Phonological interference

Phonological interference is a common type of interference, its most prominent manifestation

being a “foreign accent”.

Dutch: Vinger (/ˈv̥ɪŋəʀ/ )

Incorrect learner English: Finger (*/ˈfɪŋə/ )

Correct R.P.: Finger (/ˈfɪŋgə/ )

Words including the combination “ng” may be pronounced incorrectly in English, since they are
realized as [ŋ] in Dutch. In that case, the [ŋ] pronounced by a native speaker of Dutch would be
transferred to the learner language English, where [ŋɡ] would be the correct pronunciation.
Therefore, the realization of “ng” as [ŋ] in the native language would interfere with the
pronunciation of the learner language, e.g. the “ng”-combination in Finger: Dutch: [ŋ] vs.
Received Pronunciation: [ŋɡ] .
Syntactic interference
German: Gestern habe ich Ball gespielt.

Incorrect Learner English: *I have played ball yesterday.

Correct Received Pronunciation: I played ball yesterday.

Since the German Perfekt (habe gespielt) is not used in the same way as the English Present
Perfect, it may come to interference at the syntactic level (cf. the learner English-example).
Speakers of German apply the Perfekt in similar contexts (here: a narrative use) as the German
Imperfekt (~the German equivalent of the Past Tense), whereas this is different with the English
Present Perfect and the English Past Tense. Here, reference to definite moments in the past
requires the Past Tense.
Lexical interference
English: He wrote the letter on the blackboard.

Incorrect Learner German: Er schrieb den *Brief an die Tafel.

Correct German: Er schrieb den Buchstaben an die Tafel.

In English, letter carries various meanings. This example illustrates especially the following
ones: i) the letter that one can mail by post and ii) the letter as an element of the alphabet. Since
each of the two meanings has its particular counterpart in German, interference at a lexical level
could arise. Therefore, a strict word-by-word translation (i.e. with the help of a dictionary) could
result in the incorrect choice of Brief although the context of the English letter implied the
German Buchstabe.

Semantic Interference

Semantics deals with the study of meaning; how we combine words to create meaningful
discourse. It studies the relationship between signs and symbols and what they represent. It is
also used in logic as the principles that determine truth-values of formulas within a logical
system.

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It can be applied to entire texts or to single
words. For example, "destination" and "last stop" technically mean the same thing, but students
of semantics analyze their subtle shades of meaning.

Example

 A water pill at first glance could be a pill with water in it; but, it is understood to be a
diuretic that causes a person to lose water from his body.
 Crash can mean auto accident, a drop in the Stock Market, to attend a party without being
invited, ocean waves hitting the shore or the sound of a cymbals being struck together.
 A child’s alphabet block could be described as a wooden cube, learning aid, toy or block.
 Some see the glass half empty and others see the glass half full.
 A flowering plant could be referred to as a weed or a garden flower.
 One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
 CULTURAL
ANTHROPOLOGY

SUBMITTED BY :
HANIEGRACE L. SANDRO
BSHRM3-B1