From a perceptual point of view, is there prosodic continuity between languages in contact?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 543-572
Author(s):  
Ana Ma. Fernández Planas ◽  
Paolo Roseano ◽  
Wendy Elvira-García ◽  
Josefina Carrera Sabaté ◽  
Domingo Román Montes de Oca
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Languages In Contact

Abstract This paper contains the results of a set of perception tests that aimed at measuring perceived prosodic distances between different Romance languages (Italian, Friulian, Sardinian, Catalan, and Spanish). Data were collected within the framework of the AMPER project. The results were obtained by means of discrimination and identification tasks where the judges were 31 native speakers of Catalan form Barcelona and the stimuli were broad focus statements and yes-no questions in the above-mentioned languages. The perceived distances are then compared with the results of a dialectometric analysis of acoustic data. This comparison shows that the perceived distances are related to acoustic differences.

Glottalization and linking in the L2 speech of Czech learners of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110158
Author(s):  
Radek Skarnitzl ◽  
Petr Čermák ◽  
Pavel Šturm ◽  
Zora Obstová ◽  
Jan Hricsina
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Short Text ◽  
Sound Pattern ◽  
Frequent Use

The use of linking or glottalization contributes to the characteristic sound pattern of a language, and the use of one in place of the other may affect a speaker’s comprehensibility and fluency in certain contexts. In this study, native speakers of Czech, a language that is associated with a frequent use of glottalization in vowel-initial word onsets, are examined in the second language (L2) context of three Romance languages that predominantly employ linking between words (Spanish, Italian and Portuguese). In total, 29 native speakers and 51 non-native learners were asked to read a short text in the respective language. The learners were divided into two groups based on their experience with the target language. A number of other factors were examined in a mixed-effects logistic regression model (segmental context, lexical stress, prosodic breaks, and the semantic status of the words). The main results show that, regardless of the target language, the more experienced (ME) learners displayed significantly lower rates of glottalization than the less experienced (LE) learners, but significantly higher rates than native speakers. The pedagogical implications of the results are discussed.

scholarly journals Italian preconsonantal s-voicing is not regressive voice assimilation

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bálint Huszthy
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Word Boundary ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Sibilant Fricatives ◽  
Synchronic Comparison

Abstract In the literature of laryngeal phonology Romance languages are considered voice languages, exhibiting a binary distinction between a voiced lenis and a voiceless fortis set of obstruents. Voice languages are characterised by regressive voice assimilation (RVA) due to the phonological activity of [voice]. Italian manifests a process similar to RVA, called preconsonantal s-voicing; that is, /s/ becomes voiced before voiced consonants. Since /sC/ is the only obstruent cluster in Italian phonotactics, Italian seems to fulfil the requirements for being a prototypical voice language. However, this paper argues that s-voicing is not an instance of RVA, at least from a synchronic phonological point of view. RVA and Italian preconsonantal s-voicing essentially differ at every level of a synchronic comparison: in the input, in the trigger, in the domain of application and in the frequency of the processes. In Italian only sibilant fricatives may undergo voicing before consonants; however, other obstruents (which mostly appear in loanwords) do not assimilate for [voice]. Italian preconsonantal s-voicing does not take place at the word boundary or at morpheme boundaries, and it seems to be optional is new loanwords; thus, it is not a postlexical process like RVA. The synchronic differences between the two phenomena are analysed in Classical Optimality Theory. The laryngeal system of Italian prefers faithfulness over markedness, which means that non-/sC/ obstruent clusters surface with underlying voice values; while the voicing of /s/ before voiced consonants is seen as phonetic and not phonological.

The expectation marker of course in a cross-linguistic perspective

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen ◽  
Karin Aijmer
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Pragmatic Markers ◽  
Semantic Fields ◽  
Explanatory Account ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics ◽  
Multilingual Corpus ◽  
Core Meaning

The study of of course presented in this article has an applied, a descriptive and a theoretical aim. Since of course proves to be very frequent in English, learners will need to know what meanings the item has and in what pragmatic contexts it is used. It has indeed been shown that some learners tend to use of course in contexts where it is felt by native speakers to be inappropriate. In order to explain such inappropriate uses we need detailed descriptions of the semantics and pragmatics of of course. From a theoretical point of view such multifunctional items raise the question of whether semantic polysemy or pragmatic polysemy is the best explanatory account. It is argued in this paper that empirical cross-linguistic work can contribute to providing answers to all three research questions. First, the study of correspondences and differences between languages with regard to the meanings and uses of pragmatic markers is a necessary step in the explanation of learner problems. Second, the bidirectional approach to equivalents, which involves going back and forth from sources to translations, enables us to show to what extent the equivalents have partially overlapping pragmatic functions. An in-depth comparison of the semantic fields in which the translation equivalents operate is the ultimate goal. Third, the translation method helps to see to what extent a core meaning account is justified. In this paper three languages are brought into the picture, viz. English, Swedish and Dutch. The cross-linguistic data have been gathered from three translation corpora, i.e. the English-Swedish Parallel Corpus, the Oslo Multilingual Corpus and the Namur Triptic Corpus.

scholarly journals Lak proverbs with the religious code of culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Abakarova
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Social ◽  
Present Participle ◽  
Cultural Code ◽  
Positive Traits ◽  
The Given ◽  
Syntactical Analysis

The article analyzes Lak proverbs with the religious cultural code. The research was based on the descriptive method, syntactical analysis, morphological analysis and cognitive analysis. The proverbs collected from 3 books of Lak proverbs were analyzed from the point of view of semantics, axiological connotations, syntax and morphology. Semantic analysis revealed 6 groups of lexemes: (1) denominations of people; (2) words related to religious pillars and rituals; (3) words related to holy scriptures, religious attributes and terms; (4) words denoting death and afterlife; (5) words denoting commendable religious acts and notions; (6) words denoting sin and punishment. In the course of the axiological analysis there have been defined proverbs with positive evaluation of a person and proverbs with negative characteristics of a person. Positive traits include honesty, piety, decency, erudition and diligence, while negative ones include insulation, indecency, hypocrisy and negligence in the religious worship. Syntactical analysis of the Lak proverbs has revealed the presence of adverbs of asyndetic structure within which there have been established adversative, concessive and comparative relations, as well as of proverbs with copulative and disjunctive conjunctions. Some of the proverbs are based on the principle of alogism. Morphological analysis of the proverbs has revealed the most frequent grammatical tense, the Present Affirmative Tense, which is formed by means of adding the affix -r to the present participle. The Present Affirmative Tense in the Lak language denotes an action as an attribute of the subject which explains the fact of usage of this tense in proverbs that summarize the social experience of the native speakers. Lak proverbs with the given code have not been researched earlier that makes this study relevant.

scholarly journals Linguodidactic potential of concepts in teaching foreign languages to students-interpreters

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-262
Author(s):  
Svetlana S. Vasilenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
The World ◽  
Interdisciplinary Nature

The paper discusses possibilities and ways of studying concepts in teaching foreign languages to students-interpreters. The author notes that modern didactic research has interdisciplinary nature, analyzes the theory of the concept from the point of view of linguistics, cultural studies and psycholinguistics. The author also notes the fact of creation of linguo-conceptodidactics as a new scientific direction. The paper presents a linguodidactic understanding of the concept, analyzes its structure and semantic content. The author describes in detail the process of foreign language concepts acquisition and presents it as a sequence of several stages. The acquisition of foreign language concepts is associated with the development of concept competence. The paper notes that the acquisition of foreign language concepts should go in parallel with the acquisition of foreign language lexis. In addition, it is necessary to use authentic materials in teaching foreign languages that allows forming a conceptual picture of the world of native speakers. Acquisition of foreign language concepts is especially important for students-interpreters who study several foreign languages and are faced with the problem of translating foreign concepts and phenomena of foreign language reality. The paper presents how conceptuality can be realized in teaching foreign languages. The author gives a practical example of studying the English concept Travel, offers examples of exercises and tasks for mastering it, as well as mnemonic techniques for memorizing lexemes that represent the concept. In the paper is stressed, that the concepts should be included in the content of foreign language teaching to students-interpreters. This contributes to the development of correct ideas about foreign language reality, understanding the facts of the native and foreign language culture, i.e. cultural reflection development.

Requests in English by second-language users

1998 ◽  
Vol 119-120 ◽  
pp. 123-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.A. Kasanga
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Interlanguage Pragmatics ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge

Abstract The study of learners' pragmatic and discourse knowledge, also known as "interlanguage pragmatics", is now an important preoccupation of second-language acquisition (SLA) research. Spurred by this growing interest in interlanguage pragmatics and with a view to contributing to this field of research I conducted a study of requests in English produced by English as a second language (ESL) university students in their daily interaction mainly with lecturers. I collected the data for this study by means of observation and by recording "golden episodes of requesting behaviour in students' spontaneous speech. For comparative purposes, I elicited additional data by means of a discourse-completion task (DCT). One finding is that the students' knowledge of contextual use of requesting strategies in English is inadequate because their requests are of (very) limited range and inappropriate in context. The in-appropriacy of the requests was confirmed by native speakers' judgments. One explanation of the inadequacy of the students' pragmatic knowledge is the lack of exposure to the whole gamut of requesting devices. Another may have a strategic dimension. Also important is the explanation of transfer from the first language/s (Ll/s) : learners may be simply carrying over into English structures translated from their L1. From a pedagogical point of view, it is suggested that discourse and pragmatic knowledge be systematically taught to avoid miscommunication and negative reactions from native and competent non-native speakers of English. The suggestion of teaching pragmatic knowledge seems to be supported by the finding about one subject who, after exposure to a variety of requesting expressions, seemed to modify the pattern of her requests.

Variation in Voice Onset Time for Korean Stops

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Silva
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
The United States ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Phonemic Level ◽  
The Voice

Abstract. Acoustic data elicited from 34 native speakers of Korean living in the United States pro-vide evidence for diachronic change in the voice onset time (VOT) of phrase-initial aspirated and lax stop phonemes. While older speakers produce aspirated and lax stops with clearly differentiated average VOT values, many younger speakers appear to have neutralized this difference, producing VOTs for aspirated stops that are substantially shorter than those of older speakers, and comparable to those for corresponding lax stops. The data further indicate that, within each age group, older speakers manifest sex-based differences in VOT while younger speakers do not. Despite this appar-ent shift in VOT values, the acoustic evidence suggests that all speakers in this study, regardless of age, continue to mark underlying differences between aspirated and lax stops in terms of stop closure and the fundamental frequency of the following vowel. It is concluded that the data point to a recent phonetic shift in the language, whereby VOT no longer serves as the primary cue to differentiate between lax and aspirated stops. There is not, however, evidence of any reorganization of the lan-guage as the phonemic level: the language's underlying lax ~ aspirated ~ tense contrasts endure.

A discourse-based approach to some uses of the conjunction que in Romance languages

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa M. Rodríguez Ramalle
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Shared Information ◽  
Source Of Information

The present paper compares and contrasts patterns of variation exhibited by the conjunction que in Spanish, Catalan and Italian, in root sentences — such as Que te digo que me dejes en paz (‘I’m telling you to leave me in peace’) or: Que los libros que los necesito (‘As far as the books are concerned, I need them’) — and when it appears in combination with evidential and polarity adverbs — such as Naturalmente que iré contigo (‘Of course, I will go with you’) or: Sí que iré contigo (‘Yes, I will go with you’). The focus will mainly be on the independent realizations of conjunctions in Spanish, but data from Catalan and Italian will also be analyzed, in order to show that the ways of encoding the speaker’s point of view and source of information vary across different languages. My hypothesis is that the existence of structures which combine this conjunction with evidential and polarity adverbs derives from the discourse properties of these syntactic categories. The conjunction itself can be used not only to mark subordination but also as a discourse marker, enabling the speaker to recall previously shared information or knowledge.

scholarly journals At the boundaries of linguistic convergence: Variation in presentational haber / haver-hi

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-68
Author(s):  
José Luis Blas Arroyo
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Normative Pressure ◽  
Languages In Contact ◽  
Structural Conflict

Abstract In this paper, we focus on an eventual convergence outcome (the pluralization of presentational haber/haver-hi) in the grammar of two Romance languages, Spanish and Catalan, which have been living side-by-side for centuries in Eastern Spain. Taking into account the sociolinguistic comparative method and on the basis of several representative corpora of the two languages in contact, the data from this research offer evidence that points to a notable congruence between the underlying grammars of both languages, which would, at least partially, account for a similar diffusion of these vernacular pluralizations. Moreover, some of the few cases of disagreement found can be explained on the basis of both internal (such as the existence of points of structural conflict in some verbal paradigms) and external factors (such as hypercorrection), which certain social groups particularly sensitive to normative pressure are more receptive to.

scholarly journals Pragmatic (In)appropriateness of Diminutives in Russian Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1160-1174
Author(s):  
Victoriya Yu. Trubnikova
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Variables ◽  
User Comments ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
The Impact

The article discusses the issue of pragmatic meanings of diminutive forms in the Russian language from the point of view of politeness and speech act theories. The impact of diminutives on the illocutionary force and perlocutionary effects of speech acts raises the question of their appropriateness in various communicative situations. Since there is a negative bias towards diminutives among lay native speakers, it was decided to analyse their opinions, beliefs and feelings in order to define 1) the speakers illocutionary intentions; 2) contexts of use and 3) perlocutionary effects. The online articles, forums, posts on social networks and comments of Internet users were collected, with a total amount of 23 sources and 714 user comments. The emic and bottom-up approach referred to speakers intuition reveal 1) negative attitude towards diminutives in hierarchical relationships, 2) perception of diminutives as a positive politeness tool in low distance relationships, 3) perception of diminutives as a manipulative tool in unequal relationships. Thus, the appropriate use of diminutives calls for pragmatic skills to assess a communicative situation in terms of social variables, such as social distance and power, mutual costs and benefits, rights and obligations of interlocutors.

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