scholarly journals Tonal Adaptation Strategies in Èwùlù and Ùrhòbò Loanword Phonologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 87-96
Author(s):  
Utulu, Don C. ◽  
Ajiboye, Emuobonuvie ◽  
M. and Ajede, Chika K.
Keyword(s):  
English Word ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Stress Adaptation ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
Cluster A ◽  
Low Tone

Studies on tonal adaptation strategies in English loanwords of the Nigerian languages (NLs): Yoruba (Y), Hausa (H), Bini (B) and Emai (E) commonly translate the prosodic structure of the loanwords into native prosodic configurations. Translation of pitch melody of borrowed words in the NLs tends to be determined by the position of English word stress. Comparative/typological studies that independently examine such tonal adaptation in Nigerian smaller languages are scanty. Consequently, this paper examines the pattern of word stress adaptation into tone in English loanwords in Èwùlù (Igboid) and Ùrhòbò (Edoid), with a view to revealing the Èwùlù and Ùrhòbò tonal adaptation features common to Y, H, B and E but specific to Èwùlù and/or Ùrhòbò. The empirical observations of data are explained with Autosegmental Theory (Goldsmith, 1976), which formally expresses the relations that hold between the tone loans, tone bearing units and CV nodes operating at different tiers. Findings of this study show/confirm that the English citation pitch accent H*L% basically governs the domain of adaptation of (H)igh tone and (L)ow in loans. Moreover, findings reveal that inserted vowels in CC-clusters in Èwùlù and Ùrhòbò loans are inherently toneless, acquiring their tones from adjacent tones. However, the study identifies two salient peculiar patterns: (1) Ùrhòbò assigns low tone on intervening V element in CC-cluster, a domain characteristically assigned H tone in Èwùlù, Y, H, B, and E. (2) Ùrhòbò regularly simplifies source H*L% as /H/ in adapted source CVC, a context where Èwùlù and the aforementioned NLs rather adapt /H.L/ melody to realise vowel doubling. To this end, the current researchers recommend further comparative or typological studies on English loanwords in other NLs to further identify patterns of tone adaptation and resyllabification rules in loanwords similar to those of Urhobo in particular.

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.

scholarly journals The Impact of Visual Aids on the Retention of English Word Stress Patterns

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid Ghaemi ◽  
Fahimeh Rafi
Keyword(s):  
English Word ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Visual Aids ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Group A ◽  
Group B ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Stress Patterns

The present study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of three different techniques on learners’ long term memorization of English word stress patterns. After administering a quick placement test, 67 Iranian EFL elementary learners at language institutes were selected to participate in the study. Then they were divided into three groups. Before starting the instruction, a pretest was conducted to classify the participants’ abilities on word stress patterns. Then the new techniques were used to teach English word stress patterns. In all three groups, words were printed largely on a piece of paper and the syllables were clearly specified by dots. In group ‘A’, pronunciation and stress pattern of new words were taught aurally through the repetition of the words. In group ‘B’, all the procedure was exactly similar to that of group ‘A’, the only difference was that the stressed syllables were printed in bold. In group ‘C’, all the procedure was exactly similar to that of group ‘B’,  except that the stressed syllables were not only printed in bold, but also introduced by teacher’s hand gesture. After two weeks, a delayed posttest was conducted to check long term memorization of the word stress patterns. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant difference between pretest and delayed posttest in all three groups. But the most meaningful difference belonged to group ‘C’. That is, the participants in the third group (gesture group) outperformed those in the other groups. Finally, some implications and suggestions provided for further research.   

Bitonal pitch accent and phonological alignment in Sardinian

Probus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miran Kim ◽  
Lori Repetti
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Landing Sites ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
As Stress

Abstract This study presents new data on pitch accent alignment in Sardinian, a Romance language spoken in Italy. We propose that what has been described as “stress shift” in encliticization processes is not a change in the word level stress, but variation in the association of the pitch accent. Our claim is that word level stress remains in situ, and the falling tune which our data exhibit can be interpreted as a bitonal pitch accent (HL*) associated with the entire verb + enclitic unit: the starred tone is associated with the rightmost metrically prominent syllable, and the leading tone is associated with the word-level stressed syllable. The research questions we address are twofold: (i) how are the landing sites of the two tonal targets phonetically identified; (ii) how are the phonetic facts reconciled with prosodic structure.

The prosodic structure and pitch accent of Northern Kyungsang Korean

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongho Jun ◽  
Jungsun Kim ◽  
Hayoung Lee ◽  
Sun-Ah Jun
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Prosodic Structure

Some Problems of English Word-Stress for the Iraqi Learner

ELT Journal ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Y. Aziz
Keyword(s):  
English Word ◽  
Word Stress

The Stress of English Words 1968–1998

1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris Halle
Keyword(s):  
English Word ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
New Treatment

The article begins with reflections on the theory of Chomsky and Halle 1968, which constituted a new departure in phonology. The indebtedness of the theory to Chomsky 1951 is noted, and certain inadequacies in the theory are discussed as well as the ways these were overcome in subsequent work, including Idsardi 1992. The revised theory is illustrated with an improved account of English word stress that includes a new treatment of the “Rhythm Rule,” in particular, of contrasts such as ánecdòte vs. eléctròde; vowel shortening in poststress position (e.g., sálivàte (cf. salíva), ínfamous (cf. faámous)); and “weak” syllable effects (Burzio 1994) (e.g., Loómbardy but Lombárdi).

scholarly journals Accounting for L2 learners’ errors in word stress placement

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Clara Herlina Karjo
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
English Word ◽  
Stress System ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Repetition Task ◽  
Stress Placement ◽  
Vowel Height

Stress placement in English words is governed by highly complicated rules. Thus, assigning stress correctly in English words has been a challenging task for L2 learners, especially Indonesian learners since their L1 does not recognize such stress system. This study explores the production of English word stress by 30 university students. The method used for this study is immediate repetition task. Participants are instructed to identify the stress placement of 80 English words which are auditorily presented as stimuli and immediately repeat the words with correct stress placement. The objectives of this study are to find out whether English word stress placement is problematic for L2 learners and to investigate the phonological factors which account for these problems. Research reveals that L2 learners have different ability in producing the stress, but three-syllable words are more problematic than two-syllable words. Moreover, misplacement of stress is caused by, among others, the influence of vowel lenght and vowel height.

scholarly journals Using the ToBI transcription to record the intonation of Slovene

Linguistica ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Volk
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
American English ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Tone Sequence ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Audio Recording ◽  
The Core ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Mainstream American English

The paper presents ToBI, a transcription method for prosodic annotation. ToBI is an acronym for Tones and Breaks Indices which first denoted an intonation system developed in the 1990s for annotating intonation and prosody in the database of spoken Mainstream American English. The MAE_ToBI transcription originally consists of six parts – the audio recording of the utterance, the fundamental frequency contour and four parallel tiers for the transcription of tone sequence, ortographic transcription, indication of break indices between words and for additional observations. The core of the transcription, i. e. of the phonological analyses of the intonation pattern, is represented by the tone tier where tonal variation is transcribed by using labels for high tone and low tone where a tone can appear as a pitch accent, phrase accent and boundary tone. Due to its simplicity and flexibility, the system soon began to be used for the prosodic annotation of other variants of English and many other languages, as well as in different non-linguistic fields, leading to the creation of many new ToBI systems adapted to individual languages and dialects. The author is the first to use this method for Slovene, more precisely, for the intonational transcription and analysis of the corpus of spontaneous speech of Slovene Istria, in order to investigate if the ToBi system is useful for the annotation of Slovene and its regional variants.  

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