DOCSLIB.ORG

The Effects of Duration and Sonority on Contour Tone Distribution— Typological Survey and Formal Analysis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Effects of Duration and Sonority on Contour Tone Distribution— Typological Survey and Formal Analysis The Effects of Duration and Sonority on Contour Tone Distribution— Typological Survey and Formal Analysis Jie Zhang For my family Table of Contents Acknowledgments xi 1 Background 3 1.1 Two Examples of Contour Tone Distribution 3 1.1.1 Contour Tones on Long Vowels Only 3 1.1.2 Contour Tones on Stressed Syllables Only 8 1.2 Questions Raised by the Examples 9 1.3 How This Work Evaluates The Different Predictions 11 1.3.1 A Survey of Contour Tone Distribution 11 1.3.2 Instrumental Case Studies 11 1.4 Putting Contour Tone Distribution in a Bigger Picture 13 1.4.1 Phonetically-Driven Phonology 13 1.4.2 Positional Prominence 14 1.4.3 Competing Approaches to Positional Prominence 16 1.5 Outline 20 2 The Phonetics of Contour Tones 23 2.1 Overview 23 2.2 The Importance of Sonority for Contour Tone Bearing 23 2.3 The Importance of Duration for Contour Tone Bearing 24 2.4 The Irrelevance of Onsets to Contour Tone Bearing 26 2.5 Local Conclusion 27 3 Empirical Predictions of Different Approaches 29 3.1 Overview 29 3.2 Defining CCONTOUR and Tonal Complexity 29 3.3 Phonological Factors That Influence Duration and Sonority of the Rime 32 3.4 Predictions of Contour Tone Distribution by Different Approaches 34 3.4.1 The Direct Approach 34 3.4.2 Contrast-Specific Positional Markedness 38 3.4.3 General-Purpose Positional Markedness 41 vii viii Table of Contents 3.4.4 The Moraic Approach 42 3.5 Local Conclusion 43 4 The Role of Contrast-Specific Phonetics in Contour Tone Distribution: A Survey 45 4.1 Overview of the Survey 45 4.2 Segmental Composition 48 4.2.1 General Observations 48 4.2.2 Example Languages 52 4.2.3 Local Conclusion: Segmental Effects 61 4.3 Stress 62 4.3.1 General Observations 62 4.3.2 Example Languages 64 4.3.3 Local Conclusion: Stress Effects 69 4.4 Prosodic-Final Position 70 4.4.1 General Observations 70 4.4.2 Example Languages 71 4.4.3 Local Conclusion: Final Effects 75 4.5 Number of Syllables in the Word 78 4.5.1 General Observations 78 4.5.2 Example Languages 79 4.5.3 Local Conclusion: Syllable Count Effects 86 4.6 Other Distributional Properties and Exceptions 87 4.6.1 Other Distributional Properties 87 4.6.2 Durational Factors Not Reflected in the Contour Tone Survey 91 4.6.3 Languages with No Clearly Documented Contour Tone Restrictions 94 4.6.4 Exceptions 95 4.7 Interim Conclusion 96 4.8 Prospectus 98 5 The Role of Language-Specific Phonetics in Contour Tone Distribution: Instrumental Studies 101 5.1 Identifying Relevant Languages 101 5.2 Instrumental Studies 103 5.2.1 Xhosa 103 5.2.2 Beijing Chinese 107 5.2.3 Standard Thai 110 5.2.4 Cantonese 114 5.2.5 Navajo 116 5.2.6 Somali 120 5.3 Lama and KOnni 121 5.4 General Discussion 125 Table of Contents ix 6 Against Structure-Only Alternatives 6.1 The Moraic Approach 127 6.1.1 The Roles of the Mora in Phonology 127 6.1.2 Advantages of Prosodic-Final Syllables and Syllables in Shorter Words 129 6.1.3 Levels of Distinction 130 6.1.4 Differences among Tones with the Same Number of Pitch Targets 132 6.1.5 The Size of Tonal Inventory of Different Syllable Types 137 6.1.6 Moraic Inconsistency 140 6.1.7 Indirect Evidence: Diphthong Distribution 146 6.1.8 Local Conclusion 149 6.2 The Melody Mapping Approach 149 6.2.1 Two Types of Tone Languages 150 6.2.2 Non-Distinctive Tonal Association—An Analysis of Kukuya 154 6.2.3 Distinctive Tonal Association—An Analysis of Mende 163 6.2.4 Local Conclusion 169 6.3 Interim Conclusion 169 7 A Phonetically-Driven Optimality-Theoretic Approach 171 7.1 Setting the Stage 171 7.1.1 Positional Faithfulness vs. Positional Markedness 171 7.1.2 Overview of the Theoretical Apparatus 180 7.2 Constraints and Their Intrinsic Rankings Projected from Phonetics 181 7.2.1 *CONTOUR(x)-CCONTOUR(y) 181 7.2.2 *DURATION 184 7.2.3 PRESERVE(tone) 188 7.3 Assumptions Made in the Model 194 7.4 Factorial Typology 198 7.4.1 No Change Necessary 198 7.4.2 Partial Contour Reduction 199 7.4.3 Complete Contour Reduction 200 7.4.4 Interim Summary 201 7.4.5 Non-Neutralizing Lengthening 202 7.4.6 Neutralizing Lengthening 203 7.4.7 Interim Summary 204 7.4.8 Contour Reduction + Rime Lengthening 205 7.4.9 Summary 206 8 Case Studies 8.1 Pingyao Chinese 213 8.2 Xhosa 215 x Table of Contents 8.3 Mitla Zapotec 219 8.4 Gã 221 8.5 Hausa 227 8.6 Local Conclusion 232 9 Conclusion 233 Appendix: Data Sources for Languages in the Survey 235 References 247 Index 277 Acknowledgments For someone who had not the slightly idea what a fricative was a few years back, this has been quite a journey… There are many people who have helped me throughout this journey and made my years of going through the process the most fulfilling years of my life. But first and foremost, my thanks go to my teacher Donca Steriade. Donca is the kind of advisor that every student dreams to have. The ideas in this work were formed from many many hours of discussion in her office, with her clarifying or challenging every one of my arguments (or lack thereof). I thank her for her unparalleled intelligence, which has guided me through empirical and theoretical puzzles; her motherly concern for every one of my career moves, be it a conference presentation, a written-up paper, or a job interview; her contagious love of linguistics, which I have fortunately contracted. And I thank her for never losing faith in me, even after drafts after drafts of writing that are ‘simply abhorrent’. Donca Steriade is far beyond just a great linguist and a great teacher. She is a real mensch in every sense of the word. It is a great honor to be her student. My deepest gratitude also goes to Bruce Hayes, who enthralled me with the beauty of phonology as a scientific pursuit in my first ever phonology class. He has remained supportive throughout my graduate career. His influence on me, not only as a phonologist, but also as a scientist, is profound. I will forever remember the trepidation every time I go into his office for an appointment, anticipating all the hard questions he will ask. There are still many of his questions for which I have no answers. These questions will not be forgotten. They will guide me throughout my career. Special thanks also go to Sun-Ah Jun, Ian Maddieson, Donka Minkova, and Moira Yip: Sun-Ah for teaching me phonetics; Ian for being an encyclopedia of data and always demanding my best work; Donka for her extremely careful reading of this work and detailed feedback; and Moira for many helpful discussions on issues related to this work. I thank all the speakers that participated in my phonetic experiments: Alhaji Gimba, Virgie Kee, Haiyong Liu, Elton Naswood, Yiem Sunbhanich, and xi xii Acknowledgments Viphavee Vongpumivitch. I am also grateful to Russ Schuh and Aaron Shryock for answering my questions about Chadic languages. To all my teachers at UCLA, thank you for all you have taught me, linguistics and otherwise. In particular: Susie Curtis, Pat Keating, Ed Keenan, Hilda Koopman, Peter and Jenny Ladefoged, Pam Munro, and Colin Wilson. To my friends and colleagues, thank you for your support: Victoria Anderson, Heriberto Avelino, Marco Baroni, Roger Billerey-Mosier, Rebecca Brown, Leston Buell, Elena Suet-Ying Chiu, Melissa Epstein, Christina Foreman, John Foreman, Daniel Hole, Chai-Shune Hsu, Amanda Jones, Jongho Jun, Sahyang Kim, Natasha Levy, Ying Lin, Haiyong Liu, Patrick Manalastas, Amy Schafer, Wendy Swartz, Siri Tuttle, Motoko Ueyama, Yihua Wang, Richard Wright, Kie Zuraw… Special thanks to Matt Gordon, for many long discussions on tone and stress, and for setting a high standard for me to follow; and to Taehong Cho, for your inspirational diligence, for keeping me company during late-night lab sessions, and for feeding me delicious Korean food. Very special thanks to Adam Albright, Ivano Caponigro, and Harold Torrence, for the wonderful dinner parties, tea times, and movie outings. Without you, my years at UCLA would have been much less happy. To Umberto Ansaldo, a very special friend: Thank you for your emails and phone calls. It is amazing how much one can benefit from the emotional support of a friend so far away. To Dan Silverman: Thank you for your patience, your trust, your humor, and your encouragement. To Judson (aka Suan@ Suan):@ What you have done for me over the years is too much to be thanked for, so I won’t. Instead, now I am ready to tell you what this work is all about. Finally, I thank my family—Shen Shi-Guang, Shen Huan, Zhang Ze-Quan, Zhang Yang, Lü Hong, Zhang Chao-Min, and my departed grandmother Chen Jing-Ding—for respecting my choice of switching from EE, in which I could have had a lucrative career, to linguistics, in which I might starve to death. In particular, I thank my aunt Shen Shi-Guang, for being there for me every single minute of my life and never asking for pay-backs. This work is dedicated to all of you.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • T3 Sandhi Rules of Different Prosodic Hierarchies
    T3 Sandhi rules of different prosodic hierarchies Abstract This study conducts acoustic analysis on T3 sandhi of two characters across different boundaries of prosodic hierarchies. The experimental data partly support Chen (2000)’s view about sandhi domain that “T3 sandhi takes place obligatorily within MRU”, and “sandhi rule can not apply cross intonation phrase boundary”. Nonetheless, the results do not support his claim that “there are no intermediate sandhi hierarchies between MRU and intonation phrase”. On the contrary, it is found that, although T3 sandhi could occur across all kinds of hierarchical boundaries between MRU and intonation phrase, T3 sandhi rules within a foot (prosodic word), or between foots without pause, or between pauses without intonation (phonology phrase) are very different in terms of acoustic properties. Furthermore, based on the facts that (1) T3 sandhi could occur cross boundary of pauses and (2) phrase-final sandhi could be significantly lengthening, it is argued that T3 sandhi is due to dissimilation of low tones, rather than duration reduction within MRU domain. It is also demonstrated that tone sandhi and prosodic hierarchies may not be equivalently evaluated in Chinese phonology. Prosodic hierarchies are determined by pause and lengthening, not by tone sandhi. Key words: tone sandhi; prosodic hierarchies; boundary; Mandarin Chinese 1 Introduction So-called T3 sandhi in mandarin Chinese has been widely discussed in Chinese Phonology. Mandarin Chinese has four tones: T1 (level 55), T2 (rising 35), T3 (low-rise 214), T4 (falling 51).Generally, when a T3 is followed by another T3, it turns into T2. The rule could be simply stated as: 214->35/ ___214.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology
    This page intentionally left blank The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology Phonology – the study of how the sounds of speech are represented in our minds – is one of the core areas of linguistic theory, and is central to the study of human language. This state-of-the-art handbook brings together the world’s leading experts in phonology to present the most comprehensive and detailed overview of the field to date. Focusing on the most recent research and the most influential theories, the authors discuss each of the central issues in phonological theory, explore a variety of empirical phenomena, and show how phonology interacts with other aspects of language such as syntax, morph- ology, phonetics, and language acquisition. Providing a one-stop guide to every aspect of this important field, The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology will serve as an invaluable source of readings for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, an informative overview for linguists, and a useful starting point for anyone beginning phonological research. PAUL DE LACY is Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Rutgers University. His publications include Markedness: Reduction and Preservation in Phonology (Cambridge University Press, 2006). The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology Edited by Paul de Lacy CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521848794 © Cambridge University Press 2007 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
    [Show full text]
  • Some Notes on Implosive Consonants in Nyangatom
    Studies in Ethiopian Languages, 5 (2016), 11-20 Some Notes on Implosive Consonants in Nyangatom Moges Yigezu (Addis Ababa University) [email protected] Abstract Nyangatom is a member of the Teso-Turkana cluster within the Eastern-Niltoic group of languages (Vossen 1982) and is spoken in Ethiopia, in the lower Omo valley, by approximately 25,000 speakers (CSA 2008). While there is a detailed description on the Turkana variety spoken in Kenya (Heine 1980, Dimmendaal 1983) there are few grammatical sketches on the Nyangatom variety (Dimmendaal (2007) and Kadanya & Schroder (2011)) spoken in Ethiopia. The status of implosives in the Teso-Turkana group in general and in Nyangatom in particular has not been investigated more clearly and different authors have reached different conclusions in the past. Heine (1980), for instance, recorded implosives as having a phonemic status in Turkana while Dimmendaal (1983) has described implosives in Turkana as variants of their voiced counterparts. In Nyangatom the grammatical sketches published so far have not identified implosive consonants as phonemes of the language. The current contribution gives a preliminary phonological analysis of implosives in Nyangatom with some comparative-historical notes and claim that implosives are full-fledged phonemes in Nyangatom and the opposition is between voiceless stops and implosives while the voiced stops are virtually absent from the phonological system. 1 Introduction Nyangatom belongs to the Teso- Turkana dialect cluster that consists of four major groups and spread over four East African countries, namely, the Nyangatom in Ethiopia, the Toposa in Southern Sudan, the Turkana in Kenya, and the Karamojong in North Eastern Uganda.
    [Show full text]
  • Downstep and Recursive Phonological Phrases in Bàsàá (Bantu A43) Fatima Hamlaoui ZAS, Berlin; University of Toronto Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso ZAS, Berlin
    Chapter 9 Downstep and recursive phonological phrases in Bàsàá (Bantu A43) Fatima Hamlaoui ZAS, Berlin; University of Toronto Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso ZAS, Berlin This paper identifies contexts in which a downstep is realized between consecu- tive H tones in absence of an intervening L tone in Bàsàá (Bantu A43, Cameroon). Based on evidence from simple sentences, we propose that this type of downstep is indicative of recursive prosodic phrasing. In particular, we propose that a down- step occurs between the phonological phrases that are immediately dominated by a maximal phonological phrase (휙max). 1 Introduction In their book on the relation between tone and intonation in African languages, Downing & Rialland (2016) describe the study of downtrends as almost being a field in itself in the field of prosody. In line with the considerable literature on the topic, they offer the following decomposition of downtrends: 1. Declination 2. Downdrift (or ‘automatic downstep’) 3. Downstep (or ‘non-automatic downstep’) 4. Final lowering 5. Register compression/expansion or register lowering/raising Fatima Hamlaoui & Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso. 2019. Downstep and recursive phonological phrases in Bàsàá (Bantu A43). In Emily Clem, Peter Jenks & Hannah Sande (eds.), Theory and description in African Linguistics: Selected papers from the47th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, 155–175. Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.3367136 Fatima Hamlaoui & Emmanuel-Moselly Makasso In the present paper, which concentrates on Bàsàá, a Narrow Bantu language (A43 in Guthrie’s classification) spoken in the Centre and Littoral regions of Cameroon by approx. 300,000 speakers (Lewis et al. 2015), we will first briefly define and discuss declination and downdrift, as the language displays bothphe- nomena.
    [Show full text]
  • Pitch Contour Stylization by Marking Voice Intonation
    (IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 3, 2021 Pitch Contour Stylization by Marking Voice Intonation Sakshi Pandey1, Amit Banerjee2, Subramaniam Khedika3 Computer Science Department South Asian University New Delhi, India Abstract—The stylization of pitch contour is a primary task [10], parabolic [11], and B-splines [12]. In addition, low-pass in the speech prosody for the development of a linguistic model. filtering is also used for preserving the slow time variations The stylization of pitch contour is performed either by statistical in the pitch contours [6]. Recently, researchers have studied learning or statistical analysis. The recent statistical learning the statistical learning models, using hierarchically structured models require a large amount of data for training purposes deep neural networks for modeling the F0 trajectories [13] and and rely on complex machine learning algorithms. Whereas, the sparse coding algorithm based on deep learning auto-encoders statistical analysis methods perform stylization based on the shape of the contour and require further processing to capture the voice [14]. In general, the statistical learning models require a intonations of the speaker. The objective of this paper is to devise large amount of data and uses complex machine learning a low-complexity transcription algorithm for the stylization of algorithms for training purposes [13], [14]. On the other hand, pitch contour based on the voice intonation of a speaker. For the statistical analysis models decompose the pitch contours this, we propose to use of pitch marks as a subset of points as a set of functions based on the shape and structure of for the stylization of the pitch contour.
    [Show full text]
  • 5 Phonology Florian Lionnet and Larry M
    5 Phonology Florian Lionnet and Larry M. Hyman 5.1. Introduction The historical relation between African and general phonology has been a mutu- ally beneficial one: the languages of the African continent provide some of the most interesting and, at times, unusual phonological phenomena, which have con- tributed to the development of phonology in quite central ways. This has been made possible by the careful descriptive work that has been done on African lan- guages, by linguists and non-linguists, and by Africanists and non-Africanists who have peeked in from time to time. Except for the click consonants of the Khoisan languages (which spill over onto some neighboring Bantu languages that have “borrowed” them), the phonological phenomena found in African languages are usually duplicated elsewhere on the globe, though not always in as concen- trated a fashion. The vast majority of African languages are tonal, and many also have vowel harmony (especially vowel height harmony and advanced tongue root [ATR] harmony). Not surprisingly, then, African languages have figured dispro- portionately in theoretical treatments of these two phenomena. On the other hand, if there is a phonological property where African languages are underrepresented, it would have to be stress systems – which rarely, if ever, achieve the complexity found in other (mostly non-tonal) languages. However, it should be noted that the languages of Africa have contributed significantly to virtually every other aspect of general phonology, and that the various developments of phonological theory have in turn often greatly contributed to a better understanding of the phonologies of African languages. Given the considerable diversity of the properties found in different parts of the continent, as well as in different genetic groups or areas, it will not be possible to provide a complete account of the phonological phenomena typically found in African languages, overviews of which are available in such works as Creissels (1994) and Clements (2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Hill Tribes Phrasebook & Dictionary 4 Preview
    CONTENTS INTRODUCTION........................................................ 7 Hill Tribes of SE Asia Map .......8 Vietnam & Laos .......................10 Local Names of the Five Myanmar (Burma) ................. 10 Largest Groups ...................9 Thailand .................................... 10 China .............................................9 The Languages .......................14 LAHU ...................................................................... 17 Culture, Subgroups Sounds....................................... 21 & Locations ........................17 The Language .........................24 Lahu Language Map ............ 18 Words & Phrases .................... 26 AKHA ...................................................................... 41 Culture, Subgroups Sounds....................................... 50 & Locations ........................41 The Language .........................52 Akha Language Map ............ 42 Words & Phrases .................... 55 LISU ........................................................................ 75 Culture & Locations .............. 75 The Language .........................81 Lisu Language Map .............. 76 Words & Phrases .................... 84 Sounds....................................... 79 MONG ..................................................................... 99 Culture, Subgroups Sounds.....................................104 & Locations ........................99 The Language .......................108 Mong Language Map.........100 Words & Phrases ..................111
    [Show full text]
  • Vocal Expression in Recorded Performances of Schubert Songs
    Musicae Scientiae © 2007 by ESCOM European Society Fall 2007, Vol XI, n° 2, 000-000 for the Cognitive Sciences of Music Vocal expression in recorded performances of Schubert songs RENEE TIMMERS Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information University of Nijmegen •ABSTRACT This exploratory study focuses on the relationship between vocal expression, musical structure, and emotion in recorded performances by famous singers of three Schubert songs. Measurement of variations in tempo, dynamics, and pitch showed highly systematic relationships with the music’s structural and emotional characteristics, particularly as regards emotional activity and valence. Relationships with emotional activity were consistent across both singers and musical pieces, while relationships with emotional valence were piece-specific. Clear changes in performing style over the twentieth century were observed, including diminishing rubato, an increase followed by a decrease of the use of pitch glides, and a widening and slowing of vibrato. These systematic changes over time concern only the style of performance, not the strategies deployed to express the structural and emotional aspects of the music. 1. INTRODUCTION Recordings form a rich source of information about musical performances from the past, and are especially indispensable as a source for histories of performing style (e.g., Philip, 1992; Day, 2000; Fabian, 2003). These investigations have highlighted changes in performance characteristics such as tempo, rubato, or the use of vibrato and glissandi in singing and string performances. For example, a change in attitude towards rubato was observed in the first half of the twentieth century (Philip, 1992; Hudson, 1994; Brown, 1999): tempo fluctuations in recorded performances show a trend related to this change in attitude from frequent tempo changes to smaller and gradual tempo modifications.
    [Show full text]
  • The Production of Lexical Tone in Croatian
    The production of lexical tone in Croatian Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie im Fachbereich Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität zu Frankfurt am Main vorgelegt von Jevgenij Zintchenko Jurlina aus Kiew 2018 (Einreichungsjahr) 2019 (Erscheinungsjahr) 1. Gutacher: Prof. Dr. Henning Reetz 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Sven Grawunder Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 01.11.2018 ABSTRACT Jevgenij Zintchenko Jurlina: The production of lexical tone in Croatian (Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Henning Reetz and Prof. Dr. Sven Grawunder) This dissertation is an investigation of pitch accent, or lexical tone, in standard Croatian. The first chapter presents an in-depth overview of the history of the Croatian language, its relationship to Serbo-Croatian, its dialect groups and pronunciation variants, and general phonology. The second chapter explains the difference between various types of prosodic prominence and describes systems of pitch accent in various languages from different parts of the world: Yucatec Maya, Lithuanian and Limburgian. Following is a detailed account of the history of tone in Serbo-Croatian and Croatian, the specifics of its tonal system, intonational phonology and finally, a review of the most prominent phonetic investigations of tone in that language. The focal point of this dissertation is a production experiment, in which ten native speakers of Croatian from the region of Slavonia were recorded. The material recorded included a diverse selection of monosyllabic, bisyllabic, trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic words, containing all four accents of standard Croatian: short falling, long falling, short rising and long rising. Each target word was spoken in initial, medial and final positions of natural Croatian sentences.
    [Show full text]
  • Part 1: Introduction to The
    PREVIEW OF THE IPA HANDBOOK Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet PARTI Introduction to the IPA 1. What is the International Phonetic Alphabet? The aim of the International Phonetic Association is to promote the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. For both these it is necessary to have a consistent way of representing the sounds of language in written form. From its foundation in 1886 the Association has been concerned to develop a system of notation which would be convenient to use, but comprehensive enough to cope with the wide variety of sounds found in the languages of the world; and to encourage the use of thjs notation as widely as possible among those concerned with language. The system is generally known as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Both the Association and its Alphabet are widely referred to by the abbreviation IPA, but here 'IPA' will be used only for the Alphabet. The IPA is based on the Roman alphabet, which has the advantage of being widely familiar, but also includes letters and additional symbols from a variety of other sources. These additions are necessary because the variety of sounds in languages is much greater than the number of letters in the Roman alphabet. The use of sequences of phonetic symbols to represent speech is known as transcription. The IPA can be used for many different purposes. For instance, it can be used as a way to show pronunciation in a dictionary, to record a language in linguistic fieldwork, to form the basis of a writing system for a language, or to annotate acoustic and other displays in the analysis of speech.
    [Show full text]
  • The Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages
    submitted for The Oxford Guide to the Bantu Languages Bantu languages: Typology and variation Denis Creissels (3rd draft, August 12 2019) 1. Introduction With over 400 languages, the Bantu family provides an excellent empirical base for typological and comparative studies, and is particularly well suited to the study of microvariation (cf. Bloom & Petzell (this volume), Marlo (this volume)). This chapter provides an overview of the broad typological profile of Bantu languages, and of the major patterns and parameters of variation within the family. Inheritance from Proto-Bantu and uninterrupted contact between Bantu languages are certainly responsible for their relative typological homogeneity. It is however remarkable that the departures from the basic phonological and morphosyntactic structure inherited from Proto-Bantu are not equally distributed across the Bantu area. They are typically found in zone A, and to a lesser degree in (part of) zones B to D, resulting in a relatively high degree of typological diversity in this part of the Bantu area (often referred to as ‘Forest Bantu’), as opposed to the relative uniformity observed elsewhere (‘Savanna Bantu’). Typologically, Forest Bantu can be roughly characterized as intermediate between Savanna Bantu and the languages grouped with Narrow Bantu into the Southern Bantoid branch of Benue-Congo. Kiessling (this volume) provides an introduction to the West Ring languages of the Grassfields Bantu group, the closest relative of Narrow Bantu. Departures from the predominant typological profile
    [Show full text]
  • Aree Di Transizione Linguistiche E Culturali in Africa 3 Impaginazione Gabriella Clabot
    ATrA Aree di transizione linguistiche e culturali in Africa 3 Impaginazione Gabriella Clabot © copyright Edizioni Università di Trieste, Trieste 2017. Proprietà letteraria riservata. I diritti di traduzione, memorizzazione elettronica, di riproduzione e di adattamento totale e parziale di questa pubblicazione, con qualsiasi mezzo (compresi i microfilm, le fotocopie e altro) sono riservati per tutti i paesi. ISBN 978-88-8303-821-1 (print) ISBN 978-88-8303-822-8 (online) EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste via Weiss 21 – 34128 Trieste http://eut.units.it https://www.facebook.com/EUTEdizioniUniversitaTrieste Cultural and Linguistic Transition explored Proceedings of the ATrA closing workshop Trieste, May 25-26, 2016 Ilaria Micheli (ed.) EUT EDIZIONI UNIVERSITÀ DI TRIESTE Table of contents Ilaria Micheli Shereen El Kabbani & Essam VII Introduction Elsaeed 46 The Documentation of the Pilgrimage Arts in Upper Egypt – A comparative PART I – ANTHROPOLOGY / Study between Ancient and Islamic Egypt CULTURE STUDIES Signe Lise Howell PART II – ARCHAEOLOGY 2 Cause: a category of the human mind? Some social consequences of Chewong Paul J. Lane (Malaysian rainforest hunter-gatherers) 60 People, Pots, Words and Genes: ontological understanding Multiple sources and recon-structions of the transition to food production Ilaria Micheli in eastern Africa 13 Women's lives: childhood, adolescence, marriage and motherhood among Ilaria Incordino the Ogiek of Mariashoni (Kenya) and 78 The analysis of determinatives the Kulango of Nassian (Ivory Coast) of Egyptian
    [Show full text]