The Interlanguage Structural Conformity Hypothesis (Eckman, 1991) predicts that implicational universals influence the structuring of interlanguage phonology. Under one interpretation, L2 learners will modify more marked structures more frequently than less marked structures. This study tested that hypothesis by examining how frequently 11 young adult, native Spanish speakers modified English 2‐ and 3‐member onsets, the latter being more marked than the former. The environments before the onsets and the sonority relationships among the consonants in the onsets were strictly controlled. Results indicate that (1) 3‐member onsets were modified significantly more frequently than were 2‐member onsets; and (2) epenthesis (the primary process of modification) occurred significantly more frequently after consonants than after vowels.
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Robert S. Carlisle (1997) studied this question.