A Comparative Study of Lexical Stress Placement in the Speech of Taiwanese ESL Learners and American English

台灣英語學習者與美式英語母語人士之英語字義重音對比研究

10.7060/KNUJ-HA.200512.0079

簡華麗(Hua-Li Jian)

旋律節奏 ； 重音節奏型 ； 音節律動型 ； 字義重音 ； 超音段質性 ； 英語類型 ； speech rhythm ； stress-timing ； syllable-timing ； lexical stress ； suprasegmental ； variety of English

高雄師大學報：人文與藝術類

19期（2005 / 12 / 01）

79 - 99

英文

英語一般被視為重音節奏型語言，而台灣英語學習者之英語則否。本文藉聲響學上之觀察，比較台灣英語學習者相對於美式英語母語人士之重音特性。本研究對比分析兩語言組於兩種語調狀況下重音實現之異同。聲響研究發現，語調末位置下多音節字詞之終音節拉長現象並未發生，此與新加坡英語人士不同。但台灣英語學習者與美式英語母語人士於主重音之後的非字義重音音節皆有音長之漸減，而主重音音節最長。兩語言組之聲調型態可謂類同，且並未有重音移轉的現象，台灣英語組一般表現出更豐富的聲調活動。相對地，於語調中位置時，自第二音節後，兩語言組皆呈現出音調下降變緩而以較平坦的音調型呈現。兩語言組於三音節皆顯現不同的母音發音特質。於所有語境中，台灣學習者皆運用較高的f1汎音值及較低的f2值，與美式英語組恰相反。以f1/f2聲學汎音空間來看，第一音節最富對照性，台灣英語組位於右下角而美式英語組位於右邊中間區域。第三音節則呈現最不同之汎音型態，尤其在語調中位置時，兩語言組之f1及f2呈現出極端不同之相對配置。台灣英語組位於汎音空間之底端中央，而美式英語組則較近上端左角中央區域。整體而言，台灣英語學習者於兩種超音段位置下實現不同重音程度之多音節字詞時，與美式英語母語人士相比，顯現出相當之不同。由此延伸之教學應用層面也予以同樣的建議。

It is well known that English is a stress-timed language. Furthermore, it is believed that the English spoken by Taiwanese ESL learners is not. This paper compares the stress characteristics of Taiwanese speech with that of American English through acoustical examinations. The study contrasts the realization of stress placement in two intonation-phrasal conditions in the two speech groups. Acoustical results indicate that the lengthening of the final syllable of multi-syllabic words at the phrase-final condition does not occur as it does in Singaporean English. The lexically unstressed syllables following the primary stress in both speech groups show a steady decrease in duration. The overall f0 movement is similar for both speech groups and shows no shift of prominence, with the Taiwanese group displaying a richer tonal movement. Contrastively, after the penultimate syllable in the phrase-medial position, the pitch contour is more level for both speech groups. Both sample groups show distinct vowel qualities for all three syllables of the test items. For all stimuli, the Taiwanese group exhibits a higher f1 and a lower f2, which contrasts the American native group that exhibits a higher f2 and a lower f1. Viewed from the f1/f2 formant space, the first syllable is the most contrastive: the Taiwanese first syllables are positioned at the bottom right corner, while the American first syllables are located mid-right in the formant space. The final syllable shows the most distinct patterning, especially within the phrase-medial condition, where f1 and f2 for both speech groups are positioned differently. Syllables spoken by the Taiwanese group are located at the bottom-half of the formant space while the syllables of the American group fall left centre. Overall, Taiwanese ESL learners show distinct differences in realising stress placement of multi-syllabic morphemes with various degrees of stress within the two prosodic structures. Implications for prosodic teaching are also suggested.

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