On the pragmatic and semantic functions of Estonian sentence prosody

The goal of the dissertation was to investigate intonational correlates of information structure in a free word order language, Estonian. Information-structural categories such as focus or givenness are expressed by different grammatical means (e.g. pronoun, presence of accent, word order etc.) in different languages of the world (Chafe, 1976; 1987; Prince, 1981; 1992; Lambrecht, 1994; Gundel, 1999). The main cue of focus in intonation languages (e.g. English and German) is pitch accent (Halliday, 1967a; Ladd, 2008). In free word order languages, information structure affects the position of words in a sentence (É. Kiss, 1995) and sometimes it is even implied that word order in a free word order language might function like pitch accent in an intonation language (Lambrecht 1994: 240). The study reports on perception and production experiments on the effects of focus and givenness on Estonian sentence intonation. The aim of the experiments was to establish whether information structure has tonal correlates in Estonian, and if so, whether information structure or word order interacts more strongly with sentence intonation. A perception experiment showed that L1-Estonian listeners perceive pitch prominence as focus and accent shift as a change of sentence focus. A speech production study showed congruently that L1-Estonian speakers do use accent shift, and mark sentence focus with pitch accent. Another speech production experiment demonstrated that there is no phonetic difference between new information focus (e.g. “What did Lena draw?” – “Lena drew a whale.”) and corrective focus (e.g. “Lena drew a lion.” – “No! She drew a whale”). The last experiment showed that given information is signalled with varying F0 range, if followed by focus, but without a pitch accent, if preceded by focus. All the experiments revealed that word order has a weak influence on sentence intonation. Sentence intonation interacts with focus and givenness in Estonian. As a conclusion, it is suggested that the pragmatic functions of word order, which apparently can be overridden by focus interpretation, are slightly different from the functions of pitch accent

Expression of narrow focus in spontaneous Estonian dialogues

Estonian offers several means for expressing narrow focus, including a choice between a syntactic strategy resulting in marked constituent order, and a prosodic strategy resulting in marked nuclear accent placement. The present study examines the usage of the different focus-marking strategies in spontaneous dialogues, with the primary aim of verifying the hypothesis that when either the syntactic or the prosodic strategy must be used, the prosodic strategy is preferred. The results show an overwhelming preference for keeping both the constituent order and the accent placement unmarked. In the relatively small number of cases where either the syntactic or the prosodic strategy must be chosen, a slight preference for the prosodic strategy can be observed. There also exists a minor strategy of focus fronting, whereby both the constituent order and the nuclear accent placement are marked; the role of this strategy requires further study.Kokkuvõte. Heete Sahkai: Kitsa fookuse väljendamine eestikeelses suulises dialoogis. Eesti keel võimaldab väljendada kitsast fookust muuhulgas nii moodustajajärje kui primaarse lauserõhu asukoha abil. Artiklis vaadeldakse kitsa fookuse väljendamist reisibüroo dialoogides peamise eesmärgiga kontrollida hüpoteesi, et suulises kõnes eelistatakse süntaktilisele fookuse väljendamisele prosoodilist. Tulemused näitavad tugevat eelistust lausungite suhtes, kus on samaaegselt nii markeerimata moodustajajärg kui ka markeerimata prosoodia. Juhtumeid, kus tuleb valida kas markeeritud moodustajajärg või markeeritud prosoodia, on suhteliselt vähe ning nende põhjal võib järeldada, et prosoodiline markeerimine on tõepoolest mõnevõrra eelistatud. Edasist uurimist nõuab andmestikus vähesel määral esindatud lausealguline fookus, mille puhul on markeeritud nii moodustajajärg kui primaarse lauserõhu asukoht.Võtmesõnad: fookus; moodustajajärg; lauserõhk; eesti kee

Main features of the Livonian sound system and pronunciation

The aim of this article is to give an overview of the Livonian sound system and pronunciation. Regarding Livonian dialectal variation, the main difference is between East and West Livonian, while Central Livonian forms a transition area. The basis of the Livonian written language is the East Courland dialect. This article focuses on standard pronunciation, with some discussion of variation. Vowels and consonants are treated separately. In addition, Livonian prosodic features are discussed. Livonian stands out as being a Finnic language that has been influenced by the Baltic language, Latvian. Unlike many other Finnic languages, Livonian has voiced stops and fri catives, which can occur as long geminates. There is a large number of short and long monophthongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs in Livonian.Kokkuvõte. Tuuli Tuisk: Liivi keele häälikusüsteemi ja häälduse põhijooned. Käesolevas artiklis antakse ülevaade liivi keele häälikusüsteemist. Kuramaa liivi murrete seisukohalt on suurim erinevus ida- ja lääneliivi vahel, samas kui keskliivi ehk Īra kujutab endast üleminekuala. Tänapäeva liivi kirja keel põhineb Kuramaa idaliivi murdel. Artiklis kirjeldatakse liivi standard hääldust, tuues paralleelselt välja ka mõned murdeerinevused. Vokaale ja konsonante kirjeldatakse eraldi. Lisaks antakse ülevaade liivi prosoodiasüsteemist. Liivi keel on läänemeresoome keelte seas mõneti ainulaadses olukorras, kuna keeles on mõjutusi balti keelte hulka kuuluvast läti keelest. Erinevalt teistest läänemeresoome keeltest esinevad liivi keeles helilised klusiilid ja frikatiivid, mis võivad ilmneda ka pikkade geminaatidena. Samuti on liivi keel huvitav lühikeste ja pikkade monoftongide, diftongide ja triftongide rohkuse poolest.Märksõnad: konsonandid, vokaalid, toon, prosoodia, liivi keelKubbõvõttõks. Tuuli Tuisk: Līvõ kīel kilūd sistēm ja īeldõm pǟummitõd. Sīe kēra võttõksõks um iļļõvaņtļimi līvõ kīel kilūd sistēmst ja īeldõmst. Kurmǭ līvõ mūrdõd sūŗimi vait um um idā- ja lǟndlīvõd vail, sidāmi jag agā Īra um iļlǟdõb murd. Tämpiz līvõ kērakīel pūojõks um idālivõ murd. Kēras sǭb vaņțõltõd līvõ kīel standardīeltõmi, paralel ulzõ tūodsõ ka mingizt murdvaitõd. Īžkillijid ja īņõzkillijid sōbõd vaņtõltõd īžkiz. Vel sǭb vaņțõltõd līvõ kīel prozodij sistēmõ. Līvõ kēļ um vāldamiersūomõ kīeld siegās eņtšvīți, ku kīelsõ um mȯjtõkši lețkīelstõ. Tuoistiz ku sūrs jags vāldamiersūomõ kēļši, līvõ kīelsõ ātõ īelkõks vizād ja ȭrdõd īņõzkillijid, mis võibõd jeddõ tūlda ka kui pitkād kǭdkõrdizt kilūd. Līvõ kīelsõ um ka pǟgiņ lītiži ja pitkīdi īdkõrdiži, kǭdkõrdiži ja kuolmkõrdiži īžkiļļijidi

Eesti välte akustilised tunnused ja taju

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Eesti keele vältesüsteem on maailma keelte hulgas tähelepanuväärne, kuna haruharva leidub kvantiteedisüsteeme, mis ei oleks pelgalt binaarne lühikese ja pika vokaali opositsioon. Kolmevältesüsteeme on teada umbes kümnekonnas keeles ja enamasti eristavad need ainult vokaalide pikkust. Eesti vältesüsteem on osutunud aga oluliselt keerukamaks. Kolmese vastanduse võivad moodustada nii vokaalid (nt sada – saada – saada), konsonandid (nt kada – kata – katta) kui vokaali-konsonandi kombinatsioonid (nt sade – saate – saate). Foneetiliselt antakse väldet edasi aga häälikukestuste suhtega rõhulise ja rõhutu silbi piires. Lisaks temporaalsele struktuurile eristab teist ja kolmandat väldet ka põhitoonikontuur. Doktoritöö keskendub eesti vältesüsteemi kahele peamisele aspektile: esiteks, mis roll on toonikontuuril, ja teiseks, kuidas realiseeruvad erinevad vältega seotud akustilised tunnused spontaankõnes. Nii tajutestid kui akustiline analüüs tõestasid põhitooni olulist rolli eesti vältesüsteemis. Kui arvestada sõnatasandi intonatsiooniga, siis eristab põhitoon teist ja kolmandat väldet ka seotud kõnes, mitte ainult laborikõnes. Vokaalikvaliteedi poolest eristuvad lühike ja pikk, aga mitte pikk ja ülipikk välde. Vokaalikvaliteedi varieerumine ei ole nii suur, et eesti keele lühikesi ja pikki vokaale eri foneemidena peaks käsitlema, kuid siiski piisav, et seda võidaks tajus arvestada vokaali pikkuse hindamisel. Tajutestid näitavad, et põhitoon võib osutuda teise ja kolmanda välte eristamisel määravaks. Ühelt poolt konflikt teise välte põhitooni ja kolmanda välte temporaalse struktuuri vahel takistab kolmanda välte tajumist, teiselt poolt võib kolmanda välte põhitoon esile kutsuda kolmanda välte tajumist ka siis, kui temporaalsed tunnused viitavad teisele vältele. Kuid põhitooni olulisus teise ja kolmanda välte eristamisel on murdeti varieeruv: kui Kesk- ja Lääne-Eestist pärit katseisikud olid põhitooni suhtes tundlikud, siis Ida- ja Lõuna-Eestist pärit katseisikud seda eriti ei olnud.More than binary length oppositions are extremely rare among the world’s languages. Also in the few languages that do exhibit a three-way opposition, it is usually productive only for vowels. The nature of the Estonian quantity system has turned out to be rather complex. In Estonian there can be three-way oppositions of vowels (e.g. sada – saada – saada), consonants (e.g. kada – kata – katta), or sequences of vowels and consonants (e.g. sade – saate – saate). Phonetically the quantity is manifested by the duration ratio of the sounds within a sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables. Additionally the long and overlong quantity degrees are also marked by different pitch patterns. The thesis focuses on two main aspects: firstly, what is the role of the tonal component in Estonian quantity system, and secondly, how are the acoustic features of quantity realized in spontaneous Estonian? Both the perception tests and the acoustic study show the importance of the pitch in Estonian word prosody. If the phrase-level intonation is considered, pitch is a decisive factor between long and overlong quantities also in connected speech. The vowel quality distinguishes short from long, but not long from overlong quantity. This variation is not as great as to give a reason to treat short and long vowels as different phonemes, but it is great enough to be evaluated as a cue for the perceived duration. The perception tests show that the pitch is decisive cue for choosing between long and overlong quantity. The conflict between the pitch cue of long and temporal structure of overlong quantity fails the perception of overlong quantity on the one hand, and on the other hand the pitch of overlong quantity can evoke overlong perception also in case of temporal structure of long quantity. And yet the power of the pitch cue varies regionally in Estonian: listeners from Central and Western Estonia are more sensitive to the pitch cue than listeners from Eastern and Southern Estonia

Preface to the special issue of ESUKA – JEFUL “Aspects of speech studies”

Preface to the special issue of ESUKA – JEFUL “Aspects of speech studies”

Konsonandikeskne vältesüsteem eesti ja inarisaami keeles

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsiooneKolme pikkuskategooriaga konsonandikeskne vältesüsteem esineb väga vähestes keeltes, teadaolevalt ainult soome-ugri keeltes: eesti, liivi ja inarisaami keeles ning veel mõningates saami keeltes. Doktoritöö keskendub neist kahele – eesti ja inarisaami keelele, millest esimene kuulub soome-ugri keelte läänemeresoome ja teine saami keelterühma. Eesti keeles esineb keerukas kolmevältesüsteem, kus vastandus moodustatakse nii vokaalide, konsonantide kui ka mõlema põhjal. Inarisaami keeles leiab kolm pikkuskategooriat vaid konsonantide puhul, vokaalidel esineb kahene vastandus. Eksperimentaalfoneetiline väitekiri uurib, kuidas kolmene konsonandikeskne kvantiteedisüsteem nendes keeltes foneetiliselt avaldub kõnetaktis. Vaadeldakse omadusi, mis kolme väldet üksteisest eristavad. Teise suurema teemana käsitleb doktoritöö segmentaalse konteksti rolli eesti keele konsonandivälte avaldumisel. Töö tulemused näitavad, et kolme konsonandikeskset väldet eristab nii eesti kui ka inarisaami keeles konsonandi enda kestus, mis on suuremas vältes pikem. Keeltevahelised erinevused tulevad välja kategooriate omavaheliste kestussuhete kaudu: eesti keeles eristuvad teineteisest rohkem esimene ja teine välde, inarisaamis aga teine ja kolmas välde. Kui eesti keeles lüheneb konsonandile järgnev rõhutu silbi vokaal vastavalt konsonandivälte kasvades, siis inarisaamis lühenevad mõlemad, nii konsonandile eelnev rõhulise silbi vokaal kui ka sellele järgnev rõhutu silbi vokaal. Põhitoonikontuurid inarisaami eri struktuuriga kahesilbilistes sõnades märkimisväärselt ei varieeru, kuid konsonandivälte kasvades intensiivsuse väärtuste erinevus esimese ja teise silbi vokaali vahel suureneb. Samas eri vältes oleva vokaalidevahelise helilise konsonandi enda intensiivsus ei muutu. Põhitoon on eesti keeles oluline teise ja kolmanda välte eristamisel, kuid klusiilide puhul, kus põhitooni liikumist jälgida ei saa, on ka leitud, et välte tajumiseks piisab kestuslikest tunnustest. Doktoritöö eesti keele artikulatsioonikatse tulemused näitavad, et kolmese konsonandikeskse välte avaldumisel on oluline osa segmentaalsel kontekstil. Kui mõningate artikulatoorsete liigutuste puhul saab näha vältega seotud kolmeseid mustreid (huulte sulgemisliigutuse kestuses konsonandi hääldamisel, keeleliigutuste kestuses üleminekul konsonandile eelnevalt vokaalilt järgnevale), siis erineva sõnaalgulise konsonandi ja ümbritseva vokaalikonteksti tõttu esineb varieerumist, kus esimene ja teine välde vastanduvad kolmandale või vastandub esimene välde teisele ja kolmandale. Ka spontaankõne materjali põhjal tehtud akustiline analüüs näitas, et erinevate konsonantide puhul realiseerub kolmene välde mõnevõrra erinevalt ning sealjuures on oluline seos konsonandi ja seda ümbritsevate vokaalide omaduste vahel.Quantity systems with three length categories for consonants can be found in a small number of languages, all of which belong to the Finno-Ugric languages: Estonian, Livonian, Inari Saami, and some other Saami languages. The focus of this dissertation is on two of them, Estonian and Inari Saami, the former belonging to the Finnic and the latter to the Saamic branch. Estonian exhibits a complex quantity system forming ternary length categories with vowels, consonants, or combinations of both. In Inari Saami, ternary length distinction is found for consonants, while vocalic quantity shows binary oppositions. This thesis comprises experimental phonetic studies answering two main questions: how is ternary consonantal quantity in Estonian and Inari Saami realized phonetically, and how does quantity interact with segmental context. The results showed that, in both languages, the three-way consonantal quantity is manifested in consonant durations that are longer in higher quantity degrees. While Estonian first and second quantity are further apart from each other, in Inari Saami second and third quantity are more distinct. Cross-linguistic differences also appear in the relations between intervocalic consonants and neighboring vowels. In Estonian, the vowel following the consonant is shorter after a long and overlong consonant than after a short one. Quantity differences in Inari Saami are realized in shorter durations of both vowels in terms of increasing consonantal quantity. Fundamental frequency contours in Inari Saami are roughly the same in words with different structures. Intensity measures, however, show greater differences between the vowels surrounding the consonant when the quantity of the consonant increases. The intensity of the sonorant consonant does not change in different quantities. The results of the articulatory study of this thesis show variation in quantity manifestations in Estonian geminate consonants due to varied segmental context. Some articulatory movements exhibit three-way patterns associated with quantity categories (in the duration of the lip closing gesture for the consonant and tongue transition gesture from the preceding vowel to the following vowel); for others the first and second quantity are opposed to the third quantity or the first quantity degree is opposed to the second and third ones. Similar patters were found in the acoustic data from spontaneous speech. The durational properties of ternary quantity are realized differently for different intervocalic consonants, and variation is also caused by coarticulatory effects of the surrounding vowels.https://www.ester.ee/record=b524109

Prosodic boundary phenomena

Synopsis: In spoken language comprehension, the hearer is faced with a more or less continuous stream of auditory information. Prosodic cues, such as pitch movement, pre-boundary lengthening, and pauses, incrementally help to organize the incoming stream of information into prosodic phrases, which often coincide with syntactic units. Prosody is hence central to spoken language comprehension and some models assume that the speaker produces prosody in a consistent and hierarchical fashion. While there is manifold empirical evidence that prosodic boundary cues are reliably and robustly produced and effectively guide spoken sentence comprehension across different populations and languages, the underlying mechanisms and the nature of the prosody-syntax interface still have not been identified sufficiently. This is also reflected in the fact that most models on sentence processing completely lack prosodic information. This edited book volume is grounded in a workshop that was held in 2021 at the annual conference of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft (DGfS). The five chapters cover selected topics on the production and comprehension of prosodic cues in various populations and languages, all focusing in particular on processing of prosody at structurally relevant prosodic boundaries. Specifically, the book comprises cross-linguistic evidence as well as evidence from non-native listeners, infants, adults, and elderly speakers, highlighting the important role of prosody in both language production and comprehension

The Finnic Tetrameter – A Creolization of Poetic Form?

This article presents a new theory on the origins of the common Finnic tetrameter as a poetic form (also called the Kalevala-meter, regilaul meter, etc.). It argues that this verse form emerged as a creolization of the North Germanic alliterative verse form during a period of intensive language contacts, and that the Finnic ethnopoetic ecology made it isosyllabic. Previous theories have focused on the trochaic, tetrametric structure and viewed other features of poetic form as secondary or incidental. This is the first theory to offer a metrically driven explanation for the distinctive features of the poetic form: the systematic placement of lexically stressed short syllables in metrically unstressed positions and systematic yet unmetricalized use of verse-internal alliteration. The emergence of the poetic form may be viewed simply in terms of hybridization, but its formation as a central mode for epic and ritual poetry demands consideration of social factors. Creolization is considered a social process of hybridization at the level of sign systems that is characterized by a salient asymmetrical relation of power, authority or other value in the cultural sign systems being reconfigured from the perspective of the society or groups involved. An argument is presented that North Germanic contacts also produced systematic verse-internal alliteration in Finnic languages. Discussion then turns to the distinction between the origin and spread of the poetic form. The poetic form’s uniformity across Finnic language areas in spite of its ‘foreign’ metrical features along with the range of genres with which it was used are considered indicators of the poetic form’s spread with language, forming an argument that the tetrameter emerged within an environment that also produced Late Proto-Finnic, and then spread with Late Proto-Finnic language and culture through areas where other Finnic language forms were spoken

Lahktarindid suulises eesti keeles: uurimus infostruktuuri raamistikus

Käesolev doktoriväitekiri „Initial and final detachments in spoken Estonian: a study in the framework of Information Structuring“ käsitleb lahktarindeid eesti suulises keeles infostruktuuri raamistikus. Lahktarinditena (inglise keeles detachments, dislocations) vaadeldakse siin konstruktsioone, milles leksikaalne element esineb kas enne pealauset või pärast seda, kusjuures pealauses esineb leksikaalse elemendiga samaviiteline asesõna. Neid konstruktsioone peetakse spontaanses keelekasutuses universaalseteks, kuid nende esinemus ja funktsioonid on keeleti mõnevõrra erinevad. Lahktarindeid ei ole eesti keeles varem uuritud; üldiselt on neid keeleuurimustes seotud infostruktuuri mõistetega nagu teema ja postreema, st nad tõstavad esile infostruktuuri tasandil leksikaalses üksuses ühelt poolt teema, mille kohta pealauses (reema) midagi öeldakse ning teiselt poolt esinevad nad struktuurides, kus pealause ehk reema on lausungis esimesel kohal, millele järgneb leksikaalse üksusena postreema. Et infostruktuuri tasandist lähtuvaid uurimusi eesti keele kohta tehtud pole, antakse väitekirja esimestes peatükkides ülevaade valdkonna problemaatikast ning käesolevas töös olulistest lähenemistest. Väitekiri sisaldab ka ülevaadet enamikust (süntaksit käsitlevatest) uurimustest eesti keele kohta, milles kasutatakse infostruktuuri mõisteid. Korpuseanalüüsis vaadeldakse lähemalt ülalmainitud kaht tüüpi lahktarindeid, keskendudes peamiselt referendi informatsioonilisele staatusele, tarindite erinevatele funktsioonidele ja toimimisele diskursuse tasandil. Väitekirja tulemusena võib lahktarindite kohta väita järgmist: tegemist on suulises kõnes levinud struktuuridega, mis toetavad suulisele kõnele iseloomulikku info edastamist lühemate üksuste kaupa. Tarindites viidatavad referendid on enamasti kas vestluses juba esinenud või on tuletatavad vestluse üldisest raamistikust. Postreemat sisaldavates tarindites, kus leksikaalne referent tuleb alles lausungi lõpus, esineb rohkem ka eelneva sisuga seostamata referente. Lisaks vormilistele erinevustele ning nendest tulenevalt on nende kahe struktuuri puhul selgelt näha erinevaid strateegiaid referendi sissetoomise puhul ning selle käsitlemisel edaspidises diskursuses.The present thesis “Initial and final detachments in spoken Estonian: a study in the framework of Information Structuring” analyses detachment constructions (initial and final detachments) in spoken Estonian, in the framework of Information Structuring. Initial detachments are defined as structures where a detached lexical element precedes the main clause, which contains a coreferential pronoun; in final detachments, the referent is at first referred to by a pronoun in the main clause, followed by the lexical element in a detached element at the end of the utterance. These structures have been considered universals in spontaneous oral language, but their functions and degree of grammaticalization differ in various languages. Detached constructions have not been investigated before in Estonian. They have been associated to the notions of Theme and Post-rheme at the level of Information Structuring, i.e. initial detachment introduces an element that is considered as Theme at the informational level and final detachment serves to introduce the Post-rheme. Given that there are no studies dedicated to the level of Information Structuring as independent object of investigation, an overview about the main problems of this domain is provided in first chapters of the thesis, followed by a summary of studies (in syntax) about Estonian where the notions of Information Structuring framework have been used. The analysis of the corpus concentrates mainly on the informational status of the referent, different functions of these constructions and their functioning at the discourse level. The analysis revealed that detached constructions allow the information to be staged during the discourse building work; as concerns the informational status of the referents, it could be shown that they have mostly been mentioned before during the conversation or are present in the thematic frame of the discourse. Final detachments are also used in order to introduce unmentioned and new referents. Besides the formal differences, and stemming from them, the two constructions are clearly different as concerns the mechanisms of introduction of the referent and its treatment in the discourse

Creak as a feature of lexical stress in Estonian

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