scholarly journals Lip spreading, not lip rounding

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-556
Author(s):  
Aleksey V. Andronov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Separate Group ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Feature

The article is devoted to the issue of detecting classificatory features of phonemes. Unlike phonetic characteristics of phoneme realisations, which are explored instrumentally, phonological features should be discovered by means of functional analysis. Due to their role as exponents of meaningful units, phonemes are grouped according to their morphophonological behaviour. Here, detecting phonological features is illustrated by the analysis of the vocalic systems of Russian, Latvian and Finnish. The ‘lip rounding’ feature traditionally used in descriptions of these languages has no functional grounds and should be considered as an incorrect substitution of an articulatory characteristic for a phonological feature. However, apart from ‘height’ and ‘backness’, another feature should be postulated. For this feature the articulatory-based term ‘lip spreading’ is proposed. In Russian, the spread vowels /e/, /i/, /ɨ/ are distinguished due to their sensibility (primarily in morphophonological alternations) to the correlative feature of softness-hardness of the preceding consonant. Non-spread vowels /a/, /o/, /u/ are indifferent to the softness-hardness of the preceding consonant. Thus, /a/ is grouped not with /e/, /i/, /ɨ/ (as non-rounded in traditional models), but with /o/ and /u/ (no separate group of these two “rounded” phonemes, /o/ and /u/, exists). In Latvian, the spread phonemes /i/, /e/, /i:/, /e:/, /i͡e/ determine the choice of the closed vowels /e/ and /ē/ (instead of open /æ/ and /æ:/) in the preceding syllable. It is worthwhile to differentiate front vowels (according to lip spreading), not the back ones (according to lip rounding). In Finnish, the distinguishing of spread /i/ and /e/ is based on their relation with the fundamental peculiarity of the exponent of a word form, vowel harmony. These phonemes themselves do not participate in harmony alternation and they determine front vocalism of affixes only when other, non-spread phonemes are lacking.

scholarly journals Is there phonological feature priming?

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Durvasula ◽  
Alicia Parrish
Keyword(s):  
Decision Task ◽  
Real Word ◽  
Good Tool ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Feature Priming ◽  
Robust Evidence

AbstractWhile there is robust evidence of segment priming, particularly in some real word contexts, there is little to no evidence bearing on the issue of priming of subsegmental features, particularly phonological features. In this article, we present two lexical decision task experiments to show that there are no consistent priming effects attributable to phonological place of articulation features. Given that there is clear evidence of segment priming, but no clear evidence of priming due to other phonological representations, we suggest that it is doubtful that priming is a good tool to study phonological representations, particularly those that are not consciously accessible.

The Evolution of the Chinese Sìhū 四呼 Concept of Syllable Classification

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard VanNess Simmons
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Chinese Tradition ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Chinese Dialect ◽  
The Prestige

Summary This paper examines the origins and evolution of the Chinese linguistic concept known as the sìhū 四呼 “four types of rime onset” that is frequently applied to the description and analysis of Mandarin and Chinese dialect phonology. Through the examination of phonological texts primarily of the Míng (1368–1644) and Qīng (1644–1911) periods, the author follows the evolution of the sìhū as a phonological feature and outlines the development of the sìhū concept as well as the evolution of the actual term “sìhū” The underlying phonology of the sìhū emerged following the divergence of Mandarin from the other dialects in the Sòng (960–1279), through the Yuán (1271–1386), and into the Míng. The discovery and description of the sìhū was closely related to developments in phonological analysis made by Míng scholars as they departed from Middle Chinese tradition (of the 7th to the 12th centuries) and mapped out contemporary Mandarin pronunciation, especially that of the prestige Mandarin koinē known as Guānhuà. The emergence and description of the sìhū are thus found to parallel the evolution of Mandarin, as the phonological categories the sìhū represent evolved in concert with characteristic Mandarin features. The attention that Míng and Qīng scholars gave to the rime onset types of the sìhū analysis demonstrates that the phonological features represented by this four-way paradigm were considered to be important elements of contemporary forms of prestige Mandarin.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REGIONAL PHONOLOGICAL FEATURE DURING A SEMESTER ABROAD IN ARGENTINA

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Rebecca Pozzi ◽  
Robert Bayley
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Word List ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Made In

Abstract Although recent research suggests that gains are made in the acquisition of dialectal features during study abroad, the few studies that have been conducted on this topic in Spanish-speaking contexts have focused primarily on features characteristic of Spain. This article examines the L2 acquisition of phonological features characteristic of Buenos Aires Spanish, [ʃ] and [ʒ], known as sheísmo/zheísmo, for example the pronunciation of llave [ʝaβe] “key” as [ʃaβe] or [ʒaβe]. Participants include 23 learners of Spanish studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina. More than 4,800 tokens were gathered before, during, and at the end of the semester using sociolinguistic interviews, a reading passage, and a word list. These data were analyzed for the influence of linguistic and social factors using mixed-effects logistic regression (Rbrul; Johnson, 2009). Results suggest that participants approximate nativelike norms of use of these features and that time in country is a statistically significant predictor of patterns of phonological variation.

scholarly journals Phonological Oppositions of Unstressed Vowels in The Uzbek Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radjabov Nasir Nasimovich
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Simple Classification ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Descriptive Method

The research deals with the simple classification of phonological oppositions in relation to the unstressed vowels and also, the complex classification of phonological oppositions concerning both the stressed and unstressed vowels in the Uzbek language. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent of forming phonological oppositions of Uzbek vowel phonemes in the unstressed position and to classify the identified phonological oppositions.  While carrying out of this study, a comparative method was used to compare vowel phonemes with each other, and a descriptive method was used to express their specific features. In the study, simple and complex classifications of phonological oppositions of Uzbek unstressed vowels have been developed. The study concludes that the phonological oppositions of vowels do not lose their significance in the unstressed positions and according to the simple classification, the unstressed vowels have 9 oppositions whose members are differentiated by one phonological feature, and 6 oppositions whose members are differentiated by two phonological features and according to the complex classification, unidimensional, pluridimensional, proportional, privative, gradual, equipolent and constant oppositions of unstressed vowels exist in modern Uzbek.

scholarly journals Repetition-attenuation of auditory N1 is modulated by the phonological representations of spoken word-forms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinxing Yue ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
Jiayin Li ◽  
Zhipeng Li ◽  
Xia Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Usage Frequency ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Physiological Phenomenon ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Presentation Position ◽  
The Brain

Repeated auditory stimuli are usually found to elicit attenuated peak amplitude of the N1 component of the event related brain potential (ERP). While the repetition-attenuation of the auditory N1 has been found sensitive to some cognitive factors, less is known whether and how the representational properties of stimuli influence this physiological phenomenon. To further address this issue, we focus on the phonological representations of spoken word-forms, and hypothesise modulatory roles of two phonological features: the lexicality and its usage frequency of a word-form. To test this, we used a short-term habituation design with a factorial combination of the two features at two levels each (i.e., lexicality (real versus pseudo word-form) X frequency (high versus low frequency)). EEG was recorded from 30 native Mandarin-speaking participants while they were passively delivered with stimulations trains. Each train consisted of five presentation positions (S1 ~ S5), on which one word-form is presented repeatedly, separated by a brief, constant interstimulus interval. At the fourth presentation position (S4), we found greater N1 attenuation in low-frequency pseudo word-forms than in low-frequency real and high-frequency pseudo word-forms, respectively. The results support our representational modulation hypothesis, and provides the first evidence that representations of different phonological features interactively modulate the N1 repetition-attenuation. The brain function that underlies the phonological effects of the representational modulation on N1 repetition-attenuation might be sensory filtering.

The representation of glottals in Oromo

Phonology ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Rosa Lloret
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Phonological Feature

In current phonological feature theories, the behaviour of glottals poses serious problems for their representation. The special status of / h / and /? / which are often transparent to vowel harmony processes (cf. Steriade 1987; McCarthy 1991, forthcoming; Stemberger 1993), has led to the hypothesis that, at least in some languages, they lack a place node. The representation of ejectives and implosives, though, is very rarely discussed in the literature. On phonetic grounds, the main difference between plain stops and ejectives and implosives is the airstream mechanism used during their realisation, the former having a pulmonic egressive airstream while the latter involve a supplementary glottal constriction, which may accompany either egressive airflow, as in ejectives, or ingressive, as in implosives.

scholarly journals Exploring systematicity between phonological and context-cooccurrence representations of the mental lexicon

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Tamariz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Speech Corpus ◽  
Frequent Form ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
The Impact

This paper investigates the existence of systematicity between two similarity-based representations of the lexicon, one focusing on word-form and another one based on cooccurrence statistics in speech, which captures aspects of syntax and semantics. An analysis of the three most frequent form-homogeneous word groups in a Spanish speech corpus (cvcv, cvccv and cvcvcv words) supports the existence of systematicity: words that sound similar tend to occur in the same lexical contexts in speech. A lexicon that is highly systematic in this respect, however, may lead to confusion between similar-sounding words that appear in similar contexts. Exploring the impact of different phonological features on systematicity reveals that while some features (such as sharing consonants or the stress pattern) seem to underlie the measured systematicity, others (particularly, sharing the stressed vowel) oppose it, perhaps to help discriminate between words that systematicity may render ambiguous.

Phonological Feature Repetition Suppression in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1549-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayoko Okada ◽  
William Matchin ◽  
Gregory Hickok
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Inner Speech ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Repetition Suppression ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Phonemic Similarity

Models of speech production posit a role for the motor system, predominantly the posterior inferior frontal gyrus, in encoding complex phonological representations for speech production, at the phonemic, syllable, and word levels [Roelofs, A. A dorsal-pathway account of aphasic language production: The WEAVER++/ARC model. Cortex, 59(Suppl. C), 33–48, 2014; Hickok, G. Computational neuroanatomy of speech production. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 13, 135–145, 2012; Guenther, F. H. Cortical interactions underlying the production of speech sounds. Journal of Communication Disorders, 39, 350–365, 2006]. However, phonological theory posits subphonemic units of representation, namely phonological features [Chomsky, N., & Halle, M. The sound pattern of English, 1968; Jakobson, R., Fant, G., & Halle, M. Preliminaries to speech analysis. The distinctive features and their correlates. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1951], that specify independent articulatory parameters of speech sounds, such as place and manner of articulation. Therefore, motor brain systems may also incorporate phonological features into speech production planning units. Here, we add support for such a role with an fMRI experiment of word sequence production using a phonemic similarity manipulation. We adapted and modified the experimental paradigm of Oppenheim and Dell [Oppenheim, G. M., & Dell, G. S. Inner speech slips exhibit lexical bias, but not the phonemic similarity effect. Cognition, 106, 528–537, 2008; Oppenheim, G. M., & Dell, G. S. Motor movement matters: The flexible abstractness of inner speech. Memory & Cognition, 38, 1147–1160, 2010]. Participants silently articulated words cued by sequential visual presentation that varied in degree of phonological feature overlap in consonant onset position: high overlap (two shared phonological features; e.g., /r/ and /l/) or low overlap (one shared phonological feature, e.g., /r/ and /b/). We found a significant repetition suppression effect in the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus, with increased activation for phonologically dissimilar words compared with similar words. These results suggest that phonemes, particularly phonological features, are part of the planning units of the motor speech system.

scholarly journals Vowel harmony decay in Old Norwegian

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 11-48
Author(s):  
Jade J. Sandstedt
Keyword(s):  
Historical Record ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Occurrence Patterns ◽  
Over Time

Vowel harmony involves the systematic correspondence between vowels in some domain for some phonological feature. Though harmony represents one of the most natural and diachronically robust phonological phenomena that occurs in human language, how and why harmony systems emerge and decay over time remains unclear. Specifically, what motivates harmony decay and the pathways by which harmony languages lose harmony remains poorly understood since no consistent historical record in any single language has yet been identified which displays the full progression of this rare sound change (McCollum 2015, 2020; Kavitskaya 2013, Bobaljik 2018). In this paper, I explore the progression and causation of vowel harmony decay in Old Norwegian (c 1100–1350). Using a grapho‐phonologically tagged database of a sample of 13th‐ to 14th‐century manuscripts, I present novel corpus methods for tracking and visualising changes to vowel co‐occurrence patterns in historical records, demonstrating that the Old Norwegian corpus provides a consistent and coherent record of harmony decay. The corpus distinguishes categorical pre‐decay harmony, probabilistic intermediate stages, and post‐decay non‐harmony. Across the Old Norwegian manuscripts, we observe a variety of pathways of harmony decay, including increasing harmony variability via the collapse of harmony classes introduced by vowel mergers, the lexicalisation of historically harmonising morphemes, and trisyllabic vowel reductions which limit harmony iterativity. This paper provides the first detailed corpus study of the full spectrum and causation of this rare sound change in progress and provides valuable empirical diagnostics for identifying and analysing harmony change in contemporary languages.

Phonological Features of the Evolution of Middle Chinese Zhi Series Initials into Modern Chinese Dialects

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-138
Author(s):  
Hongzhi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Modern Chinese ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Phonological Feature ◽  
Sound Changes ◽  
Chinese Dialects

In modern Chinese dialects, the evolution of Middle Chinese Zhi 知 series initials is very complicated. This article collects linguistic records and analyses that are related to this topic from a variety of published academic materials. The catalyst behind these diverse sound changes is shown to be the phonological feature [+flat]. In addition, this article also investigates the neutralization in the evolution of Zhi series initials in some Shanxi and Hebei dialects.

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