Interdental Fricative Production in Dutch Heritage Language Speakers Living in Canada

Abstract

This study investigates the production of / ? / and / ð / by three groups of English speakers in the community of Norwich, Ontario, Canada. English monolinguals, Heritage Dutch speakers, and late-learning Dutch L1 English speakers / ? / and / ð / production was measured in both naturalistic and reading tasks. Heritage Dutch speakers produce [?] and [ð] at similar levels to Monolingual English speakers, the two groups use different allophone inventories especially in the initial position of / ð / and the medial-position of / ? /. This study suggests that despite having native English accents, Dutch Heritage speakers may manipulate the inherently variable English / ? / and / ð / production to communicate their Dutch cultural identity.