The ins and outs of paragoge and apocope in Japanese-English interphonology

Abstract

Syllable structure in interphonology has consistently demarcated the initial phases of phonological transfer, as well as the basis for a putative universal preference for the open syllable. The manner in which syllable structure is continually reorganized during the processes of acquisition has, however, not attracted much attention. This article addresses two phenomena in the acquisition of second language syllable structure - a preference for open syllables, as manifest in paragoge, and a developmental process of final segment apocopation that applies to first language lexical items appearing under the domain of the second language intonational envelope. The data for the analyses come from spontaneous utterances produced by Japanese students of English as a foreign language. Results of two ten-factor variable-rule analyses suggest that paragogic epenthesis is conditioned by a syllable structure constraint based on the L1, and that variation in the type of segment epenthesized is governed by natural phonological constraints. Analyses of the apocope dataset indicate that acquisition of L2 stress patterns leads to a restructuring of the syllable structure constraint leading to suppression of open syllables in the L2.