The influence of the markedness on native English speakers' and English learners' production and perception of English lexical stress

• Project/Area Number: 17K02828
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: English linguistics
• Research Institution: Doshisha University
• Principal Investigator: Mariko Sugahara 同志社大学, 文学部, 教授 (10411050)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000); Fiscal Year 2021: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
• Keywords: 英語の語強勢 / 英語学習者による英単語への強勢付与 / 英語の第1強勢に隣接する非弱化母音 / 英語音節の韻律的強さの評価 / 英語母音のフォルマント特性 / 無強勢非弱化母音 / 完全母音 / 弱化母音 / 母音の強勢の強さ / 母音の弱化と継続時間 / フォルマント特性 / 英語の語強勢位置判断 / 無強勢完全母音のプロミネンス / 英語の完全母音のプロミネンスレベルの判断 / 英語母語話者 / 日本語母語話者 / 韓国語ソウル方言母語話者 / 強勢の衝突の有標性 / 完全母音を持つ音節同士の隣接 / 英語 / 音声学 / 音韻論 / 語強勢 / 有標性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, (i) and (ii) were conducted: (i) a study of native English speakers' production and prosodic prominence ratings of English full vowels in a marked environment which is adjacent to the primary-stress syllables within the same words, and (ii) a study of English lexical stress location judgments by Japanese and Korean learners of English. As for (i), although no results were obtained to support the full vowels in the marked environment being rated as 'weak', the results of the production experiment suggested a possibility that lax full vowels in that environment may be reduced to the extent that their formant properties were deviated from the properties of full vowels in other environments. The study of (ii) suggests that when the learners’ native language has a lexical accent system, they make their English stress location judgments based on the unmarked lexical accent pattern of their native language.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

英語は語強勢言語であり、語強勢の有無と母音の質との間に密接な関係がある。原則、強音節は完全母音を核とするのに対し、それに隣接する音節は弱音節であり母音の質も弱化する。しかし中にはその環境においても弱化せずほぼ完全母音と同じ音質を保つ母音も存在する。そのような母音の正体を明らかにすることが本課題の研究①の目的であったが、この①で得られた結果は日本における英語母音の発音教育に直接生かせる知見であると考える。研究②では、日本人英語学習者が英単語のどこに語強勢を付与する傾向が高いかを解明することを試みたが、この研究で得られた知見は日本人英語学習者への英語語強勢の指導に直接生かせる知見である。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Evaluating prosodic prominence of post-tonic word-final syllables with full vowels in English : a study based on an introspective judgment task without auditory stimuli (2023)
  • Author(s): 菅原 真理子
  • Journal Title: 同志社大学英語英文学研究 Volume: 104 Issue: 104 Pages: 137-159
  • DOI: 10.14988/00029644
  • ISSN: 02861291
  • URL: https://doshisha.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/29647
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Formant characteristics of unstressed unreduced vowels in American English: Only explained by duration? (2023)
  • Author(s): Mariko Sugahara
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of ICPhS 2023 Volume: -
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Lexical Stress Assignment to Base, Inflected and Derived Words in English by Japanese and Seoul Korean Learners of English (2020)
  • Author(s): Mariko Sugahara
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Speech Prosody 2020 Volume: - Pages: 905-909
  • DOI: 10.21437/speechprosody.2020-185
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] 英単語の第1強勢の位置判断に及ぼす母語の影響―語根を共有する現在分詞形/動名詞形-ingと派生名詞形-ionへの強勢付与をタスクとするアンケート調査から― (2019)
  • Author(s): 菅原真理子
  • Journal Title: 同志社大学英語英文学研究 Volume: 100 Pages: 165-221
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] Formant characteristics of unstressed unreduced vowels in American English: Only explained by duration? (2023)
  • Author(s): Mariko Sugahara
  • Organizer: ICPhS 2023
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 英語完全母音のプロミネンスレベルと音響特性： 予備的結果報告 (2021)
  • Author(s): 菅原真理子
  • Organizer: 国立国語研究所 対照言語学プロジェクト プロソディー研究班 オンライン研究会
• [Presentation] 日本語母語話者と韓国語ソウル方言母語話者による英語ストレス付与 (2021)
  • Author(s): 菅原真理子
  • Organizer: Prosody & Grammar Festa 5 国立国語研究所共同研究プロジェクト・神戸大学人文学研究科（共催）「対照言語学の観点から見た日本語の音声と文法」
• [Presentation] Lexical Stress Assignment to Base, Inflected and Derived Words in English by Japanese and Seoul Korean Learners of English (2020)
  • Author(s): Mariko Sugahara
  • Organizer: 10th International Conference on Speech Prosody 2020
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Assignment of English Lexical Stress by Japanese and Seoul Korean Learners of English (2020)
  • Author(s): Mariko Sugahara
  • Organizer: The 28th Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference Satellite Workshop: Experimental Phonetics and Phonology
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] The prominence levels of full vowels in English: A questionnaire study (2019)
  • Author(s): Sugahara, Mariko
  • Organizer: Phonology Festa 14
• [Presentation] Lexical stress assignment in English trisyllabic verbs ending with -ate and -ute by Japanese and Seoul Korean speakers (2018)
  • Author(s): Sugahara, Mariko
  • Organizer: NINJAL ICPP 2018
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Book] 言語研究の楽しさと楽しみ (2021)
  • Author(s): 岡部 玲子、矢島 純、窪田 悠介、磯野 達也
  • Total Pages: 536
  • Publisher: 開拓社
  • ISBN: 9784758923002