scholarly journals Lexical tone contrast in Izon as ubiquitous floating tone

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Rolle
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Support ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tonal Patterns ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Low Tone

This paper establishes the lexical tone contrasts in the Nigerian language Izon, focusing on evidence for floating tone. Many tonal languages show effects of floating tone, though typically in a restricted way, such as occurring with only a minority of morphemes, or restricted to certain grammatical environments. For Izon, the claim here is that all lexical items sponsor floating tone, making it ubiquitous across the lexicon and as common as pre-associated tone. The motivation for floating tone comes from the tonal patterns of morphemes in isolation and within tone groups. Based on these patterns, all lexical morphemes are placed into one of four tone classes defined according to which floating tones they end in. This paper provides extensive empirical support for this analysis and discusses several issues which emerge under ubiquitous floating tone. Issues include the principled allowance of OCP(T) violations, and the propensity for word-initial vowels and low tone to coincide.

scholarly journals Arguments for a Privative L Tone in Northern Tepehuan

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Ivanhoe Gil Burgoin
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Stress Assignment ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
System L ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Low Constraint ◽  
Heavy Syllable ◽  
Tonal System

This paper proposes that Northern Tepehuan is a tonal language with just one lexical tone 'low tone' and is therefore a privative tonal system. L tone is sufficient to explain the pitch contrasts in the language and also necessary to explain the "inconsistencies" of stress assignment. Stress is normally predictable from the size of the word, from syllable-weight, and is cued by a H* intonational tone. Nonetheless, in words that do not obey the Stress-to-Weight constraint, it could be argued that stress is displaced from the heavy syllable by virtue of a high-ranked *Align(Head/Low) constraint that prohibits the placement of stress on a syllable with a lexical L. The L tone also explains why the H* intonational tone can be displaced from stressed syllables.

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 Lexical function of pitch in the first language shapes cross-linguistic perception of Thai tones

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vance Schaefer ◽  
Isabelle Darcy
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tonal Language ◽  
Learner Perception ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Pitch Patterns ◽  
Lexical Function ◽  
Pitch System ◽  
Contour Tones

AbstractDetermining the factors involved in the non-native perception of the pitch patterns of tones is complicated by the fact that all languages use pitch to various extents, whether linguistic (e.g., intonation) or non-linguistic (e.g., singing). Moreover, many languages use pitch to distinguish lexical items with varying degrees of functional load and differences in inventory of such pitch patterns. The current study attempts to understand what factors determine accurate naïve (= non-learner) perception of non-native tones, in order to establish the baseline for acquisition of a tonal L2. We examine the perception of Thai tones (i.e., three level tones, two contour tones) by speakers of languages on a spectrum of lexically contrastive pitch usage: Mandarin (lexical tone), Japanese (lexical pitch accent), English (lexical stress), and Korean (no lexically contrastive pitch). Results suggest that the importance of lexically contrastive pitch in the L1 influences non-native tone perception so that not all non-tonal language speakers possess the same level of tonal sensitivity, resulting in a hierarchy of perceptual accuracy. Referencing the Feature Hypothesis (McAllister et al. 2002), we propose the Functional Pitch Hypothesis to model our findings: the degree to which linguistic pitch differentiates lexical items in the L1 shapes the naïve perception of a non-native lexically contrastive pitch system, e.g., tones.

scholarly journals Babanki verb tone

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-26
Author(s):  
Pius W. Akumbu
Keyword(s):  
High Tone ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Grassfields Bantu ◽  
Phonological Rule ◽  
Tonal Patterns ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Tonal System

In Babanki, a Grassfields Bantu language of northwestern Cameroon, several tonal patterns can be found on a single verb root depending on the construction in which the verb is used. An underlying high tone may surface normally as high, but unexpectedly as low, or high-falling; while underlying low tones surface as high, high-falling, or normally as low. For this reason the low tone verb can have a L(L), HL, or even H(H) surface melody while the high tone verbs can be L(H), HL, or H(H). Accounting for these melodies in order to reconstruct the underlying forms is necessary for a proper understanding of the Babanki verb tone in particular and the tonal system of Centre Ring Grassfields Bantu languages in general. This paper demonstrates that five tone rules (Downstep, Tone Docking, High Tone Spread, Low Tone Spread, and Upstep) and one phonological rule (Schwa Insertion) are required to account for the complex tonal system of Babanki verbs.

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.

scholarly journals The production of Norwegian tones by multilingual non-native speakers

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guri Bordal Steien ◽  
Wim A van Dommelen
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Tonal Patterns

Aim and objectives/purpose/research questions: The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which multilingual second language (L2) speakers of Norwegian manage to produce lexical pitch accents (L*H¯ or H*LH¯) as expected in natural spontaneous speech. Using native speech as a reference, we analyse realizations of multilingual speakers whose respective dominant languages are Lingala, a lexical tone language, and Swahili, a non-tonal language with fixed stress, and hypothesize that this difference might be reflected in the speakers’ competence in the East Norwegian tone system. Design/methodology/approach: We examined a corpus of spontaneous speech produced by eight L2 speakers and two native speakers of East Norwegian. Acoustic analysis was performed to collect fundamental frequency (f0) contours of 60 accentual phrases per speaker. Data and analysis: For LH and HLH tonal patterns, measuring points were defined for quantitative evaluation of f0 values. Relevant aspects investigated were (a) pattern consistency, (b) f0 dynamic range and (c) rate of f0 change. Pattern consistency data were statistically evaluated using chi-square testing. The dynamic range and rate of f0 change data were explored through to linear mixed effects models. Findings/conclusions: We found no really substantial differences between the speaker groups in the parameters we examined, neither between the L2 speakers and the Norwegian natives nor between the Lingala and Swahili speakers. Originality and significance/implications: This study is a contribution to the scarcely explored area of L2 acquisition of tones. It is concerned with languages that have received little or no attention in the field: Norwegian, Lingala and Swahili. Participants are multilinguals who have extensive language learning experience. Further, the study is based on a corpus of spontaneous speech.

scholarly journals The Limits of Perception in the Tonal Orthographies of three-tone Systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kolawole Adeniyi
Keyword(s):  
Tone Perception ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Low Tone

This article discusses the representation of downstep in the tonal orthographies of some three-tone languages of West Benue-Congo, in the light of the phonological properties of tone in the languages. Ebira has total downstep, which makes both downstepped high and down-stepped mid to be perceived at a level close to outright low tone, and written so; downstepped high in Igala is realised around the level of the mid tone and is often written as mid in the or-thography. In Gwari, the docking of floating high tonal morpheme and contour simplification interact with downstep in such a way that downstepped high tones are frequently written as mid. It is shown that these situations arise because surface tone perception is taken as the sole parameter for tone categorisation, ignoring the underlying tones of lexical items in the lan-guages as well as the number of tones and possible terracing-triggered intersections between the tones. It is argued that the orthographies of the languages will be far more accurate if these obvious facts of downstep are incorporated.

Prosodic Unit, Recursive Structure, and Nature of Accent in Miyako Ryukyuan

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-83
Author(s):  
Akiko Matsumori
Keyword(s):  
Pivotal Role ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Recursive Structure ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Tonal Patterns ◽  
Recursive Structures ◽  
Low Tone

Abstract Focusing on the three-pattern accentual systems in Uechi, a dialect of the Miyako archipelago, this paper argues that the prosodic category PWd plays a pivotal role, in addition to the mora, as basic prosodic unit required to calculate accent placement. The paper also shows that prosodic conditions that bring about neutralizations of tonal patterns in Uechi can be fully accounted for by making use of PWd, in addition to postulating that the PWds consist of recursive structures. It then reports, focusing on the dialect of Tarama island in the same Miyako archipelago, a representative case of tonal alternations occurring at the sentence level, in which the odd numbered (1st, 3rd, etc.) accents in a sentence change High tone to Low tone, while the even numbered (2nd, 4th, etc.) change Low tone to High tone. The discovery of such unique types of pitch realization in the prosodic systems in this area should make an important contribution to typological studies of prosodic systems of Japanese, as well as of other languages.

The Pluricentricity of German: Perceptions of the Standardness of Austrian and German Lexical Items

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-63
Author(s):  
James Pfrehm
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
German Language ◽  
Initial Model ◽  
Empirical Perspective ◽  
German Standard ◽  
Lexical Items

This article explores the theory of pluricentricity from an empirical perspective. With a particular focus on the written lexicon, and using questionnaires and statistical analysis, I examine how native speakers from Austria (n=115) and Germany (n=104) rated the standardness of 36 words designated as representing either Austrian Standard German (ASG) or German Standard German (GSG). Analyses of quantitative data offer preliminary empirical support for the pluricentricity of the German language. Ultimately, my study (a) justifies the need for more extensive empirical research on perceptions of standardness among native speakers in Austria, (b) demonstrates the value of eliciting attitudes of nonlinguists to assess the validity of theories posited by linguists, and (c) provides an initial model for investigating coexisting standard varieties which, it is hoped, future researchers will adopt and improve on.

scholarly journals Tone in Sezo

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Girma Mengistu Desta
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Bearing Unit ◽  
Limited Role ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Contour Tones

Sezo has two levels of tone — high and low. The two tones occur on mon-omoraic and bimoraic syllables (i.e. on short and long vowels). Rising (LH) and falling (HL) contour tones have been recorded occurring only on bi-moraic syllables. They are analyzed as composites of the high and low tones squeezed together on one bimoraic syllable as a result of diachronic and synchronic processes. Tone plays a very significant role in the lexicon of the language. It distinguishes lexical items. It also derives nominal stems from verbal roots. Unlike its importance in the lexicon, tone has a limited role in the grammar of the language. The only grammatical function of tone is to make a distinction between declarative and interrogative sentences. The key tonal processes in the language are downdrift, downstep, contour formation and total spreading of a high tone. Contour tones are formed through the partial spreading of a high tone over a low tone bearing unit and the re-linking of a floating high tone to an adjacent low tone bearing unit.

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