Phonological Adaptation of Loanwords in Azarbaijani Turkish Language

Abstract

This study presents an overview of phonological adaptation of loanwords in Azerbaijani Turkish Language by breaking up the initial clusters. The syllable structure of Azerbaijani Turkish Language is CV(C)(C). That is ONSET is obligatory in this language, and there should be a consonant at the beginning of the word. But the initial cluster is forbidden and *COMPONS is considered in high priority. So, if a loanword with initial cluster appears in this language, it should be broken up with different repair strategies such as: vowel epenthesis, resyllabification and deletion of short vowels or some consonants to adapt the syllable structure of this language. The most frequently applied repair strategy in Azerbaijani Turkish Language is vowel epenthesis that can be in two kinds both anaptyxis and prothesis. There are various theories about the site of epenthesis, that is where the vowel should be inserted; at the beginning of cluster or a position between the consonants. Just Fleischhacker’s theory (2001,2005) accounts for the epenthesis in Azerbaijani Turkish Language. She says that the epenthesis is based on maximal perceptual similarity between input and output. The site of epenthesis is investigated in Optimality Theory that is an appropriate theory in this case.

Keywords

• adaptation
• initialconsonant clusters
• loanwords
• vowel epenthesis