Empirické mapování výslovnostního úzu u cizích slov
An empirical study of the pronunciation of foreign words in Czech

Summary/Abstract: In this article, I describe the principal features of the Database of Loanword Pronunciation Variants, realised with the aim of bridging a long gap in the empirical study of Czech loanword phonology. The database contains pronunciation forms obtained for 300 phonetically problematic loans and proper names from a balanced sample of 300 Czech speakers. After considering the principles that underlie the phonological adaptation of loanwords, I describe the design of the database and the methodology used. Although the validity of the data is undoubtedly high, I note some factors that might cause bias, such as the influence of spelling or the item selection procedure. The average number of different pronunciation variants per item is 8.02 (1.97 after variants with less than 5% frequency have been excluded). 34 different paradigms of phonological variability were identified in the database. A number of criteria can be used when analysing the data: the phonological phenomenon, word type (e.g. common vs. proper noun), source language, as well as informant features (region, sex, age, education). The database represents a large sociolinguistic survey which can be used both as an empirical platform for the study of Czech loanword phonology and as a source for lexicographic work.

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