AN ACOUSTIC, HISTORICAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS OF SARIKOL TAJIK DIPHTHONGS by PAMELA S. ARLUND Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON December 2006 Copyright © by Pamela S. Arlund 2006 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am thankful to all those people who have encouraged me along the way to make the time for this and to not give up. I would like to thank my Mom and Dad, Tom and Judy Arlund, first and foremost. They weren’t always sure what to do with their daughter who loved books more than playing, but they always encouraged my desire for knowledge. They may not know any Tajiks, but the Tajiks know Mom and Dad through me. Thank you to all the people in China. The students, faculty and foreign affairs staff at Xinjiang University have always been so gracious and affirming. The Tajik people themselves are so willing and eager to have their language studied. I hope this work lives up to their hopes and expectations. Thank you to Dr. Jerold Edmondson whose assistance helped me to take a whole new approach to the problem of diphthongs. There are so many people in so many far-flung places who have encouraged me. Thanks to all those at Metro in Kansas City, at Hillside in Perth, at New City in New Zealand and at Colleyville in Texas. Your love, encouragement, and support have kept me going on this project. November 9, 2006 iii ABSTRACT AN ACOUSTIC, HISTORICAL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS OF SARIKOL TAJIK DIPHTHONGS Publication No. ______ Pamela S. Arlund, PhD. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2006 Supervising Professor: Jerold A. Edmondson Sarikol Tajik has been reported to be an unusual language, containing up to twelve diphthongs and being the only language in the Gorno-Badakhshan family to not contain a short and long vowel distinction among monophthongs. However, the basis of such claims is not clear and could be accounted for by any of several factors. For example, different researchers have utilized different definitions of diphthongs, some researchers have (perhaps unknowingly) studied different dialects at different times, while others simply failed to account for the variation that is often found in languages in change. This dissertation reevaluates these claims and the potential reasons behind such iv claims by examining field recordings from Sarikoli speakers in three locations, utilizing prototype theory, time analysis, and the nature of diphthongs. Spectrographic analysis reveals that, contrary to previous reports, Sarikoli contains both long and short vowels and three diphthongs. After examining the definition of a diphthong, this dissertation takes the approach that diphthongs can be more or less prototypical instantiations, showing that some Sarikoli long monophthongs are very diphthong like, particularly in their release pattern. Spectrographic and statistical analysis also revealed dialectal differences in the instantiations of the diphthongs across dialects, with the eastern most dialect (Burungsali) containing lower, more central vowels than the eastern most dialect (Tashkorgani). After examining the data, a prediction is made about the developmental pattern among the Pamiri mountain languages and the three dialects of Sarikoli. Implicational scales show that the Burungsal dialect of Sarikoli is the most advanced in a process of diphthongization of long monophthongs. This change is traced historically in relation to Avestan and across four current Pamiri mountain languages. All things being equal, it is predicted that all of these languages will continue in a pattern of developing diphthongs from long monophthongs. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS..................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Diphthongs............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Sarikol Tajik ............................................................................................ 3 1.3 Studies of Sarikoli.................................................................................... 5 1.4 The Pamiri Mountain Language Family.................................................. 10 1.5 Sarikoli Vowels ....................................................................................... 13 1.6 Overview of the Dissertation................................................................... 15 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 18 2.1 Introduction.............................................................................................. 18 2.2 Language Specific Studies....................................................................... 22 2.2.1 English ...................................................................................... 22 2.2.2 Maithili ..................................................................................... 33 2.2.3 Shona ........................................................................................ 34 vi 2.2.4 Hausa ........................................................................................ 35 2.2.5 Pennsylvania German ............................................................... 36 2.2.6 Austrian German....................................................................... 38 2.2.7 Italian ........................................................................................ 39 2.2.8 Spanish...................................................................................... 42 2.2.9 Estonian .................................................................................... 44 2.2.10 Dutch....................................................................................... 45 2.3 Cross-linguistic Studies ........................................................................... 49 2.4 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 53 3. ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF DIPHTHONGAL SEGMENTS ........................................ 55 3.1 The Problem............................................................................................. 55 3.2 Method..................................................................................................... 60 3.3 Results...................................................................................................... 70 3.3.1 [ ai ] ............................................................................................ 70 3.3.2 [ ui ] ............................................................................................ 75 3.3.3 [ ei ] ............................................................................................ 80 3.3.4 [ou] ........................................................................................... 91 3.3.5 [ oi ] ............................................................................................ 96 3.3.6 [ iu ] ............................................................................................ 102 3.3.7 [ Ei ] ............................................................................................ 104 3.3.8 [ Eu ]............................................................................................ 108 vii 3.4 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 112 4. ACOUSTIC AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DIALECT VARIATION ................... 120 4.1 Previous Proposals................................................................................... 120 4.2 Method of evaluation............................................................................... 123 4.3 Results...................................................................................................... 129 4.3.1 Segment [ ai ] ............................................................................. 129 4.3.2 Segment [ Ei ] ............................................................................. 142 4.3.3 Segment [ Eu ]............................................................................. 147 4.3.4 Segment [ei].............................................................................. 157 4.4 Discussion and Conclusions .................................................................... 163 5. HISTORICAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS ............................................... 168 5.1 The Problem............................................................................................. 168 5.2 An Analysis of the Pamiri Mountain languages...................................... 177 5.3 An analysis of Sarikoli dialects ............................................................... 192 5.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 200 6. THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS .......................................................................... 202 6.1 Pamiri Mountain Languages...................................................................