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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study intends to describe and explain syllable structure processes in Northern Sotho. It deals with phonological processes such as vowel deletion, semivocalization and semivowel insertion. The major aim of these processes is to restore the preferred ICVI syllable structure which has been violated by morphological processes such as passive, diminutive, the construction of absolute pronouns, etc. Two phonological models are applied with the intention to determine the one that presents the most credible explanation for the phenomenon at hand. The two models employed are, respectively, the Transformational (TG) and Feature Geometry (FG) models. It appears that Feature Geometry model yields better results in the description of syllable structure processes in Northern Sotho. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie beskryf en verklaar sillabestruktuur prosesse in Noord-Sotho. Die tersaaklike fonologiese prosesse is vokaaldelesie, semivokalisasie en semivokaalinvoeging. Die doel van hierdie prosesse is om "n bepaalde voorkeursillabestruktuur IKVI te herstel wat versteur word deur morfologiese prosesse met die vorming van die passief, diminutief, die konstruksie van absolute voornaamwoorde ensovoorts. Twee fonologiese modelle word geïmplementeer ten einde te bepaal welke model die mees geloofwaardige verklarings vir die betrokke verskynsels kan bied. Die Transformasioneel-Generatiewe (TG) en Kenmerk Geometriese(KG) modelle word respektiewelik toegepas. Dit skyn asof die Kenmerk Geometriese model beter resultate lewer in die beskrywing van sillabestruktuurprosesse in Noord-Sotho.

Desde os primeiros trabalhos lingüísticos efetuados sobre o quimbundo, língua banta H20 na classificação de Guthrie (1948), nota-se uma ausência de informações detalhadas e confiáveis a respeito de elementos sua estrutura prosódica e de sua fonologia como um todo. Essa lacuna me instigou a realizar, seguindo o quadro de pesquisas sobre as línguas africanas estabelecido pelo Departamento de Lingüística da Universidade de São Paulo, um estudo descritivo da fonologia segmental e supra-segmental do quimbundo, cujos resultados se organizam nesta tese de doutorado. O presente trabalho, tomando como base de investigação quatro variedades regionais representadas por cinco falantes nativos do quimbundo, abrange, no bojo da descrição lingüística, fenômenos verificáveis na estrutura segmental e prosódica da língua, tais como a harmonia vocálica, alterações de natureza fonética na configuração da estrutura silábica, casos de mudança de timbre vocálico, apagamento de segmentos, direção e extensão do espraiamento de traços consonantais e de tons fonológicos. Finalmente, a observação e a análise do fenômeno de sândi ao nível dos suprasegmentos permitem afirmar que o quimbundo utiliza variações de altura com valor distintivo apenas numa perspectiva paradigmática, o que comprova, portanto, seu estatuto de língua tonal. Acredito que a descrição aqui realizada é uma forma de lançar visibilidade ao quimbundo nas pesquisas sobre as línguas africanas e de atualizar as perspectivas de estudo da língua dentro das teorias lingüísticas. / From the first linguistic works on Kimbundu, a Bantu language coded as H20 according to Guthries zone classification (1948), there has been a lack of detailed and reliable information about the elements comprising its prosodic structure, and its phonology altogether. This gap has instigated my conducting a detailed description of both segmental and prosodic phonology of Kimbundu within the research framework for African languages set forth by the Linguistics Department of the University of São Paulo, and whose results make up this Ph.D. dissertation. Based on four regiolects represented by five native Kimbundu speakers, this descriptive study covers phenomena which can be found in the segmental and prosodic structure of this language, such as vowel harmony, phonetic alternations in the setup of the syllable structure, vowel quality changes, segment deletion, and the direction and range of consonantal feature and phonological tone spreading. Finally, the study of prosodic sandhi corroborates that Kimbundu makes use of different distinctive pitches only on a paradigmatic perspective, which proves true the claim that this is a tonal language. I strongly believe that this description work can be used to shed light upon Kimbundu on further research on African languages, in addition to updating the prospect studies of this language within linguistic theories.

In this thesis, I investigate a decades-old problem found in the stop system of Proto-Indo-European (PIE). More specifically, I will be investigating the paucity of */b/ in the forms reconstructed for the ancient, hypothetical language. As cross-linguistic evidence and phonological theory alone have fallen short of providing a satisfactory answer, herein will I employ modern empirical methods of linguistic investigation, namely laboratory phonology experiments and computational database analysis. Following Byrd 2015, I advocate for an examination of synchronic phenomena and behavior as a method for investigating diachronic change. In Chapter 1, I present an overview of the various proposed phonological systems of PIE and some of the explanations previously given for the enigmatic rarity of PIE */b/. Chapter 2 presents a detailed account of three lab phonology experiments I conducted in order to investigate perceptual confusability as a motivator of asymmetric merger within a system of stop consonants. Chapter 3 presents the preliminary form and findings of a computational database of reconstructed forms in PIE that I created and have named the Database of Etymological Reconstructions Beginnning in Proto-Indo-European (DERBiPIE). The final chapter, Chapter 4, offers a summary of the work presented herein and conclusions that may be drawn, offering suggestions for continued work on the topic and others like it.

This thesis investigates issues of intelligibility through the lens and focus of prosody when the Bostonian and Los Angeles-based accents are heard in casually occurring conversation by native and non-native speakers. Over the spring and summer of 2017, six native speakers and 11 non-native speakers of English were interviewed from having listened to two 2.5 minute audio sample clips of speakers who have these accents. Respondents were asked questions such as what was difficult or easy or whether they could summarize the recordings for me. Findings indicate that while the native speakers often had difficulty with vocabulary due to context, non-native English speakers frequently found the same recordings to sound continuous, blended or merged together when the Boston and Los Angeles audios were played to them. Native English speakers, by contrast, did not seem to face the same prosodic challenges of intelligibility as their non-native English-speaking counterparts when these two accents were heard in informal conversation. It has been found that L2 learners have a strong desire to learn English from their teachers through more naturally or informally occurring conversation. The argument is made that the teaching, practice and engagement of informal conversation is woefully inadequate for non-native speakers of English. Within this thesis the core subsets of the perceptions of prosody are analyzed between native and non-native speakers of English. The purpose of doing so is to pedagogically improve learning in EFL and ESL contexts.

Desde os primeiros trabalhos lingüísticos efetuados sobre o quimbundo, língua banta H20 na classificação de Guthrie (1948), nota-se uma ausência de informações detalhadas e confiáveis a respeito de elementos sua estrutura prosódica e de sua fonologia como um todo. Essa lacuna me instigou a realizar, seguindo o quadro de pesquisas sobre as línguas africanas estabelecido pelo Departamento de Lingüística da Universidade de São Paulo, um estudo descritivo da fonologia segmental e supra-segmental do quimbundo, cujos resultados se organizam nesta tese de doutorado. O presente trabalho, tomando como base de investigação quatro variedades regionais representadas por cinco falantes nativos do quimbundo, abrange, no bojo da descrição lingüística, fenômenos verificáveis na estrutura segmental e prosódica da língua, tais como a harmonia vocálica, alterações de natureza fonética na configuração da estrutura silábica, casos de mudança de timbre vocálico, apagamento de segmentos, direção e extensão do espraiamento de traços consonantais e de tons fonológicos. Finalmente, a observação e a análise do fenômeno de sândi ao nível dos suprasegmentos permitem afirmar que o quimbundo utiliza variações de altura com valor distintivo apenas numa perspectiva paradigmática, o que comprova, portanto, seu estatuto de língua tonal. Acredito que a descrição aqui realizada é uma forma de lançar visibilidade ao quimbundo nas pesquisas sobre as línguas africanas e de atualizar as perspectivas de estudo da língua dentro das teorias lingüísticas. / From the first linguistic works on Kimbundu, a Bantu language coded as H20 according to Guthries zone classification (1948), there has been a lack of detailed and reliable information about the elements comprising its prosodic structure, and its phonology altogether. This gap has instigated my conducting a detailed description of both segmental and prosodic phonology of Kimbundu within the research framework for African languages set forth by the Linguistics Department of the University of São Paulo, and whose results make up this Ph.D. dissertation. Based on four regiolects represented by five native Kimbundu speakers, this descriptive study covers phenomena which can be found in the segmental and prosodic structure of this language, such as vowel harmony, phonetic alternations in the setup of the syllable structure, vowel quality changes, segment deletion, and the direction and range of consonantal feature and phonological tone spreading. Finally, the study of prosodic sandhi corroborates that Kimbundu makes use of different distinctive pitches only on a paradigmatic perspective, which proves true the claim that this is a tonal language. I strongly believe that this description work can be used to shed light upon Kimbundu on further research on African languages, in addition to updating the prospect studies of this language within linguistic theories.

Orientador: Eleonora Cavalcante Albano / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T00:01:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Meneses_Francisco_M.pdf: 3600241 bytes, checksum: 3773bdafbef97346d85bb068f8bd4a65 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Este trabalho examina o processo de produção de vogais desvozeadas no português brasileiro (doravante PB). O objetivo é, a partir de uma visão de cunho dinâmico, mostrar que há, no sinal das chamadas sílabas desvozeadas, rastros da vogal que impossibilitam uma hipótese de síncope vocálica. Além disso, busca-se uma síntese teórica das pistas acústicas encontradas a fim de relacioná-las à articulação das vogais desvozeadas. Para tanto, uma análise acústico-articulatória foi realizada a partir da gravação da leitura de frases-veículos. As leituras das frases foram realizadas por seis sujeitos do sexo feminino, naturais de Vitória da Conquista - BA, sem queixas de fala ou audição. As gravações foram realizadas em uma cabine acústica, por meio de gravador digital. A análise instrumental foi realizada por meio do software PRAAT. Foram obtidas as medidas de duração da sílaba e do ruído fricativo, as medidas do centroide do ruído e os valores da Razão de centralização formântica (doravante FCR) e a Área de espaço vocálico (doravante VSA) das vogais em contexto de desvozeamento. Os resultados encontrados mostram que há um gradiente de desvozeamento manifestado de três maneiras: as medidas de duração, assim como as medidas do primeiro momento espectral, mostraram que pistas remanescentes do gesto vocálico permanecem no ruído das fricativas; os dados de FCR e VSA mostram que as vogais sofrem uma grande redução da magnitude em contexto de desvozeamento. Os resultados apontam para um efeito de sobreposição de gestos, em detrimento de uma síncope vocálica. Essa hipótese não caberia em descrições fonológicas tradicionais, as quais, em geral, lidam com operações simbólicas. O fenômeno em estudo pode, então, ser iluminado pela Fonologia Gestual (BROWMAN E GOLDSTEIN, 1992; BALL E KENT, 1997; ALBANO, 2001), a qual, em relação à representação tradicional, é capaz de expressar realizações gradientes, pois incorpora com sucesso os fatores tempo e magnitude, diretamente relacionados à ideia de movimento dos articuladores / Abstract: This paper examines the production of devoiced vowels in Brazilian Portuguese. The goal is to depart from a dynamic view to show that there are vowel traces in the signal of devoiced syllables, a fact which weakens the hypothesis of vowel syncope. In addition, we seek a theoretical synthesis of the acoustic cues found in order to relate them to devoiced vowel articulation. To this end, an acoustic-articulatory analysis was performed from the recording of read carrier sentences. The sentences were read by six female subjects, from Vitória da Conquista - BA, without speech or hearing problems. The recordings were performed in an acoustic booth, using a digital recorder. The instrumental analysis was performed using the PRAAT software. The following measurements were made: the duration of the syllable and its fricative noise, the centroid of the noise and the values of formant centralization ratio (FCR) and vowel space area (VSA) of vowels in devoicing context. The results show that there is gradient devoicing manifested in three ways: both the duration measurements and the first spectral moment measures showed that the vowel gesture cues remain in fricative noise signal; FCR and VSA data show that vowels undergo great magnitude reduction in the devoicing context. The results indicate an effect of overlapping gestures, rather than vowel syncope. This hypothesis would not fit into traditional phonological descriptions, which usually deal with symbolic operations. The phenomenon under study can thus then be illuminated by Gestural Phonology (BROWMAN AND GOLDSTEIN, 1992; BALL AND KENT, 1997; ALBANO, 2001), which, as opposed to traditional representation, is able to express gradients, as it incorporates successfully the factors of timing and magnitude, directly related to the idea of articulator movement / Mestrado / Linguistica / Mestre em Linguística

Orientador: Maria Bernadete Marques Abaurre / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-02T07:02:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Salanova_AndresPablo_M.pdf: 3940770 bytes, checksum: 82053ae7e623981dda7134b816553fb4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001 / Resumo: Esta tese tem uma dupla finalidade. Em primeiro lugar, ela se propõe a descrição dos sistemas fonológicos de duas línguas Jê setentrionais bastante próximas entre si: Mebengokre (língua das nações Xikrin e Kayapó) e Apinayé (língua da nação homônima). Em segundo, propõe-se a discutir de maneira critica a própria noção de sistema fonológico, mostrando como certos fatos que nos estudos descritivos são normalmente tratados como "processos fonológicos" divorciados do sistema (pensado às vezes como mero inventário), dizem respeito às oposições constitutivas do sistema fonológico. Para exemplificar estas idéias, nos detemos em certos processos que envolvem nasalidade e vozeamento nestas línguas. Uma das diferenças mais nítidas entre a fonologia do Mebengokre e a do Apinayé diz respeito ao comportamento das consoantes "nasais": no primeiro sistema, as consoantes nasais contrastam claramente com oclusivas sonoras. Em Apinayé, ao contrário, consoantes plenamente nasais e consoantes oclusivas sonoras com contornos nasalizados estão em distribuição complementar. Em um primeiro momento, argumentamos que representar as consoantes de contorno como tendo especificação de [nasal] nos leva a certos constrangimentos (a nasalidade teria, nestes segmentos, comportamento absolutamente "passivo", recuando inclusive diante de [-nasal], e por isso optamos por uma representação na qual a nasalidade pode ser um epifenômeno da implementação do vozeamento soante. Alguns fatos do Apinayé, no entanto, sugerem que, pelo menos os segmentos de coda não podem ser caracterizados simplesmente como "soantes não especificados para nasalidade": um destes fatos é a permanência de uma transição nasal breve entre segmentos orais após o desligamento de uma destas consoantes. Esta tese dá continuidade a algumas das reflexões colocadas por primeira vez em D'Angelis (1998) em relação a outras línguas do tronco Macro-Jê. A discussão sobre a noção de sistema fonológico se inspira no estruturalismo do Círculo Lingüístico de Praga; desenvolvimentos posteriores são pensados sempre à luz das intuições de Trubetzkoy (1939). Entre as reflexões mais recentes em tomo da representação das nasais, levamos em conta aqui principalmente os trabalhos de SteIiade (1993) e Piggott (1992) / Abstract: This thesis has a double purpose. In the first place, it endeavors to describe the phonological systems of two closely related Norther Jê languages: Mebengokre (the language of the Kayapó and Xikrin nations), and Apinayé (the language of the homonymous nation). In the second place, it intends to discuss ritically the notion of phonological system, showing the way in which certain facts that are normally treated in descriptive studies as "phonological processes", divorced from the system (which is often thought of as a mere inventory) , are directly relevant to the oppositions that constitute the phonological system. To exemplify these ideas, we devote our attention to certain processes that involve nasality and voicing in these two languages. Une of the clearest differences between the phonology of Mebengokre and Apinayé regards the behavior of so-called "nasal" consonants: in the first system, nasal consonants clearly contrast with voiced stops. In Apinayé, on the other hand, fully nasal consonants and voiced stops with nasalized contours are in complementary distribution. We argue initially that to represent the contour segments as being specified for the feature [nasal] leads us to an untenable situation: nasality would exhibit, in these segments, a completely passive behavior, retreating even next to [-nasal]; for this reason we opt for a representation in which. nasality could be thought of as an epiphenomenon of the implementation of sonorant voicing. Some facts of the Apinayé language nevertheless suggest that at least coda segments cannot be characterized simply as "sonorants unspecified for nasality": one of these facts is the permanence of a brief nasal transition between oral segments after the delinking of one of these coda consonants. This thesis takes up some ofthe points initially raised by D'Angelis (1998) in relation to other languages in the Macro-Jê stock. The discussion about the notion of phonological system is mainly inspired in the structuralist paradigm of the Prague Linguistic Circle; later developments are always put thought in the light ofTrubetzkoy's (1939) intuitions. Among the more recent reflections regarding the representation of nasals, we here take into account mainly the works of Steriade (1993) and Piggott (1992) / Mestrado / Mestre em Linguística

Le bribri est une langue chibcha parlée au Costa Rica (Amérique Centrale). Les langues chibcha représentent la principale famille de l’Aire Intermédiaire (Constenla 1991), qui relie la Mesoamérique aux zones amazonienne et andine. Ce sont cependant toutes des langues en danger, encore relativement peu décrites.Cette thèse est une analyse de la phonologie du bribri (Schlabach 1974 ; Wilson 1974 ; Constenla 1981 ; Jara 2004), problématisée autour de ses caractéristiques typologiques :(i) Le système nasal : le bribri fait partie des rares langues du monde dans lesquelles la nasalité n’est pas distinctive pour les consonnes. Les consonnes nasales présentes dans l’output sont le résultat d’harmonies nasales (Cohn 1993 ; Walker 1998, 2001) et d’hypervoisement par abaissement du voile du palais (Iverson & Salmons 1996 ; Solé 2009). Alors que le premier processus avait en partie été décrit pour le bribri (Wilson 1970 ; Constenla 1982, 1985 ; Tohsaku 1987), le second n’avait pas encore été identifié.(ii) La consonne /tk/ : une unité distinctive, combinant deux lieux, sans pour autant être une consonne doublement articulée, contrairement à ce qui avait précédemment été décrit (Lehmann 1920 ; Schlabach 1974 ; Wilson 1974 ; Constenla 1981 ; Jara 2004). Je propose de l’analyser comme une géminée modulée (contour segment, Sagey 1990).La présente étude s’inscrit dans la lignée des travaux qui considèrent que les structures phonologiques doivent être expliquées par des contraintes phonétiques, comme les travaux précurseurs d’Ohala (1975, 1981, 1983). J’utilise plus particulièrement le modèle de la Phonologie Articulatoire (Browman & Goldstein 1986, 1989). Les analyses s’appuient sur des données acoustiques, récoltées dans deux communautés bribri entre 2012 et 2014 (Bajo Coen - Coroma et Amubre).En plus d’une démarche typologique et phonétique, j’adopte une approche dialectale et diachronique, afin de mieux appréhender le système phonologique de la langue. / Bribri is a Chibchan language spoken in Costa Rica (Central America). Chibchan languages form the main family of the Intermediate Area (Constenla 1991), which links Mesoamerica to the Amazonian and the Andean regions. All of them are endangered and are still under described.This dissertation provides an analysis of Bribri phonology (Schlabach 1974; Wilson 1974; Constenla 1981; Jara 2004) problematized according to its typological characteristics:(i) The nasal system: Bribri is among the few languages in the world to lack distinctive nasal consonants. The nasal consonants present in the output result from nasal harmony (Cohn 1993; Walker 1998, 2001) and hypervoicing through velopharyngeal opening (Iverson & Salmons 1996; Solé 2009). While the first process has been partially described for Bribri (Wilson 1970; Constenla 1982, 1985; Tohsaku 1987), the second has not been individuated in the language.(ii) The consonant /tk/: the consonant /tk/ is a distinctive unit which combines two places of articulation. Contrary to what has been previously described (Lehmann 1920; Schlabach 1974; Wilson 1974; Constenla 1981; Jara 2004), it is not a doubly articulated consonant. I propose to analyse it as a contour geminate consonant (based on the concept of contour segment, Sagey 1990).Following Ohala’s pioneering work (1975, 1981, 1983), this work is based on the assumption that phonological structures must be explained by phonetic constraints. More specifically, I use the Articulatory Phonology frame (Browman & Goldstein 1986, 1989). The analysis is based on acoustic data collected among two Bribri communities, between 2012 and 2014 (Bajo Coen - Coroma and Amubre).Along the typological and phonetic approach, I have adopted a dialectal and diachronical point of view to better capture the phonological system of the language.