Slightly rev. version of the author's Thesis (doctoral--Hamburg Universität, 2000). / Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-208) and index.

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Palatalization refers to a type of coarticulation in which the place of articulation of some sound is closer to the palate than otherwise expected, very often triggered by adjacent palatal segments. It has been known as one of the most dynamic phonological phenomena in phonetic and phonological research, but the articulatory nature of palatalization still merits further investigation. This dissertation investigates the articulatory patterns of palatalization in Korean, English, and Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), all of which are typologically distinct from one another and exhibit both language-universal and language-specific palatalization processes. The main question asked in this dissertation is which articulatory properties of palatalization are universal across languages, and specific to languages or to individuals. Three production experiments using ultrasound imaging technology were conducted to capture tongue gestures of speakers from three different language groups. The results from 30 speakers in the three language groups show that both phonemic and phonetic plain vs. palatalized differences manifest gesturally. Furthermore, the results show that there is a significant amount of articulatory variability across languages and speakers, yielding no clear universal "palatal" gesture, but some articulatory strategies seem to be shared by speakers from different languages. The theoretical and empirical implications of the findings are discussed.

This study investigates phonetic and phonological factors which influence the degree of vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Korean and English, especially around palatalization rules. Two phonetic factors and two phonological factors were examined in investigating the degree of anticipatory or carryover coarticulation in VCV sequences. The phonetic factors were the intervening consonants (alveolar stop vs. (alveo)palatals), and the second vowels (/i/ vs. /a/); the phonological factors were the effect of palatalization, and the lexical status of palatalization (lexical vs. postlexical palatalization). Ultrasound imaging techniques and F2 measurements are employed to see how much further front the articulation of V1 in V1CV2 sequences is due to influence of V2 across the consonants. Ultrasound images of vowels and their F2 values were quantified and statistically analyzed with ANOVA.First, it was found that V1 in V1CV2 sequences in Korean was articulated further front when intervening consonants were palatals than when they were alveolars, while there was no difference in frontness of V1 between two consonantal conditions in English. This indicates that Korean palatals are a stronger barrier to vowel-to-vowel coarticulation, while English alveopalatals are not. Next, V1 in both languages was articulated further front when V2 was /i/ than when V2 was /a/. Third, we had striking findings that palatalization rules caused stronger vowel-to-vowel coarticulation than in nonpalatalized words. Results showed that V1s were articulated further front across derived palatals than across underlying palatals in V1Ci sequences. Last, it was determined that V2 was articulated further front in words which underwent postlexical palatalization than in words which underwent lexical palatalization. Such findings indicate that postlexical palatalization causes greater gestural overlap than lexical palatalization, showing stronger degree of coarticulation.Based on the experimental results that phonetic details such as the degree of vowel-to-vowel coarticulation are highly conditioned by the lexical status of palatalization as well as the application of palatalization, I suggest a unified model of phonology and phonetics, using feature-and-gesture based OT frameworks. Second, I follow the proposal that abstract intergestural timing relations should be incorporated into phonological representations either in the input or output (Cho 1998, Gafos 2002, Yun 2005b).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-11T13:41:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final Francinery.pdf: 1564197 bytes, checksum: 47624b983ddf0e9f58647d1315e3c4ee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-12-15 / FAPEAM - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas / The present study is to record aspects of the Amazon speak from the analysis of palatal phonemes /λ/ and /ҁ/, in the municipalities of Itapiranga and Silves (part of the Middle Amazonas), based on the methodology of sociolinguistics and geolinguistic. The investigation has been on the spot from the application of a questionnaire and direct through conversations, with the use of a recorder. The data was be transcribed phonetically and records examined by letters in language. Was be selected six (6) informants in each city, a total of twelve (12), being a man and a woman in the age groups 18 to 35 years, 36 to 55 and 56 onwards, with education only up to the 4th. primary school, according to the criteria geolinguistic and sociolinguistic. By observing the use of these variants occur with the behavior of these phonemes within these language communities. / A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo registrar aspectos do falar amazônico a partir da análise dos fonemas palatais /λ/ e /ҁ/, nos municípios de Itapiranga e Silves (parte do Médio Amazonas), com base na metodologia da Sociolinguística e da Geolinguística. A investigação deu-se in loco, a partir da aplicação de um questionário direto e por meio de conversação livre, com a utilização de um gravador. Os dados foram transcritos foneticamente e examinados através de registros em cartas lingüísticas. Foram selecionados seis (6) informantes em cada município, num total de doze (12), sendo um homem e uma mulher nas faixas etárias de 18 a 35 anos, 36 a 55 anos e 56 em diante, com escolaridade máxima até a 4ª. série do Ensino Fundamental, conforme os critérios geolinguisticos e sociolinguísticos. Através da observação do emprego dessas variantes, verificou-se o comportamento desses fonemas dentro das comunidades lingüísticas em foco.

The present investigation examines the process of velar palatalization, a feature of Catalan, as seen in the Catalan and in the Spanish of the bilingual speech community of Majorca, Spain. Velar palatalization involves a change in a velar consonant’s place of articulation from velar to palatal; that is, /k, g/ acquire a secondary palatal articulation or acquire a completely new place of articulation. Velar palatalization usually occurs before /i, e, ɛ/ due to coarticulation. Some languages, however, also present this feature before /a, ə/ and word-finally. This is the case of certain dialects of Majorcan Catalan. Traditional descriptions have observed (a) the presence of velar palatalization before front vowels in all dialects of Majorcan Catalan (non-palatalizing area), and (b) the presence of velar palatalization also before /a, ə/, and word-finally only in certain areas of Majorca (palatalizing area). The aims of this dissertation are threefold. The first aim is to provide acoustic data for /k/ in the Catalan spoken in the traditionally palatalizing area, taking as an example the dialect of Manacor, a town of 43,000 inhabitants on the southeastern area of Majorca; and in the Catalan spoken in the non-palatalizing area, taking as an example the dialect of Artà, a town of 7,400 inhabitants on the northeastern coast of Majorca. Providing acoustic data for this contrast is relevant because it has only been documented through descriptive observations. Secondly, my dissertation analyzes vowel /a/ in the Catalan spoken in the two areas. It has been suggested that velar palatalization before /a/ can occur in languages in which /a/ is especially fronted (e.g. French). A comparison of /a/ production from both areas can provide clues regarding the relationship between the process of /k/ palatalization and /a/ fronting (i.e., if /a/ is equally fronted for both areas but there is a palatalization distinction, this could be interpreted as evidence that /a/-fronting triggered /k/-palatalization for the palatalizing area). The third aim of this dissertation is related to societal bilingualism. In situations of language contact, it is not unusual for cross-linguistic transfer to occur; that is, it is common for a bilingual’s language A to affect the perception and production of this bilingual’s language B speech sounds. In particular, this dissertation examines whether velar palatalization, for the individuals that prove to manifest it in their Catalan, is transferred from their first to their second language. The results suggest, first, that there exists, in fact, a difference in the distribution of the process of velar palatalization between the two communities and, importantly, that the process of velar palatalization has been phonologized for the speakers of the palatalizing area. Secondly, the findings suggest that the processes of velar palatalization and /a/-fronting might have stemmed from a relationship of mutual influence in its inception. Finally, there is no evidence of phonological transfer of the process of velar palatalization from dominant to non-dominant speech. The implications of these findings to theories of phonologization as well as of consecutive bilingualism are discussed.

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In various post-consonantal environments, the palatal glide /j/ has been subject to variation and change since the late 17th century. Retention, coalescence, and deletion of the glide respectively account for various pronunciations of the word due [dju:], [dʒu:], and [du:] in different dialects of English. Research in this area has often focused on internal motivations. However, the external motivations that regulate the practice of glide variants in the speech of different segments of communities have been a relatively recent area of investigation. Among other dialects, Australian English is one of the major varieties that has not been formally assessed in this area. Hence, the aim of this thesis has been to investigate possible associations between the glide variants and their emergence in the speech of 48 speakers of Australian English. The audio data for this study were 12 tokens pronounced by the speakers in wordlist, sentences, and a story, and were extracted from the AusTalk Corpus (Burnham, Cox et al., 2011). The results for separate analysis of social variables seem to indicate that the spread of different glide variants in the speech of speakers are mainly conditioned by age. The combination of the social variables shows that glide retention is most frequent in the speech of higher educated old individuals. By contrast, glide deletion seems to be almost non-existent in their speech while more frequent in the pronunciations of the young. Overall, glide coalescence is the most present and has the strongest stylistic consistency in the speech of individuals. Further details and possible reasons behind these observations are discussed in the work that follows.

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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on two phonological processes occurring in Venda, i.e. on palatalization and labialization. Two phonological models are applied to describe these phenomena: a traditional (linear) phonological model, the Transformational Generative model of Chomsky and Halle (1968), and a non-linear Feature Geometry model of Clements (1985). This was done in order to ascertain which model would be more effective in its coverage of these sound changes. The core concepts of each model were described and the sound system of Venda was analysed in terms of distinctive features. The application of the two models led to the conclusion that a linearly structured model seem to be more effective to account for both these phenomena in Venda than its nonlinear counterpart. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie fokus op twee fonologiese prosesse in Venda, tewete palatalisasie en labialisasie. Twee fonologie modelle word toegepas om hierdie verskynsels mee te beskryf: 'n tradisionele liniêre model, die sg Transformasioneel Generatiewe model van Chomsky an Halle (1968), en 'n nie-liniêre model van Clements (1985). Die doel hiermee was om te bepaal welke model hierdie verskynsels die beste kan beskryf. Die hoofkomponente van elke model is vireers bespreek waarna die klanke van Venda ontleed is in terme van distinktiewe kenmerke. Uit die toepassing van die twee modelle het dit duidelik geblyk dat die liniêre model "n veel beter beskrywing moontlik maak van die verskynsels as die meer kontemporêre nie-liniêre model.