Experimental Evidence of Syllabification of /sC/-Clusters at Onset Position by Kashmiri Speakers in Pakistani English

Abstract

The current study investigates the syllabification of sC-clusters at onset position in Pakistani English by Kashmiri speakers. The main objective of the study was to explore the syllable boundary syllabification of sC-clusters by Kashmiri speakers in Pakistani English context. The study uses real disyllabic and tri-syllabic words with sC-clusters at onset position as stimuli for the data. The participants were asked to produce the stimuli. The Praat analysis was used to study the spectrographic features of sC-clusters at onset position in Pakistani English. The results of the study show that proceeding vowel length, cluster sonority, and edge constraints have significant effects on the syllabification of sC-clusters at onset position in Pakistani English produced by Kashmiri speakers. In addition, data shows that phonological and morphological structure of Kashmiri language (L1) influence s-clustering in Pakistani English. The study also shows that Kashmiri English speakers break the sC-clusters at onset position and generate the process of epenthesis, which is an evidential sign that CC clustering in Pakistani English by Kashmiri speakers is influenced by L1. The study recommends an interlanguage syllabification based on extra-linguistic variables for further in-depth exploration.