The non-terracing tone system of Lolobi-Siwu

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin C. Ford ◽  
Robert K. Iddah
Keyword(s):  
High Tone ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Volta Region

AbstractSiwu, a Ghana-Togo Mountain language spoken in Volta Region, Ghana, is a lexical tone language with three level tones, Low, High and Extra-high. Siwu has three distinct end-tones to mark positive-imperatives, non-WH-interrogatives, and negatives, and an additional end-tone to mark emphatic questions. All words form four tone classes – those with final Low tones which do not affect following tones, and three other classes, two of which assimilate following tones, and one which dissimilates following High and Extra-high tones. Two floating tones are posited: an Extra-high tone as an

Tunes and Tones: Music, Language, and Inhibitory Control

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Robert E. Graham ◽  
Usha Lakshmanan
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Pitch Contours ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Stroop Tasks

Abstract A debate is underway regarding the perceptual and cognitive benefits of bilingualism and musical experience. This study contributes to the debate by investigating auditory inhibitory control in English-speaking monolingual musicians, non-musicians, tone language bilinguals, and non-tone language bilinguals. We predicted that musicians and tone language bilinguals would demonstrate enhanced processing relative to monolinguals and other bilinguals. Groups of monolinguals (N = 22), monolingual musicians (N = 19), non-tone language bilinguals (N = 20) and tone language bilinguals (N = 18) were compared on auditory Stroop tasks to assess domain-transferable processing benefits (e.g. auditory inhibitory control) resulting from potentially shared underlying cognitive mechanisms (Patel, 2003; Bialystok & DePape, 2009). In one task, participants heard the words “high” and “low” presented in high or low pitches, and responded regarding the pitch of the stimuli as quickly as possible. In another task, participants heard the words “rise” or “fall” presented in rising or falling pitch contours, and responded regarding the contour of the stimuli as quickly as possible. Results suggest transferable auditory inhibitory control benefits for musicians across pitch and contour processing, but any possible enhanced processing for speakers of tone languages may be task-dependent, as lexical tone activation may interfere with pitch contour processing.

Stop Laryngeal Distinctions Driven by Contrastive Effects of Neighboring Tones

2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092092289
Author(s):  
Sang-Im Lee-Kim
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Target Tone ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Positive Evidence ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Tonal Context

This study examined contrastive effects of neighboring tones that give rise to a systematic asymmetry in stop perception. Korean-speaking learners of Mandarin Chinese and naïve listeners labeled voiceless unaspirated stops preceded or followed by low or high extrinsic tonal context (e.g., maLO.pa vs. maHI.pa) either as lenis (associated with a low F0 at the vowel onset) or as fortis stops (with a high F0). Further, the target tone itself varied between level and rising (e.g., maLO.paLEV vs. maLO.paRIS). Both groups of listeners showed significant contrastive effects of extrinsic context. Specifically, more lenis responses were elicited in a high tone context than in a low one, and vice versa. This indicates that the onset F0 of a stop is perceived lower in a high tone context, which, in turn, provides positive evidence for lenis stops. This effect was more clearly pronounced for the level than for the contour tone target and also for the preceding than for the following context irrespective of linguistic experience. Despite qualitative similarities, learners showed larger effects for all F0 variables, indicating that the degree of context effects may be enhanced by one’s phonetic knowledge, namely sensitivity to F0 cues along with the processing of consecutive tones acquired through learning a tone language.

Native and nonnative processing of Japanese pitch accent

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIANGHUA WU ◽  
JUNG-YUEH TU ◽  
YUE WANG
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
Nonnative Listeners ◽  
Prosodic Processing ◽  
Japanese Pitch Accent

ABSTRACTThe theoretical framework of this study is based on the prevalent debate of whether prosodic processing is influenced by higher level linguistic-specific circuits or reflects lower level encoding of physical properties. Using the dichotic listening technique, the study investigates the hemispheric processing of Japanese pitch accent by native Japanese listeners and two groups of nonnative listeners with no prior pitch accent experience but differing in their native language experience with linguistic pitch: native listeners of Mandarin (a tone language with higher linguistic functional use of pitch) and native listeners of English (a stress language with lower functional use of pitch). The overall results reveal that, for both native and nonnative listeners, the processing of Japanese pitch accent is less lateralized (compared to lexical tone processing, which has been found to be a left hemisphere property). However, detailed analysis with individual pitch accents across groups shows a right hemisphere preference for processing the high–accent–low (H*L) pattern, a left hemisphere preference for LH*, and no hemisphere dominance for LH, indicating a significant reliance on the acoustic cues. These patterns are particularly prominent with the English listeners who are least experienced with linguistic pitch. Together, the findings suggest an interplay of linguistic and acoustic aspects in the processing of Japanese pitch accent by native and nonnative listeners.

scholarly journals NP internal syntax: High tone and quantifier conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Ronald P. Schaefer ◽  
Francis O. Egbokhare
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Internal Syntax

This paper applies a model of tonosyntax designed for the Dogon languages to Emai, another language of West Africa that belongs to the Edoid group. The Dogon model aligns with and diverges from the tonosyntax of Emai. In Dogon noun phrases, an adnominal controller prompts a {L} (low) tone overlay onto the lexical tone of a left-adjacent target. Numerals, quantifiers and discourse markers fail as controllers. In Emai, most adnominals except cardinal numerals and discourse markers trigger a {H} overlay on a left-adjacent head or other adnominal. Emai varies from Dogon on two additional counts. Emai quantifiers prompt tonal overlay. In addition, right edge lexical /H/ constrains {H} overlay. We conclude by positing a potential relation between low {L} vs high {H} overlay and Clements and Railland’s (2008) lax vs tense prosody types.

scholarly journals ASPM-lexical tone association in speakers of a tone language: Direct evidence for the genetic-biasing hypothesis of language evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. eaba5090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick C. M. Wong ◽  
Xin Kang ◽  
Kay H. Y. Wong ◽  
Hon-Cheong So ◽  
Kwong Wai Choy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Linguistic Anthropology ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Statistical Studies

How language has evolved into more than 7000 varieties today remains a question that puzzles linguists, anthropologists, and evolutionary scientists. The genetic-biasing hypothesis of language evolution postulates that genes and language features coevolve, such that a population that is genetically predisposed to perceiving a particular linguistic feature would tend to adopt that feature in their language. Statistical studies that correlated a large number of genetic variants and linguistic features not only generated this hypothesis but also specifically pinpointed a linkage between ASPM and lexical tone. However, there is currently no direct evidence for this association and, therefore, the hypothesis. In an experimental study, we provide evidence to link ASPM with lexical tone perception in a sample of over 400 speakers of a tone language. In addition to providing the first direct evidence for the genetic-biasing hypothesis, our results have implications for further studies of linguistic anthropology and language disorders.

scholarly journals Congenital amusia in speakers of a tone language: association with lexical tone agnosia

Brain ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (9) ◽  
pp. 2635-2642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Nan ◽  
Yanan Sun ◽  
Isabelle Peretz
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Congenital Amusia

scholarly journals Phonological Identity of the Neutral-tone Syllables in Taiwan Mandarin: An Acoustic Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-50
Author(s):  
Karen HUANG
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Taiwan Mandarin ◽  
Acoustic Study ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Neutral Tone

Taiwan Mandarin, one of the more syllable-timed dialects of Mandarin, has fewer unstressed syllables than Standard Mandarin. Acoustic analyses show that the supposedly unstressed syllables—neutral-tone syllables—in Taiwan Mandarin behave differently from those of Standard Mandarin. Unlike Standard Mandarin, these syllables do not raise their pitch after Tone 3. They have a distinct static mid-low pitch target and the target is implemented with a stronger articulatory strength. Moreover, acoustic analyses demonstrate that not all of these “unstressed syllables” are unstressed. The phonetic evidence suggests that these neutral-tone syllables should be analyzed as unaccented rather than unstressed in Taiwan Mandarin. These unaccented syllables are only lexically marked, and their pitch is neutralized into a mid-low tone. This study sheds light on how rhythm can affect stress and accent in a lexical tone language.

Kumam

2020 ◽  
pp. 610-629
Author(s):  
Osamu Hieda
Keyword(s):  
Direct Perception ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Perception Verbs ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Indirect Perception

Kumam is a Western Nilotic language that is spoken in central Uganda. This chapter focuses on the formation of a double downstep high tone, the function of middle sentences, and evidentiality in complementation. Kumam is a tone language with a low and a high toneme, exhibiting a double downstep high tone as a feature. Aspect (imperfective vs. perfective) is marked obligatorily with a suprasegmental morpheme, while tense is not marked in verbal complexes. Tense is expressed lexically. Kumam has no passivization, but middle sentences function as a passive equivalent instead. Kumam has two types of complementation, “paratactic” and “hypotactic”, that are different syntactically and semantically. For instance, when perception verbs are followed by a “paratactic” clause, they express direct perception. When they are followed by a “hypotactic” clause, they express indirect perception. There is the relationship between the complement types and evidentiality.

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