Phonetics and phonology of the three-way laryngeal contrast in Madurese

Madurese, a Western Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the Indonesian island of Madura, exhibits a three-way laryngeal contrast distinguishing between voiced, voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated stops and an unusual consonant-vowel (CV) co-occurrence restriction. The CV co-occurrence restriction is of phonological interest given the patterning of voiceless aspirated stops with voiced stops rather than with voiceless unaspirated stops, raising the question of what phonological feature they may share. Two features have been linked with the CV co-occurrence restriction: Advanced Tongue Root [ATR] and Lowered Larynx [LL]. However, as no evidence of voicing during closure for aspirated stops is observed and no other acoustic measures except voice onset time (VOT), fundamental frequency (F0), frequencies of the first (F1) and the second (F2) formants and closure duration relating to the proposed features have been conducted, it remains an open question which acoustic properties are shared by voiced and aspirated stops. Three main questions are addressed in the thesis. The first question is what acoustic properties voiced and voiceless aspirated stops share to the exclusion of voiceless unaspirated stops. The second question is whether [ATR] or [LL] accounts for the patterning together of voiceless aspirated stops with voiced stops. The third question is what the implications of the results are for a transparent phonetics-phonology mapping that expects phonological features to have phonetic correlates associated with them. In order to answer the questions, we looked into VOT, closure duration, F0, F1, F2 and a number of spectral measures, i.e. H1*-A1*, H1*-A2*, H1*-A3*, H1*-H2*, H2*-H4* and CPP. We recorded fifteen speakers of Madurese (8 females, 7 males) reading 188 disyllabic Madurese words embedded in a sentence frame. The results show that the three-way voicing categories in Madurese have different VOT values. The difference in VOT is robust between voiced stops on the one hand and voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated stops on the other. Albeit statistically significant, the difference in VOT values between voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated stops is relatively small. With regard to closure duration, we found that there is a difference between voiced stops on the one hand and voiceless unaspirated and aspirated stops on the other. We also found that female speakers distinguish F0 for the three categories while male speakers distinguish between F0 for voiced stops on the one hand and voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated stops on the other. The results for spectral measures show that there are no significant differences in H1*-A1*, H1*-A3*, H1*-H2*, H2*-H4* and CPP between vowels adjacent to voiced and voiceless aspirated stops. In contrast, there are significant differences in these measures between vowels adjacent to voiced and voiceless unaspirated stops and between vowels adjacent to voiceless aspirated and voiceless unaspirated stops. Regarding the question whether voiced and voiceless aspirated stops share certain acoustic properties, our findings show that they do. The acoustic properties they share are H1*-A1* for both genders, H1*-H2* for females, H1*-A3* and H2*-H4* for males, and CPP for females at vowel onset and for males at vowel midpoint. However, they do not share such acoustic properties as VOT, closure duration and F0. Voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated stops can be distinguished by VOT, F0 and spectral measures, i.e. H1*-A1*, H1*-A3*, H1*-H2*, H2*-H4* and CPP. However, these two voiceless stop categories have similar closure durations. As regards the question if [+ATR] or [+LL] might be responsible for the patterning together of voiceless aspirated stops with voiced stops, our findings suggest that either feature appears to be plausible. Acoustic evidence that lends support to the feature [+ATR] includes lower F1 and greater spectral tilt measures, i.e. H1*-A1*, H1*-A3*, H1*-H2* and H2*-H4*, and lower CPP values. Acoustic evidence that supports the feature [+LL] includes lower F1 and greater spectral tilt measures, i.e. H1*-A1*, H1*-A3*, H1*-H2* and H2*-H4*, and lower CPP values. However, the fact that voiceless aspirated stops are voiceless during closure raises a problem for the feature [+ATR] and the fact that F0 for voiceless aspirated stops is higher than for voiced stops also presents a problem for the feature [+LL]. The fact that not all acoustic measures fit in well with either feature is problematic to the idea that the relationship between phonetics and phonology is transparent in the sense that phonological features can be directly transformed into their phonetic correlates. Following the view that not all phonological features may not be expected to be phonetically grounded, for example, when they are related to historical sound change, we hold the idea of a phonetics-phonology mapping which allows for other non-phonetic factors to account for a phonological phenomenon. We also provide historical and loanword evidence which could support that voiceless aspirated stops in Madurese may have derived from earlier voiced stops, which probably retain their historical laryngeal contrast through phonologisation

Establishing the Three-Way Voicing Contrast in Madurese Stops

Madurese, a Western Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the Indonesian island of Madura, has been described as having a three-way voicing contrast (i.e. voiced, voiceless unaspirated and voiceless aspirated) in its stops. However, the fact that the VOT values for voiceless unaspirated and aspirated stops are not large and they are also followed by vowels with different height raises a question if Madurese only contrasts voiced and voiceless stops phonologically instead. The goal of this paper is to establish the phonological status of the voicing contrast in Madurese stops, arguing that Madurese can be better described as a language with a three-way contrast. For this purpose, we provide phonological evidence that includes consonant-vowel interactions, vowel harmony processes and some morphophonemic processes involving vowel height alternations. All of this evidence is also used to substantiate the proposal that consonants trigger vowel height alternation rather than vowels trigger consonant allophony

THE DIFFICULTIES FACED AND THE STRATEGIES USED BY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The study aims to identify the difficulties faced and the strategies used by English Department students at Universitas Trunojoyo Madura in learning English. The study used a mixed-method approach, which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The source of data was one class in the second semester that consisted of thirty-seven students. The data were the difficulties faced by the students in learning English and the strategies they used to deal with them. The research instrument used was questionnaires containing both close-ended and open-ended questions. The data that was obtained from closed-ended questions were analysed quantitatively while those that were derived from open-ended questions were analysed qualitatively. The results showed that the difficulties faced by English Department students in learning English include pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary and they exercised different strategies to solve them. Specifically, the strategies to solve the difficulty in learning pronunciation were listening to English songs, singing English songs, watching English movies or films, imitating using Google Translate, and practising the pronunciation by themselves. The strategies to tackle the difficulty in learning grammar were watching YouTube, reading English books, learning from the internet, learning through Instagram, and learning by themselves. Furthermore, there were several ways that they used to deal with the difficulty in learning vocabulary, for example, they used English dictionaries, watched English movies, read English books, used English songs, and memorized new vocabulary

An Analysis of Pronunciation Errors Produced by Indonesian Learners of English: a Case Study of English Department Students of Trunojoyo University

The present study investigated pronunciation errors made by English learners as a foreign language (EFL). We attempted to find the types of pronunciation errors in the consonants and vowels in English. To achieve this, twenty students of the English Department at Universitas Trunojoyo Madura were recruited as participants. They were asked to pronounce seventy-five English words that contain the consonants [v], [θ], [ð], and [ʒ] and the vowels [ʌ], [æ], [ɑ], [ɜ], [ɒ], [eɪ], [əʊ], and [ɪə]. The consonants and vowels were chosen based on the differences between English and Indonesian since the participants’ first language is Indonesian. The study used a descriptive qualitative method employing the convenience sampling technique for its data collection. The data which were obtained from recordings of stimuli by the participants were transcribed impressionistically using phonetic transcriptions to identify the errors. The results showed that the most frequent type of pronunciation error produced by the participants was sound substitution (83% of the participants produced this error), while sound deletion and insertion were 67% and 63%, respectively. It was also found that they produced errors not only in pronouncing [v], [θ], [ð], [ʒ], [ʌ], [æ], [ɑ], [ɜ], [ɒ], [eɪ], [əʊ] but also in pronouncing [ɪə] as well as [t], [tʃ],[k], [b], [d], [dʒ], [j], [w], [ɪ], [ə] in certain positions. Furthermore, we found that the Indonesian phonological interference, the problem of the silent letter, pronouncing a word as it is spelt, overgeneralization, and hypercorrection were possible factors that contributed to the errors. In addition, the position of consonants also induced the participants to make errors in their pronunciation

A Study Of Idioms Found In Freedom Writers Movie

This study focuses on idioms found in Freedom Writers movie. This study aims to find and explain the types of idioms found in the movie using the theory of types of idioms proposed by Fernando (1996) and the properties of idioms using the theory of properties of idioms proposed by Nunberg, Sag and Wasow (1994). This study employs qualitative design as the research design. In addition, content analysis is applied to obtain the data in which the writer becomes the key instrument of the study. Interactive data analysis, then, is conducted to analyze and explain the data. The data of the study are taken from the characters’ dialogues in Freedom Writers movie. This study shows the findings of the types of idioms and the properties of idioms. In terms of types of idioms, 45 data of idioms were found. The data are classified into three types of idioms: pure idioms (7 data), semi-idioms (10 data), and literal idioms (28 data). Moreover, in terms of properties of idioms, the data are classified into six properties: conventionality (the total 45 data), inflexibility (36 data of the total 45 data), figuration (2 data of the total 45 data), proverbiality (1 datum of the total 45 data), informality (6 data of the total 45 data), and affect (5 data of the total 45 data)

Language Attitudes of the Madurese Community Toward Madurese, Indonesian, English, and Other Foreign Languages

Language attitudes play an important role in the use and maintenance of a language. This is particularly the case in a multilingual speech community such as the Madurese community where most people speak more than one language. The present study seeks to understand the attitudes of the Madurese community toward Madurese, Indonesian, English, and other foreign languages (MIEof languages). To achieve this, 200 questionnaires were randomly distributed to respondents in Bangkalan, Sampang, Pamekasan, and Sumenep, but only 150 questionnaires were filled in and returned. The questionnaires, which contained questions and answers using 5 point Likert scales of ‘strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree’, were analyzed quantitatively by averaging the calculation results of each of the scales. The results were categorized based on relevant themes, i.e., attitudes toward learning, mastery, and use of MIEof languages. Our analyses showed that most of the respondents demonstrated positive attitudes toward learning, mastery, and use of MIEof languages. The results are discussed with respect to the language maintenance of Madurese and local languages, the prospects of Indonesian, English, and other foreign languages along with multilingualism practices in Madura. It can be concluded that the Madurese community seem to be open to the practice of multilingualism, indicated by their positive attitudes toward language learning, mastery, and use. It is suggested that future studies make use of qualitative data, such as interview data so that findings about the language attitudes of the Madurese community under consideration can be further corroborated

AN ANALYSIS OF MODALITY IN EMMA WATSON AND MICHAEL KIMMEL’S SPEECH TEXTS

This study used Palmer’s (1986) theory to analyzed Modality and Halliday (2008) to analyze the meaning of modality. Relating to the statements above, this study was proposed to answer two articulated research problems, namely; (1) what are the types of modality found in Emma Watson and Michael Kimmel’s Speech Texts? And (2) To what extent do Emma Watson and Michael Kimmel’s Speech Texts show similarities and differences, if any, in their use of types of modality? This study employs a descriptive qualitative design. The data were all of the speech by Emma Watson and Michael Kimmel’s Speech Texts that contain modality. In terms of types of modality, 30 data of modality were found. The data are classified into two types of modality: Epistemic modality consists of 10 data; judgments (5 data) and modifications (5 data). Deontic modality consists of 20 data; directives (3 data), modifications (4 data), subjectivity (5 data), imperatives (3 data), commissives (2 data), and volitives (3 data). Moreover, in terms of similarities and differences, the data are classified into two terms similarities and differences. We found 11 data of similarities and differences in types of modality: In terms of similarities in types of epistemic modality (3 data) and similarities in types of deontic modality (2 data). In terms of differences in epistemic modality (2 data) and differences in deontic modality (4 data). Keywords: Modality, Epistemic, and Deonti

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VOICE ONSET TIME (VOT) IN MADURESE AND ENGLISH WORD-INITIAL PLOSIVES

Artikel ini membahas Voice Onset Time (VOT) bunyi hambat bahasa Madura dan dikomparasikan dengan bunyi hambat bahasa Inggris. Tujuannya adalah untuk mengetahui apakah kedua bahasa tersebut memiliki konfigurasi VOT yang sama mengingat baik bahasa Madura maupun bahasa Inggris memiliki konsonan letup beraspirasi tak bersuara

AN OBSERVATION TOWARDS SOME PHONOLOGICAL RULES AND PROCESSES IN MADURESE

Aturan fonologis merupakan fenomena alami yang biasa ditemukan di setiap bahasa dunia. Terdapat sejumlah aturan fonologis, di antaranya adalah insersi, asimilasi, pelesapan, pelemahan, penguatan, dan lain-lain. Dalam penerapannya, aturan-aturan tersebut harus diurutkan untuk menghasilkan output fonetis yang gramatikal, yaitu output yang sesuai dengan aturan fonologis bahasa bersangkutan. Artikel ini menyajikan sejumlah aturan fonologis yang berlaku dalam bahasa Madura

Phonetic realisations of Madurese vowels and their implications for the Madurese vowel system

It has been suggested that Madurese has eight surface vowels [a, ɛ, ə, ɔ, ɤ, i, ɨ, u], but there have been disagreements with regard to the number of its vowel phonemes. The disagreements arise partly because some scholars base their analyses of Madurese vowels on phonetic grounds while others base them on certain phonological analyses. Besides, some researchers do not consider native versus non-native Madurese words in their analyses. The paper addresses these problems by incorporating both phonetic and phonological analyses in order to provide a better description of Madurese vowels. To achieve this, we investigated the acoustic realisations of the eight surface vowels by looking at the first and second formant frequencies (F1 and F2) of the high and non-high vowel pairs (i ~ ɛ, ɨ ~ ə, ɤ ~ a, u ~ ɔ). Fifteen speakers of Madurese were recorded reading Madurese words put in a carrier phrase. All segmentations were done employing Praat, and F1 and F2 values were extracted using a Praat script. The data were assessed with a linear mixed-effects model accounting for variation due to both random and fixed factors. The results showed that all high and non-high vowel pairs significantly differed in their F1 values. However, the results for F2 values showed variations; only the pair [ɨ ~ ə] showed a significant difference at vowel onset and at vowel midpoint the pairs [i ~ ɛ] and [ɨ ~ ə] were significantly different. Furthermore, we also looked at the vowels [ɤ] and [ɨ] as well as [ɤ] and [ə] to see if they differed in their F1 and F2 values. Our results confirmed that at both vowel onset and midpoint, they were significantly different. The results were discussed employing phonological analysis and vowel dispersion theory. The result of the analyses suggests that Madurese should be best described as a language with a four-vowel system and further offers a solution to the disagreements on the number of vowel phonemes in Madures