Using Mixed Media Tools for Eliciting Discourse in Indigenous Languages

Prosody plays a vital role in communication, but is one of the most widely neglected topics in language documentation. This omission is doubly detrimental since intonation is unrecoverable from transcribed texts, the most prevalent data sources for many indigenous languages. One of the underlying reasons for the dearth of prosodic data is methodological. Modern technology has removed technical barriers to recording the appropriate data, but traditional methods of elicitation still inhibit accurate documentation of linguistic structures at or above the phrasal level. In addition, these methods do not facilitate the mobilization of linguistic documentation. In this paper, we present techniques that we have developed that address both these concerns: 1) eliciting prosodic data for theoretical analysis, and 2) producing linguistic materials that can be useful for educators and curriculum developers. Highlighting advantages and disadvantages, we compare traditional elicitation and text-gathering methods with two non-traditional methodologies using non-verbal stimuli. These two non-traditional methodologies are aimed at collecting: 1) spontaneous conversation (either unguided, or task-oriented), and 2) partly scripted conversation (aided by multimedia tools). The methodologies are illustrated with original fieldwork on focus and intonation in two related, endangered Interior Salish languages – Nlhe7kepmxcín (Thompson) and St’át’imcets (Lillooet).National Foreign Language Resource Cente

The phonetics of metrical prominence and its consequences on segmental phonology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-199).Only very few phonological processes are reported to be conditioned by stress. There are two major patterns of stress-sensitive processes: segments are lengthened under stress, and vowels become louder. Two other phonological patterns are reported in the presence of stress, although they don't seem to enhance prominence of the stressed position: the preservation of segmental contrast and the enhancement of acoustic properties of the releases in stress-adjacent consonants. The main question of this dissertation is why there are so few segmental processes that show sensitivity to stress. Why are the major segmental processes affecting consonants (e.g. place assimilation, nasalization and voice neutralization) not sensitive about whether their trigger or target is in a stressed position? The analysis of prosodic conditioning presented here has three components: First every stress-conditioned process is enforced by a markedness constraint requiring the perceptual prominence of a metrically strong position. Languages use two strategies to implement this prominence: increasing the duration of the stressed position, or increasing the perceptual energy of the stressed vowel. Second, increasing the loudness of the stressed vowel has side-effects on the realization of stress adjacent stop releases, which result from the subglottal mechanisms used to produce the increase in loudness. These side-effects constitute the small class of stress-conditioned segmental alternations which are not directly enhancing the prominence of the stressed position. Third, both the effects of prominence requirements and the side-effects of prominence enhancement on the phonetic realization of segments in stressed positions may affect the perceptual distinctiveness between contrasting sounds in stressed positions: if the perceptual distinctiveness between contrasting sounds is decreased in a stressed position, contrast neutralization might arise. If the perceptual distinctiveness between contrasting sounds is increased in a stressed position, stress-conditioned contrast preservation might arise. Contrast preservation in stressed positions is therefore not an effect of Positional faithfulness; it emerges as the indirect consequence of prominence enhancement. The set of segmental features which may be targeted by stress-sensitive processes is extremely limited since it is restricted to those features which can be affected by one of three processes: duration, loudness and effects of raised subglottal pressure on stop releases.by Maria Giavazzi.Ph.D

Lalo dialects across time and space: subgrouping, dialectometry, and intelligibility

This volume is the first work to systematically investigate the diachronic and synchronic relationships between regional varieties of Lalo, a Ngwi (Loloish) language cluster spoken in western Yunnan, China. The empirical basis for the research is linguistic data, as well as intelligibility tests and sociolinguistic interviews on contact, dialect perceptions, and ethnolinguistic vitality from nineteen Lalo-speaking villages. The volume uses these data to present a phonological and lexical reconstruction of Proto-Lalo, as well as a phylogenetic subgrouping of the different Lalo varieties. As a complement to this a synchronic classification of Lalo varieties according to phonetic distance, intelligibility, and speaker perceptions is also given. This combination of methodologies and results enable an integrated synchronic and diachronic depiction of Lalo dialect diversit

A Sociolinguistic Survey of (t,d) deletion, (t) glottaling, and their intersection in East Anglian English

This thesis examines two well-studied phonological features - (t,d) deletion and (t) glottaling – in East Anglian English by maintaining the structuralist roots of the variationist paradigm (e.g. Wolfram 1993; Patrick 1999). It also investigates, for the first time, the covariation between the two linguistic variables by exploring the intersection of (t) deletion and (t) glottaling in word-final consonant clusters (e.g. different). (t,d) deletion has been largely investigated in US English dialects, yet it has received comparatively little attention in the UK. (t) glottaling has been widely examined as a change in progress in England (including Norwich, Trudgill, 1974, 1988) and Scotland, yet little research on this variable has been carried out in Ipswich (Straw & Patrick, 2007) or Colchester. Data was gathered in three East Anglian speech communities: Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich, where 36 participants, equally distributed, have been recorded by means of sociolinguistic interviews, reading passages and word lists. Mixed-effects Rbrul regression analysis was carried out. (t,d) results are in line with previous US studies showing that (t,d) absence is primarily conditioned by linguistic factors and its profile is that of a stable variable. A more fine-grained analysis is suggested for the following phonological environment. For (t) glottaling, this thesis also proposes a closer inspection of the following phonological environment. The preceding phonological context - little explored in previous studies - plays a notable role. While word-final /t/ glottaling has completed its social change and is spreading in phonological space even in environments where it used to be blocked, word-medial /t/ is both phonetically and socially conditioned. The covariation between (t) glottaling and (t) deletion shows that the transition glottaling → deletion, in the lenition scale, is in feeding order and is mostly linguistically driven. In this analysis, women exhibit a higher use of glottal variants, whereas males promote deletion – the last stage of the lenition scale

An articulatory and acoustic phonetic study of selected consonants in accents of Scottish English

This thesis begins by reviewing the literature pertaining to Scottish English pronunciation which has been produced since the late-eighteenth century. The world of authors, such as Sylvester Douglas, Melville Bell, James Murray, James Wilson, William Grant, Anne McAllister, Jack Aitken and David Abercrombie, is reviewed and its contribution to our understanding of the nature of Scottish English pronunciation is assessed. The methodology and findings of the present study are then presented. The data is gathered from speakers from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and it centres around their pronunciation of /r, l, w/ and /m/ and their voice onset times for voiceless plosives. Certain discrepancies are noted between the description of these features in the existing literature and the realisations produced by the speakers informing the present study. The articulatory nature and acoustic characteristics of all allophones of /r, l, w/ and /m/ are described. Moreover, their incidence in all phonotactic contexts is set out. Hitherto unattested realisations (such as [f] for /r/, and [w] for 1/1) are noted and discussed at length. The lexical incidence of /w/ and /m/ is investigated and a sound change is observed. Voice onset times of /p, t/ and /k/ are measured in #CV and #CCV position. Statistical analysis finds no demographic difference in VOT values, but consistent significant differences emerge between the phonemic environments. Finally, it is argued that the gulf that exists between the literature pertaining to Scottish English pronunciation and the results of the present study is indicative of the state of our knowledge of the phonetic characteristics of most English accents. Consequently, a case is made for the renaissance of phonetic investigation into all English accents