The phonology : syntax interface in spoken Maltese English

Abstract

This thesis presents a study of one aspect of the phonology-syntax interface in the variety of English, Maltese English, spoken in Malta. The study reported here focuses on one aspect of this interface, the use and extent, or otherwise, of deaccenting of 'given' elements of structure within sentences. Material for data collection was designed in such a way that two mentions of a target lexeme were embedded into different types of grammatical structure. The data consists of six sets of five sentences each. A target lexeme is repeated eight times in the sentences of each individual set. Thirty-two sixteen to eighteen year-old students of English at Intermediate level participated in the study. A total of 1536 occurrences of six target lexemes were analysed. The study examines the behaviour of the two variables of pitch and duration, both of which have previously been found to be affected by deaccenting. The study intended to find whether and to what extent deaccenting takes place in Maltese English. It also set out to establish to what extent the variables of pitch and duration can be seen to cue the presence of deaccenting in this variety. From this study it emerges that Maltese English speakers in the population under analysis do use deaccenting but use it mainly through a decrease in pitch rather than duration of targeted elements.