No description available.

The theory proposed in this thesis, Phonological Pitch, concerns the representation and behavior of the tone feature. It is a formally simple phonological theory constrained by a set of explicit extragrammatical principles. Phonological Pitch contains two major grammatical mechanisms. First, tone is represented with a single multivalued feature (Pitch) whose value can range from 1 to n, where n is a language-specific number with no universal upper limit. Second, the Contiguity Hypothesis states that tone groups in rules must always form contiguous sets, though these groups can vary from rule to rule. Phonological Pitch can be so simple because the power of the grammatical theory is constrained with independently necessary extragrammatical factors. Specifically, limits on the number of tone levels arise from learnability and perceptual constraints, which can be precisely formalized, that also play a role in nonlinguistic domains. Similarly, the Contiguity Hypothesis is derived from psychoacoustic constraints on discriminating between acoustically similar pitches. Other perceptual and physiological constraints explain patterns in the typology of contour tones and in the interactions of tone with other features. The empirical support for Phonological Pitch includes the following. First, languages are attested with as many as five distinct tone levels, and the number of languages with n tone levels gradually decreases as n increases, rather than dropping off abruptly at some point. An analysis using learnability and perceptual constraints can explain this gradual drop better than a universal grammatical upper limit. Second, tone rules can transpose sets of tones up or down by a fixed interval, a fact which is easier to formalize with a single multivalued feature than with a set of binary features. Third, tone groups do not form universal natural classes nor groups with noncontiguous tones, as other tone theories predict. Fourth, tone interacts not only with laryngeal features like voicing, but also with nonlaryngeal features like vowel height, and both the existence and relative rarity of tone-vowel height interactions imply that understanding tone interactions requires reference to extragrammatical physiological factors.

This dissertation investigates the role of grammatical versus methodological influences in the production and perception of final devoicing in experimentally-elicited speech from Russian. It addresses the question of how the partial preservation of the phonological voicing contrast in word-final obstruents is affected by (i) task-independent factors that reflect phonological and lexical properties of stimuli words (underlying voicing, word length, lexical competition) and (ii) task-dependent biases that arise due to the nature of the experimental task performed by the speaker (availability of orthographic inputs, presence of minimal pairs among the stimuli). Results of a series of acoustic production and perceptual identification tasks reveal that task-dependent factors account for the presence of robust and perceptually salient differences in the parameter of phonetic voicing. Several types of stimuli items also show limited but statistically significant differences in closure/frication duration and release duration that are independent of the presence of orthography or inclusion of full minimal pairs among test items. Taken together, these findings indicate that non-grammatical factors can play a prominent biasing role in both production and perception of the voicing contrast in experimentally-elicited speech, such that certain voicing-dependent cues are maintained only in the presence of task-dependent pressures. However, not all incompletely neutralized differences between phonologically voiced versus voiceless final obstruents can be attributed to the effects of orthography or inclusion of minimal pairs among the stimuli. In the theoretical domain, these results are argued to favour a less restrictive definition of neutralization and a model of phonology that views devoicing as a loss of the primary acoustic cue to the underlying voicing contrast rather than complete identity of the [voiced] feature.

The goal of this dissertation was to investigate experimentally the phonetic qualities of the palatalized consonants of Standard Bulgarian. The term ‘palatalized’ refers to consonants (e.g., [tʲ, dʲ]) which are articulated with a secondary palatal gesture superimposed on the primary gesture associated with their plain counterparts (e.g., [t, d]). An acoustic study investigated the claim (Horálek, 1950; Choi, 1998; Ignateva-Tsoneva, 2008) that the palatalized consonants of Standard Bulgarian have undergone depalatalization, which was defined as the decomposition of a secondary palatal [ ʲ ] gesture into a palatal glide [j]. A cross-language comparison was performed. Russian (e.g., [tʲulʲ], ‘silk net’) and British English (e.g., [tju:lip], ‘tulip’) data served as a baseline against which the Bulgarian data (e.g., [tʲul], ‘silk net’) was evaluated. Subjects’ productions of words were recorded for acoustic analyses. The F1, F2 and F3 frequencies of the critical segments were analyzed with a Smoothing Spline ANOVA (Gu, 2002). The analyses indicated that Bulgarian palatalized consonants were identical to those of the Russian palatalized consonants, but different from the consonant-palatal glide sequences of British English. It was concluded that Bulgarian palatalized consonants have not undergone depalatalization. A perception study employed two variations of the gating task (Grosjean, 1980): audio-only and audio-visual. The results of the audio-only experiment indicated that Bulgarian and Russian listeners needed only the information associated with the palatalization portion of the consonant to identify it as palatalized. Bulgarian subjects did not need the transitions with the following vowel (Tilkov, 1983) to identify a consonant as palatalized. The Russian subjects of Richey’s (2000) experiment did not need the formant transitions either to identify the secondary palatal gesture. These findings provide further evidence that the palatalized consonants of the Standard Bulgarian have not undergone depalatalization. The purpose of the audio-visual experiment was to investigate if Bulgarian and Russian listeners use visual information to identify palatalized consonants. The results from this experiment were not as clear cut as those from the audio-only experiment. Factors such as insufficient visual information at earlier gates, as well as attentional load are being considered as possible confounds. In addition, an improved methodology for an audio-visual perception study is outlined. Experimental evidence from the acoustic and perception studies points to similarities in the phonetic shape of the palatalized consonants of Bulgarian and Russian. However, the phonological distribution of these segments is very different in the respective languages. I argue against a one-to-one mapping between the phonetic and phonological representations of the Bulgarian palatalized consonants. Based on distributional evidence, I propose that at the level of phonology they consist of a sequence of /CjV/.

This thesis project examined both schwa insertion and simplification following word-final consonant clusters in a large corpus of spoken French. Two main research questions were addressed. Can a system of forced alignment reliably reproduce pronunciation judgements that closely match those of a human researcher? How do variables, such as speech style, following context, motivation for simplification and speech rate, affect the variable pronunciations of word-final consonant clusters? This project describes the creation and testing of a novel system of forced alignment capable of segmenting recorded French speech. The results of comparing the pronunciation judgements between automatic and manual methods of recognition suggest that a system of forced alignment using speaker adapted acoustic models performed better than other acoustic models; produced results that are likely to be similar to the results produced by manual identification; and that the results of forced alignment are not likely to be affected by changes in speech style or speech rate. This project also described the application of forced alignment on a corpus of natural language spoken French. The results presented in this large sample corpus analysis suggest that the dialectal differences between Québec and France are not as simple as ``simplification in Québec, schwa insertion in France". While the results presented here suggest that the process of simplification following a word-final consonant cluster is similar in both dialects, the process of schwa insertion is likely to be different in each dialect. In both dialects, word-final consonant cluster simplification is more frequent in a preconsonantal context; is most likely in a spontaneous or less formal speech style and in that speech style is positively associated with higher speaking rates. Schwa insertion following a word-final consonant cluster displays much stronger dialectal differences. Schwa insertion in the dialect from France is strongly affected by following context and possibly speech style. Schwa insertion in the dialect from Québec is not affected by following context and is strongly predicted by a lack of consonant cluster simplification.

This thesis investigates phonetic and phonological variation in the bilingual repertoire of adolescent Welsh-English bilinguals living in North Wales. It contributes to linguistic research by, firstly, providing an account of language variation in an under-studied area (N. Wales) and context (regional minority language bilingualism) and, secondly, by examining cross-linguistic variation, and the constraints on this variation, in bilingual speech. The two variables under discussion differ in how they are realised in the two languages: /l/ is thought to be heavily velarised in both languages as a result of long-term contact and phonological convergence. Variation in the production of /r/ and realisation of coda /r/ has hitherto been reported as language-specific, though frequent transfer is said to occur from Welsh to English in predominantly Welsh-speaking areas (e.g. Penhallurick 2004: 110; Wells 1982: 390).The first aim of the study is therefore to quantify claims of phonological convergence and transfer in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals by using a variationist sociolinguistics methodology (e.g. Labov 1966), which also considers the influence of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors on variation. Particular attention is paid to differences between a majority Welsh-speaking town and a town where English is the main language. A further distinction is made between those from Welsh-speaking homes and those from English-speaking homes who have acquired Welsh through immersion education. The second aim is to make empirically-informed theoretical claims about the nature of phonological convergence and transfer, and conceptualise cross-linguistic interaction in the speech of Welsh-English bilinguals in light of existing frameworks. Data (sociolinguistic interviews and wordlists) were collected in Welsh and English from 32 Welsh-English bilinguals aged 16-18. The sample was equally stratified in terms of speaker sex, home language, and area. The two towns compared in the study are Caernarfon (N.W. Wales, where c.88% of the population speak Welsh) and Mold (N.E. Wales, where c. 20% Welsh of the population speak Welsh). The results indicate that English [ɫ] tends to be lighter than Welsh [ɫ] in word-initial onset position for females, and in word-medial intervocalic position for both males and females. The data also show linguistic influences on the realisation of [ɫ] in both languages, and differences between males and females. The realisation of coda /r/ and production of [r] and [ɾ] in English are confined to the speech of those from Welsh-speaking homes in Caernarfon. In Welsh, use of [ɹ] is widespread and is constrained by a more complex interaction between area, home language, and sex. On the basis of these findings, I conclude that features which have undergone phonological convergence due to long-term language contact may be subject to language-specific constraints when implemented phonetically. In terms of transfer, I argue for a ternary distinction between interference, transfer, and transfer which is constrained by linguistic and/or extra-linguistic factors (cf. Grosjean 2012). Finally, I suggest that Mufwene’s (2001) notion of the ‘feature pool’ is the most succinct way of conceptualising Welsh-English transfer and differentiate between more focussed accents of English and a less-focussed variety of North Wales Welsh.

This thesis investigates two types of alternate languages: LUDLINGS (also known as language games, speech disguises, etc.), which involve primarily nonconcatenative morphological manipulation of their source languages, and SURROGATE LANGUAGES, which substitute alternative sound-producing mechanisms (whistling or a musical instrument) for the larynx. Chapter 2 explores the autonomy of surrogate systems in relation to both their own modalities and their source language phonologies. After presenting a formal analysis of Akan drum speech, I develop a complete model of the surrogate component. I argue that many properties which distinguish whistle surrogates from instrumental surrogates can only be attributed to the modular organization of this component. The last part of the chapter provides an inventory of the types of processes present in each module of the surrogate component. Chapter 3 presents theoretical treatments of representatives of each of the three major categories of ludlings (templatic, infixing, and reversing), beginning with the katajjait (throat games) of the Canadian Inuit. Although customarily regarded as a form of music, the katajjait are actually a well-developed form of templatic ludling. The implications of an infixing ludling in Tigrinya for tiered and planar geometry are then investigated. The chapter concludes with a detailed analysis of reversing ludlings, based on a parametrized version of the Crossing Constraint. In Chapter 4 I develop an integrated model of alternate linguistic systems, starting with an investigation of where in the grammar the ludling component is located. Drawing on data from more than fifty languages, I propose that there are three conversion modules in this component, each taking a well-defined level of representation as its input. In the last portion of the chapter I explore the possibility that one or more of these modules overlaps with the last module of the surrogate component. I conclude that the similarities exhibited by ludlings and surrogates are not due to a shared conversion module, but rather reflect the interaction of three factors: 1) the salience of certain levels of representation within the grammar; 2) general properties of the domains in which conversion takes place; and 3) membership in a common alternate linguistic component. / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation aims at constructing a description of reduplication in Old Chinese, developing a generative theory of morpho-phonological interaction to account for the formation of the reduplication patterns, and re-examining general reduplication theories and issues of other linguistic components by drawing lessons from Old Chinese reduplication. The investigation of the source data reveals that Old Chinese reduplication has four basic patterns: progressive reduplication with either "smallness" or "vividness", retrogressive pattern with "repetition", fission reduplication with "specialization", and total reduplication with a vivid impression (a parasitic sense). The formation of the reduplication patterns results from the interaction between morphology and phonology. With motivation from semantics, the monosyllabic base is reduplicated as two identical syllables, which undergo further modification. 1) Since the reduplicative form with "diminutive" or "vividness" is semantically undecomposable, OOP (One Syllable One Meaning Principle) forces the two syllables to sound like one, which is achieved by raising the sonority of the onset of the second syllable. As such, the progressive pattern arises. 2) For the same reason, the reduplicative form with "specialization" has the same shape as the progressive at one stage. Pressure from the system thus compels it to undergo further modification, eventually producing the fission pattern. 3) The reduplicative form with a vivid impression is not under the control of OOP; thus it can keep its two identical syllables intact, yielding total reduplication pattern. 4) Reduplicative verbs are semantically decomposable; thus OOP does not come into effect. That the form is actually modified stems from the pressure of an already-existent total reduplication pattern, while this modification of the first rhyme is determined by quasi-iambic stress. This interaction produces a retrogressive pattern. This study sheds light on reduplication processes in general and other linguistic issues. During reduplication, full reduplication occurs first; then the reduplicant is modified. That reduplication operates on the interface between morphology and phonology is a universal phenomenon, but how this operation proceeds is language-specific. The consistent distinction between Type A syllables and Type B syllables seen in Old Chinese reduplication patterns indicates the unreasonableness of reconstructing a "medial" yod for Old Chinese. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

Please read the abstract on page 112 in the dissertation / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / African Languages / unrestricted

Orientador: Nina Virgínia de Araujo Leite / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T21:08:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dias_CarlosEduardoBorges_D.pdf: 3673408 bytes, checksum: 2a85f64bf66d744e00c4019fc8e0d555 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: Na contracorrente do enfoque hegemônico das pesquisas sobre o monitoramento da fala, nas quais predominam estudos pautados na neuropsicologia-cognitivista, esse trabalho representa uma alternativa para análise de fenômenos tais como a autocorreção (reparo) e a hesitação mediante uma proposta que inclui reflexões oriundas de certas vertentes da filosofia, da linguística e da psicanálise. As três partes que o integram se desenvolvem, por um lado, em uma relativa referência às três críticas kantianas no (quase) inexplorado terreno da filosofia da linguística, e, por outro, no território das discussões que relacionam a linguística e a psicanálise. Na primeira delas (I), tal qual se supõe em Kant uma epistemologia da física newtoniana, postula-se a atividade (dita) epilinguística do falante (manifesta no reparo) como condição transcendental (quid iuris) para a conduta metalinguística da linguística como ciência galileana. Através de um cotejo entre a literalisação especulativa do âmbito prosódico realizada pelas teorias gerativas e a análise de hesitações na atividade conversacional, demonstrou-se que, se a irrupção do equívoco sinaliza uma distinção radical entre a língua e a fala, por outro lado, pela força coercitiva da língua sobre a fala, a autocorreção sinaliza uma tendência dos falantes a reorganizarem-se pela gramática; na segunda parte (II), contra as abordagens que, focadas na neuropsicologia-cognitivista, tentam constituir uma `linguística da fala¿ ou `teoria do desempenho¿ como uma ciência objetiva, com base na clássica distinção entre a razão especulativa e prática, propõe-se que a divisão dos estudos da linguagem se estabeleça entre uma ciência da língua e uma ética da fala, essa última norteada pela correlação entre a incidência imperativa da lei sobre a ação e a incidência imperativa da língua sobre a fala ¿ e assim, subjacente ao `saber¿, `competência¿ ou, de maneira geral, ao factum grammaticae (de Milner), o julgamento negativo do equívoco na autocorreção revela um `dever¿ do falante para com a língua, o qual consiste na própria condição transcendental da ciência; na terceira parte (III) a autocorreção passa a ser vista como um processo constituído por dois enunciados, o segundo como julgamento negativo em relação ao primeiro (na estrutura de "isso que eu disse não é [bem] o que eu quis dizer"), através do qual o sujeito falante considera como equívoco algo de seu próprio dizer (erros ou lapsos) na tentativa de um apagamento de seu conflito (com relação à língua ou ao eu); A condenação do equívoco, manifesta na autocorreção, envolve assim um julgamento com o qual o falante busca conferir embargo à imputabilidade dos efeitos de lalangue em sua fala através da atribuição de uma univocidade idealizada à língua e/ou ao eu, como se fossem (ou devessem ser) os único(s) suposto(s) determinante(s) de seu dizer / Abstract: À contre-courant des approches hégémoniques dans la recherche sur le contrôle (monitoring) de la parole, guidées par la neuropsychologie-cognitiviste, ce travail représente une alternative théorique pour l'analyse de phénomènes tels que l'autocorrection (repair) et l'hésitation, dans une proposition qui comprend certains domaines de la philosophie, de la linguistique et de la psychanalyse. Les trois parties qui l'intègrent se développent, d'un côté, en corrélation (partielle) par rapport aux trois critiques kantiennes dans le terrain (presque) inexploré de la philosophie de la linguistique, et, d'un autre côté, sur le territoire des discussions qui établissent un lien entre la linguistique et la psychanalyse. Dans la première partie (I), de même qu'on suppose chez Kant une épistémologie de la physique newtonienne, l'activité (dite) épilinguistique du parlant (manifesté dans l'autocorrection) est conçue comme la condition transcendantale (quid iuris) de la conduite métalinguistique de la linguistique en tant que science galiléenne. Sur la base d'une confrontation entre la littéralisation du domaine prosodique effectuée par les théories génératives et l'analyse des hésitations dans l'activité conversationnelle, on a démontré que, si l'irruption de l'équivoque signale une distinction radicale entre langue et parole, d'autre part, l'autocorrection signale une tendance du parlant à se réorganiser à travers la force coercitive de la langue sur la parole; dans la deuxième (II), à partir de la distinction classique entre la raison spéculative et pratique et contre les approches que se basent sur la neuropsychologie-cognitive pour essayer de fonder une 'linguistique de la parole' ou une 'théorie de la performance' comme science objective, on propose que la division des études du langage soit établie entre la science de la langue et l'éthique de la parole, celle-ci fondée sur la corrélation entre l'incidence impérative de la loi sur l'action et l'incidence impérative de la langue sur la parole ¿ puisque dans l'autocorrection, le jugement négatif de l'équivoque révèle un devoir du parlant envers la langue, ce qui constitue la condition transcendantale de la science, puisque ce devoir est sous-jacent au savoir, à la compétence ou, en général, au factum grammaticae (de Milner) ; dans la troisième (III), l'autocorrection est considérée comme un processus constitué par deux énoncés, le deuxième comme un jugement négatif à l'égard du premier (dans la structure 'ce que j'ai dit n'est pas ce que j'ai voulu dire') et à travers lequel le parlant considère comme équivoque quelque chose de son propre dire (fautes ou lapsus) dans une tentative d'effacer son conflit (par rapport à la langue ou au moi). L'autocorrection, en tant que condamnation de l'équivoque, implique donc un jugement avec lequel le parlant essaye de mettre embargo sur l'imputabilité des effets de lalangue sur sa parole en attribuant à la langue et au moi une univocité idéalisée, comme s'ils étaient (ou s'ils devraient être) les seuls déterminants de son dire / Doutorado / Linguistica / Doutor em Linguística