Implications of Autosegmental Analysis in the Exploration of Prosodic Phonology in Mandarin Chinese

Autosegmental Phonology (Goldsmith, 1979) is a theoretical framework for understanding the phonological effects of suprasegmentals such as tone, stress, etc. Using data taken from an experiment in which Mandarin Chinese tone sandhi (the acknowledged rules governing specific tone shifts across segments) is explored, a number of phonologists, specifically Kenstowicz (2003), have shown that the relationship between the segment and the tone is autonomous. In the experiment, non-sense words with a potential tone sandhi rule are presented to the Mandarin speakers. The speakers automatically apply the tone sandhi rule which is then analyzed using an autosegmental framework. The speakers consciously separate the tones from the non-sense words and apply tone sandhi rules; the application of the tone sandhi rule is independent of semantic meaning. This research is expanded to include the exploration of loanword phonology (the phonological changes that occur when a tonal language borrows non-tonal language words) to further understand the autonomous relationship between tones and segments. As can be seen in the following example, the English word Disney: di2-si1-ni2 (numbers account for the differing tones), certain tones are distributed to loanwords

Holistic corpus-based dialectology

This paper is concerned with sketching future directions for corpus-based dialectology. We advocate a holistic approach to the study of geographically conditioned linguistic variability, and we present a suitable methodology, 'corpusbased dialectometry', in exactly this spirit. Specifically, we argue that in order to live up to the potential of the corpus-based method, practitioners need to (i) abandon their exclusive focus on individual linguistic features in favor of the study of feature aggregates, (ii) draw on computationally advanced multivariate analysis techniques (such as multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis), and (iii) aid interpretation of empirical results by marshalling state-of-the-art data visualization techniques. To exemplify this line of analysis, we present a case study which explores joint frequency variability of 57 morphosyntax features in 34 dialects all over Great Britain

Recent developments in phonology

Corno quase nenhuma outra disciplina lingüística, a fonologia passou por uma evolução turbulenta nas duas últimas décadas. Ao contrário da abordagem cöássica da Gramática Gerativa, que se concentrou na descrição de cadeias de segmentos fonológicos e de suas transformações em virtude de regras fonológicas, a Fonologia Não-linear colocou as relações prosódicas em enunciados em primeiro plano. A sílaba foi redescoberta como unidade prosódica; muitos trabalhos foram dedicados à análise de estruturas silábicas e de relações de sonoridade. Acima da sílaba, o pé a palavra fonológica foram utilizados como unidades prosódicas relevantes para a descrição das estruturas de acento e entonação. Abaixo da sílaba, reabilitou-se a mora já conhecida a partir da Filologia Clássica. No presente artigo, descrevem-se, a partir de exemplos do alemão e de outras línguas, as duas abordagens principais da Fonologia Não-linear, a Fonologia Autosegmental e a Fonologia Métrica. Procura-se mostrar que, com esses modelos, alguns fenômenos prosódico-fonológicos que antes só podiam ser descritos com grandes dificuldades ou eram até mesmo indescritíveis podem ser analisados de maneira adequada e elegante.Wie kaum eine andere linguistische Disziplin hat die Phonologie in den letzten zwei Dekaden eine stürmische Entwicklung durchgemacht. Im Gegensatz zum klassischen Ansatz der Generativen Grammatik, der sich auf die Beschreibung phonologischer Segmentketten und ihrer Veränderungen durch phonologische Regeln. konzentrierte, hat die Nichtlineare Phonologie prosodische Relationen in Äußerungsketten in den Mittelpunkt gestellt. Die Silbe wurde als prosodische Einheit wiederentdeckt; viele Arbeiten widmeten sich der Analyse von Silbenstrukturen und Sonoritärsrelationen. Oberhalb der Silbe wurden der Fuß und das phonologische Wort als relevante prosodische Einheiten zur Beschreibung von Akzent- und Intonationsstrukturen verwendet. Unterhalb der Silbe kam die aus der Klassischen Philologie bekannte Wort zu neuen Ehren. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz werden die beiden Hauptansätze der Nichtlinearen Phonologie, Autosegmentale und Metrische Phonologie, anhand von Beispielen aus dem Deutschen und anderen Sprachen beschrieben. Es wird versucht zu zeigen, des einige vorher nicht oder nur sehr umständlich beschreibbare prosodisch-phonologische Phänomenen ach diesen Ansätzen adäquat und elegant analysierbar sind