scholarly journals Deciphering Undersegmented Ancient Scripts Using Phonetic Prior

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
Jiaming Luo ◽  
Frederik Hartmann ◽  
Enrico Santus ◽  
Regina Barzilay ◽  
Yuan Cao
Keyword(s):  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Word Segmentation ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
International Phonetic Alphabet ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Linguistic Constraints

Most undeciphered lost languages exhibit two characteristics that pose significant decipherment challenges: (1) the scripts are not fully segmented into words; (2) the closest known language is not determined. We propose a decipherment model that handles both of these challenges by building on rich linguistic constraints reflecting consistent patterns in historical sound change. We capture the natural phonological geometry by learning character embeddings based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The resulting generative framework jointly models word segmentation and cognate alignment, informed by phonological constraints. We evaluate the model on both deciphered languages (Gothic, Ugaritic) and an undeciphered one (Iberian). The experiments show that incorporating phonetic geometry leads to clear and consistent gains. Additionally, we propose a measure for language closeness which correctly identifies related languages for Gothic and Ugaritic. For Iberian, the method does not show strong evidence supporting Basque as a related language, concurring with the favored position by the current scholarship. 1

Deg Xinag Rounding Assimilation: A case study in phonologization

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Hargus
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Stage Ii ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Athabaskan Language

AbstractAcoustic and video evidence suggest that Deg Xinag, an Athabaskan language, contains Rounding Assimilation, rounding of schwa before a stressed rounded vowel across uvular or laryngeal consonants. Although Rounding Assimilation has received no mention in previous Deg Xinag studies, it appears to be at stage II, phonologization, in the model of sound change proposed by Hyman (1976). Data from the related language Babine-Witsuwit'en is also presented, showing an absence of Rounding Assimilation in one of the contexts where it occurs in Deg Xinag. Babine-Witsuwit'en sheds light on how and why Rounding Assimilation may have developed historically in Deg Xinag.

scholarly journals The Phonotactic Adaptation of English Loanwords in Arabic

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Anwar A. H. Al-Athwary
Keyword(s):  
Modern Standard Arabic ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Languages In Contact ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Phonological Interference ◽  
Linguistic Constraints ◽  
Modern Standard ◽  
Phonological System

The phonological modifications made to English loanwords in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) have come as a response to cope with the phonetic and phonological constraints in MSA sound system. These adaptations of loanword pronunciation clearly reflect the areas and effects of phonetic and phonological interference between the two languages in contact. For this purpose, over than 300 of English words borrowed by MSA are analyzed. At the syllabic and prosodic level, mechanisms like cluster simplification, syllabic consonant conversion, gemination, etc. are found at work and by far systematic in MSA borrowings. Generally, it has been found that most of the regular adaptations at syllable level such as declusterization, syllabic consonant conversion, consonant lengthening and vocalic glide insertion, are motivated by linguistic constraints inherited in the phonological system of MSA rather than by extra-linguistic motivations

scholarly journals Adaptation of Turkish Loanwords Originating from Arabic

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 388
Author(s):  
Wafi Fhaid Alshammari ◽  
Ahmad Radi Alshammari
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Morphological Adaptation ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Linguistic Constraints ◽  
Adaptation Processes ◽  
The Way

This study investigates the phonological and morphological adaptation of Turkish loanwords of Arabic origin to reveal aspects of native speakers’ knowledge that are not necessarily obvious. It accounts for numerous modification processes that these loanwords undergo when borrowed into Turkish. To achieve this, a corpus of 250 Turkish loanwords was collected and analyzed whereby these loanwords were compared to their Arabic counterparts to reveal phonological processes that Turkish followed to adapt them. Also, it tackles the treatment of morphological markings and compound forms in Turkish loanwords. The results show that adaptation processes are mostly phonological, albeit informed by phonetics and other linguistic factors. It is shown that the adaptation processes are geared towards unmarkedness in that faithfulness to the source input—Arabic—is violated, taking the burden to satisfy Turkish phonological constraints. Turkish loanwords of Arabic origin undergo a number of phonological processes, e.g., substitution, deletion, degemination, vowel harmony, and epenthesis for the purpose of repairing the ill-formedness. The Arabic feminine singular and plural morphemes are treated as part of the root, with fossilized functions of such markers. Also, compound forms are fused and word class is changed to fit the syntactic structure of Turkish. Such loanwords help pave the way to invoke latent native Turkish linguistic constraints.

The “phonetic prehistory” of Grassmann’s law in Greek

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (s41) ◽  
pp. 67-87
Author(s):  
Alessandro De Angelis
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Linguistic Change ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Opposite Process

Abstract Grassmann’s Law (=GL) is generally regarded as a quintessential example of regular sound change, though dissimilation processes are generally said to be quite rare and sporadic. In the present paper, evidence is presented aiming to show “the phonetic prehistory” of Grassmann’s Law in Greek, namely a diachronic stage during which GL acts in all but regular fashion. In particular, especially in some dialectal areas, some forms retain the original diaspirate stem up until Classical epoque (V–IV c. BC). Moreover, the presence of an opposite process, that is the assimilation (generally regressive) between aspirated segments, is also documented. Both of these aspects seem to show a lexically constrained spread of such a change. Its relatively late regularity can be explained as a process implemented by phonological constraints, which intervene at some point in the linguistic change.

Concurrent Electrodermal and Eyeblink Conditioning With Masked and Unmasked Stimuli

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
José Luis Marcos ◽  
Azahara Marcos
Keyword(s):  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Eyeblink Conditioning ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Conditioning Phase ◽  
Contingency Awareness ◽  
Blank Screen ◽  
Neutral Face ◽  
Fearful Face

Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine if contingency awareness between the conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) is necessary for concurrent electrodermal and eyeblink conditioning to masked stimuli. An angry woman’s face (CS+) and a fearful face (CS−) were presented for 23 milliseconds (ms) and followed by a neutral face as a mask. A 98 dB noise burst (US) was administered 477 ms after CS+ offset to elicit both electrodermal and eyeblink responses. For the unmasking conditioning a 176 ms blank screen was inserted between the CS and the mask. Contingency awareness was assessed using trial-by-trial ratings of US-expectancy in a post-conditioning phase. The results showed acquisition of differential electrodermal and eyeblink conditioning in aware, but not in unaware participants. Acquisition of differential eyeblink conditioning required more trials than electrodermal conditioning. These results provided strong evidence of the causal role of contingency awareness on differential eyeblink and electrodermal conditioning.

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