Substitution of dental fricatives in English by Dutch L2 speakers

This paper investigates the nature of the substitutions used for the dental fricatives (/theta/ and /partial derivative/) by Dutch learners of English as a second language. By means of an OT analysis, the underlying reasons for the difficulties encountered with these sounds are brought to light. The present data reveal that phonetics (or acoustics) rather than phonology plays a major role in the selection of the phonemes used to substitute the dental fricatives. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.