Setter: Hong Kong English Phonology - Product of an Emergent Post-Colonial English

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Jane Setter's presentation on "Hong Kong English Phonology - Product of an Emergent Post-Colonial English" at the 2022 ISLE summer school
Abstract
Hong Kong is an interesting case study for the development of a post-colonial variety of English. Unlike some former British colonies, which have achieved political independence, Hong Kong (HK) was returned to the rule of the People’s Republic in China (PRC) in 1997 (see Setter et al. 2010). Ping and Kwong (2014) indicate that, while Hongkongers initially began to identify equally as Chinese, this has waned since China hosted the Olympics in 2008, with a strong resurgence of the HK identity. In 1999, David Li wrote that English was vital to the identity of Hongkongers, being symbolically predominant and affording social prestige; subsequent studies (e.g., Chan 2002; Hansen Edwards 2015) indicate that a local variety, rather than one based on an exonormative model, play an important part of this identity for some Hongkongers.
Schneider’s (2007) Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes situates Hong Kong English (HKE) in Phase 3, Nativisation. This designation indicates that the variety is undergoing changes in phonology, morphology and syntax which distance it from the English of the colonial power and that it exhibits a marked local accent. It exhibits a degree of stabilisation in linguistic terms which cannot be viewed as simply an accident of first to second language (L1 to L2) transfer among a homogenous group of speakers.
In this presentation, I look at the systematicity in the phonology of speakers of Hong Kong English through my own research and that of others, arguing that it is a reflection of the development of a variety of English which should be considered as a system in its own right, not simply a learner language. I begin with Hung’s (2000) seminal paper on the segmental phonology of HKE, Peng and Setter’s (2000) work on consonant deletion and a comparison of word juncture information in Hong Kong, Singapore and British Englishes, before moving on to consider suprasegmental aspects: speech rhythm (Setter 2006; Setter et al. 2010) and intonation (Setter et al. 2010; Hudson et al. in press).
Readings
Chan, E. 2002. ‘Beyond pedagogy: Language and identity in post-colonial Hong Kong’. British Journal of Sociology of Education 23: 271-285.
Hansen Edwards, J. G. 2015. ’Hong Kong English: Attitudes, identity, and use’. Asian Englishes 17: 184-208.
Hudson, T., Setter, J. and Mok, P. In press. ‘English intonation in storytelling: a comparison of the recognition and production of nuclear tones by British and Hong Kong English speakers’. English World-Wide.
Hung, T. T. 2000. ‘Towards a phonology of Hong Kong English’. World Englishes 19: 337-356.
Li, D. C. 1999. ‘The functions and status of English in Hong Kong: A post-1997 update’. English World- Wide 20: 67-110.
Peng, L. and Setter, J. 2000. ‘The emergence of systematicity in the English pronunciations of two Cantonese-speaking adults in Hong Kong’. English World-Wide 21: 81-108.
Ping, Y. C. and Kwong, K. M. 2014. ‘Hong Kong identity on the rise. Asian Survey 54: 1088-1112.
Schneider, E. W. 2007. Postcolonial English: Varieties Around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Setter, J. 2006. ‘Speech rhythm in world Englishes: The case of Hong Kong’. TESOL Quarterly 40: 763- 782.
Setter, J., Mok, P., Low, E. L., Zuo, D. and Ao, R. 2014. ‘Word juncture characteristics in world Englishes: A research report’. World Englishes 33: 278-291.
Setter, J., & Wong, C. S. P. and Chan, B. H. S. 2012. Hong Kong English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.