An Instrumental Analysis of Vowels in Malacca Portuguese Creole
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AN INSTRUMENTAL ANALYSIS OF VOWELS IN MALACCA PORTUGUESE CREOLE CHAN MIN EN FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR 2014 AN INSTRUMENTAL ANALYSIS OF VOWELS IN MALACCA PORTUGUESE CREOLE CHAN MIN EN DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LINGUISTICS FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR 2014 ii ABSTRACT This paper examines the vowel system of present day Malacca Portuguese Creole (MPC) which is in danger of extinction. The research questions that the study addresses are: (1) What are the characteristics of monophthong vowels in MPC based on their acoustic properties?; (2) To what extent are the MPC monophthong vowels found in this study similar to those described in the literature?; (3) How do the MPC monophthong vowels compare to similar vowels in Malay, Malaysian English and European Portuguese? Conversational data were collected from five female speakers, henceforth known as language consultants (LC), who are native speakers of MPC, and who have spent the majority of their lives in the Portuguese Settlement in Malacca. Vowels were extracted from the recordings as long as they did not have neighbouring nasals and approximants which may have affected the quality of targeted vowels. A total of 1083 monophthongs were extracted for analysis. The first (F1) and second formants (F2) and the duration of the vowels were measured using Praat version 5.2.04. Measurements were carried out using linear-prediction-based formant tracks overlaid on spectrograms of the targeted vowels. F1 and F2 values were measured at the mid-point of the vowels. The results suggest that there are six MPC monophthongs compared to the eight proposed previously, with a notable absence of /o/ and /ɛ/. Considerable variation was found within and between LCs in the way each of the vowels was produced. There were also noticeable overlaps between /i/ and /e/ suggesting that they were being used interchangeably by the LCs. The quality of some of the vowels found in this study was also found to be different from those previously described. In relation to Malay, Malaysian English and European Portuguese, MPC vowels were generally found to be closer to Malay in terms of vowel quality and inventory. The reduced vowel inventory of MPC compared to European Portuguese, albeit the current day variety, iv reflects its status as a Creole. Based on the reduced vowel inventory, the variation in the way that vowels are produced, the overlaps between vowels and the possible influence from other local languages, the findings point towards the possible phonological instability of this endangered language. Further, they mirror the changes found in terms of vocabulary loss and substitution in MPC found by other researchers. Keywords: Malacca Portuguese Creole, Kristang, phonetics, instrumental analysis, vowels, monophthongs. v ABSTRAK Disertasi ini mengkaji sistem vokal dalam Creole Portugis Melaka (MPC) yang hampir mengalami kepupusan bahasa. Soalan-soalan penyelidikan yang dikaji adalah: (1) Apakah ciri-ciri vokal monoftong dalam MPC berdasarkan sifat-sifat akustik?; (2) Sejauhmanakah vokal monoftong MPC dalam kajian ini memaparkan unsur-unsur yang sama seperti dinyatakan dalam babak kesusteraan terdahulu?; (3) Bagaimanakah vokal monoftong MPC berbanding dengan vokal yang sama terdapat dalam Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Inggeris dan Portugis Eropah Malaysia? Data Perbualan dikumpul dari perbualan lima orang wanita, yang selepas ini dikenali sebagai perunding bahasa (LC), yang merupakan penutur asli MPC dan yang telah menetap di Kampung Portugis di Melaka sepanjang majoriti kehidupan mereka. Data vokal dipetik daripada rakaman selagi kualitinya tidak dijejas oleh bunyi nasal dan approximants bersebelahan vokal tersebut. Sebanyak 1083 monoftong dipetik untuk tujuan analisis. Formant pertama (F1) dan kedua (F2) dan tempoh monoftong diukur dengan menggunakan program Praat versi 5.2.04. Pengukuran dilakukan dengan menggunakan trek formant berasaskan ramalan linear yang dipaparkan pada spectrogram. Pengukuran F1 dan F2 adalah pada titik pertengahan vokal monoftong. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa terdapat enam monoftong MPC berbanding lapan yang dicadangkan sebelum ini. Penemuan menarik menunjukkan ketidakwujudan /o/ dan /ɛ/ vokal MPC. Penemuan ini bertentangan dengan keputusan pengajian sebelum ini. Terdapat perbezaan variasi dari cara penghasilan monoftong vokal bagi setiap LC and di antara mereka. Terdapat juga pertindihan ketara antara /i/ dan /e/ mencadangkan bahawa kedua-dua vokal monoftong digunakan secara berganti-ganti oleh LC. Kualiti beberapa vokal dalam kajian ini juga didapati bersifat berbeza daripada hasil kajian terdahulu. Dalam perbandingan antara Melayu , Bahasa Inggeris Malaysia, dan Portugis Eropah, vokal MPC pada umumnya vi didapati kualiti vokalnya dan inventori vokalnya lebih mirip dengan Melayu. Pengecilan saiz inventori vokal MPC berbanding Bahasa Portugis Eropah kini mencerminkan salah satu ciri-ciri pengenalpastian MPC sebagai Creole berasas-Portugis. Berdasarkan saiz inventori vokal yang semakin berkurangan, perubahan dalam cara penghasilan vokal, pertindihan antara vokal-vokal dan pengaruh dari bahasa tempatan lain, ketidakstabilan fonologi MPC turut mencerminkan kemungkinan ancaman bahasa yang dihadapi bahasa ini. Tambahan lagi, kehilangan dan penggantian maksud perbendaharaan perkataan MPC juga digambarkan sama seperti yang dinyatakan dalan hasil kajian penyelidik lain. Kata kunci: Creole Melaka Portugis, Kristang, fonetik, analisis berperalatan, vokal, monoftong. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my academic advisor Associate Professor Dr. Stefanie Shamila Pillai for her guidance and valuable advice provided during my Masters studies at the University of Malaya. I would not be able to accomplish this journey without her encouragement throughout the journey. Also, I would like to present my appreciation to my first Portuguese lecturer Ms Maria Cristiana Casimiro. It was she who provided different perspectives towards foreign language learning and also assisted by opening countless passages in my life since my first encounter of Portuguese language in the University. She has been more than a language teacher to me. I am grateful for having supportive parents who have been always open-minded on all the academically related decisions I have made thus far. I am greatly indebted to the way they have inspired me in life. Lastly, I wish to thank all other researchers, whose names were not mentioned here, and the residents of Portuguese Settlement who have participated or indirectly assisted in this research. I wish to especially remember the late Carrieanne de Costa for her support throughout my study. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 The Portuguese Descendants in Malaysia 2 1.3 MPC as a Creole 4 1.4 Statement of Problem 7 1.5 Objectives of Study 8 1.6 Research Questions 8 1.7 Significance of Study 9 1.8 Thesis Organization 9 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Introduction 10 2.2 MPC as a Creole 10 2.3 Malacca Portuguese Creole and its Endangerment 12 2.4 Previous Studies on Malacca Portuguese Creole 13 2.5 MPC Creole Sounds 13 ix 2.6 Influences of other Languages on MPC 19 2.6.1 Malay 19 2.6.2 Malaysian English 21 2.6.3 European Portuguese 23 2.7 Characteristics of other Portuguese Creoles 27 2.7.1 The Creoles of Cabo Verde 27 2.7.2 Bidau, Timor Leste Portuguese Croele vowels 28 2.7.3 Macau Maquista Creole 29 2.8 Formant Frequency of Vowels 30 2.9 Euclidean Distance 32 2.10 MPC Orthography 33 2.11 Conclusion 34 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 36 3.1 Introduction 36 3.2 Language Consultant 36 3.3 Data Collection Procedure 42 3.3.1 Speaking Context 43 x 3.3.2 Instrumentation 45 3.4 Data Transcription and Selection 45 3.5 Measurements and Analysis 46 3.6 Statistical Analysis 50 3.7 Conclusion 51 4.0 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 52 4.1 Introduction 52 4.2 MPC Monophthongs 52 4.2.1 MPC /i/ 55 4.2.2 MPC /e/ 60 4.2.3 MPC /ə/ 70 4.2.4 MPC /u/ 75 4.2.5 MPC /ɔ/ 80 4.2.6 MPC /a/ 87 4.3 MPC Vowel Duration 92 4.4 Free Variation between /i/, /e/, /ɔ/ and /u/ 98 4.5 Comparison of MPC to Malay, Malaysian English and 102 European Portuguese Monophthongs xi 4.6 Summary 106 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 Introduction 107 5.2 Summary of Salient Findings 107 5.2.1 Research Question 1 107 5.2.2 Research Question 2 108 5.2.3 Research Question 3 109 5.3 Limitations 110 5.4 Future Directions 110 5.5 Conclusion 111 LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF EQUATIONS LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A 118 Interview Questions xii APPENDIX B1 119 MPC /i/ APPENDIX B2 122 MPC /e/ APPENDIX B3 128 MPC /ə/ APPENDIX B4 130 MPC /u/ APPENDIX B5 134 MPC /ɔ/ APPENDIX B6 138 MPC /a/ APPENDIX C1 154 CV and CCV Syllables /i/ Vowels produced by LC5 APPENDIX C2 156 CV and CVC Syllables /e/ Vowels produced by LC5 APPENDIX C3 158 MPC /e/ before /t/, /s/ and /z/ Environment xiii APPENDIX C4 159 seti and azeti for /e/ Vowels APPENDIX C5 160 MPC /e/ based on Vowel Height of following Vowels APPENDIX C6 162 CV and CVC Syllables /ə/ Vowels APPENDIX C7 165 CV and CVC Syllables /u/ Vowels APPENDIX C8 169 MPC /ɔ/ before /t/ and /d/ Environment APPENDIX C9 173 MPC /ɔ/ based on Vowel Height of following Vowels APPENDIX C10 175 CV and CVC Syllables /a/ Vowels LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 MPC Vowel 14 Figure 2.2 Malay Monophthongs 20 xiv Figure 2.3 Malaysian English Vowel Chart 23 Figure 2.4 Europen Portuguese Vowels 26 Figure 2.5 F1 and F2 values of