Phonetic transfer in the production of Chinese and Arabic learners of Persian: A case study on Persian dorsal stops

This research aims at investigating the pronunciation of Persian dorsal stops in the the production of Chinese and Arabic learners of Persian. Dorsal stops are different in Persain from both Chinese and Arabic. Persian dorsal stops are pronounced as either palatal or velar depending on the front/backness of the following vowel, while dorsal stops in Chinese and Arabic are always produced as velar irrespective of the place of articulation of the following vowel. Givn this phonological difference between the Persian and the Chinese and Arabic sound systems, we asked to what extent the acoustic phonetic characteristics of Persian dorsal stops in the the production of Chinese and Arabic learners of Persian agree with those of native Persian speakers. A courpus was designed to test the research hypothesis. Three sets of spekers, namely native Persian spekers, Chinese learners of Persian and Arabic learners of Persian participated in the experiment. Data analysis included spectral examination at stop release as well as regression locus equation computed from messurement of F2 at vowel onset and the steady state of the vowel. Results suggested that while Persain speakers’ productions of dorsal stops fall within two different phonetic categories, namely palatal and velar, depending on the following vowel; Chinese and Arabic learners of Persian realize Persian dorsal stops as only velar irrespective of the vowel context. The findings are discussed with respect to the theory of Speech Learning Model (SLM), and suggestions are made as how the research findings may be applied in teaching Persian as a second language.