Investigating the tonal system of Plastic Mandarin: a cross-varietal comparison

The city of Changsha, Hunan Province, China has seen an increase in the use of Mandarin in the past decade, overshadowing the local non-Mandarin variety, Changsha. A new variety “Plastic Mandarin”, mostly spoken by millennials and younger generations, has emerged. It is defined in this thesis as a non-standard Mandarin accent that features the speech of young urban residents in Changsha and that has crystallised over the past few decades. This thesis presents a detailed phonetic investigation of the tonal system of Plastic Mandarin through a cross-varietal comparative approach, mainly divided into two streams: citation tones and neutral tones in contexts. The defining characteristic of the citation tone system for Plastic Mandarin is established first: a mid-level tone, a low to mid rising tone, a low falling tone, and a high rising tone. By comparing the citation tones of the three varieties that coexist in the city of Changsha, the thesis provides acoustic evidence that Plastic Mandarin may arise when Mandarin tones adapt the pitch pattern of some corresponding Changsha tones. In addition to citation tones, this thesis disentangles the sources of variability in the syllable duration and f0 contour of speech sequences containing neutral tone syllables, i.e. those do not have any of the four canonical lexical tones and often overlooked in prior studies of tones. The data show that f0 contours converge at the end of two consecutive neutral tone syllables at a low pitch in both Mandarin varieties. It suggests that a neutral tone or a sequence of consecutive neutral tones tends to be associated with a low pitch target, despite the varying f0 shapes largely predicted by the preceding lexical tone. The thesis proposes a probabilistic target-approaching model for Mandarin tones in connected speech, in which pitch targets may be fewer than the number of syllables. While the phonetic realisation of the four lexical tones in Plastic Mandarin is consistently different from that in Standard Mandarin, the pitch target of neutral tone syllables tends to remain constant in this process of Mandarin variation and change, which may be attributed to the stable transfer of prosodic structure

The Acoustic Correlates of Stress-Shifting Suffixes in Native and Nonnative English

Although laboratory phonology techniques have been widely employed to discover the interplay between the acoustic correlates of English Lexical Stress (ELS)–fundamental frequency, duration, and intensity - studies on ELS in polysyllabic words are rare, and cross-linguistic acoustic studies in this area are even rarer. Consequently, the effects of language experience on L2 lexical stress acquisition are not clear. This investigation of adult Arabic (Saudi Arabian) and Mandarin (Mainland Chinese) speakers analyzes their ELS production in tokens with seven different stress-shifting suffixes; i.e., Level 1 [+cyclic] derivations to phonologists. Stress productions are then systematically analyzed and compared with those of speakers of Midwest American English using the acoustic phonetic software, Praat. In total, one hundred subjects participated in the study, spread evenly across the three language groups, and 2,125 vowels in 800 spectrograms were analyzed (excluding stress placement and pronunciation errors). Nonnative speakers completed a sociometric survey prior to recording so that statistical sampling techniques could be used to evaluate acquisition of accurate ELS production. The speech samples of native speakers were analyzed to provide norm values for cross-reference and to provide insights into the proposed Salience Hierarchy of the Acoustic Correlates of Stress (SHACS). The results support the notion that a SHACS does exist in the L1 sound system, and that native-like command of this system through accurate ELS production can be acquired by proficient L2 learners via increased L2 input. Other findings raise questions as to the accuracy of standard American English dictionary pronunciations as well as the generalizability of claims made about the acoustic properties of tonic accent shift

Differential Analysis of Lexical Pitch in Accent and Tone Languages

According to the Critical Band Theory, the auditory perception of F0 data is the same for all human beings. However, when F0 signals are transferred through the auditory cortex to specialized areas of the brain, they are perceived and processed differently, depending on whether the language is tonal or accentual. In tone languages, F0 data appears to be processed in Heschl’s gyrus (Schneider 2005, Bendor 2012), whereas in accent languages, it appears to be processed in the planum temporale (Binder et al. 1996). Furthermore, in accent languages, F0 signals are computed on a nominal scale, but in tone languages, a logarithmic scale is used (Wightman 1973, Speaks 2005). These insights support the long-held linguistic view that accent and tone languages are prosodically different. Terms such as strong/weak or stressed/unstressed are used to describe pitch variations in accent languages, whereas in tone languages, the terms used are extra low, low, mid, high, and extra high. Current research on language and the brain suggests that the differences between these two types of languages may be the result of differences in tonotopic mapping, autocorrelational algorithms, and the scales on which pitch is computed. Due to these differences, it is not advisable to apply the same interpretive framework in analyzing pitch variations in accent and tone languages. Examples will be provided from English and Baule, a West African language, to underscore the pitfalls of doing so

The experimental state of mind in elicitation: illustrations from tonal fieldwork

This paper illustrates how an “experimental state of mind”, i.e. principles of experimental design, can inform hypothesis generation and testing in structured fieldwork elicitation. The application of these principles is demonstrated with case studies in toneme discovery. Pike’s classic toneme discovery procedure is shown to be a special case of the application of experimental design. It is recast in two stages: (1) the inference of the hidden structure of tonemes based on unexplained variability in the pitch contour r emaining, even after other sources of influence on the pitch contour are accounted for, and (2) the confirmation of systematic effects of hypothesized tonal classes on the pitch contour in elicitations structured to control for confounding variables that could obscure the relati on between tonal classes and the pitch contour. Strategies for controlling the confounding variables, such as blocking and randomization, are discussed. The two stages are exemplified using data elicited from the early stages of toneme discovery in Kirikiri, a language of New Guinea. *This paper is in the series How to Study a Tone Language, edited by Steven Bird and Larry HymanNational Foreign Language Resource Cente

Tone sandhi, prosodic phrasing, and focus marking in Wenzhou Chinese

In most languages, focus (i.e. highlighting information) is marked by modifying the melody of the sentence. But how is focus marked in a Chinese dialect with eight different citation tones and a complex tonal phonology?This thesis investigates the connection between tonal realization and tone change (tone sandhi) in Wenzhou Chinese, and whether and how such a connection is conditioned by prosodic structure and focus marking. Experiments were conducted with young speakers of Wenzhou Chinese, whose speech was acoustically analyzed so as to investigate the application domain of tone sandhi and the influence of focus thereon, the tonal realization on the word and phrase level and its interaction with focus, the pre-planning of sentential pitch, as well as the realization of referents with different information statuses. The experimental findings suggest that the application, but not the implementation, of tone sandhi is independent of focus, and that focus and prosodic structure have similar but independent effects on the realization of lexical tones. It is also shown that pitch scaling is sensitive to syntactic structure and complexity, and that the marking of givenness, broad focus, and narrow focus leads to discrete levels along the same acoustic parameters. These findings are of interest to researchers working on lexical tone, prosodic structure, and how information structure categories such as focus affect tonal realization and prosodic phrasing.LEI Universiteit LeidenNWO VIDI grant 061084338 to dr. Y. ChenLanguage Use in Past and Presen

The Phonetics-Phonology Interface of the Paiwan Dialects- Establishing the Voice Corpus (II)

面對臺灣原住民語言急速流失的現狀, 語言學界對於臺灣排灣語語音及音韻描述或分析的研究相對地稀少。至於語音現象如何影響音韻系統、音韻系統如何在語音層次上被驗證, 語音及音韻的介面研究, 迄今仍相當匱乏。 然而,語音音韻的介面研究, 對於語音保存、田野調查的實務性,及語言學的專業學術研究, 都有其存在的必要性。若無基礎語音音韻系統研究的探討, 對於所紀錄的語音資料, 是否能成為忠實的田野調查紀錄, 可以存疑。本研究聚焦於排灣語方言, 以聲學語音學(Acoustics Phonetics)及實驗音韻學(Laboratory Phonology)的理論與方法提供一些科學的証據，瞭解更多語音音韻介面的現象，這些現象又反過來修正或重新詮釋描述語言學(Descriptive Linguistics) 及音韻學理論(Phonological Theories)的研究成果。本計劃的首要目標在於整合語音實驗室與田野調查所建構的語音資料庫, 一方面忠實紀錄並補充方音的差異, 一方面探討語音資料庫建立過程中語音音韻的互動現象。建立排灣語語音資料庫及整合語音資料庫與語音實驗室不僅能彙整與驗證語音差異、進行各方言的區別音位建構, 更能提供語言學田野調查方法上新的蒐集語料模式; 語音資料庫在學術上，亦可作為進一步語言學研究的題材。表The project investigates the Phonetics-Phonology interface of the Paiwan dialects, based on the under construction voice corpus and the varieties from Sandimen, Majia, Taiwu, Gulou, Shimen, and Mudan villages in Pingtung County, as well as Dawu and Taimali dialects in Taitung County. The majority of field reports on Formosan languages give rather minimal details on their phonetic, phonological, and prosodic properties, usually one or two lines of vague description, not to mention the number of field reports on Formosan languages is rather small. The project addresses questions related to the evolution of language within the Paiwan dialect speech communities and the development of language within the individual speaker. In the present project, the interaction between phonetic variation and phonological distinctive features will be dealt with, and the principles and the methodology in Laboratory Phonology and Acoustic Phonetics will be used to verify the existing field notes in descriptive linguistics or adjust the phonological theories.Eight dialects of Paiwan, including Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern varieties of Paiwan, will be studied. The speech styles such as word lists, phrases, sentences, stories, and spontaneous speech will be collected in the field and served as the voice corpus in the phonetic laboratory for measurements and further empirical studies. The second goal of the project is to harness the professional software of acoustic analysis and speech technologies to aid in the collection of field data. While constructing the voice corpus, it is hoped that a portable phonetic laboratory is accessible to the recording and analyzing tasks in the Paiwan voice data. The present project draws evidence from the field data and proposes an account for the interaction between phonetic variance and phonological invariance among the Paiwan dialects.The most significant contribution of the current project will be the construction of the voice corpus and the interface study of the segments and suprasegmentals in the Paiwan dialects, which has never been done in any earlier field report or project. The preservation of the phonetic voice data of the Paiwan dialects will help researchers understand more about the dialects and the language

Phonological Prominence and Its Interaction with Tone in Chinese Dialects

Earlier studies on Chinese have recognized that there are prominent positions, and there are interactions between tone and prominent positions. However, the earlier studies have not rigorously applied phonetic or phonological inspections for establishing prominent positions in Chinese. When more rigorous phonetic and phonological examinations have been applied in this study, a more constrained and principled set of prominence phenomena emerged. This set excludes the postulation of a generalized trochaic system in Standard Mandarin, accentual prominence in New Chongming and peripheral prominence in Zhenhai. On the other hand, this set includes metrical prominence in the Northern Wu dialects and Fengkai Cantonese, and the interaction between tone and metrically prominent positions. In this study, two types of interaction between metrical prominence and tone are attested. First, metrically strong positions are characterized by the preservation of lexical tones, or the ability to determine the shape of the neighboring tones. Thus, the stressed position normally licenses a larger range of tonal contrast. Unstressed syllables tend to go tonal modification, reduction, or loss. Second, tone can condition stress placement. Observations made in the Northern Wu dialects suggest that stress assignment is sensitive to tone properties. In the Northern Wu group, the distribution of stress tends to avoid syllables with a low tone, or a short tone. To summarize, although Chinese is widely recognized as a canonical tone language, stress and tone as two independent phonological properties do co-exist in Chinese. The co-existence of tone and stress leads to some interesting interactions. However, tone-stress interaction in Chinese produces a limited set of phonological processes, which is only attested in a limited number of dialects

Bilingual first language acquisition in Malay and English : a morphological and suprasegmental study in the development of plural expressions in a bilingual child

This thesis investigates the development of plural marking in a child raised in Malay and English simultaneously, from the morphological and prosodic perspective. For the morphological plural development, the child’s plural acquisition is analysed within the Processability Theory (PT) framework de Bot (1992) de Bot (1992) thus widening PT’s typological range of application to a language such as Malay, which belongs to the Austronesian family (Dryer & Haspelmath, 2013). PT has been tested for morphological development in L2 English (Di Biase, Kawaguchi, & Yamaguchi, 2015; Johnston, 2000) and several typologically different languages as well as bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) such as Japanese-English (Itani-Adams, 2013). However, PT has not been empirically tested for any language of the Austronesian family nor in a Bilingual First Language Acquisition (BFLA) constellation involving Malay and English. The Malay-English language pair is interesting because of the remarkably different linguistic mechanisms used for encoding plurality in the two languages; morphologically, Malay marks plurality through distinct forms of reduplication such as rumah-rumah ‘houses’, buah-buahan’ (plural form of buah ‘fruit’) and bukit-bukau ‘hills’ (Sew, 2007). In contrast, English uses morphological inflections -s suffixed to the stem, e.g., cat/cats, dog/dogs, book/books (Carstairs-McCarthy, 2002). Malay reduplication, as previously shown, involves more than a single word, however, functionally speaking it is equivalent to one word plus a marker of plurality. Thus, prosodic mechanisms play a crucial role in distinguishing between mere repetition and grammatical reduplication in Malay (Gil, 2005). Since plurality is expressed very differently in each language, this study investigates how a bilingual child develops simultaneously two grammatical systems. The participant in this research is a female child named Rina, who was raised in Malay-English environment from birth. This investigation comprises of two parts; first is the longitudinal investigation of her plural acquisition from age 2;10 to 3;10. During this period, Rina was living in Australia, where the environmentally predominant language was English. The second complementary part is an investigation of Rina’s plural marking systems at age 4;8 when she had returned to Malaysia, where the predominant environmental language was Malay. For the longitudinal study, the database for the analyses was obtained from separate Malay and English recording sessions, which were conducted weekly from age 2;10 to 3;10. Likewise, the data for Rina’s plural expression at 4;8 was also obtained from separate Malay and English environment recordings. For the morphological plural development, results indicate that Rina developed two different systems to mark plurality in Malay and English. Her plural marking developed in the sequence predicted by PT. However, though she clearly distinguished the two languages, bidirectional influences from English to Malay and Malay to English were found in the corpus, both in the longitudinal study as well as at age 4;8. In the longitudinal study, it was found that in expressing plurals in Malay and English, Rina used various linguistic devices: one of the predominant strategies she employed in both languages was iteration, a strategy in which Rina expressed more than one objects by repeating the lexical item according to the number of individuated entities (hence four cats would be expressed as cat cat cat cat). Reduplication, the target grammatical Malay plural, only emerged at 3;8. Thus, we examine the prosodic development of the child’s iteration up till the emergence of reduplication. Findings indicate that the development from iteration to reduplication is gradual; the main acoustic correlate that she employed during the longitudinal study was final-syllable lengthening. She only began differentiating various prosodic mechanisms (such as pausing, duration and pitch) to distinguish repetition and reduplication in her plural marking at age 4;8. This study offers a new perspective on the interplay between the two languages in the early stages of grammatical development in a bilingual child. The specific features of plurality in Malay and English and how they develop in the bilingual child may shed light on the applicability of PT to BFLA. Also, the link between the child’s morphological development and prosodic mechanisms show that in acquiring the prosodic structures of reduplication, Rina creates partial and increasingly specific analyses of the grammatical forms, gradually approaching the conventional adult form