City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2018 Phonetic Properties of Oral Stops in Three Languages with No Voicing Distinction Stephanie M. Kakadelis The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2871 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] PHONETIC PROPERTIES OF ORAL STOPS IN THREE LANGUAGES WITH NO VOICING DISTINCTION by STEPHANIE MARIE KAKADELIS A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2018 © 2018 STEPHANIE MARIE KAKADELIS All Rights Reserved ii Phonetic Properties of Oral Stops in Three Languages with No Voicing Distinction by Stephanie Marie Kakadelis This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Juliette Blevins Chair of Examining Committee Date Gita Martohardjono Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Douglas H. Whalen Jason Bishop Claire Bowern (Yale University) THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Phonetic Properties of Oral Stops in Three Languages with No Voicing Distinction by Stephanie Marie Kakadelis Advisor: Juliette Blevins Almost all studies on the phonetics of oral stop voicing patterns focus on languages with a voicing distinction. This gives rise to some debate regarding which aspects of voicing patterns arise from inherent articulatory effects related to the production of a voicing distinction, and which aspects are intentional adjustments by speakers meant to enhance a phonological contrast. This study investigates the phonetic properties of oral stops in three No Voicing Distinction (NVD) languages; Bardi (bcj), Arapaho (arp), and Sierra Norte de Puebla Nahuatl (azz). NVD languages do not utilize the larynx to maintain a contrast between any two sounds in their phoneme inventory. NVD languages do not use the larynx to produce any contrasts, and therefore present an opportunity to determine whether laryngeal defaults will emerge in this situation. Although NVD languages do not have a voicing distinction, there are a number of commonly accepted acoustic correlates of laryngeal properties that are based on observations from languages with a voicing distinction. The acoustic properties of NVD languages can be compared with patterns seen in languages with laryngeal contrasts as well as compared across the three languages to determine what phonetic patterns are shared across NVD languages. Acoustic correlates of voicing distinctions were measured from labial, coronal, and velar oral stops in four phonological contexts: phrase-initial, intervocalic, post-nasal, and phrase- final. Five acoustic properties commonly associated with voicing distinctions were measured: iv total oral stop duration, rate of lenition, phonated and silent closure duration, voice onset time (VOT), and preceding vowel duration. Overall, the findings from this dissertation serve to bridge the gap between phonetic science and phonological approaches to laryngeal properties. Results add to the discussions which relate to universal defaults, underspecification, and markedness principles in phonological systems. The results from this study suggest that while there are general phonetic processes which pose constraints on laryngeal properties in NVD languages, each of the three languages differed with regard to the implementation of these constraints. These results challenge universalist and markedness proposals which predict more uniformity when there is a lack of a contrast. Alternative approaches to explaining laryngeal properties which can account for more language-specific variation are better suited to explaining the results found in this study. Each of the three languages studied in this project are endangered, under threat, and under-documented. Thus, a secondary aim of this dissertation is to highlight the contribution that endangered and under-documented languages can make to linguistic theory by expanding our understanding of the full range of human language structures. v Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the many people who have contributed to this long journey and have helped me get to where I now stand. My family, for valuing my education and for never questioning my decision to go to graduate school. My father, who came to the United States to advance his own education and passed on his love of learning to me. My mother, whose creative spirit and eccentricity inspired me to develop my own voice and cultivate my own creativity. For my sister, whose tough truths, pep talks, and tarot readings provided lots of food for thought and truthful self-reflection. And to my brother, for sharing his love of geek culture and all the hours spent together in front of a computer in my childhood which fostered the necessary skills to undertake this kind of project. First, I would like to thank my committee members for all the hours of meetings, discussions, planning, and comments through the dissertation writing process. Without their guidance and support this project could not have even lifted off the ground. Juliette Blevins, my mentor, has been a guiding force through this endeavor and whose advice and thorough commentary has made this project a success. This project was developed through our many discussions together in your office. Thank you for your inspiration, enthusiasm, and commitment to my education as a scholar. I could not have completed such an ambitious endeavor without the many hours you have dedicated to my progress. I have learned many things and am a better scholar because of your continued support. Doug H. Whalen has deepened my love and understanding of laboratory phonetics. Thank you for searching for suitable data for this project, without which there would be nothing to analyze, and for the support and encouragement to present my findings at conferences. Jason Bishop, your advice has guided many of my decisions through my time at the Graduate Center. Thank you for seeing me through to the end. Claire Bowern, thank you for your generosity, kindness, and positive encouragement. I am extremely grateful for your vi insights and for allowing me to use the Bardi corpus for this study. Victoria Anderson, who was the first to introduce me to the methods of laboratory phonology and made learning about phonetic analysis and Praat scripting so much fun. Your classes inspired me to keep working on the phonetics of underdocumented and endangered languages. A special thank you as well to Martin Chodorow, who graciously spent several hours in his office helping me wrangle my data and find the best ways to analyze in using R. I would also like to thank Jonathan Amith for permission to use his SNP Nahuatl recording, and for agreeing to meet with me and talk with me when I had any questions. Finally, thank you to Lisa Conathan and the Haskins Library for the use of the Arapaho corpus. Phil, my deepest love and appreciation goes to you. Your unconditional love and support is my bedrock. You have been there for me and helped me overcome some of my most difficult hurdles. I cannot imagine my life without you in it, I love you. Akiemi, how could I possibly have made it through these years without your wit, humor, wisdom, strength, and company. Your friendship has meant so much to me, and I have learned and grown as a person by knowing you. Mina, thank you for sharing your laughter, quirkiness, and kind spirit with me. You always helped keep one foot grounded in reality and reminded me to make time to relax, recover, and have fun in between all the hard work. To my writing group, Vilena and Kevin, thank you for lending your ear and creating a space where we could share our experiences and learn from one another. Thank you for all the hours reading over my poor first drafts and helping me formulate my thoughts. Thank you to my colleagues, friends, and companions through graduate school, who met me for coffee, dinner, talks, and have enriched both my scholarship and personal life. Christen and Kate, for all the time we spent together laughing, learning, and having fun. Christen, thank you for the statistics bootcamps. Thank you especially to Kate and Syelle, who painstakingly read through my drafts to find typos and structural inconsistencies. And to Dolly Goldberg, who introduced me to using forced-aligners at Haskins Laboratories. vii Vikas, your kindness and periodic check ins were a source of stability for me and helped me carry on in those times when I felt the most defeated. Michela, Mary, Robyn, Katherine, and Birte, thank you for your friendship, I am blessed to have met you and have you in my life. And finally, to Eòghann, Kerri-Ann, and Kelsey, my dearest, oldest friends. Thank you for your love and for seeing me through this long journey. We have all been through a lot of changes together, and I am excited to see what is in store for us in the future. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the Graduate Center Dissertation Fellowship committee who found this project worthy of a fellowship award which allowed me to take a year to focus solely on completing the dissertation.