2025 Fall

Dr. Jonathan Havenhill (The University of Hong Kong)

"Sibilant systems in contact: Language variation among Cantonese-English bilinguals in Hong Kong"

Time: 9/12/2025 (Tuesday), 12:10pm-1:10pm

Location: HB207 (人社二館207)

Abstract: In this talk, I present new articulatory and acoustic data addressing language acquisition, contact, and change among Cantonese-English bilinguals in Hong Kong. The focus is on the production of the Cantonese sibilants /s, ts, tsʰ/ and the English sibilants /s, ʃ, tʃ, dʒ/. Descriptive work has suggested that Cantonese /s, ts, tsʰ/ exhibit vowel-conditioned and interspeaker variability, with experimental studies finding gradient rather than categorical variation. In contrast, sociolinguistic studies argue that younger Cantonese speakers produce distinct alveolar [s, ts, tsʰ] vs. alveolo-palatal [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] allophones, ostensibly as a result of recent contact-induced sound change. While the English and Cantonese sibilants exhibit partial phonetic and phonological overlap, the cross-linguistic mapping between the two has not been empirically established, a gap which this work aims to address.

Cantonese speakers with varying English proficiency were recorded using ultrasound tongue imaging with synchronized audio. Participants produced Cantonese /s, ts, tsʰ/ and English /s, ʃ, tʃ, dʒ/ in various vowel contexts, with acoustic and articulatory measurements analyzed using GAMMs. Vowel height and rounding influence the place of articulation for L1 Cantonese /s, ts, tsʰ/, but the degree of vocalic influence varies extensively by speaker and segment, accounting for disparities among earlier descriptions. Discrete allophones for /ts, tsʰ/ are observed for some speakers, while contextual variation for /s/ is gradient. Speakers further exhibit distinct articulatory strategies in L2 English depending on their L1 system. These findings have implications for theories of bilingual phonological representation and contact-induced change. Articulatory study of sociophonetic variables in multilingual communities helps us understand both how speakers categorize distinctive units across languages and how language contact drives the introduction and spread of linguistic variants.

Speaker bio: Prof. Jonathan Havenhill is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong. His work involves the use of laboratory and experimental methods to examine the articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual patterns that underlie linguistic sound systems. Using ultrasound tongue imaging, he has conducted a series of studies investigating interspeaker variability in the production of American English vowel contrasts, including fronted variants of the high back vowels /u, ʊ, o/ and the low back vowels /ɑ/ and /ɔ/. His research interests extend to the role of visual perceptibility in misperception-based sound change and in the use of articulatory methods to account for typologically rare sounds, including occlusivized laterals in Hakka and doubly articulated fricatives in the Bantu languages Setswana and Sebirwa.  

Dr Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

"What it means to ‘uptalk’ in Hong Kong English"

Time: 10/3/2025 (Tuesday), 12:10pm-1:10pm

Location: HB207 (人社二館207)

Abstract:

Research primarily in Western contexts shows that High Rising Terminals (HRTs) or “uptalk” conveys various social meanings beyond its “essentialized” feminine meanings (Lakoff 1973), such as politeness and casualness, and can signal solidarity or construct social personas (Britain 1992; Kiesling 2005). Despite this understanding, studies on uptalk’s meanings in non-Western contexts like Hong Kong are scarce,  with existing research suggesting that rising tones might index dominance rather than politeness or femininity (Cheng & Warren 2005), pointing to potential cultural differences in the use/perception of uptalk.  The study examines whether there are indeed such differences by investigating the impact of gender on the use of uptalk in Hong Kong English (HKE). It also examines to what extent age, ethnicity, and affect interact with gender in the use of uptalk, aiming to uncover the meanings of uptalk in HKE.

A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving a production experiment, an evaluation experiment, and post-experiment interviews with 16 undergraduate students from Hong Kong, focusing on gender’s influence on uptalk. The study acknowledges the complexity of gender beyond binary classifications but initially focuses on the binary male-female distinction for foundational insights.

Qualitatively, it was found that uptalk is viewed differently based on gender: women’s uptalk was perceived as indicative of lack of confidence and hesitancy, whereas men’s uptalk was associated with education and confidence. These perceptions shifted when participants were made aware of uptalk as a linguistic feature, highlighting the role of awareness in gendered interpretations of speech. Men were generally less aware of uptalk usage, suggesting women's significant influence in shaping its gendered connotations.

Quantitatively, through Bayesian mixed-effects regression analyses, the study indicated a relatively high probability that uptalk is more prevalent in mixed-gender interactions and is particularly associated with femininity, consistent with previous Western research. This was confirmed by frequentist post-hoc tests, where the differences by gender and gender groupings, particularly for women in same-sex vs, mixed-sex groups were significant. Interactions were also observed: women were also found to be more likely to exhibit significantly more uptalk use in mixed-sex settings than men, indicating a stylistic accommodation to the speaker's gender and the gender context. This suggests that uptalk is a means for navigating gender(ed) identities in Hong Kong. Factors other than gender, such as ‘Chinese’ ethnic orientation and affect, also conditioned uptalk use, attesting to the intersectionality of uptalk with factors beyond gender.

Both sets of findings suggest that women use linguistic forms like uptalk to convey tentativeness for social capital, particularly with men, among other social meanings. They shed light on how gender – in interacting with other social factors – is expressed and negotiated through language variables like uptalk in Hong Kong, contributing to the broader understanding of gender(ed) dynamics and sociolinguistic practices in the region. 

Dr. Andre Goderich (國立彰化師範大學英語學系)

"Phonological alternations in Matu’uwal Atayal"

Time: 11/14/2025 (Friday), 12:10pm-1:10pm

Location: HB207 (人社二館207)

Abstract: 

Matu’uwal is an Atayal dialect spoken in Miaoli county. In this talk, I will present the different synchronic and diachronic phonological alternations in Matu’uwal, mainly in its vowels, using both rule-based and constraint-based phonology.

Matu’uwal has two main synchronic vowel changes: rhythmic vowel weakening, and hiatus resolution. Rhythmic vowel weakening applies to the leftmost vowel in all feet except the rightmost foot, changing it to a schwa or fully deleting it in the environment VC_CV. Hiatus resolution coalesces the hiatuses /a.a/, /u.u/, and /i.i/ into single vowels /a/, /u/, and /i/ outside the head foot: e.g. /ka.al/ + -un > kalun ‘to speak (PV)’. The interactions between the different vowel alternating processes are at times quite complex: they interact with each other in ways that are opaque when looking at the surface form.

Matu’uwal vowel alternations present a conundrum, as they exhibit both counterbleeding opacity and also surface-oriented behaviour limitations. Rule-based phonology can account for opacity, but not surface-oriented behaviour. On the other hand, constraint-based phonology is helpful with surface-oriented phenomena, but may struggle with opacity. These are a great real-life examples of the advantages and limitations of each theoretical approach.