Indonesian + Taiwanese — Ind2 : 609
S1 = Taiwanese female
S2 = Indonesian male
Context: S2 is discussing where his children are and what they are doing.
S2 : ... the oldest one er in er (.) what do you call canada actually
S1 : study?
S2 : yeah er after completing master then now work (.) so meaning it’s @ it’s very difficult too @ ...
Intended Word: now
Heard as: no (now)
Discussion: S1 was uncertain whether this was no or now. She wrote no first, followed by now in brackets, to reflect her uncertainty.
It is possible that the absence of an -s suffix on work, to reflect the 3rd person singular subject, contributed to this misunderstanding. Or perhaps one could say the absence of progressive aspect on the verb might be a factor: one might expect the sentence to be 'the oldest one is now working'.