Changing phonological representations with a psycholinguistic approach: The role of education and age

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran. (Corresponding Author)

Abstract

Introduction: A new look at science, including a psychological look at the cognitive functions of the mind, including language, is one of the favorite researches of scientists. One of the psychological functions of the brain in the Turkish constructional variety is the conversion of the phoneme /e/ in the last syllable of feminine nouns into the phoneme [æ] in speech. Although most of the female names in this type are loanwords, but all these words are subject to the Banabi type in speech and colloquial language. Of course, it is necessary to explain that this completely depends on education and age. Therefore, the aim of the current research is the effect of psycholinguistic variables (education and age) on the representation of the phoneme /e/ in the final syllable of female nouns in the Banabi variant of Azerbaijani Turkish.
Methods: In this research, the data collection method is interview. 60 female names were collected from 60 native speakers of Benabi language after interview. In this way, all these 60 subjects were asked to introduce themselves. Subjects were divided into three groups based on education variable and two groups based on age. Due to the illiteracy of some of the subjects, only verbal and spoken style was examined. The research data were analyzed using column charts.
Results: The data analysis shows that psycholinguistic variables (education and age) have an effect on the phonetic representation of the /e/ phoneme in the final syllable of female names of the Banabi variety of Azerbaijani Turkish.
Conclusion: In fact, it can be said that the phonetic representation of the phoneme /e/ in this species is a function of psycholinguistic differences.

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