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The messy phonology of Hungarians in South Bend: A contribution to the study of near-mergers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Miklós Kontra
Miklós Kontra
Affiliation:
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
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Abstract

Standard Hungarian has a short front unrounded low vowel phoneme /ε/, but certain dialects have a mid /e/ as well. The standard /ε/ evolved from a merger of the two phonemes. A formal reading of word groups and a same/different listening test revealed that Hungarian–Americans in South Bend, Indiana, exhibit a continuum between the /ε/ dialect and the /ε/versus /e/ dialect, showing important differences between the informants' perception and production. The Hungarian–American data and metropolitan Hungarian data were compared to Labov, Karen, and Miller's (1991) findings on near-mergers. The importance of investigating perceptual and productive systems separtely is emphasized.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , July 1993 , pp. 225 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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