Well heard, well said? Perception of the difference between the Dutch [e:] and [ɛi] and its influence on pronunciation of Dutch [e:] by Polish native speakers Cover Image

Goed gehoord, goed gezegd? Auditieve waarneming van het verschil tussen de Nederlandse [e:] en [ɛi] en de invloed ervan op articulatorische reproductie van de Nederlandse [e:] door Poolse moedertaalsprekers
Well heard, well said? Perception of the difference between the Dutch [e:] and [ɛi] and its influence on pronunciation of Dutch [e:] by Polish native speakers

Author(s): Zuzanna Czerwonka-Wajda
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Keywords: phonetics; pronunciation; perception; Dutch; tense vowels; pronunciation training.

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents the results of a study on the audition of a Dutch tense vowel [e:] and the diphthong [ɛi] by Polish native speakers. It was hypothesized that Polish native speakers may pronounce the Dutch [e:] as a combination of [ɛ] and [j] because they generally fail to distinguish the [e:] from the diphthong [ɛi], as both sounds lie acoustically close to each other (especially those produced by speakers of Dutch from the Netherlands); moreover, they are absent from the Polish phonetic system. Instead, the experiment has shown that Polish native speakers are very good at differentiating the isolated Dutch [e:] and [ɛi]. It seems that the pronunciation of the Dutch [e:] as a combination of [ɛ] and [j] is rather a matter of articulation than audition, but further experiments are needed to examine the problem.

  • Issue Year: 31/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 57-75
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Dutch