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Information to Users INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these wili be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE PROSODIC STRUCTURE OF LATVIAN A. Krisjanis Karips A DISSERTATION in Linguistics Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1996 Dr. Mar)sTdl5erman, Dissertation supervisor Dr. Donald Ringe, Graduate Cha Dr. Eugene Buckley, Committee member Dr. Donald Ringe, Committee member Ll Dr. William Labov' Committee member Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9627943 Copyright 1996 by Karins, A. Krisjanis All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9627943 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COPYRIGHT ARTURS KRISJANIS KARIMS 1996 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To a free and independent Latvia iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments I am greatly indebted to the Department of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania for providing a stimulating environment in which to pursue linguistic investigation. I have benefited greatly from both my professors and fellow students, whose help, friendship, and advice have made this work possible. I would first like to thank my dissertation advisor Mark Liberman for his encouragement, suggestions, and constant support which has been unfailing since the first introductory phonetics course that I took with him. His inspiration can be found throughout this dissertation. I am especially grateful to Eugene Buckley for helping me to grow as a phonologist, and for the wonderful feedback and discussion about the phonological analyses in this dissertation. It was during a tutorial with Donald Ringe that I first came upon the topic of this dissertation. His unbounded enthusiasm and support encouraged me to proceed with the topic into ever-greater depth. For this I am very grateful. William Labov has also greatly inspired me as a linguist, and has helped me to realize many of the broader questions of linguistics which often do not receive enough attention. For his support and encouragement throughout my years at Penn I am also very grateful. During the course of my graduate education, I have at various times found wonderful support and advice from many people besides my committee members. Among them, I would especially like to thank Laura Downing, Richard Janda, Nicola Bessell and John Fought for helping me to better understand phonological theory, Anthony Kroch for helping me to better understand linguistic reasoning, and Gillian Sankoff for her warm support and encouragement during the formative first few years of graduate school. I would also like to thank my close friends at Penn Charles Boberg, iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Naomi Nagy, and Stephanie Strassel for both academic and moral support, and especially their wonderful friendship over the past years. While in Latvia during the 1994/1995 academic year, I acquired invaluable information concerning research conducted on Latvian within the framework of Latvian philology. While in Riga, I benefited greatly from the support, conversations, advice, and friendship from many persons, some of whom I list here: Laimuta Balode, Maija Baltipa, Kersti Boiko, Ojars Buss, Juris Grigorjevs, Janis Kuslps, Dace Markus, Dzintra Paegle, Marta Rudzite, Andrejs Spektors, Anna Stafecka, Agris Timuska, Janis Valdmanis, as well as the people working in room 911 of the Latvian Language Institute, the numerous people who aided me in finding people to interview, as well as the wonderful patience and cooperation of the people that I interviewed. Finally, I would like to thank my entire family for their wonderful and patient support and understanding throughout the years of my academic education. Without them, I could not have even begun. MTjs, ml]s paidies visiem. Research for this dissertation was supported in part by a grant from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the United States Information Agency, and the US Department of State, which administers the Russian, Eurasian, and East European Research Program (Title VIII). v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE PROSODIC STRUCTURE OF LATVIAN A. KRISJANIS KARIMS MARK LIBERMAN This dissertation investigates the rhythmic and melodic structure of standard Latvian, which has a system of syllable intonations independent of the metrical structure of the language. Latvian can thus be classified as a semi-tonal language which is between a pitch-accent language and a purely tonal language. The investigation of the prosodic structure is based upon empirical data gathered and analyzed using techniques of experimental phonetics, and builds upon earlier linguistic work on Latvian conducted primarily within the tradition of Latvian philology. The analysis of the data is conducted within the generative frameworks of Optimality Theory and autosegmental phonology. The phonology of Latvian distinguishes “long” syllables from “heavy” ones. Whereas metrically long syllables can influence the duration of voiceless obstruents, only metrically heavy syllables can be associated with lexical tones. This division of syllable types justifies a two-layer moraic analysis of the language. The metrical structure of the language ideally builds two feet or one colon per word, with the addition that the main word stress is associated with a H tone. Of the three syllable intonations-level, falling, and broken-only the falling and broken are lexically specified for tone. The level intonation is lexically unspecified, and its tonal contour is dependent upon the presence or absence of a stress-induced H tone. Thus, although the metrical and tonal systems are independent in the language (every heavy syllable has a syllable intonation regardless of stress), they nevertheless interact insofar as the metrical H tone influences the tonal contours of all three syllable intonations. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents 1 Introduction. ..............................................................................................................................1 1.1 Methodology.................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 Theoretical framework.......................................................................................2 1.1.2 Experimental procedure ......................................................................................3 1.2 Outline of the dissertation .................................................................................... 4 2 Language Background.......................................................................................................... 7 2.1 General structural description ........................................................................................7 2.1.1 Phonological inventory of Latvian ....................................................................7 2.1.2 Segmental quantity.............................................................................................10 2.1.3 Syllabic structure. ...............................................................................................11 2.1.4 Word stress .........................................................................................................13
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