Why are voiced affricates avoided cross-linguistically? : evidence from an aerodynamic study

This paper shows that several typologically unrelated languages share the tendency to avoid voiced sibilant affricates. This tendency is explained by appealing to the phonetic properties of the sounds, and in particular to their aerodynamic characteristics. On the basis of experimental evidence it is shown that conflicting air pressure requirements for maintaining voicing and frication are responsible for the avoidance of voiced affricates. In particular, the air pressure released from the stop phase of the affricate is too high to maintain voicing, which in consequence leads to a devoicing of the frication part

How do voiced retroflex stops evolve? Evidence from typology and an articulatory study

The present article illustrates that the specific articulatory and aerodynamic requirements for voiced but not voiceless alveolar or dental stops can cause tongue tip retraction and tongue mid lowering and thus retroflexion of front coronals. This retroflexion is shown to have occurred diachronically in the three typologically unrelated languages Dhao (Malayo-Polynesian), Thulung (Sino-Tibetan), and Afar (East-Cushitic). In addition to the diachronic cases, we provide synchronic data for retroflexion from an articulatory study with four speakers of German, a language usually described as having alveolar stops. With these combined data we supply evidence that voiced retroflex stops (as the only retroflex segments in a language) did not necessarily emerge from implosives, as argued by Haudricourt (1950), Greenberg (1970), Bhat (1973), and Ohala (1983). Instead, we propose that the voiced front coronal plosive /d/ is generally articulated in a way that favours retroflexion, that is, with a smaller and more retracted place of articulation and a lower tongue and jaw position than /t/

The influence of the palate shape on articulatory token-to-token variability

Articulatory token-to-token variability not only depends on linguistic aspects like the phoneme inventory of a given language but also on speaker specific morphological and motor constraints. As has been noted previously (Perkell (1997), Mooshammer et al. (2004)) , speakers with coronally high "domeshaped" palates exhibit more articulatory variability than speakers with coronally low "flat" palates. One explanation for that is based on perception oriented control by the speaker. The influence of articulatory variation on the cross sectional area and consequently on the acoustics should be greater for flat palates than for domeshaped ones. This should force speakers with flat palates to place their tongue very precisely whereas speakers with domeshaped palates might tolerate a greater variability. A second explanation could be a greater amount of lateral linguo-palatal contact for flat palates holding the tongue in position. In this study both hypotheses were tested

World Society and Modernization — A Brief Outline of the Dynamics of Change in International Relations

Weltgesellschaft und Modernisierung – Eine Skizze der Dynamik des Formwandels des Systems internationaler Beziehungen Der Formwandel internationaler Politik verändert das institutionelle Design internationaler Beziehungen (IB) von der klassischen intergouvernementalen konsensorientierten Steuerung hin zu supra- und transnationalen Institutionen, die verstärkt auch auf nationale Politiken einwirken. Aber auch auf dem Level von Gesellschaften selbst scheint die bislang primär nationalstaatlich gerahmte Agglomerationslogik einen Teil ihres Charmes zu verlieren. „Über“-nationale Kontexte spielen auch für das, des Kosmopolitismus ansonsten eher unverdächtige, Durchschnittsmitglied von Industriegesellschaften zunehmend eine Rolle – sei es durch den multinationalen Arbeitgeber, den mittlerweile auch für Einzelpersonen problemlos abzuwickelnden Fernhandel übers Internet oder den ebenfalls hier zu findenden grenzenlosen Kommunikationsraum (entsprechende Sprachkenntnisse vorausgesetzt). In diesem Aufsatz werde ich mich auf zwei Spielarten der makrosoziologischen Bearbeitung von IB-Themen konzentrieren: Forschungen zur Weltgesellschaft und Modernisierungstheorie werden an einigen Beispielen auf ihren Mehrwert in IB überprüft. Gleichzeitig werde ich diskutieren, ob sie in Verbindung mit Themen und Ansprüchen des Fachs IB selbst „globalisierungstauglich“ werden und stelle im letzten Abschnitt ein vorläufiges Modell für die Konzeptualisierung der Dynamik des Formwandels des Systems internationaler Beziehungen vor.World Society and Modernization — A Brief Outline of the Dynamics of Change in International Relations The institutional arrangement of international relations evolved from intergovernmental and consensus-oriented settings into a system that is increasingly characterized by supraand transnational governing. Thus international politics are gaining greater influence at the national level; simultaneously, the nationally framed horizons of the average citizens in OECD member countries gradually incorporate ever greater international content. Multinational employers, the possibility of international trading via internet and the almost unlimited space of communication are features of everyday life – at least for John Q. Citizen in the industrialized world. This paper argues for the application of macro-sociological theory in the analysis of the dynamics of change in the international system. The “world society” approach and modernization theory are discussed as possible framings for the understanding of the current form of the system of international relations and the pluralization of actors on the international level. The final section introduces a slender model for the evolution of elaborated and self-referential modes of cooperation in the realm of the international

Temporal development of compensation strategies for perturbed palate shape in German /S/-production

The palate shape of four speakers was changed by a prosthesis which either lowered the palate or retracted the alveoles. Subjects wore the prosthesis for two weeks and were recorded several times via EMA. Results of articulatory measurements show that speakers use different compensation methods at different stages of the adaptation. They lower the tongue immediately after the insertion of the prosthesis. Other compensation methods as for example lip protrusion are only acquired after longer practising periods. The results are interpreted as supporting the existence of different mappings between motor commands, vocal tract shape and auditory-acoustic target

On integrability and aggregation of superior demand functions

When each of the members of a collective displays a demand behavior that is consistent with a homogeneous of degree one in income demand, it is well known that some properties carry over to the aggregate representative consumer. We investigate those issues when the components of the society are allowed to behave in agreement with less restrictive demand patterns, namely superior demand functions.

Motor Equivalence in Speech Production

International audienceThe first section provides a description of the concepts of “motor equivalence” and “degrees of freedom”. It is illustrated with a few examples of motor tasks in general and of speech production tasks in particular. In the second section, the methodology used to investigate experimentally motor equivalence phenomena in speech production is presented. It is mainly based on paradigms that perturb the perception-action loop during on-going speech, either by limiting the degrees of freedom of the speech motor system, or by changing the physical conditions of speech production or by modifying the feedback information. Examples are provided for each of these approaches. Implications of these studies for a better understanding of speech production and its interactions with speech perception are presented in the last section. Implications are mainly related to characterization of the mechanisms underlying interarticulatory coordination and to the analysis of the speech production goals

Motor Equivalence in Speech Production

International audienceThe first section provides a description of the concepts of “motor equivalence” and “degrees of freedom”. It is illustrated with a few examples of motor tasks in general and of speech production tasks in particular. In the second section, the methodology used to investigate experimentally motor equivalence phenomena in speech production is presented. It is mainly based on paradigms that perturb the perception-action loop during on-going speech, either by limiting the degrees of freedom of the speech motor system, or by changing the physical conditions of speech production or by modifying the feedback information. Examples are provided for each of these approaches. Implications of these studies for a better understanding of speech production and its interactions with speech perception are presented in the last section. Implications are mainly related to characterization of the mechanisms underlying interarticulatory coordination and to the analysis of the speech production goals

Welfare state formation in the enlarged European Union - patterns of reform in the post-communist new member states

"Die Osterweiterung der Europäischen Union bietet nicht zuletzt auch Herausforderungen für die westeuropäischen Wohlfahrtsstaaten, die in der Literatur häufig als Bedrohung analysiert werden. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Entwicklung der Sozialversicherungssysteme in acht postsozialistischen Staaten, die 2004 in die Europäische Union aufgenommen wurden, Estland, Lettland, Litauen, Polen, Slowakei, Slowenien, Ungarn und die tschechische Republik (EU-8). Wir untersuchen sowohl institutionelle Designs und Performance als auch den Einfluss externer und interner Akteure auf die wohlfahrtsstaatliche Entwicklung in diesen Ländern. Wie unterscheiden sie sich von westeuropäischen Wohlfahrtsstaaten und wie passen sie in gängige Typologien von Wohlfahrtsstaat-Regimen?" (Autorenreferat)"Eastern Enlargement of the European Union challenged the design of European Welfare states. Many authors discuss the impact of East European social security systems on their West European counterparts and fear a 'race to the bottom'. This paper addresses welfare state developments in the eight post-socialist new member states which completed the accession process in 2004, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia (EU-8). We focus on institutional patterns and performance as well as on the impact of internal and external actors of welfare state formation. How do the EU-8 diverge from West European welfare states and how do they fit into the typology of welfare state regimes?" (author's abstract