美国学生撮口呼韵母习得规律探究

A Study of American Students' Acquisition of/ü/Vowels

本文以美国来华短期中文项目的中小学生为观察对象,从听辨、跟读和发音等几个方面对美国学生习得汉语撮口呼韵母的情况进行了较为细致的考察,概括美国学生习得撮口呼韵母过程中的一些规律:由于英语中没有ü这样的元音,美国学生习得撮口呼韵母存在一定难度,其中üe、üan、ün三个撮口呼韵母的习得难度高于ü、iong两个韵母;受语音环境的影响,由撮口呼韵母与辅音声母拼合而成的音节偏误率高于撮口呼韵母构成的零声母音节;拼写形式对美国学生撮口呼韵母的发音有一定影响,这种影响与ü上小点的省写有密切关系,即ü上小点的省写增加了发音难度。此外,本文还总结出美国学生各种撮口呼韵母的偏误倾向,并提出针对美国学生撮口呼韵母教学的若干建议。

This study examines American elementary and secondary school students＇ acquisition of Chinese language with a focus on how they acquire/ü/vowels, which are featured as pursed-lip finals. From the dimensions of listening, reading and pronunciation, this study identifies some common patterns displayed in American students＇ pronunciation of/ü/vowels. The patterns imply that it is rather challenging for them to acquire /ü/ vowels. Three pursed-lip finals, namely /üe/, /tian/ and /tin/ have higher ranks in the acquisition sequence for them compared with /ü/ and /iong/. Impacted by phonetic environment, the syllables consisting of consonant initials and pursed-lip finals cause more errors in students＇ oral production than their counterparts which start with no initial consonant. Furthermore, the spelling format also exerts some influence on their pronunciation of pursed-lip vowels. The influence is mainly derived from the omission of the two small dots in/ü/ vowels. In other words, the omission of the two small dots in the spelling of/ü/ vowels increases the difficulty of pronunciation. This study summarizes the main errors which American students are liable to make in their pronunciation of pursed-lip vowels and puts forward suggestions for the teaching of pursed-lip vowels to American students.