Phonological interference : the basis for a phonology of a Canadian variant of the Ukrainian language

Abstract

The many different languages in Canada constitute an important part of our sociocultural environment. These languages are continually adjusting to an environment which is officially bilingual and multicultural. Ukrainian, like the other minority languages, shows evidence of its contact with the dominant language, i,e., Canadian English. The speech of four groups of Canadian-born Ukrainians has undergone and is undergoing phonological changes. The consequence of these changes has been the emergence of a Canadian variant of the Ukrainian language. This study aims to describe the phonology of a Canadian variant of the Ukrainian language. The variant arose as a result of phonological interaction among three sources; Canadian English, standard literary Ukrainian and the Southwestern dialects. Most contrastive analysis models deal with the contrast of two distinct languages. Because the case of Canadian Ukrainian involves three interacting phonological systems, a contrastive phonological analysis model had to be proposed to deal with this situation. Elements which are distinctive and differ among the systems are selected. These elements serve as an outline for analyzing the changes in the speech of three generations of Canadian Ukrainians. The changes/innovations which arose as a result of interference characterize the phonology of the Canadian variant of the Ukrainian language.