English and Can tonese Consonants’ Similarities and Differences

73 [Table 4.2 Cantonese Phonemic Inventory] Manner Plosive Nasal Fricative Affricate Approximant Lateral Approximant Place VCL VCD VCL VCD VCL VCD VCL VCD VCL VCD VCL VCD Bilabial p p h - - m - - - - - - - - Labio- dental - - - - f - - - - - - - Dental - - - - - - - - - - - - Alveolar t t h - - n s - ts ts h - - - - l Palato- alveolar - - - - - - - - - - - - Palatal - - - - - - - - - j - - Velar k k h - - ŋ - - - - - - - - Labio- velar kw k h w - - - - - - - - w - - Glottal - - - - h - - - - - - - Like its counterpart, Table 4.2 displays the phonemic inventory of one of the contrasted language. From the table, it can be comprehended that Cantonese has a total of 19 chief consonants. Compared to English, Cantonese has more plosives. Besides the bilabial, alveolar, and velar plosives, Cantonese has a pair of voiceless labio-velar plosive kw and k h w, both alien to English. The nasals of Cantonese are exactly similar to English, m, n, ŋ. On the other hand, Cantonese has only three fricatives instead of nine. It only has the voiceless labio-dental fricative f, the voiceless alveolar fricative s, and the voiceless glottal fricative h. In terms of the number of affricates owned, Cantonese and English are 74 similar. English has one voiced and one voiceless palato-alveolars affricate, while Cantonese has two voiceless alveolar affricates, namely ts and ts h . Cantonese has one voiced palatal approximant j and one voiced labio-velar approximant w, similar to English. It also has one alveolar lateral approximant l, in which the sound is also a lenis. The first two displayed tables are the implementation of the first step in executing a contrastive analysis of the sound systems of two languages according to James 1980. The following descriptions are the rest three steps being implemented in describing how the consonants of English and Cantonese each in their own respective group are similar and different. The discussion on each group will consist of an equation table of the two contrasted languages ‟ phonemic inventory, list of the allophonic variants of the related phoneme, and the conveyance of the distributional restrictions on the consonants of English and Cantonese together with the allophonic variants. The tables, as featured previously as an example in Table 3.3 of the third chapter, consist of six defining columns, namely: phoneme, variant, manner, place, aspiration, and voicing. The phoneme column displays the phonemes owned by the two languages in that certain group. The variant column states the allophonic variants of the stated phoneme. The next two columns, manner and place, state the manner and place of articulation of the selected phoneme. The aspiration column informs the reader whether the variant is aspirated, unaspirated, or is unreleased. The last column called voicing provides the reader with the information whether the allophonic variant is voiced or voiceless. 75 4.1.1.1 Bilabial Plosives of English and Cantonese [Table 4.3 Equation on the Bilabial Plosives of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. p [p h ] plosive bilabial aspirated Voiceless [p] plosive bilabial unaspirated Voiceless [p ˺] plosive bilabial unreleased Voiceless 2. p h [p h ] plosive bilabial aspirated Voiceless 3. b [b] plosive bilabial - Voiced Table 4.3 displays the bilabial plosives of English and Cantonese combined. English has two bilabial plosives: p and b. The first is voiceless and the second is voiced. English p can be realized as [p] or as [p h ], whereas the voiced plosive b has no allophonic variants. Equally, Cantonese also has two voiceless bilabial plosives, namely p and p h . The prior is unaspirated and the later is aspirated. Cantonese acknowledges as many as two variants for the sound p; [p] and [p ˺], while p h has both phonemic and allophonic status. As for the distributional restrictions, the English allophone [p h ] occurs in word-initial and medial position. Its counterpart, [p] occurs in word-medial and final position. The Cantonese allophonic variant [p h ] occurs only in word-initial position. Variant [p] occurs only as a word-initial, while the syllabic plosive [p ˺] occurs exclusively in word-final. The English allophonic variants [p] and [p h ] has phonemic status in Cantonese. 76 4.1.1.2 Alveolar Plosives of English and Cantonese [Table 4.4 Equation on the Alveolar Plosives of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. t [t h ] plosive alveolar aspirated Voiceless [t] plosive alveolar unaspirated Voiceless [t ˺] plosive alveolar unreleased Voiceless 2. t h [t h ] plosive alveolar aspirated Voiceless 3. d [d] plosive alveolar - Voiced Table 4.4 equates the alveolar plosives owned by English and Cantonese. It can be observed from the table that each of the contrasted language has a pair of alveolar plosives. English has t and d, whereas Cantonese has t and t h . English t is voiceless with two allophonic variants [t] and [t h ], while on the other hand, Cantonese t can be pronounced as the unaspirated [t] or as the unreleased [t ˺] . Both English d and Cantonese t h has no allophonic variants in their realization. As for the distributional restrictions, the English allophone [t h ] occurs in word-initial and medial position. Its counterpart, [t] occurs in word-medial and final position. The Cantonese allophonic variant [t h ] occurs only in word-initial position. The allophonic variant [t] occurs only as a word-initial, while the syllabic plosive [t ˺] occurs exclusively only as a word-final. The English allophonic variants [t] and [t h ] has phonemic status in Cantonese. 77 4.1.1.3 Velar Plosives of English and Cantonese [Table 4.5 Equation on the Velar Plosives of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. k [k h ] plosive velar aspirated voiceless [k] plosive velar unaspirated voiceless [k ˺] plosive velar unreleased voiceless 2. k h [k h ] plosive velar aspirated voiceless 3. g [g] plosive velar - voiced The minimal pairs of the velar plosives of English as seen in Table 4.5 are the voiceless k and the voiced g. Like their bilabial and alveolar counterparts, the voiceless velar can be realized in two variants: [k] or [k h ], whereas the voiced velar plosive g has no allophonic variants. The variants of the firstly mentioned phoneme k are differentiated only by their aspiration. As for the distributional restrictions, the English allophone [k h ] occurs in word-initial and medial position. Its counterpart, [k] occurs in word-medial and final position. The Cantonese allophonic variant [k h ] occurs only in word-initial position. The allophonic variant [k] occurs also as a word-initial, while the syllabic plosive [k ˺] occurs exclusively in word-final. The English allophonic variants [k] and [k h ] like the rests of the plosives has phonemic status in Cantonese. 78 4.1.1.4 Bilabial Nasals of English and Cantonese [Table 4.6 Equation on the Bilabial Nasals of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. m [m] nasal bilabial - voiced [m] nasal bilabial syllabic voiced Table 4.6 displays the only consonant sound which phonemic status and allophonic variants is shared by both English and Cantonese articulatory grid. It is the voiced bilabial nasal m. Its allophones [m] and [m] occur in English and Cantonese words. In Cantonese, the syllabic [m] can appear as a stand-alone speech sound of a word whereas in English, the syllabic variant of this nasal sound appears only in the final position of a syllable. The distributional restriction of the phoneme m is explained as follows, the allophone [m] in English can co-occur in word-initial, medial, and final position. In Cantonese, on the other hand, the allophonic variant can only occur in word-initial and final position. The syllabic allophone [m] occurs in English exclusively in word-final position, whereas in Cantonese, the sound occurs only as a stand-alone allophone for certain words such as [m] 唔 „not‟. 79 4.1.1.5 Alveolar Nasals of English and Cantonese [Table 4.7 Equation on the Alveolar Nasals of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. n [n] nasal alveolar - voiced [n] nasal alveolar syllabic voiced The alveolar nasal n as featured in Table 4.7 is also shared by the contrasted languages. One of its allophones [n], however, occurs exclusively in English and is missing in Cantonese articulatory grid. This is a unique turn of event since its „sibling‟ nasal sound, the syllabic [m] does exist in Cantonese. In any syllable positions, the Cantonese n remained being realized as clear [n], even in the final position. Meanwhile, whenever the English n appears as a syllable final, it can be pronounced as [n] or [n]. The distributional restriction of the phoneme n shared by both contrasted languages is explained as follows, the allophone [n] in English can co-occur in word-initial, medial, and final position. On contrary, in Cantonese the allophonic variant can only occur in word-initial and final position. The syllabic allophone [n] occurs exclusively in English in word-final position, for words such as [ „bʌtn] „button‟ or [haɪdn] „hidden‟. 80 4.1.1.6 Velar Nasals of English and Cantonese [Table 4.8 Equation on the Velar Nasals of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. ŋ [ ŋ] nasal velar - voiced [ ŋ] nasal velar syllabic voiced English and Cantonese do share yet another nasal sound, which is the voiced velar nasal ŋ . Contradictorily to what happened with the variant realization of the alveolar nasals, the syllabic variant to this sound, [ ŋ] is exclusive to Cantonese. Like [m], the Cantonese Chinese has some words that has the pronunciation of this single syllabic nasal sound. The distributional restriction of the phoneme ŋ can be explained as follows, the allophone [ ŋ] in English occurs only in word-final position. While in Cantonese the allophonic variant co-occurs in both word-initial and final position. The syllabic allophone [ ŋ ] occurs only in Cantonese as a stand-alone allophone for certain words such as [ ŋ] 五„five‟. 81 4.1.1.7 Labio-dental Fricatives of English and Cantonese [Table 4.9 Equation on the Labio-dental Fricatives of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. f [f] fricative labio-dental - voiceless 2. v [v] fricative labio-dental - voiced One out of the two featured fricatives occurs only in English, and is missing in Cantonese. Such argument can be made by looking at Table 4.9 which features the minimal pair of English labio-dental fricatives f and v. The voiced labio-dental fricative [v] is alien to the Cantonese people, even though they share the sound [f] in various syllable positions. The distributional restriction of the phoneme f shared by both contrasted languages is explained as follows, the allophone [f] in English can co-occur in word-initial, medial, and final position. On contrary, in Cantonese the allophonic variant can only occur in word-initial position. The allophone [v] occurs exclusively in English in word-initial, medial, and final position. 82 4.1.1.8 Alveolar Fricatives of English and Cantonese [Table 4.10 Equation on the Alveolar Fricatives of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. s [s] fricative alveolar - voiceless 2. z [z] fricative alveolar - voiced The labio-dental [v] is not the only fricative that Cantonese does not have. When the tongue is moved to the alveolar, the Cantonese will be able to produce yet another fricative sound of English, namely the voiceless alveolar fricative s. However, the Cantonese will soon realized that the voiced version of this fricative does not exist in their phonemic inventory. It can be seen from table 4.10 which displays the alveolar fricatives of both English and Cantonese f, v in which one of them is shared by both languages and thus pronounced similarly, and another sound exists only in English. As for the distributional restrictions, the English allophone [s] occurs in word-initial, medial position and final position. Its counterpart, [z] occurs also in the three available positions. The Cantonese allophonic variant [s] occurs only in word-initial position. 83 4.1.1.9 Glottal Fricatives of English and Cantonese [Table 4.11 Equation on the Glottal Fricatives of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. h [h] fricative glottal - voiceless The glottal fricative shared equally by both English and Cantonese is the only consonant found in this comparison, which is found to be exactly the same in pronunciation when it occurs in English or Cantonese. Table 4.11 states that the discussed phoneme h has no allophonic variants. It is a fortis fricative that speakers of both English and Cantonese can easily produce in the epiglottis part of the organs of speech. The distributional restriction of the phoneme h is explained as follows, the allophone [h] in English can co-occur in word-initial, and medial position. In Cantonese, on the other hand, the allophonic variant can only occur in word-initial position. 84 4.1.1.10 Palatal Approximants of English and Cantonese [Table 4.12 Equation on the Palatal Approximants of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. j [j] approximant palatal - voiced [ ] approximant palatal - voiceless The condition of Table 4.12 is similar to Table 4.9 and Table 4.10, in which one of the two variants exists only in English. Table 4.12 exhibits the palatal approximant j which is recognized by both English and Cantonese phonemic inventory. One of its allophones, however, is exclusive to English. The voiceless palatal approximant [ ] occurs in the middle position of any English words containing this allophonic variant. The distributional restriction of the phoneme j shared by both contrasted languages is explained as follows, the allophone [j] in English can co-occur in word-initial and medial position. On the contrary, in Cantonese the allophonic variant can occur in word-initial and final position. The voiceless allophone [ ] occurs exclusively in English in word-medial position, for words such as „pew‟ or „accute‟. 85 4.1.1.11 Labio-velar Approximants of English and Cantonese [Table 4.13 Equation on the Labio-velar Approximants of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. w [w] approximant labio-velar - voiced [w] approximant labio-velar - voiceless Table 4.13 is a table of equation on the sound w, the labio-velar approximant owned by both English and Cantonese, together with its allophonic variants. The phoneme can be realized into two variants, namely the voiced labio- velar approximant [w] and the voiceless labio-velar approximant [w]. The voiceless variant of this approximant is missing in Cantonese phonemic inventory. The distributional restriction of the phoneme j shared by both contrasted languages is similar to its fellow palatal approximant. It can be explained as follows, the allophone [w] in English can co-occur in word-initial and medial position. On the contrary, in Cantonese the allophonic variant can occur in word- initial and final position. The voiceless allophone [w] occurs exclusively in English in word-medial position, for words such as „tweet‟ or „quark‟. 86 4.1.1.12 Alveolar Lateral Approximants of English and Cantonese [Table 4.14 Equation on the Alveolar Lateral Approximants of English and Cantonese] No. Phoneme Variant Manner Place Aspiration Voicing 1. l [l] lateral approximant alveolar - voiced [l] lateral approximant alveolar - voiceless [ ɬ] lateral approximant alveolar velarized voiceless [ ] lateral approximant alveolar syllabic voiceless Table 4.14 presents the last similar consonant shared by English and Cantonese. It is the sound called as the alveolar lateral approximant, the sound l. From this table, it can be learned also that Cantonese clearly does not have voiceless variant among its approximants. The table stated clearly that three out of four possible variants of the phoneme are exclusive to English. As easy as it may seem for this [l] sound to be pronounced, the rest three nonexistent variants [l, ɬ, ] can be quite challenging to be properly identified and later be accurately pronounced by Cantonese EFL learners. The distributional restriction of the lateral phoneme l shared by both English and Cantonese can be explained as follows, the allophone [l] in English can co-occur in word-initial and medial position. On the contrary, in Cantonese the allophonic variant can occur only in word-initial position. The voiceless allophone [l] occurs exclusively in English in word-medial position, for words such as „plague‟ or „clan‟. The velarized [ɬ] and the syllabic [ ] can occur only in word- final position for words such as reel or silk , and shuttle or riddle .

4.2 Possible Problematic English Consonants for Cantonese EFL Learners

87 Based on the conducting of the previous step of the contrastive analysis, it can be understood that the possibly problematic English consonants for Cantonese EFL learners are the nonexistent sounds of English in Cantonese phonemic inventory. Not only these sounds are alien to for those who are yet unfamiliar with the sound of English, these sound might be inaccurately distributed with the ones they know that the learners‟ considered similar. The followings are the problematic nonexistent English consonants for Cantonese EFL learners: 4.2.1 The Voiced Plosives of English These voiced plosives might be inaccurately pronounced as their fellow aspirated voiceless plosives p h t h k h . This is due to how similar the two groups sound like when realized, and notice that the Cantonese Chinese pay a great attention to aspiration as it plays a great role in differentiating and determining the meaning of a Chinese character. The concept of a voiced sound and an aspirated sound is related to sound being produced with extra effort, whether it is a vibration in the vocal cords, or a powerful puff of air accompanying the forming of the sound as compared to the voiceless and the unaspirated ones. The mispronunciation tendency is most likely being caused by these three factors found by the writer: First, notice how these sounds belong to the plosive group, which production involve a bit puff of air coming out of the speaker. Added by that the fact that the concept of a voiced allophonic variant of p, t, k is nonexistent. The third factor is pragmatic. Based on the fact that the Cantonese are more than familiar with aspirated voiceless sounds, the writer suggests that 88 there is a high possibility that they consciously or unconsciously comprehend the concept of „voiced sounds‟ to be equal to „aspirated sounds‟ despite the fact that voiced sounds are never aspirated. 4.2.2 The Majority of the Fricatives of English By the word majority, the writer refers to the six out of total eight English fricatives that are nonexistent in the Cantonese phonemic inventory. They are the voiced labio-dental fricative v, the two dental fricatives of English θ, ð, the voiced alveolar fricative z, and the two palate-alveolar fricatives ʃ, ʒ. Further explanations about how each one of these sounds can be mistakenly identified and inaccurately pronounce are as follows: 4.2.2.1 Voiced Labio-Dental Fricative v The minimal pair of this sound, the voiceless labio-dental fricative f coexists in both English and Cantonese phonemic inventory. This variant is unavailable in Cantonese. Its minimal pair, however is the closest sound which one can get to try to pronounce this sound. From this point on, it can be said that when the Cantonese EFL learners meet the English v in the initial or medial position of a word, it is most likely that the sound will be replaced with either f or w, due to the auditory likeness of the two sounds v and w. It is positive that the conscious or unconscious confusion on the pragmatic conceptual 89 comprehension concept of „voiced sounds‟ to be equal to „aspirated sounds‟ as mentioned in point 4.2.1 can be used to explain the tendency. 4.2.2.2 Voiceless and Voiced Dental Fricative θ and ð This pair of fricatives of English is also considered to be problematic for Cantonese EFL learners to properly pronounce. The first factor being, these sounds simply do not exist in Cantonese. To add the challenge, not a single dental sound can be found within the Cantonese phonemic inventory. The closest sounds to these dental fricatives are the labio-dental and the alveolar fricative f and s. Thus, judging by the „light‟ nature the sound θ has, when found in the initial position, it will most likely be replaced by s, as the two of them are quite similar auditorily. Notice that the production of the English sound s has the tongue touched the back of the upper front teeth a bit. Even more so with the labio-dental fricative f will most likely be used to replace the English θ when the sound appears as a syllable final. The voiced one ð will most likely be replaced with the aspirated voiceless plosive t h . 4.2.2.3 Voiced Alveolar Fricatives z Having the same problematic issue with b, d, g, v and ð, the voiced fricative is without a doubt, also can be considered as problematic for Cantonese EFL learners. The alveolar fricative z, being a sound carrying a voiced feature means that it has the tendency to be mispronounced as being aspirated instead, 90 just like the rests of the voiced consonants. Secondly, with z being a fricative means that the closest sound to „imitate‟ it is the minimal pair of z, s. 4.2.2.4 Voiceless and Voiced Palato-alveolar Fricatives ʃ and ʒ The absence of the sound ʃ in Cantonese phonemic inventory is quite intriguing for the writer, the moment the writer discovered the data. It is due to the fact that Mandarin Chinese has this voiceless fricative ʃ in its inventory. Being the national language of the People‟s Republic of China, it is safe to assume that the majority of the Cantonese speaking people who both living in the mainland China or overseas, will usually be able to speak Mandarin Chinese as well, and therefore the palate-alveolar fricative is not alien at all. The writer believes that Cantonese EFL learners will find this one specific sound, positively shared by English and Mandarin, will not be that difficult for these learners to learn, despite the fact that their mother tongue does not recognize the sound as one of their own. In its distributional process, the tendency is that when English ʃ appears in initial position, it will most likely be pronounced as s instead. The pronunciation of English ʒ, however, as the only voiced of the group is believed to be still quite challenging for the Cantonese EFL learners to learn. This is, again, due to its voiced nature, in which according to the previously mentioned analysis on the other voiced phonemes has the tendency to be inaccurately pronounced as the aspirated version of its voiceless counterpart. The learning process, however, is believed to be easier as compared to learning process to