Segmental Phonology, Phonotactics, and Syllable Structure in the Romance Languages

Author(s):  
Stephan Schmid

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Please check back later for the full article. From a typological perspective, the phoneme inventories of Romance languages are of medium size: For instance, most consonant systems contain between 20 and 23 phonemes. An innovation with respect to Latin is the appearance of palatal and palato-alveolar consonants such as /ɲ ʎ/ (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese), /ʃ ʒ/ (French, Portuguese), and /tʃ dʒ/ (Italian, Romanian); a few varieties (e.g., Romansh and a number of Italian dialects) also show the palatal stops /c ɟ/. Besides palatalization, a number of lenition processes (both sonorization and spirantization) have characterized the diachronic development of plosives in Western Romance languages (cf. the French word chèvre “goat” < lat. CĀPRA(M)). Diachronically, both sonorization and spirantization occurred in postvocalic position, where the latter can still be observed as an allophonic rule in present-day Spanish and Sardinian. Sonorization, on the other hand, occurs synchronically after nasals in many southern Italian dialects. The most fundamental change in the diachrony of the Romance vowel systems derives from the demise of contrastive Latin vowel quantity. However, some Raeto-Romance and northern Italo-Romance varieties have developed new quantity contrasts. Moreover, standard Italian displays allophonic vowel lengthening in open stressed syllables (e.g., /ˈka.ne/ “dog” → [ˈkaːne]. The stressed vowel systems of most Romance varieties contain either five phonemes (Spanish, Sardinian, Sicilian) or seven phonemes (Portuguese, Catalan, Italian, Romanian). Larger vowel inventories are typical of “northern Romance” and appear in dialects of Northern Italy as well as in Raeto- and Gallo-Romance languages. The most complex vowel system is found in standard French with its 16 vowel qualities, comprising the 3 rounded front vowels /y ø œ/ and the 4 nasal vowel phonemes /ɑ̃ ɔ̃ ɛ̃ œ̃/. Romance languages differ in their treatment of unstressed vowels. Whereas Spanish displays the same five vowels /i e a o u/ in both stressed and unstressed syllables (except for unstressed /u/ in word-final position), many southern Italian dialects have a considerably smaller inventory of unstressed vowels as opposed to their stressed vowels. The phonotactics of most Romance languages is strongly determined by their typological character as “syllable languages.” Indeed, the phonological word only plays a minor role as very few phonological rules or phonotactic constraints refer, for example, to the word-initial position (such as Italian consonant doubling or the distribution of rhotics in Ibero-Romance), or to the word-final position (such as obstruent devoicing in Raeto-Romance). Instead, a wide range of assimilation and lenition processes apply across word boundaries in French, Italian, and Spanish. In line with their fundamental typological nature, Romance languages tend to allow syllable structures of only moderate complexity. Inventories of syllable types are smaller than, for example, those of Germanic languages, and the segmental makeup of syllable constituents mostly follows universal preferences of sonority sequencing. Moreover, many Romance languages display a strong preference for open syllables as reflected in the token frequency of syllable types. Nevertheless, antagonistic forces aiming at profiling the prominence of stressed syllables are visible in several Romance languages as well. Within the Ibero- Romance domain, more complex syllable structures and vowel reduction processes are found in the periphery, that is, in Catalan and Portuguese. Similarly, northern Italian and Raeto-Romance dialects have experienced apocope and/or syncope of unstressed vowels, yielding marked syllable structures in terms of both constituent complexity and sonority sequencing.

Author(s):  
Shanti Ulfsbjorninn

Abstract It is standardly assumed that French does not have word-stress, rather it has phrase-level prominence. I will advance a number of arguments, many of which have appeared already in the literature, that cumulatively suggest that French roots are characterized by phonological prominence, even if this is non-contrastive. By prominence, I mean a syntagmatically distributed strength that has all the phonological characteristics of stress in other Romance languages. I will remain agnostic about the nature of that stress, eschewing the lively debate about whether French has feet, and if so what type, and at what level. The structure of the argument is as follows. French demonstrably has phonological word-final strength but one wonders what the source of this strength is. Positionally, the initial position is strong and, independently of cases where it is reinforced by other factors, the final position is weak. I will argue, based on parallels with other Romance languages, that French word-final strength derives from root-final phonological stress. The broader significance of this conclusion is that syntagmatic properties are enough to motivate underlying forms, even in the absence of paradigmatic contrasts (minimal pairs).


1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmer Owens

An analysis of consonant errors for hearing-impaired subjects in a multiple-choice format revealed that about 14 consonants caused most of the difficulty in consonant recognition. For a given consonant, error probability was typically lower in the initial position of the stimulus word than in the final position. When errors were made, the substitutions were limited typically to two or three other consonants, with a greater variety occurring for consonants in the final position. Substitutions tended to be the same over a wide range of pure-tone configurations. Place errors were predominant, but manner errors also occurred. In only a few instances did specific relationships occur between particular stimulus consonants and pure-tone configurations. With knowledge of the error consonants and typical substitutions, auditory recognition of consonants can be improved by programmed instruction methods. Shaping can be accomplished by a manipulation of the response foils (choices). Since it has been shown that visual recognition of consonants can also be improved, advantage can be taken of both the visual and auditory modalities in remedial procedures. Frequency of usage in the language should be considered in the ordering of consonants for retraining purposes. Work in consonant recognition should be beneficial to the hearing-impaired patient as part of a total rehabilitation program.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-198
Author(s):  
Lyudmila S. Timofeeva ◽  
Albina R. Akhmetova ◽  
Liliya R. Galimzyanova ◽  
Roman R. Nizaev ◽  
Svetlana E. Nikitina

Abstract The article studies the existence experience of historical cities as centers of tourism development as in the case of Elabuga. The city of Elabuga is among the historical cities of Russia. The major role in the development of the city as a tourist center is played by the Elabuga State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve. The object of the research in the article is Elabuga as a medium-size historical city. The subject of the research is the activity of the museum-reserve which contributes to the preservation and development of the historical look of Elabuga and increases its attractiveness to tourists. The tourism attractiveness of Elabuga is obtained primarily through the presence of the perfectly preserved historical center of the city with the blocks of integral buildings of the 19th century. The Elabuga State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, which emerged in 1989, is currently an object of historical and cultural heritage of federal importance. Museum-reserves with their significant territories and rich historical, cultural and natural heritage have unique resources for the implementation of large partnership projects. Such projects are not only aimed at attracting a wide range of tourists, but also stimulate interest in the reserve from the business elite, municipal and regional authorities. The most famous example is the Spasskaya Fair which revived in 2008 in Elabuga. It was held in the city since the second half of the 19th century, and was widely known throughout Russia. The process of the revival and successful development of the fair can be viewed as the creation of a special tourist event contributing to the formation of new and currently important tourism products.


2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Reimers

This case describes the experience of a wholly foreign-owned manufacturing company in Tianjin/China regarding the use of its ERP system in its main functional departments, purchasing, production planning, sales/distribution, and finance. The company is part of a group which is a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of mechanical devices, called gearboxes, that are needed to drive a wide range of facilities such as escalators and baggage conveyor belts in airports. It has entered China in 1995 and the Tianjin manufacturing facility has soon become a hub for the Asian market. The main challenge confronting the management team is to support the breakneck growth rate of this young company. The company's ERP system plays a crucial role in this task. However, it seems that middle managers are frequently hitting an invisible wall when trying to expand the use of the ERP system in order to cope with ever-increasing workloads and coordination tasks. This case serves to illustrate cultural issues implicated in the use of an enterprise wide information system in a medium size company operating in an emerging market economy. In addition, issues of operations management, global management, and organizational behaviour are addressed.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiliano Cioffarelli ◽  
Enrico Sciubba

Abstract A hybrid propulsion system of new conception for medium-size passenger cars is described and its preliminary design developed. The system consists of a turbogas set operating at fixed rpm, and a battery-operated electric motor that constitutes the actual “propulsor”. The battery pack is charged by the thermal engine which works in an electronically controlled on/off mode. Though the idea is not entirely new (there are some concept cars with similar characteristics), the present study has important new aspects, in that it bases the sizing of the thermal engine on the foreseen “worst case” vehicle mission (derived from available data on mileage and consumption derived from road tests and standard EEC driving mission cycles) that they can in fact be accomplished, and then proceeds to develop a control strategy that enables the vehicle to perform at its near–peak efficiency over a wide range of possible missions. To increase the driveability of the car, a variable-inlet vane system is provided for the gas turbine. After developing the mission concept, and showing via a thorough set of energy balances (integrated over various mission profiles), a preliminary sizing of the turbogas set is performed. The results of this first part of the development program show that the concept is indeed feasible, and that it has important advantages over both more traditional (Hybrid Vehicles powered by an Internal Combustion Engine) and novel (All-Electric Vehicle) propulsion systems.


1982 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. BRADFORD ◽  
A. C. TAYLOR

The respiration of Cancer pagurus under normoxic conditions and its respiratory responses to hypoxia are described. Respiration of quiescent crabs is characterized by a rhythmic pattern of ventilation and cardiac activity in which periods of apnoea and bradycardia of approximately 5 min duration alternate with longer periods of active ventilation and cardiac activity. The significance of this rhythmic ventilatory behaviour is discussed and evidence is presented to account for this behaviour in terms of allowing energy savings to be made during periods of inactivity. During a ventilatory pause the PO2 of the post-branchial blood falls from its normal level of 94 ± 5 torr to only 24 ± 3 torr. The blood of Cancer provides a store of oxygen which is used during pausing to maintain aerobic metabolism. Anaerobic metabolism does not appear to contribute significantly to energy production during these periods since no increase in the blood lactate concentration was recorded. Cancer haemocyanin has a high oxygen affinity (P50 = 5–10 torr) and exhibits a large, positive Bohr shift (Δ log P50/pH = −1.18). However, under normal conditions the pigment has only a minor role in supplying oxygen to the tissues, since over 91% is carried in solution. Cancer pagurus exhibits quite a high degree of respiratory independence and is able to maintain its rate of oxygen consumption approximately constant over a wide range of ambient oxygen tension, down to a PO2 of 60–80 torr, below which it declines. Similarly there was little change in heart rate during hypoxia until a PO2 of 20–40 torr was reached below which it also declined sharply. Oxygen consumption during hypoxia was maintained primarily as a result of an increase in ventilation volume and oxygen extraction. During hypoxia the PO2 of both the pre- and post-branchial blood declined and resulted in a reduction in the PO2 gradient across the respiratory surface (ΔPO2). Oxygen uptake during hypoxia was facilitated, however, by an increase in the transfer factor (TO2).


2021 ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alshehri ◽  

Presently, a precise localization and tracking process becomes significant to enable smartphone-assisted navigation to maximize accuracy in the real-time environment. Fingerprint-based localization is the commonly available model for accomplishing effective outcomes. With this motivation, this study focuses on designing efficient smartphone-assisted indoor localization and tracking models using the glowworm swarm optimization (ILT-GSO) algorithm. The ILT-GSO algorithm involves creating a GSO algorithm based on the light-emissive characteristics of glowworms to determine the location. In addition, the Kalman filter is applied to mitigate the estimation process and update the initial position of the glowworms. A wide range of experiments was carried out, and the results are investigated in terms of distinct evaluation metrics. The simulation outcome demonstrated considerable enhancement in the real-time environment and reduced the computational complexity. The ILT-GSO algorithm has resulted in an increased localization performance with minimal error over the recent techniques.


Phonology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Vietti ◽  
Birgit Alber ◽  
Barbara Vogt

In the Southern Bavarian variety of Tyrolean, laryngeal contrasts undergo a typologically interesting process of neutralisation in word-initial position. We undertake an acoustic analysis of Tyrolean stops in word-initial, word-medial intersonorant and word-final contexts, as well as in obstruent clusters, investigating the role of the acoustic parameters VOT, prevoicing, closure duration and F0 and H1–H2* on following vowels in implementing contrast, if any. Results show that stops contrast word-medially via [voice] (supported by the acoustic cues of closure duration and F0), and are neutralised completely in word-final position and in obstruent clusters. Word-initially, neutralisation is subject to inter- and intraspeaker variability, and is sensitive to place of articulation. Aspiration plays no role in implementing laryngeal contrasts in Tyrolean.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82
Author(s):  
Sooun Lee ◽  
Joshua Schwarz ◽  
James Coyle ◽  
Thomas Boulton ◽  
Naoki Kameda

This case requires students to practice international management skills as they consider a wide range of important business questions for a medium-size US company looking to enter the Chinese market. Over the course of four separable modules, students determine the best entry strategy for the company, how to finance the project, how to select the best project manager and how to develop an initial marketing plan. Faculty can choose to assign some or all modules. In addition, the authors, who have implemented this case multiple times with American, Chinese, South Korean and Japanese students working together, discuss the cross-cultural lessons they have learned and recommend ways to improve cross-cultural communication. Specific case questions and case resources are provided.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 92-98
Author(s):  
Widya Juli Astria

The purpose of this research was to analyze the third semester students’ problem in learning English basic sounds pronunciation. The research design was case study. The data were collected by recording the students’ pronunciation. The subject of the research were the third Semester Students of English Department at Universitas Ekasakti). The result of the research was found that Each aspirated /p/, /t/, /k/ have two allophones, [ph] and [p], [th] and [t], [kh] and [k]. Then, all instances of [ph] occured immediately before a stressed vowel. It can be said that the following rule: /p/ becomes [ph] when it occured before a stressed vowel or initial position of English words. Moreover, aspirated /p/, /t/, /k/ sounds were really pronounced in two different ways. First, when these sounds came at the beginning of the word they are always followed by a puff of breath. Second, if aspirated /p/, /t/, and /k/ occur at the end of final position of English words, it is not necessary to pronounce them by following a puff of breath. In following there is a chart of aspirated /p/, /t/, /k/ sounds at initial position of English words


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