In Ghana, I have observed that the phoneme /j/ is realized as /dz/; /y/ or /Ʒ/ in speeches by individuals. I have also noticed that the difference in the realizations depends on either the absence or the presence of the target phoneme in the learners’ speech (i.e. transfer errors). Where it is present but the realizations are not the same, the learner tries to articulate the phoneme as a phoneme he/ she already knows. Where the target phoneme does not exist in the already known languages of the learner, he or she tries to make a substitution with another phoneme that exists in his or her linguistic repertoire. Can someone share with me some example of phonemic variations that he or she has noticed in their students’ speeches? Are the reasons for the variations different from what I have stated?
Some of such variations are determined by areas of speakers. The romanian word "pe" (on) is spoken around Bucharest like " pă". There are towsends of such area dependent prononciations in many languages. In German, the past perfect particle "ge" is spoken in the Berlin area like "ie" (written je). The expression "Hast du jedient" ("Have you served in the army?") instead of "Hast du gedient?" is classical.
I can not give examles from my students as they are all Russian speakers and thus have the same language background, but historically in the English language the situation with distinct variants of this sound was very much alike. More info at: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/resources/IOE/pronunciation.html - about letter g
Thank you Prof. Ivleva and Prof. Prunescu. Prof. Ivleva, I very much like the historic insight given at the website. Prof. Prunescu, your point is well noted. It has to do with geographical locations. I am thankful to both of you. I am working on variations in Ewe (i.e. a local language) and your points are very useful to me.
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