Merger of the syllable-initial [n-] and [l-] in Hong Kong Cantonese

Abstract

This study is a phonetic investigation of the merger of the syllable-initial [n-] and [l-] in Hong Kong Cantonese (HKC). It examines both the production and perceptual abilities of HKC speakers in the distinction between [n-] and [l-]. Ten native Cantonese-speaking university students in Hong Kong, 5 male and 5 female, produced a set of test words and sentences with the syllable-initial [n-] and [l-] for acoustic analysis and took part in a listening test to identify [n-] and [l-]. The results show that the merger of the initial [n-] and [l-] in HKC has not yet completed. In production, the initial [n-] is more often mispronounced as [l-] than the initial [l-] mispronounced as [n-]. In perception, the initial [n-] and [l-] are in general distinguishable, while confusion between [n-] and [l-] is occasionally observed. The performance of the HKC speakers is poorer in production than in perception, suggesting that mispronunciation of [n-] and [l-] may be a trigger for the merger of [n-] and [l-] in HKC and the speakers’ production and perception abilities are not necessarily parallel in the distinction of the speech sounds. The findings of this study contribute to a fuller understanding of the roles of production and perception and their interrelationship in the merger of [n-] and [l-] in HKC.