u la to ry , and perception

da ta to in ve stig a te the re a liz a tio n o f consonant cluste rs by Japanese

T hus Japanese le a rn e rs o f E n g lis h ofte n face d iffic u lty in pro du cin g

co n ta in in g com plex onsets: ( l) an acoustic exp erim e nt! (2) an

a rtic u la to ry (E M A ) e xperim ent! and (3) percep tio n te sts. D a ta were

collected and analyzed in order to dete rm in e how Japanese speakers

deal w ith com plex onsets o f E n g lis h . S pecifically, w h e th e r th e vow el

in tru d e d as a re s u lt o f th e ir ‘re p a ir’ s tra te g y was an epenthetic

(phonological) one or an excrescent (phonetic) one was in ve stig a te d .

I t was expected th a t an epenthetic vow el w o u ld show s im ila r p ro pe rtie s

to the u n d e rly in g phonological vow els w h ile an excrescent vow el w ou ld

The re s u lts o f th e acoustic e xp e rim e n t suggested th a t a

phonological process was in vo lve d in vow el in s e rtio n b y Japanese

suggesting th a t phonetics m ay be involved. The re s u lts in the

a rtic u la to ry data supported th e acoustic fin d in g s. The perception

perceived even w hen th e re were no vow els w ith in consonant clusters.

To conclude, th e c u rre n t in v e s tig a tio n suggested th e p o s s ib ility

th a t b o th phonetics (in th is case the com plex co o rd in a tio n o f the

g e stu ra l m ovem ent o f a rtic u la to rs necessary fo r th e re a liz a tio n o f

consonant cluste rs) and phonology are in vo lve d in th e Japanese

speakers’ re a liz a tio n o f consonant clu ste rs and a lth o u g h th e y in te ra c t

w ith one a n oth er in a com plex way, th e y are a t w o rk separately. E ven

a fte r ce rta in phonological aspects o f L 2 seem to be acquired, g e stu ra l

co o rd in a tio n o f a rtic u la to rs (phonetics) seems to re m ain , re s u ltin g in

d iffic u lty o f overcom ing “ fo re ig n accent.”

F irs t o f a ll, I w o u ld lik e to express m y sincere g ra titu d e to a ll

th e m em bers o f m y co m m itte e ' E liz a b e th C. Zsiga, D onna E rickson ,

and D onna L a rd ie re , w ith o u t w hom I could n o t have com pleted th is

d isse rta tio n . M y special th a n ks go to L is a Zsiga, especially fo r not

h a v in g given up on me —fo r it took me so m any years to com plete th is

w ork. H e r patience and the w arm e st su p p o rt helped me even w hen I

th o u g h t I could n o t keep on going any m ore. She also ta u g h t me

e ve ry th in g I needed to w o rk as a p h on e tician/phonologist, b o th w h ile I

was a t G U and a fte r I le ft D.C. H e r guidance was indispensable to m y

w o rk and I am indebted to h e r fo r h e r in te lle c tu a l and in s ig h tfu l

D onna E rickso n lite ra lly saved me w hen I was com pletely a t a

loss. Because I had to come back to Japan and w o rk fu ll-tim e , i t was

v e ry d iffic u lt fo r me to continue m y research, b u t D onna spent hours

and h e lp fu l advice. She k in d ly le t me sta y a t h e r a p a rtm e n t, le n t h e r