Abstract：This thesis aims to investigate the effect of syllabic structure on word-blending. Blending refers to “a combination of two or more forms, at least one of which has been shortened in the process of combination”. It can be specifically pided into four kinds: 1) the initial part of source word 1 + the final part of source word 2; 2) the initial part of source word 1 + the initial part of source word 2; 3) the source word 1 inserted in the source word 2; 4) two source words totally fusion. Following a brief of review of several previous studies on the blending formation mechanism and the change of syllables and stress, this paper adopts the questionnaire experiment to analyze Chinese EFL learners’ phonetic awareness. Proposed the rate of accuracy of the questionnaire can suggest the learners’ word-blending ability, we indicate that the higher the rate of accuracy is the higher level the learners’ word-bending ability is. In other words, students who have higher word-blending ability would have stronger phonemic awareness. On the basis of a quantitative basis, we indicate that there are three major factors that influence learners’ word-blending mechanism: i) the learning length of the students; ii) the degree of recognizability of the source words’ syllables; iii) the similarity and complexity of the source words’ syllable structures.

Key words: syllable structure; blending; Chinese EFL learners

音节结构对中国英语学习者拼缀构词的影响

摘  要：本文旨在研究音节结构对拼缀词构词的影响。拼缀是指将两个或者两个以上的词的结合，并且在构词过程中至少有一个源词缩短。具体构词方式包括：词首+词尾、词首+词首、词中+单词、单词融合。本文在简要回顾了前人关于拼缀词构成机制和音节重音变化研究的基础上，采用问卷调查的方法对中国英语学习者的语音意识进行分析。假设问卷的准确率可以反映学习者的拼缀词构词能力，认为学习者的准确率越高，拼缀词构词能力就越高。换句话说，拼缀构词能力越强，学习者的语音意识就越强。在调查数据的基础上，我们认为有三大因素影响中国英语学习者的拼缀词构成能力：1）学生英语学习时长；2）学生对源词音节的认知程度；3）源词的音节结构的相似性。

关键词：音节结构；拼缀构词；中国英语学习者

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Taxonomies and the Structure of Blends 1

1.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses 3

2. Methods 5

2.1 Instrument and Pilot Study 5

2.2 Survey of Word-blending 6

2.3 Further Methodological Considerations 7

3. Results and Discussion 9

3.1 Overview of the Data 9

3.2 The Learning Length of the Students 10

3.3 The Degree of Recognizability of the Source Words 11

3.4 The Similarity and Complexity of Syllable Structure 12

4. Conclusion 14

4.1 Summary 14

4.2 Outlook 15

References 17

Appendix 19

1. Introduction

English blending words first appeared in the late nineteenth century as a product of word games. Originally in a specific language environment, the existing words are blended together to achieve humorous and banter effects. After 1920s, a large number of blending words in English emerged. According to the statistics, 5% to 10% of the one hundred thousand new words that appeared in English in the last century belong to blending words (Algeo, 1977). With the society development, people still constantly produce new English blending words in the process of communication. But now blending words are no longer just temporary language banter and they gradually transform into the general vocabulary, such as chunnel (channel + tunnel) and even some rigorous scientific terms such as pulsar (pulse + star). Now, blending plays a more and more vital role in the speech and literacy.

In previous analyses, blending has mainly been investigated in terms of the following questions: 1) How can blending be distinguished from other word-formation processes? 2) How will the pronunciations of the blending change? 3) Why do blends have the structure they have? Put differently, why are blends created the way they are? Though blending has been investigated in a variety of studies, most of which are classificatory in nature and focus on the questions (2) and (3) from above. Despite the major research focusing on the word formation process of blending, there are few studies focuses on the contemporary Chinese university English learners’ phonemic awareness of blending. The practical use of the phonemic awareness of blending words has not been emphasized.