SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND REALISATION OF DENTAL FRICATIVES /Ѳ/ AND /ð/ BY MHISHIP SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

Abstract

This study is concerned with the acquisition and realization of dental fricatives, /θ/ and /ð/, by Mhiship speakers of English. Dental fricatives are highly marked sounds. They are rare in the world’s languages and bear a low functional load. They are equally problematic in the first and second language acquisitions and relatively understudied within the field of acoustic and perceptual phonetics. Moreover, /θ/ and /ð/ undergo sound changes across many modern varieties of English, being replaced by alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ or /s/ and /z/. The study is aimed at identifying peculiar difficulties in the realizations of these phonemes as well as ascertaining the causes of these difficulties which may stem from the native language background. The primary source of data was oral interview, while the major instruments of data collection were printed papers containing lists of words and a tape recorder. A total of twenty words containing the phonemes, /θ/ and /ð/, were written and given to twenty Mhiship speakers of English to read while the tape recorder was used to record the readings. The findings show that Mhiship learners have difficulties in realizing the dental fricatives.