Pre-aspiration in Bethesda Welsh: a sociophonetic analysis

Previous research has shown that pre-aspiration can be either a phonemic or variable linguistic feature susceptible to linguistic and extra-linguistic influences. In the case of Welsh, previous exploratory work has found the presence of pre-aspiration (Ball 1984; Morris 2010; Iosad Forthcoming; Spooner 2016), but the phonetic and phonological properties of this feature and its sociophonetic patterning in the language are not known. This paper presents analyses of the variety of Welsh spoken in Bethesda (Gwynedd). It reports the frequency of occurrence of pre-aspiration, its duration, and noisiness. As well as describing pre-aspiration, it attempts to ascertain the extent to which this feature is influenced by linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Wordlist data were analysed from 16 Welsh–English bilinguals from Bethesda (Gwynedd, north Wales). Speakers were aged between 16 and 18 years old and the sample was stratified by speaker sex and home language (either Welsh or English). The results indicate that pre-aspiration is frequent in both fortis and lenis plosives (the latter of which are typically devoiced in Welsh). In addition to a number of linguistic influences on its production, both speaker sex and home language were found to be significant predictors of variation for some measures. The results are discussed with reference to previous studies of pre-aspiration in other languages and work on phonetic variation in Welsh-English bilingual speech

Automatic Measurement of Pre-aspiration

Pre-aspiration is defined as the period of glottal friction occurring in sequences of vocalic/consonantal sonorants and phonetically voiceless obstruents. We propose two machine learning methods for automatic measurement of pre-aspiration duration: a feedforward neural network, which works at the frame level; and a structured prediction model, which relies on manually designed feature functions, and works at the segment level. The input for both algorithms is a speech signal of an arbitrary length containing a single obstruent, and the output is a pair of times which constitutes the pre-aspiration boundaries. We train both models on a set of manually annotated examples. Results suggest that the structured model is superior to the frame-based model as it yields higher accuracy in predicting the boundaries and generalizes to new speakers and new languages. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of our structured prediction algorithm by replicating linguistic analysis of pre-aspiration in Aberystwyth English with high correlation

Attention To People Like You: A Proposal Regarding Neuroendocrine Effects on Linguistic Variation

Although the literature on language change has often replicated and discussed a pattern in which female speakers lead in changes that occur below the level of awareness, there is no consensus on why this pattern should arise. Interestingly, recent findings in endocrinology show that differences in prenatal testosterone exposure can impact learning patterns. In the light of these findings, we first present preliminary results consistent with the hypothesis that a biological factor, prenatal exposure to androgens, can have a small, continuous biasing effect on linguistic variation, namely the variable duration of pre-aspiration conditioned by voiceless obstruents in Tyneside English. Second, we propose an explanatory model in which the biological factor—prenatal testosterone exposure—creates subtle bias in how speakers learn linguistic variants and suggest that some reported sex effects are derivative. This model is compatible with the high tendency for females to lead in language change from below (Labov 1990: 206)

”Vokalhelvedet”: hvor svær er dansk udtale, og hvordan undervises der i udtale for andetsprogstalere?

Det danske sprog anses af mange lørnere som svært at lære, og især anses det som svært at blive flydende i. Dette bliver ofte tilskrevet den svære danske udtale. Artiklen her viser, at sprogskolernes håndtering af udtaleundervisning kan bidrage til voksne andetsprogstaleres udtaleproblemer. Her undersøges voksne lørneres og underviseres iagttagelser omkring det svære danske sprog, og undervisningen af det. I denne undersøgelse inddrages en analyse af undervisningsmateriale brugt ved voksenundervisning i dansk som andetsprog, og en diskussion af danskeksamener for andetsprogstalere. Vores resultater indikerer at udtale, og især vokaler, anses af både lørnere og undervisere som særligt svære at mestre. Samtidig undervises der ifølge vores informanter ikke nok i vokaludtale på de danske sprogskoler. Selvom de to informantgrupper generelt er relativt enige er især mængden af undervisning i udtale et kontrastpunkt mellem lørnere og undervisere. Vi diskuterer denne forskel, samt betydningen af meget lidt undervisningsmateriale der fokuserer på udtale efter DU-modul 1, og et manglende fokus på udtale i danskeksamenerne

Interdisciplinary: To Be or Not to Be? Working Across Disciplinary Boundaries in the Humanities (and Beyond)

This article introduces student readers to the realm of the interdisciplinary, with a primary focus on the humanities. We first introduce interdisciplinarity and other related terms as concepts. We then present eight specific examples, on which we illustrate interdisciplinary research. Finally, we address the question of when one should be interdisciplinary

The Sign of the V: Papers in Honour of Sten Vikner

‘The Sign of the V’ is a festschrift in honour of Sten Vikner, written by friends, colleagues, and collaborators, present and past, to celebrate both his 60th birthday and his contribution to the field of linguistics. The papers cover a wide range of topics in theoretical and empirical linguistic research, from phonetics and phonology, through morphology, semantics, and syntax, to pragmatics, as well as language acquisition, second-language learning, language processing, language teaching, language contact, historical linguistics, and language variation and change. Many different languages are featured, including the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish), Catalan, Dutch, English, Finnish, West Flemish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Scots, and Yiddish. The scope and depth of the chapters in this anthology is a clear indication of the scope and depth of Sten Vikner’s own comparative research well as his impact on the field of linguistics.‘The Sign of the V’ is a festschrift in honour of Sten Vikner, written by friends, colleagues, and collaborators, present and past, to celebrate both his 60th birthday and his contribution to the field of linguistics. The papers cover a wide range of topics in theoretical and empirical linguistic research, from phonetics and phonology, through morphology, semantics, and syntax, to pragmatics, as well as language acquisition, second-language learning, language processing, language teaching, language contact, historical linguistics, and language variation and change. Many different languages are featured, including the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish), Catalan, Dutch, English, Finnish, West Flemish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Scots, and Yiddish. The scope and depth of the chapters in this anthology is a clear indication of the scope and depth of Sten Vikner’s own comparative research well as his impact on the field of linguistics

The Sign of the V: Papers in Honour of Sten Vikner

‘The Sign of the V’ is a festschrift in honour of Sten Vikner, written by friends, colleagues, and collaborators, present and past, to celebrate both his 60th birthday and his contribution to the field of linguistics. The papers cover a wide range of topics in theoretical and empirical linguistic research, from phonetics and phonology, through morphology, semantics, and syntax, to pragmatics, as well as language acquisition, second-language learning, language processing, language teaching, language contact, historical linguistics, and language variation and change. Many different languages are featured, including the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish), Catalan, Dutch, English, Finnish, West Flemish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Scots, and Yiddish. The scope and depth of the chapters in this anthology is a clear indication of the scope and depth of Sten Vikner’s own comparative research well as his impact on the field of linguistics.‘The Sign of the V’ is a festschrift in honour of Sten Vikner, written by friends, colleagues, and collaborators, present and past, to celebrate both his 60th birthday and his contribution to the field of linguistics. The papers cover a wide range of topics in theoretical and empirical linguistic research, from phonetics and phonology, through morphology, semantics, and syntax, to pragmatics, as well as language acquisition, second-language learning, language processing, language teaching, language contact, historical linguistics, and language variation and change. Many different languages are featured, including the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish), Catalan, Dutch, English, Finnish, West Flemish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Scots, and Yiddish. The scope and depth of the chapters in this anthology is a clear indication of the scope and depth of Sten Vikner’s own comparative research well as his impact on the field of linguistics

A history of English

Where does today’s English language come from? This book takes its readers on a journey back in time, from present-day varieties to the Old English of Beowulf and beyond. Written for students with little or no background in linguistics, and reflecting the latest scholarship, it showcases the variation and change present throughout the history of English, and includes numerous exercises and sample texts for every period. The reverse-chronological approach taken by this book sets it apart from all existing textbooks of the last fifty years. Innovative features also include its focus on variation, multilingualism and language contact, its use of texts from outside the literary canon, and its inclusion of case studies from syntax, sociophonetics and historical pragmatics

A history of English

Where does today’s English language come from? This book takes its readers on a journey back in time, from present-day varieties to the Old English of Beowulf and beyond. Written for students with little or no background in linguistics, and reflecting the latest scholarship, it showcases the variation and change present throughout the history of English, and includes numerous exercises and sample texts for every period. The reverse-chronological approach taken by this book sets it apart from all existing textbooks of the last fifty years. Innovative features also include its focus on variation, multilingualism and language contact, its use of texts from outside the literary canon, and its inclusion of case studies from syntax, sociophonetics and historical pragmatics.

A history of English

Where does today’s English language come from? This book takes its readers on a journey back in time, from present-day varieties to the Old English of Beowulf and beyond. Written for students with little or no background in linguistics, and reflecting the latest scholarship, it showcases the variation and change present throughout the history of English, and includes numerous exercises and sample texts for every period. The reverse-chronological approach taken by this book sets it apart from all existing textbooks of the last fifty years. Innovative features also include its focus on variation, multilingualism and language contact, its use of texts from outside the literary canon, and its inclusion of case studies from syntax, sociophonetics and historical pragmatics.