Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES / Bibliography: leaves 226-229. / by Karuvannur Puthanveettil Mohanan. / Ph.D.

In this thesis I investigate the crucial role played by government in phonology in explaining various processes such as epenthesis, vowel deletion, vowel harmony, consonant assimilation, as well as the syllabification of skeletal points along with their segments into constituents, and the organization of these constituents in the word. It is argued that all these phonological processes are determined by governing relations units contract with each other. / Given that government applies in phonology defining the constraints under which it operates is an integral part of such a research program. The aim of this thesis then, is to analyze different phonological processes in terms of government and to determine what the relevant constraints are. The processes that are considered involve governing relations between nuclei that are adjacent at the level of nuclear projection. I show that in considering branching constituents as governing domains, government within such domains is subject to a special constraint, viz. the Minimality Condition that has been proposed by Chomsky (1986). In addition I demonstrate that only the immediate projection of a given head counts as a barrier to government from the outside. / Another proposal of this thesis concerns the treatment of the alternations between schwa and zero in French in terms of a relation of proper government. From such a perspective, I show that an empty nucleus is realized as zero when it is properly governed by a following nucleus. Proper government is a stronger case of government and is subject to certain additional conditions. Among them are the following: the proper governor must have phonetic content and subject to parametric variation, it can only properly govern one empty governee.

This investigation was motivated by the growing dissatisfaction with the inconsistent use of empirical methodology in transformational generative phonology (TGP) and by the resulting limited value which TGP has for other scientific fields of study. The investigation is concerned with judging a particular experimental paradigm for its validity as a confirmation/disconfirmation procedure with the intention of consequently confirming or disconfirming the psychological reality of certain phonological rules. As revealed in the review of the relevant literature, one could justify the violation of TGP's ideal speaker-listener framework—which would result from testing some of TGP1s hypotheses—by using real speaker-listeners. Previous testing for the use of certain of Chomsky and Halle's (1968) phonological rules has raised doubts about the validity of claims concerning these rules' psychological reality. The method used in the present study consisted of requiring subjects to derive and pronounce novel words (without the use of pencil and paper) from existing English stem-words and suffixes aurally presented to them. One group of subjects was exposed to existing English derivations which exemplified sound patterns accounted for by Chomsky and Halle through the rules under investigation. This group was also exposed to example derivations which showed no phonetic change. A second group of subjects were exposed only to examples showing no phonetic change. Analysis of the results show, first (with respect to the present experiment's design), that the distribution of the number of predicted responses (i.e. the responses predicted by the rules under investigation) in each group of subjects is very similar. It is concluded that each group showed a similar ability in performing the novel derivation task and that the subjects were representative samples of the population under study. The greater occurrence of predicted sound patterns in the responses of the first group of subjects is attributed to that group's exposure to example derivations showing predicted phonetic changes. The overall production of predicted sound patterns in each group cannot be attributed to just a few subjects. A trend appears in which stem-suffix sets which were most often involved in given predicted phonetic changes were the same in both groups' responses. Conclusions are also drawn with respect to the validity of the experimental paradigm as a valid procedure for confirming or disconfirming the phonological rules in question. First, the logical argument which uses the positive consequences of an hypothesis, known as "the fallacy of affirming the consequent," is invalid. Thus, none of the various possible strategies of sound pattern production which were considered (in order to account for subjects' responses) could be affirmed. Secondly, a valid argument of the type modus tollens can be used when the consequences of an hypothesis are negative. The valid conclusion permitted by this argument is the disconfirmation of the hypothesis. Some of the problems encountered with this argument are discussed: (a) it is impossible to determine the exact number of times that an hypothesis is disconfirmed in a set of data in which some of the data consist of positive consequences; (b) the argument must be carefully quantified in order to permit valid conclusions to be drawn from data that is derived from real (i.e. non-idealized) conditions of the world; and (c) there exists no criterion frequency of (non-)use for the (dis)confirmation of the 'psychological reality of a phonological rule'. If it were possible to explicitly specify the extension of a rule's use, such a criterion frequency of a rule's (non-)use might be well motivated. In its absence, the psychological reality of phonological rules could not even be disconfirmed in this study. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

No description available.

by Pun Shiu Kau. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves 92-98. / LIST OF TABLES --- p.i / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.iii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- THE PROBLEM --- p.1 / Background --- p.1 / Purpose of the Study --- p.3 / Significance of the Study --- p.3 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE --- p.4 / Cognition and Metacognition --- p.4 / Metalinguistic Awareness --- p.5 / Linguistic and metalinguistic awareness --- p.5 / Types of metalinguistic awareness --- p.6 / Metalinguistic awareness of cognitive development --- p.7 / Awareness in Speech Segmentation --- p.10 / Segmentation of speech sound --- p.10 / Development of segmental abilities --- p.11 / Perception of Speech Sounds --- p.14 / Acoustic-phonetic relationship --- p.14 / Perception of vowels --- p.15 / Perception of consonants --- p.15 / Categorical perception --- p.19 / Perceptual unit in speech perception --- p.20 / Perception of Written Language --- p.23 / Comparison between listening and speaking --- p.23 / Perceptual unit in reading --- p.24 / Writing Systems --- p.28 / Variety and universality of writing systems --- p.28 / Psychological characterization of orthographies --- p.30 / The psychology of reading Chinese --- p.35 / Phonemic Segmental Awareness and Reading Acquisition --- p.39 / Phenemic segmental awareness in relation to reading acquisition --- p.39 / Effect of phonemic segmental awareness on reading acquisition --- p.43 / Effect of literacy on phonemic segmental awareness --- p.45 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHOD --- p.47 / Hypothesis --- p.47 / Subjects --- p.48 / Instruments --- p.49 / Research Design --- p.54 / Procedure --- p.59 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- RESULTS --- p.62 / Academic Results --- p.62 / Intelligence --- p.64 / English Spelling-sound Proficiency --- p.64 / Chinese Task 1 ： Classifying Character Sounds --- p.65 / Chinese Task 2 ： Fanqie - Manipulation of Chinese Phonemes --- p.67 / Relations between Intelligence and Phonemic Segmental Awareness --- p.70 / Relations between English Spelling-sound Proficiency and Academic Results --- p.71 / Relations between Chinese Phonemic Awareness and Academic Results --- p.73 / Relations between English Spelling-sound Proficiency and Chinese Phonemic Awareness --- p.74 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- "DISCUSSION, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION" --- p.79 / Discussion --- p.79 / "Academic results, sex, intelligence and phonemic awareness" --- p.79 / Proficiency in English spelling-sound rules --- p.80 / Chinese phonemic segmental awareness --- p.81 / Relations between proficiency in English spelling-sound rules and academic results --- p.83 / Relations between Chinese phonemic segmental awareness and proficiency in English spelling-sound rules --- p.84 / Summary --- p.88 / Conclusion --- p.90 / REFERENCES --- p.92 / APPENDICES --- p.99

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 333-339. / by Bruce Philip Hayes. / Ph.D.

Phonological phenomena related to the syllable are often analysed either in terms of the constituents defined in the Onset-Rhyme Model; or in terms of moras after the Moraic Theory. Even as arguments supporting one of these theoretical models over the other continue to be unfurled, the Moraic Theory has gained significant currency in recent years. Situated in the foregoing theoretical climate, this dissertation argues that a full-fledged model of the syllable must incorporate the insights accruing from both constituents and moras. The result is the Mora-Constituency Interface model (MCI). Syllable-internal structure as envisioned in MCI manifests in a Constituency Dimension as well as a Moraic Dimension. The dimensions interface with each other through segment-melody complexes, whose melodic content is associated with the Constituency Dimension and whose segmental (i.e. X-slot) component belongs to the Moraic Dimension. The Constituency Dimension and the Moraic Dimension are both thus necessary even to represent the atomic distinction between segments and melodies in a typical syllable. In terms of its architecture, the Constituency Dimension in MCI is formally identical to the Onset-Rhyme Model and encompasses the Onset, the Nucleus and the Coda, with which melodies are associated. The Nucleus and Coda together constitute the Rhyme. In the Moraic Dimension, moras are assigned to segments on universal, language-specific or contextual grounds. From a functional perspective, the Moraic Dimension is where the metrical relevance of segment-melody complexes is encoded (as moras), while feature-based information pertaining to them is structured in the Constituency Dimension. The independent functional justification for both the dimensions in MCI predicts that segment-melody complexes, though typically split across the dimensions as segments and melodies, may also be associated entirely with the Constituency Dimension or with the Moraic Dimension of a syllable. The former possibility finds empirical expression in extrametrical consonants, and the latter in moraic ambisyllabic consonants. Analogously, a syllable itself may have either just the Constituency Dimension (e.g. extrametrical syllables) or just the Moraic Dimension (e.g. catalectic syllables). The prosodic object called the syllable is thus a composite formal entity tailored from the constituent-syllable (C-s) and the moraic-syllable (M-s).While MCI is thus essentially a model of syllable-internal structure, it also exerts some influence on prosodic structure beyond the syllable. For example, within MCI, feet can be directly constructed from moras, even in languages whose metrical systems are traditionally thought of as being insensitive to mora count. The upshot is that a fully moraic universal foot inventory is possible under MCI.That MCI has implications for the organisation of elements within (segment-melody complexes) and outside (feet) the syllable suggests that the model has the potential to be a general theory of prosodic structure. The model is also on solid cross-linguistic ground, as evidenced by the support it receives from different languages. Those languages include but are not restricted to Kwakwala, Chugach Yupik, Hixkaryana, Paumari, Leti, Pattani Malay, Cantonese, Tamil and English. Keywords: Syllables, constituents, moras, segments, melodies.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics. / Bibliography: leaves 169-180. / Ph.D.

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.