The speech continuum reconsidered: A case study of a speaker of Indian English

Abstract

This study highlights the dynamics of the speech continuum by analyzing the sound system of a speaker of Indian English (IndE). Utterances were collected via the reading of commonly spoken words and a semi-structured interview. The findings indicate that the speaker's sound features are much fewer than those described in earlier studies on IndE accents. Moreover, his pronunciation patterns display a mixture of the basilectal, meoslectal and acrolectal forms of Indian English, reflecting the characteristics of the non-linear speech continuum. This study concludes by discussing the speaker's sound patterns with relation to his sociolinguistic background. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.