PHONOLOGY OF STANDARD CHINESE AND IGBO: IMPLICATIONS FOR IGBO STUDENTS LEARNING CHINESE

Abstract

With the recent introduction of Chinese studies in the Department of African and Asian Studies of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, during the 2006/2007 academic session, Igbo speaking students of the department take some courses in the Chinese language. The students are expected to learn basic Chinese, including how to express themselves using the language. Most of these students experience a lot of language learning problems, one of which is mother tongue interference bordering on pronunciation as a result of the differences between Chinese and Igbo phonology. The problem could make it difficult for the students to achieve success in learning the language and their chances of graduating with good grades would be slim. In order to help this category of students, this paper discusses, for a start, the consonant and tonal systems of both languages and their implications for the Igbo learners of Chinese.