Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Phonetica. 2021 Jun 22;78(3):241-272. doi: 10.1515/phon-2021-2006.
This study examined the development of vowel categories in young Mandarin -English bilingual children. The participants included 35 children aged between 3 and 4 years old (15 Mandarin-English bilinguals, six English monolinguals, and 14 Mandarin monolinguals). The bilingual children were divided into two groups: one group had a shorter duration (<1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-low group) and one group had a longer duration (>1 year) of intensive immersion in English (Bi-high group). The participants were recorded producing one list of Mandarin words containing the vowels /a, i, u, y, ɤ/ and/or one list of English words containing the vowels /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ, u, ʊ, o, ɑ, ʌ/. Formant frequency values were extracted at five equidistant time locations (the 20-35-50-65-80% point) over the course of vowel duration. Cross-language and within-language comparisons were conducted on the midpoint formant values and formant trajectories. The results showed that children in the Bi-low group produced their English vowels into clusters and showed positional deviations from the monolingual targets. However, they maintained the phonetic features of their native vowel sounds well and mainly used an assimilatory process to organize the vowel systems. Children in the Bi-high group separated their English vowels well. They used both assimilatory and dissimilatory processes to construct and refine the two vowel systems. These bilingual children approximated monolingual English children to a better extent than the children in the Bi-low group. However, when compared to the monolingual peers, they demonstrated observable deviations in both L1 and L2.
本研究考察了年轻的普通话-英语双语儿童的元音范畴发展。参与者包括 35 名 3 至 4 岁的儿童（15 名普通话-英语双语儿童、6 名英语单语儿童和 14 名普通话单语儿童）。双语儿童分为两组：一组是英语密集浸入时间较短（<1 年）的（Bi-low 组），另一组是英语密集浸入时间较长（>1 年）的（Bi-high 组）。参与者被要求分别录制一组包含元音 /a, i, u, y, ɤ/ 的普通话单词列表和/或一组包含元音 /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, æ, u, ʊ, o, ɑ, ʌ/的英语单词列表。在元音持续时间内，在五个等距时间位置（20-35-50-65-80%点）提取共振峰频率值。在中间共振峰值和共振峰轨迹上进行了跨语言和语言内比较。结果表明，Bi-low 组的儿童将他们的英语元音发成了组合，并表现出与单语目标的位置偏差。然而，他们很好地保持了母语元音的语音特征，主要使用同化过程来组织元音系统。Bi-high 组的儿童很好地分离了他们的英语元音。他们使用同化和异化过程来构建和完善两个元音系统。这些双语儿童比 Bi-low 组的儿童更接近单语英语儿童。然而，与单语同龄人相比，他们在母语和第二语言中都表现出了可观察到的偏差。
