A preliminary study on nasalization and phonation

Although it is widely acknowledged that different speech processes may interact with each other, the way that nasalization affects phonation remains poorly understood. This paper explores the relationship between nasalization and phonation, by analyzing the phonetic cues of the tense/lax distinction both in nasalization and non-nasalization in the Bai language. The data for discussion is from two Bai dialects, Chengbei and Jinhua, which have a tense/lax distinction in both nasalized and non-nasalized syllables. Three phonation parameters – fundamental frequency (F0), open quotient (OQ), and speed quotient (SQ) – are extracted from EGG signals for analysis. It is found that the influence of nasalization on phonation varies with the tone contours. As for the level tones, the role of phonation manner in tone distinction is not evident in nasalization in that tense tones can be distinguished from lax tones only by pitch. However, in non-nasalization, phonation manner plays an indispensable role in tone distinction, in that the contrast between tense and lax tones are reflected not only on F0 but also on OQ and SQ. Moreover, non-nasalized tense tones are more likely to be accompanied by non-modal phonation that is characterized by a significantly higher SQ. In terms of articulatory explanation, high SQ in non-modal phonation is the result of the vibration of tightened vocal folds, and the tension of vocal folds is caused by raising the soft palate in non-nasalization. As for the falling tones, the role of phonation manner in tone distinction is more salient in nasalization than in non-nasalization in Chengbei Bai, but it is not attested in Jinhua Bai. This study shows that the interaction between nasalization and phonation in Bai can be revealed in the analysis of phonation parameters, i.e. F0, OQ, and SQ.

Melodic-prosodic duality of the syllable

Implicit in all current theories of the syllable is some assumption of the internal configuration. Prevalent among these are the onset-rime (OR) and the moraic (μ) models, both supported by rather different types of evidence. The OR model favors an interpretation where constituency is exhaustive until the level of the segment which itself is a temporal unit with which melodic features associate. The μ-model distinguishes only what is non-moraic from what is moraic so that sub-syllabic constituency is an accidental result of projecting to/from the same mora. This paper postulates a more fundamental segment-melody complex that projects into two different dimensions: melody and prosody, thus capturing the insights of both the OR and μ-models through the separation of constituency issues with prosodic ones. This approach has direct applications in figuring out two long-standing conundrums in Chinese: the status of the medial glide and the prosodic properties of tonelessness. The segment-melody complex also predicts mismatches in moraicity and syllabicity as well as the mediating effect of the skeletal slots between the melodic root nodes and their moraic status.

Active Syllable Average Limit 1,000 (音涯一千)

This paper mainly studies phonemic cognitive ability through the databases of living spoken languages in the Sino-Tibetan languages including 20 Chinese dialects, 6 Tibetan dialects, 5 Miao dialects, Mian, Zhuang, Thai, Li, Dai, Yi, Burmese, Zaiwa, and, Achang. The methods of statistics and information entropy and the concepts of the actual syllabic space, the syllabic theoretical space and redundancy rate are used and proposed in this paper. The results show that: (1) statistical methods can be used in the study of phonemic cognition; (2) the actual syllabic space in spoken Sino-Tibetan languages reflects the man’s phonemic cognitive ability; (3) the theoretical syllabic space composed of initial, final, and tone in the Sino-Tibetan languages reflects the dynamic process of a phoneme system in language contact and evolution; (4) a redundancy rate of 60% is the bottom limit in oral communication in the Sino-Tibetan languages. Therefore, the conclusion of this study is that Active Syllable Average Limit 1,000 not only reflects man’s phonemic cognitive ability, but also reflects the interdependence of phonemic cognition and semantic cognition, and reveals an important link in the process of a language chain from semantic to phonemic transformation, which has important theoretical significance in the study of language cognition.

Prosodic realization of tonal target and F0 peak alignment in Mandarin neutral tone

Neutral tone in Mandarin is generally believed to lack tonal identity and exhibit more variability in its phonetic realization. We examined the tonal target of neutral tone in a prosodic word consisting of a full syllable (S) and one, two, or three neutral-tone syllables. In the experiment, the test words, presented in isolation and embedded in a carrier sentence, were read in two intonation patterns: declarative and interrogative. The results showed: (1) the tonal target of neutral tone is L(ow) at the end of the intonation phrase in declarative intonation and M(id) in question intonation; (2) its phonetic realization is influenced by intonation patterns, the tone of S and the number of neutral-tone syllables in the prosodic word; (3) the influence of the tone of S is more robust in shorter sequences than in longer ones with three neutral-tone syllables; (4) placement of the F0 peak in T2 (LH) and the neutral tone immediately following T3 (L) is susceptible to the number of neutral-tone syllables. It seems clear from our study that while the tonal target of neutral tone is related to prosodic structure, its actual F0 scaling is sensitive to prosodic manipulations such as intonation patterns and prosodic word length. In addition, tonelessness of neutral tone allows for more freedom in the alignment of the F0 peak, whose temporal coordination with its segmental host is, nevertheless, subject to both phonological and phonetic constraints.

Syllable isochrony and the prosodic features of stop syllables in Cantonese

Cantonese is a syllable-timed language: that is, the syllable is the isochronous unit of speech. However, in Cantonese, there is a type of closed syllable with the stop codas [-p], [-t], or [-k] (i.e. syllables with the so called “entering-tones”) which sound much shorter than other syllables. On the surface, the shorter duration of stop syllables and the general prosodic feature of syllable-isochrony seem to conflict. This study conducted acoustic investigations of stop syllables in Cantonese in different contexts (i.e. in isolated form, in disyllabic words, and in disyllabic words located at the beginning, middle, and final positions of sentences). The results showed that stop syllables alone are shorter than non-stop syllables in various contexts. However, in disyllabic words or in sentences, there is a supplementary lengthening effect immediately after the stop syllables: there is more acoustic blank, and in some circumstances the initial of the following syllable is lengthened. Therefore, we propose that the phonetic realization of syllable isochrony is beyond the syllable itself in Cantonese. The results and discussions of this study may also shed light on the problem of the disappearance of “entering tones” from various Chinese dialects.

/ka-/ negative prefix of Choswateng Tibetan of Khams (Shangri-La, Yunnan)

Choswateng Tibetan, spoken in the south-eastern corner of the Khams region, has three negative prefixes: /ȵi-/, /ma-/, and /ka-/. The first two are derived from two morphemes which are ubiquitous across Tibetic languages, whereas the third is a newly generated negative prefix found in Choswateng Tibetan as well as its surrounding dialects belonging to the rGyalthang subgroup of Khams and its neighbours. This article describes the morphological feature and use of the prefix /ka-/ in Choswateng Tibetan. Morphologically, the prefix /ka-/ can co-occur with most verbs except for the copulative verb /ˊreʔ/. Pragmatically, the prefix /ka-/ occurs and is restricted in the following ways: (1) expresses ‘definitely not’ for statements regarding the self, and ‘possibly not, judging from the speaker’s knowledge’ for statements regarding others; (2) co-occurs with egophoric and sensory evidentials; (3) is not used for a negation of accomplished aspect; and (4) does not deprive the function of the other two negative prefixes. These two analyzes are mutually related; it is suggested that the reason why /ka-/ cannot co-occur with the copulative verb /ˊreʔ/ is triggered by a contradiction of implied evidentials: /ka-/ is related to egophoric and sensory, whereas /ˊreʔ/ is statemental. Following the description of its use, we discuss the origin of /ka-/, claiming a possible grammaticalization from an interrogative word gar (‘where’ in Literary Tibetan and common throughout the rGyalthang area) in a rhetorical question to a prefix. Referring to several morphological features of /ka-/, we consider its grammaticalization as ongoing, but most advanced in Choswateng Tibetan.

Processing of the Mandarin polarity item renhe ‘any’

The Mandarin renhe is similar to the English any in terms of polarity sensitivity (Wang 1993; Wang & Hsieh 1996; Kuo 2003; Cheng & Giannakidou 2013; Shyu 2016). However, the following phenomena regarding any in relative clause environments have not been surveyed with respect to renhe: (a) the NPI illusion effect reported in studies like Parker & Phillips (2011; 2016); (b) the subtrigging effect discussed in LeGrand (1975) and Dayal (1998; 2004). We conducted two untimed, offline acceptability judgment experiments and the results suggest that: (i) NPI illusion does not appear in Mandarin in untimed offline processing, (ii) the subtrigging effect of renhe holds, and (iii) renhe can be licensed by certain types of declarative verbs like tongyi ‘agree’ and zancheng ‘approve’. The results confirm the strict structural requirement of the c-commanding relation between a negation licensor and renhe (Wang 1993) and the licensing of renhe in non-veridical contexts (Cheng & Giannakidou 2013), and further suggest additional licensing environments for renhe: relative clauses and declarative verbs. This requires reconsideration of positing non-veridicality as a necessary licensing condition for renhe and calls for future research on how renhe is licensed under these two licensing environments.

Korean causal markers ‑ese and ‑nikka in clause-initial and final positions in relation to the sequence of Mandarin Chinese yinwei

Korean causal markers ‑ese, ‑nikka and Mandarin Chinese yinwei are used most widely in their respective languages to denote causality. Due to the syntactic structure of the adjunct-preceding-main order in both languages, ‑ese and ‑nikka are considered to be clause-initial connectives. However, in both languages, because-clauses also occur frequently in final position. By examining the behavioral patterns of ‑ese and ‑nikka in clause-initial and -final positions in relation to the sequence of yinwei through the original Korean texts translated to Mandarin Chinese and the Korean texts translated from the original Mandarin Chinese texts, this paper aims to show: (1) ese-tokens correspond more to the preposed yinwei and other Mandarin Chinese result causal markers that strengthen the “cause-consequence” construction, as ‑ese mainly expresses forward logical reasoning, whereas nikka-tokens correspond more to the postposed yinwei, as ‑nikka expresses epistemic inference and elaboration; (2) these logical relations are more explicitly expressed by ‑ese and ‑nikka, whereas Mandarin Chinese relies more on zero-marking when expressing a strong sense of sequential logic or an utterance of elaboration.