Phonotactic Constraints and English Pronunciation among Gbagyi Speakers of Nigerian English

This study investigates the influence of Gbagyi phonotactic constraints on the pronunciation of English consonant clusters among Gbagyi-English bilinguals in Niger State, Nigeria. Twenty-seven participants were purposively selected based on native Gbagyi proficiency, English as a second language, regular use of both languages, and absence of reported or observable speech, hearing, or language disorders. The study adopted a descriptive phonological design supported by acoustic analysis. Data were elicited through a controlled word list, reading passage, and semi-structured interviews, with selected tokens analysed in Praat. The findings reveal systematic vowel epenthesis in onset clusters and coda deletion in word-final clusters. Epenthesis occurred in school, speak, splash, and street, while coda deletion was frequent in hand, cold, test, text, and next. Acoustic evidence confirmed the presence of intervening vowel intervals in epenthetic forms and the loss of expected final consonantal cues in reduced forms. Within Optimality Theory, the findings suggest that markedness constraints against complex syllable structures outrank faithfulness constraints preserving English clusters. The study highlights community-specific patterns in Nigerian English pronunciation.