Adaptation of the English ER [schwa] to Czech

BIČAN, Aleš. Adaptation of the English ER [schwa] to Czech. In Enrique Gutiérrez Rubio et al. Contributions to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Association of Slavists (Polyslaw). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2020, p. 18-27, 20 pp. ISBN 978-3-447-11405-9.

Basic information

• Original name: Adaptation of the English ER [schwa] to Czech
• Authors: BIČAN, Aleš.
• Edition: Wiesbaden, Contributions to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Association of Slavists (Polyslaw), p. 18-27, 20 pp. 2020.
• Publisher: Harrassowitz

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Proceedings paper
• Field of Study: 60202 Specific languages
• Country of publisher: Germany
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Publication form: printed version "print"
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• ISBN: 978-3-447-11405-9
• Keywords in English: loanword adaptation; phonology; Anglicism; syllabic trill

Abstract

The paper discusses whether the way the English sequence er realized as a schwa is phonologically adapted to Czech is a matter of chance, as it appears to be at first sight, or whether there is some regularity behind it. A database of 310 English loanwords evidences that the adaptation may result in a syllabic trill as well as a sequence of the vowel [e] plus a non-syllabic trill (a vocalized trill). A statistical analysis of the distribution of the two options shows several significant correlations with phonological and extra-phonological factors. First of all, the sequence is virtually always adapted as a vocalized trill after vowels, [j] or [l], which is in fact expected phonotactically. It is also nearly always adapted as a syllabic trill after syllables containing a non-short vowel. This result seems to be motivated by the preference for certain types of patterning of syllables within Czech words. The most salient extra-phonological factors influencing the adaption of the sequence are the word frequency and the morphological status of the sequence er in English. The adaptation is thus at least partly a non-random phenomenon, although its results cannot be predicted in a quite large body of words.

Links

• MUNI/A/0873/2019, interní kód MU: Name: Podpora výzkumu studentů na MU - obecná jazykovědy a baltistika 2020

Investor: Masaryk University, Category A