An Acoustic Analysis of Palatalization and Palatality: A Case of Nigerian Speakers of English

This study examined acoustic analysis of palatalization and palatality among Nigerian speakers of English. The assumption that Nigerian speakers of English vary in their articulation of palatal glide /j/ especially with palatalized consonants such as [k], [t], [d] and [v] becomes the background knowledge of this study. As a quantitative and qualitative research work, the study adopted a well- structured words list as an instrument for data collection. In the study, twenty (20) students were randomly sampled from different languages in Nigeria such as Ibibio, Yoruba and Igbo from the University of Uyo and University of Port Harcourt. The study considers Prince and Smolensky’s Optimality Theory was used to account for constraints affecting the nature and environment in which a sound is positioned. Analyzing the data, both perceptual and acoustic approaches were adopted. The perceptual analysis showed that generally place-changing palatalization processes like coronal palatalization, velar softening and off-glide are established features in English though some Nigerian speakers of English seem not to observe the palatalized consonant at medial position. It was confirmed that majority of Ibibio and Igbo speakers of English could not articulate /kʲ/, /dʲ/ and /nʲ/ like the Yoruba when they appear at the medial position. Thus, palatalization is influenced by position of the consonant. Also, the velar stops /k/ and /g/, alveolar /l/, /s/ are hardly palatalized by some Yorubas. This seems controversial when it is obvious that the Yoruba sound inventory includes the palatal /j/. In the acoustic analysis, both the control and experimental groups showed that differences exist between Nigerian spoken English and Standard English with regards to palatalization. The major findings drawn were that Nigerians hardly observe palatalization at medial positions.

Keywords: Acoustic Palatalization Palatality Sound Change

Author

• Nkereke Mfon Essien
  Department of English
  University of Uyo, Uyo
  nkerekemfon@yahoo.com