scholarly journals Prosodically Conditioned Consonant Duration in Djambarrpuyŋu

2019 ◽  
pp. 002383091982660
Author(s):  
Kathleen Jepson ◽  
Janet Fletcher ◽  
Hywel Stoakes
Keyword(s):  
Initial Position ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Data Word ◽  
The World ◽  
Disyllabic Words ◽  
Phonological Phrase ◽  
Australian Languages ◽  
Segment Duration

Cross-linguistically, segments typically lengthen because of proximity to prosodic events such as intonational phrase or phonological phrase boundaries, a phrasal accent, or due to lexical stress. Australian Indigenous languages have been claimed to operate somewhat differently in terms of prosodically conditioned consonant lengthening and strengthening. Consonants have been found to lengthen after a vowel bearing a phrasal pitch accent. It is further claimed that this post-tonic position is a position of prosodic strength in Australian languages. In this study, we investigate the effects of proximity to a phrasal pitch accent and prosodic constituent boundaries on the duration of stop and nasal consonants in words of varying lengths in Djambarrpuyŋu, an Australian Indigenous language spoken in northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Our results suggest that the post-tonic consonant position does not condition longer consonant duration compared with other word-medial consonants, with one exception: Intervocalic post-tonic consonants in disyllabic words are significantly longer than word-medial consonants elsewhere. Therefore, it appears that polysyllabic shortening has a strong effect on segment duration in these data. Word-initial position did not condition longer consonant duration than word-medial position. Further, initial consonants in higher-level prosodic domains had shorter consonant duration compared with domain-medial word-initial consonants. By contrast, domain-final lengthening was observed in our data, with word-final nasals preceding a pause found to be significantly longer than all other consonants. Taken together, these findings for Djambarrpuyŋu suggest that, unlike other Australian languages, post-tonic lengthening is not a cue to prosodic prominence, whereas prosodic domain-initial and -final duration patterns of consonants are like those that have been observed in other languages of the world.

The body and the verb

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-239
Author(s):  
Frances Kofod ◽  
Anna Crane
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Expression Of Emotion ◽  
The World ◽  
Physical Impact ◽  
Local Representations ◽  
Australian Languages

Abstract This paper explores the figurative expression of emotion in Gija, a non-Pama-Nyungan language from the East Kimberley in Western Australia. As in many Australian languages, Gija displays a large number of metaphors of emotion where miscellaneous body parts – frequently, the belly – contribute to the figurative representation of emotions. In addition, in Gija certain verbal constructions describe the experience of emotion via metaphors of physical impact or damage. This second profile of metaphors is far less widespread, in Australia and elsewhere in the world, and has also attracted far fewer descriptions. This article explores both types of metaphors in turn. Body-based metaphors will be discussed first, and we will highlight the specificity of Gija in this respect, so as to offer data that can be compared to other languages, in Australia and elsewhere. The second part of the article will present verbal metaphors. Given that this phenomenon is not yet very well undersood, this account aims to take a first step into documenting a previously unexplored domain in the language thereby contributing to the broader typology that this issue forms a part of. Throughout the text, we also endeavour to connect the discussion of metaphors with local representations and understanding of emotions.

Thinking honeyeater: nectar maps for the Northern Territory, Australia

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Z. Woinarski ◽  
Greg Connors ◽  
Don C. Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Northern Territory ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Nectar Production ◽  
The World ◽  
Eucalypt Forests ◽  
The Times ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Nectar Availability

We create monthly maps of nectar availability for the 1.4 x 106 km2 jurisdiction of the Northern Territory, Australia. These are based on a combination of vegetation mapping and a series of indices of plant species specific nectar scoring. The maps reveal complex spatial and temporal variation in nectar availability, but most notably a greater nectar resource in the monsoon-influenced north than in the arid south, and a peak in nectar availability in the dry season. The latter is associated with the extensive tropical eucalypt forests (especially those co-dominated by Eucalyptus miniata and E. tetrodonta). In contrast, wet season nectar availability in these forests is limited, but riparian and swampland forests, typically dominated by Melaleuca species, provide rich but spatially restricted nectar resources. The extensive and rich nectar resources available in eucalypt forests in the dry season supplement the diets of many species which are not primarily nectarivorous. This resource helps shape the singularity of northern Australian eucalypt forests relative to other extensive forests elsewhere in the world. Nectarivores remain in the system through a combination of movements across a number of scales, habitat shifting, and diet shifting. The latter is aided by the peaking of invertebrate and fruit resources at the times of minimum nectar production; a shuffling in resource availability brought about by the extreme climatic seasonality.

Chinese Netizens’ reactions to the use of English as a lingua franca

English Today ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Weihong Wang ◽  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Linguistic Capital ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Global English ◽  
Local Varieties ◽  
British English ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
The World

With the spread of English around the globe, academics increasingly seek to figure out what global English means to the world. Some accept English globalisation as a reality and take it as natural, neutral and beneficial for international and intercultural communication (Crystal, 2003). Some recognise English skills as important linguistic capital and must-have global literacy (Park & Wee, 2012; Tsui & Tollefson, 2007). However, others associate the global expansion of English with linguistic imperialism and the death of indigenous languages (Phillipson, 2009). Some regard globally spread English as native English varieties, particularly American and British English (Modiano, 2001; Trudgill, 1999), others argue for the rise of local varieties of World Englishes (WE) (Bolton, 2005; Kachru, 1986) and the international use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) (Jenkins, 2007; Seidlhofer, 2011). Although these generic interpretations of English have solid arguments from their own perspectives, none is sufficient to elucidate all the ‘complexity of ideological ramifications of the spread of English in [any] particular locality’ (Pan, 2011: 79).

Language studies by women in Australia

2020 ◽  
pp. 367-400
Author(s):  
Jane Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Language Documentation ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Language Study ◽  
Family Demands ◽  
Analytic Skills ◽  
Australian Languages

Few women contributed to documenting Indigenous Australian languages in the nineteenth century. Brief accounts are given of six settler women who did so: Eliza Dunlop (1796–1880), Christina Smith (‘Mrs James Smith’; 1809?–1893), Harriott Barlow (1835–1929), Catherine Stow (‘K. Langloh Parker’; 1856–1940), Mary Martha Everitt (1854–1937), and Daisy May Bates (1859–1951). Their contributions are discussed against the background of forty-four other settler women who contributed to language study, translation, ethnography, or language teaching. Reasons for the relative absence of women in language documentation included family demands, child raising, and lack of education, money, and patrons, as well as alternative causes such as women’s rights. Recording Indigenous languages required metalinguistic analytic skills that were hard to learn in societies that lacked free education. Extra obstacles for publication were remoteness from European centres of research, and absence of colleagues with similar interests.

Non-durational acoustic correlates of word-initial consonant gemination in Kelantan Malay: The potential roles of amplitude and f0

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-60
Author(s):  
Mohd Hilmi Hamzah ◽  
John Hajek ◽  
Janet Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Rare Word ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Closure Duration ◽  
Disyllabic Words ◽  
Consonant Gemination ◽  
Manner Of Articulation ◽  
Magnitude Difference

This study reports on non-durational acoustic correlates of typologically rare word-initial consonant gemination in Kelantan Malay (KM) by focusing on two acoustic parameters – amplitude and f0. Given the unusual characteristics of the word-initial consonant contrast and its potential maintenance in domain-initial environments, this study sets to examine the extent to which amplitude and f0 can potentially characterise such a contrast in KM in addition to the cross-linguistically established acoustic correlate of closure duration. The production data involved elicited materials from sixteen KM native speakers. RMS and f0 values were measured at the start of the vowel following stops and sonorants produced in isolation (i.e. utterance-initial position) and in a carrier sentence (i.e. utterance-medial position). Results indicate that the consonant contrast is reflected in systematic differences in (i) vowel onset amplitude and f0 following the target consonant and (ii) the ratios of amplitude and f0 across two syllables of disyllabic words. There are also effects of utterance position, manner of articulation and voicing type on the magnitude of contrast between singletons and geminates with utterance-initial voiceless stops generally showing the greatest magnitude difference. The conclusion is drawn that the KM word-initial singleton/geminate consonant contrast can be associated with a set of acoustic parameters alongside closure duration.

Prosodic strengthening in reference to the lexical pitch accent system in South Kyungsang Korean

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-115
Author(s):  
Taehong Cho ◽  
Dong Jin Kim ◽  
Sahyang Kim
Keyword(s):  
Initial Position ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Strengthening Effect ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Phonological Contrast ◽  
Structural Modulation ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Phonetic Realization

Abstract Theories of the phonetics-prosody interface suggest that prosodic strengthening that arises with prosodic structuring is not simply a low-level phonetic phenomenon, but it serves as a phonetic hallmark of a higher-order prosodic structure in reference to linguistic (phonological) contrast. The present study builds on this theoretical premise by examining acoustic realization of the phonological tonal contrast in the lexical pitch accent system of South Kyungsang (SK) Korean. Results showed that phonetic realization of F0 and the degree of glottalization (as reflected in spectral tilt measures such as H1-A1c and H1-A3c) of vowels in vowel-initial words were systematically modulated by the higher-order prosodic structure, and that the prosodic-structural modulation gave rise to distinct prosodic strengthening effects as a function of the source of prosodic strengthening. In particular, the prominence-induced strengthening (due to focus) entailed a phonetic polarizing effect on the F0 contrast in a way that enhances the phonological High vs. Low tone contrast. The boundary-induced strengthening effect, on the other hand, could be better understood as enhancing the phonetic clarity of prosodic junctures. The distinct prosodic strengthening effects were further evident in the way that glottalization was fine-tuned according to prosodic structure and phonological (tonal) contrast. Prosodic strengthening effects were also found to interact with intrinsic vowel height, implying that the low-level phonetic effect may be under speaker control in reference to higher-order prosodic and phonological contrast systems of the language. Finally, the results informed a theoretical debate regarding whether the Low tone that contrasts with the High tone in word-initial position should be considered lexically specified vs. post-lexical assigned.

Petrol Sniffing What the Teacher Ought to Do

1980 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 39-42
Author(s):  
D. McClay ◽  
M. Christie
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
World War ◽  
The World ◽  
Aboriginal Children ◽  
Major Drug

People under pressure often turn to drugs to help them cope with their difficulties. This seems to happen in nearly every culture in the world. Alcohol is the major drug used in Australia – by all the racial groups. Aboriginal children under pressure often turn to petrol sniffing. The habit seems to have been introduced to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory during World War II. What to do about it is a worrying problem because it often seems that the harder we try, the worse it gets.

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