Loanword Adaptation and Phonological Theory

This paper examines English-based loanwords in Standard Mandarin in light of various proposals on how loanwords are adapted and processed, and discusses the implications of the findings in loanword adaptation for phonological theory. There have been three major approaches to the adaptation and processing of sound-based loanwords: the Perception Approach, the Phonology Approach, and the PerceptionPhonology Approach. By examining how Standard Mandarin adapts English consonants, vowels, and stress for loanwords, I show that the combined PerceptionPhonology Approach better accounts for the data. The data and processes of loanword adaptation contribute to issues related to how the interaction of phonetics and phonology can be modeled. The degree to which and how features are perceived and modified in the adaptation process suggest relative saliency and/or asymmetrical relationship between features, and thus have interesting implications for feature theory in particular and phonological theory in general.