Abstract
This study investigates the acoustic and sociolinguistic dimensions of heritage language phonological attrition among second-generation Filipino-Canadian youth. As one of Canada's fastest-growing ethnocultural communities, the Filipino diaspora faces rapid intergenerational language shift toward English dominance. Focusing on 36 bilingual participants aged 18 to 28 residing in the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver, this mixed-methods research analyzes the production of salient Tagalog phonological markers—specifically, the phonemic glottal stop /ʔ/, word-initial velar nasals /ŋ/, and the acoustic quality of the peripheral three-vowel sub-system (/i, a, u/)—alongside qualitative assessments of diasporic identity renegotiation. Acoustic analyses conducted via Praat indicate systemic phonological divergence from baseline heritage norms: word-final glottal stops exhibit high rates of elision or reduction to non-modal voice (creakiness), word-initial /ŋ/ shows frequent epenthetic modification or coronal substitution, and vowel spaces exhibit centralization characteristic of Canadian English influence. Concurrently, thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals that while phonological erosion precipitates linguistic insecurity and cultural alienation (often articulated through the concept of hiya or shame), participants actively reframe non-normative phonologies to construct hybridized, transnational Filipino-Canadian identities. By bridging acoustic phonetics with sociolinguistic identity theory, this paper sheds light on the complex mechanisms through which heritage phonology is refashioned in diasporic contexts.
