E ISSN: 2583-049X
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International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies

Volume 2, Issue 1, 2022

Similarities in English words pronunciation errors between Japanophones and Bembaphones



Author(s): Chishiba G, Chilupula S

Abstract:

This article focuses on similarities in English words pronunciation errors shared between Japanese and Bemba speakers who have learnt or are still learning English as their second language.  Second language learners encounter many challenges depending on how different the L2 is from their ambient language. One of these challenges is phonotactic constraints. This paper first introduces the Bemba language and its phonetic system, comparing it to that of English and Japanese. The paper then explains in depth three observed shared pronunciation difficulties between Bemba and Japanese learners of English. Namely, perception of the English /l/ and /?/, ‘th’ fricatives – /θ/ /ð/ and finally consonant clusters. It should be noted that the paper focuses on Bemba speakers who grew up in a monolingual Bemba-speaking home and were only introduced to the English language in their later years. Another important thing worth noting is that no known experiments have been carried out to test these errors in Bemba speakers in comparison to Japanese; and, therefore, the ones noted in this paper are purely from our own observations and on analyses done on English loanwords in Bemba.


Keywords: English words pronunciation errors, Phonotactics, Epenthesis, Japanophones and Bembaphones

Pages: 124-127

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