Tony T. N. Hung

Towards a Phonology of Hong Kong English.

Whether or not Hong Kong English (HKE) has acquired the status of a ‘new variety of English’, there is no doubt that there exists an identifiable ‘HKE accent’, and therefore a HKE phonology. The paper embodies the authors findings in the first part of his research project on HKE phonology, which covered segmental phonology—in particular the underlying phonemic system of HKE speakers, and the phonetic realisations of its phonemes in different phonological environments. The subjects comprised 15 undergraduates at the Hong Kong Baptist University. The initial batch of data consisted of a number of key words designed to capture all potential vowel and consonant contrasts in a variety of phonological environments. With the help of spectrographic analysis, it was found that the typical HKE speaker operates with a considerably smaller set of vowel and consonant contrasts than in native varieties of English. In particular, there is no length/tenseness contrast in vowels, and no voicing contrast in fricatives. HKE also exhibits a number of interesting and possibly unique phonological properties. An underlying phonemic system is postulated for HKE, and a number of allophonic variations are described.

English as a Global Language and the Issue of International Intelligibility

Abstract The present paper argues that, with the coming of age of English as a global language, with many new varieties taking root in different parts of the world, and with English being used more and more as a tool of communication among people who speak English as a second or foreign language, we should look at the issue of “international intelligibility” not from the viewpoint of speakers of traditional (or “old”) varieties of English, but from a truly international perspective. For purposes of teaching, the most pragmatic approach is to accept the local variety of English as a legitimate basis to build on, and to teach our learners sounds or features not found in it only where they are truly important for international intelligibility — as indicated by the functional value and frequency of the sound or feature in question, balanced against the difficulty and appropriateness of such a sound or feature for our learners.

The Role of Phonology in the Teaching of Pronunciation to Bilingual Students.

Abstract The paper examines some phonological explanations for pronunciation difficulties experienced by learners of English and Chinese. Rules of accommodation, rules of distribution and alternation, voicing and morphonemic rules are examined. Rules of transfer between related languages are illustrated by examples from Hokkien and Mandarin. Some comments are made also on supra‐segmental phenomena. While ‘rules’ in this sense cannot be taught to learners, an awareness of them on the part of the teacher can aid their acquisition.

‘New English’ words in international English dictionaries

How such words are–and might be–handled The author argues that, with the development of English as a world language and the burgeoning of new varieties of English (‘New Englishes’, or NEs), and with the inclusion of more and more NE words in international English dictionaries, there is a need for systematic and principled solutions to the proper phonetic representation of these words, instead of arbitrarily imposing the same transcription conventions on them as for ‘Old’ varieties of English (‘Old Englishes’, or OEs).

Pygmalion in Singapore: From Cockney to Singlish

Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1912) and its musical offshoot My Fair Lady (1956) are among the most enduring (and endearing) dramatic/musical works of the last century, and their popularity continues unabated into the twenty-first century. Apart from their intrinsic dramatic and musical quality, their perennial appeal stems partly from the universal theme of metamorphosis which underlies their plot and characters. More even than in Shaw’s time, we live in an age of spectacular ‘metamorphoses’: Truck drivers can be transformed into film stars and pop idols (like Rock Hudson and Elvis Presley), and film stars into politicians and even presidents and governors (like Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger). There are, seemingly, no limits to how far a person can be ‘made over’, not only in matters of speech, but in every physical, social and cultural aspect.