title: Phonetic variations and sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese: diachronic review, synchronic study and implications for speech sound assessment.
abstract: The aim of this article was to describe phonetic variations and sound changes in Hong Kong Cantonese (HKC) to provide speech-language pathologists with information about acceptable variants of standard pronunciations for speech sound assessments. Study 1 examined the pattern of variations and changes based on past diachronic research and historical written records. Nine phonetic variations were found. Five in syllable-initial and syllabic contexts: (1) [n-] → [l-], (2) [ŋ-] → Ø-, (3) Ø- → [ŋ-], (4) [k(w)ɔ-] → [kɔ-], (5) syllabic [ŋ̍] → [m̩]; and four in syllable-final contexts: (6) [-ŋ] → [-n], (7) [-n] → [-ŋ], (8) [-k] → [-t], (9) [-t] → [-k]. Historical records demonstrated the pattern of variation and changes in HKC across time. In study 2, a large-scale synchronic study of speakers of differing ages was undertaken to determine acceptable phonetic variations of HKC for speech sound assessments. In the synchronic study, single-words were elicited from 138 children (10;8-12;4) and 112 adults (18-45 years) who spoke Cantonese and lived in Hong Kong. Synchronic evidence demonstrated five acceptable variants in syllable-initial and syllabic contexts: (1) [n-] → [l-], (2) [ŋ-] → Ø-, (3) Ø- → [ŋ-], (4) [k(w)ɔ-] → [kɔ-] and (5) syllabic [ŋ̍] → [m̩] and four incomplete sound changes in syllable-final contexts: (6) [-ŋ] → [-n], (7) [-n] → [-ŋ], (8) [-k] → [-t] and (9) [-t] → [-k]. The incomplete sound changes may still be accepted as variants in speech sound assessments unless related speech problems are indicated.
authors: Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong , Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR .
authors: Carol K S
authors: CK
authors: To
authors: Sharynne
authors: S
authors: Mcleod
authors: Pamela S P
authors: PS
authors: Cheung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010700:Phonetics; D012660:Semantics; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013062:Speech Articulation Tests; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Assessment; cantonese; phonetic variation; sound change; speech articulation test