scholarly journals A phonetic study of length and duration in Kyrgyz vowels

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Ziv Stern ◽  
Jonathan North Washington
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Component ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Measurement And Analysis ◽  
Final Stress ◽  
High Vowels ◽  
Phonetic Duration ◽  
Phonetic Study ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Vowel Categories

This paper examines the phonetic correlates of the (phonological) vowel length contrast in Kyrgyz to address a range of questions about the nature of this contrast, and also explores factors that affect (phonetic) duration in short vowels. Measurement and analysis of the vowels confirms that there is indeed a significant duration distinction between the Kyrgyz vowel categories referred to as short and long vowels. Preliminary midpoint formant measurements show that there may be some accompanying spectral component to the length contrast for certain vowels, but findings are not conclusive. A comparison of F0 dynamics and spectral dynamics through long and short vowels does not yield evidence that some long vowels may in fact be two heterosyllabic short vowels. Analysis shows that duration is associated with a vowel’s presence in word-edge syllables in Kyrgyz, as anticipated based on descriptions of word-final stress and initial prominence. However, high vowels and non-high vowels are found to consistently exhibit opposite durational effects. Specifically, high vowels in word-edge syllables are longer than high vowels in medial syllables, while non-high vowels in word-edge syllables are shorter than non-high vowels in medial syllables. This suggests either a phenomenon of durational neutralisation at word edges or the exaggeration of durational differences word-medially, and is not taken as a case of word-edge strengthening. Proposals for how to select from between these hypotheses in future work are discussed.

scholarly journals Syllable structure and extrametricality

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Gordon ◽  
Carmen Jany ◽  
Carlos Nash ◽  
Nobutaka Takara
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Functional Basis ◽  
Final Stress ◽  
Stress Asymmetry ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Phonetic Study ◽  
Universal Pattern ◽  
Duration Theory

This paper proposes a functional basis for final consonant extrametricality, the asymmetric status of CVC syllables as stress-attracting in non-final position of a word but stress-rejecting in final position. A typological study of phonemic vowel length pattern in 10 languages with this final vs. non-final stress asymmetry and 30 languages in which CVC attracts stress in final position indicates a robust asymmetry between languages differing in their stress system’s treatment of final CVC. Languages that asymmetrically allow stress on non-final but not on final CVC all lack phonemic vowel length contrast in final position, whereas those lacking the stress asymmetry often have contrastive length in final vowels. It is claimed that the absence of phonemic length in languages that do not stress final CVC facilitates the nearly universal pattern of phonetic final lengthening, which threatens to obscure the perception of phonemic length. The enhanced lengthening of final vowels in languages with final phonemic vowel length reduces the duration ratio of CVC relative to CV, thereby reducing CVC’s perceptual prominence and thus its propensity to attract stress in keeping with Lunden’s (2006) proportional duration theory of weight. A phonetic study of two languages differing in the stress-attracting ability of final CVC offers support for the proposed account. Arabic, which displays consonant extrametricality and largely lacks phonemic vowel length in final position, has substantial final vowel lengthening, whereas Kabardian, which stresses final CVC and contrasts vowel length in final position, lacks substantial final lengthening.

The role of NZ English in a binary feature analysis of English short vowels

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Feature Analysis ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Binary Feature ◽  
Acoustic Space ◽  
High Vowels

The Jakobsonian system of binary distinctive features is based on the premise that, as far as vowels are concerned, their articulation, and the resulting acoustic effects, are not distributed randomly over the available articulatory or acoustic space, but are organized into systems of binary contrasts, so that for example (in articulatory terms) a set of front vowels will be matched by a corresponding set of back vowels, a set of high vowels by a set of mid or low vowels, and so on. There will thus be a certain symmetry in the distribution of such vowels, either in their positions on a vowel quadrilateral, or in a similar schematic shape such as the five-vowel triangle.

scholarly journals Phonetic structures of Turkish Kabardian

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Gordon ◽  
Ayla Applebaum
Keyword(s):  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Aerodynamic Characteristics ◽  
Rare Type ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Closure Duration ◽  
Phonetic Study ◽  
Phonetic Realization

This paper reports results of a quantitative phonetic study of Kabardian, a Northwest Caucasian language that is of typological interest from a phonetic standpoint. A number of cross-linguistically rare properties are examined. These features include the phonetic realization of Kabardian's small vowel inventory, which contains only three contrastive vowel qualities (two short vowels and one long vowel), spectral characteristics of the ten supralaryngeal voiceless fricatives of Kabardian, as well as the acoustic, palatographic, and aerodynamic characteristics of ejective fricatives, an extremely rare type of segment cross-linguistically. In addition, basic properties of the consonant stop series are explored, including closure duration and voice onset time, in order to test postulated universals linking these properties to place of articulation and laryngeal setting.

scholarly journals Effects of Surprisal and Entropy on Vowel Duration in Japanese

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Shaw ◽  
Shigeto Kawahara
Keyword(s):  
Shannon Entropy ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Word Duration ◽  
Communicative Efficiency ◽  
Linguistic Units ◽  
Positive Effect

Research on English and other languages has shown that syllables and words that contain more information tend to be produced with longer duration. This research is evolving into a general thesis that speakers articulate linguistic units with more information more robustly. While this hypothesis seems plausible from the perspective of communicative efficiency, previous support for it has come mainly from English and some other Indo-European languages. Moreover, most previous studies focus on global effects, such as the interaction of word duration and sentential/semantic predictability. The current study is focused at the level of phonotactics, exploring the effects of local predictability on vowel duration in Japanese, using the Corpus of Spontaneous Japanese. To examine gradient consonant-vowel phonotactics within a consonant–vowel-mora, consonant-conditioned Surprisal and Shannon Entropy were calculated, and their effects on vowel duration were examined, together with other linguistic factors that are known from previous research to affect vowel duration. Results show significant effects of both Surprisal and Entropy, as well as notable interactions with vowel length and vowel quality. The effect of Entropy is stronger on peripheral vowels than on central vowels. Surprisal has a stronger positive effect on short vowels than on long vowels. We interpret the main patterns and the interactions by conceptualizing Surprisal as an index of motor fluency and Entropy as an index of competition in vowel selection.

scholarly journals Vokalquantitätsverschiebungen in ausgewählten Dorfwillküren aus dem 17. und 18. Jh. Eine graphematisch-phonematische Studie

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 67-79
Author(s):  
Piotr A. Owsiński
Keyword(s):  
Spoken Language ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Language Analysis ◽  
Early New High German ◽  
Characteristic Features

The marking of the vowel length in selected village charters from the 17th and 18th centuries. A graphemic-phonemic studyThe paper presents the results of the language analysis of the Early New High German village charters from the 17th and 18th centuries which come from: Archiwum Komisji Prawniczej, Volume XI, Warszawa/Kraków/Łódź/Poznań/Wilno/Zakopane, 1938 and Targowski 2013. The scriveners are unknown. The center of attention are the ways of marking of the long and short vowels, which came into being owing to the lengthening and shortening of the vowels in the Early New High German time. The aim of the article is to determine to what extent the script fixes the features of the spoken language. The author introduces the results of his analysis, illustrating the characteristic features with appropriate examples.

scholarly journals prosody of Símákonde relative clauses

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 159-185
Author(s):  
Sophie Manus
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Prosodic Phrase ◽  
Final Stress ◽  
The Relationship

Símákonde is an Eastern Bantu language (P23) spoken by immigrant Mozambican communities in Zanzibar and on the Tanzanian mainland. Like other Makonde dialects and other Eastern and Southern Bantu languages (Hyman 2009), it has lost the historical Proto-Bantu vowel length contrast and now has a regular phrase-final stress rule, which causes a predictable bimoraic lengthening of the penultimate syllable of every Prosodic Phrase. The study of the prosody / syntax interface in Símákonde Relative Clauses requires to take into account the following elements: the relationship between the head and the relative verb, the conjoint / disjoint verbal distinction and the various phrasing patterns of Noun Phrases. Within Símákonde noun phrases, depending on the nature of the modifier, three different phrasing situations are observed: a modifier or modifiers may (i) be required to phrase with the head noun, (ii) be required to phrase separately, or (iii) optionally phrase with the head noun.  

scholarly journals Lenisering etter kort vokal: relikt-fenomen eller opphav?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
Gjert Kristoffersen
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Short Vowel ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Limited Distribution ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Stage Process

The topic of the paper is a small group of Norwegian dialects where lenition of p, t, k into b, d, g in intervocalic and word-final position is limited to words characterized by a monomoraic, stressed syllable in Old Norse. These dialects are spoken in the easternmost local communities in Agder county, at the eastern margin of the South-Norwegian lenition areas where lenition hit all short oral stops irrespective of preceding vowel length. After the quantity shift had made all stressed vowels bimoraic, with rimes being either VV or VC, the distribution of the lenited plosives are after both long and short vowels (the main area) or after short vowels only (the eastern marginal area). Haslum (2004) argues that the limited distribution in the east ist the result of a reversal after long vowels only. While this cannot be refuted as a possibility, I argue below that it may also be the result of a two-stage process, whereby lenition after a short vowel has spread further than the generalized process.

scholarly journals Durational cues to stress, final lengthening, and the perception of rhythm

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Anya Lunden
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Stress ◽  
Perceptual Effect ◽  
Final Stress ◽  
Phonetic Duration ◽  
Final Syllable

Binary stress languages have a well-known asymmetry between their tolerance of initial versus final lapse; the former being extremely rare and the latter being quite common. Lunden (to appear) proposes that final lengthening plays a role in this asymmetry, as the additional inherent phonetic duration of the final syllable can contribute to the continuation of a perceived rhythm, even in the absence of actual final stress. She notes this effect of final lengthening should only be available in languages that use duration as a cue to stress. However, some languages are described as having different cues to primary and secondary stress, and it is not clear which is more important for this perceptual effect. The results of four new studies show that final lengthening contributes to the perceptual rhythm of the word even when only one level of stress is cued with duration.

Old and Middle English Phonology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donka Minkova
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Norman Conquest ◽  
Stress Assignment ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
Voicing Contrast ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Separate Branch ◽  
English System

Old English (OE) is a cover term for a variety of dialects spoken in Britain ca. 5th–11th century. Most of the manuscripts on which the descriptive handbook tradition relies date from the latter part of the period. These late OE manuscripts were produced in Wessex and show a degree of uniformity interrupted by the Norman Conquest of 1066. Middle English (ME) covers roughly 1050–1500. The early part of the period, ca. pre-1350, is marked by great diversity of scribal practices; it is only in late ME that some degree of orthographic regularity can be observed. The consonantal system of OE differs from the Modern English system. Consonantal length was contrastive, there were no affricates, no voicing contrast for the fricatives [f, θ, s], no phonemic velar nasal [ŋ], and [h-] loss was under way. In the vocalic system, OE shows changes that identify it as a separate branch of Germanic: Proto-Germanic (PrG) ē 1 > OE ǣ/ē, PrG ai > OE ā, PrG au > OE ēa. The non-low short vowels of OE are reconstructed as non-peripheral, differing from the corresponding long vowels both in quality and quantity. The so called “short” diphthongs usually posited for OE suggest a case for which a strict binary taxonomy is inapplicable to the data. The OE long vowels and diphthongs were unstable, producing a number of important mergers including /iː - yː/, /eː - eø/, /ɛː - ɛə/. In addition to shifts in height and frontness, the stressed vowels were subject to a series of quantity adjustments that resulted in increased predictability of vowel length. The changes that jointly contribute to this are homorganic cluster lengthening, ME open syllable lengthening, pre-consonantal and trisyllabic shortening. The final unstressed vowels of ME were gradually lost, resulting in the adoption of <-e># as a diacritic marker for vowel length. Stress-assignment was based on a combination of morphological and prosodic criteria: root-initial stress was obligatory irrespective of syllable weight, while affixal stress was also sensitive to weight. Verse evidence allows the reconstruction of left-prominent compound stress; there is also some early evidence for the formation of clitic groups. Reconstruction of patterns on higher prosodic levels—phrasal and intonational contours—is hampered by lack of testable evidence.

Vowel-length in Warray and weight identity

Phonology ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Borowsky ◽  
Mark Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Base Word ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Surface Representation ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Proper Analysis

Correspondence is a relation between one representation and another (McCarthy & Prince 1993, 1994, 1995). This relationship may be between an underlying or lexical representation and a surface representation, that is: Input–Output forms; or between surface forms such as a reduplicant and its base (McCarthy & Prince 1995) or other derivationally related pairs (see for example Benua 1995, McCarthy 1995, Kenstowicz 1996) – i.e. Output–Output. Correspondence constraints over related words in a paradigm ensure uniformity within the paradigm. In earlier theories this effect was ensured by the Strict Cycle Constraint, which forbade structure-changing operations except in immediately derived environments and thus ensured that most of the base word stayed the same in derivation. In this paper we show that correspondence between derivationally related output forms (Benua 1995) is essential for the proper analysis of vowel length in Warray, a language of Northern Australia spoken near Darwin, and superior to an account making use of cyclicity. Correspondence constraints ensuring identity between output forms explain the pattern of vowel length in nouns, predicting both where long vowels occur as well as the apparently anomalous appearance of short vowels where long vowels might be expected.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document