AN ARTICULATORY, ACOUSTIC, AND AUDITORY STUDY OF BURMESE TONE A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics By James Frederick Gruber, M.S. Washington, D.C. June 15, 2011 © 2011 James Gruber ii AN ARTICULATORY, ACOUSTIC, AND AUDITORY STUDY OF BURMESE TONE James Frederick Gruber, M.S. Thesis Advisor: Elizabeth Zsiga, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the complex tonal contrast in the modern Burmese language. The four Burmese tones are reported to make multi-way distinctions in pitch, phonation, duration, intensity, vowel quality, and syllable structure, but the literature is frequently conflicted about the association of these qualities with each tone. Bradley (1982) has described Burmese as a register, rather than tonal, language due to the bundling of prosodic qualities headlined by contrastive phonation types. However, contrastive phonation in Burmese has eluded detection in numerous instrumental phonetic studies (Thein Tun 1982, Ladefoged et al 1988, Watkins 1997). Production and perception experiments were conducted in order to first clarify the phonetic description, and in turn build a phonological model of the contrast. Audio, electroglottographic, and aerodynamic recordings of ten native speakers were collected and analyzed for Duration, F0, and Phonation type (as measured by Open Quotient of the glottal waveform, rates of oral airflow, and spectral tilt – all measured dynamically over the syllable rhyme). The perception experiment studied the forced- choice listener identifications of stimuli re-synthesized to controlled levels of each dimension. iii Major findings include (a) the contrast in phonation type is two-way (two breathier lax tones vs. two creaky-voiced tones), (b) breathy and creaky phonation are temporally dynamic in Burmese – produced systematically only at the vowel offset, and (c) the phonation contrast is neutralized in juncture while pitch contrasts are maintained. The results indicate that a purely Tone or Register analysis of Burmese is inappropriate, in the sense that pitch contours or phonation type cannot alone serve as the basis of contrast. Instead, the present state of affairs is argued to represent an intermediate stage of tonogenesis, where multiple phonetic properties exist side-by-side to reinforce suprasegmental categories. The analysis is cast in Optimality theoretic terms, which act to highlight the phonological dilemma introduced by a seemingly redundant distribution of properties. The study has implications for the typology of Tone and Register systems, as it portrays a language in a transitional state between the two – some intrinsic pitch distinctions have been phonologized, but a concomitant voice quality distinction remains integral to the grammar. iv Acknowledgements My name alone is credited with authorship of this dissertation. Yet countless others have worked hard and contributed dearly to the efforts that have produced this work. It would not have been possible without their knowledge, guidance, and support. This dissertation would simply have not been possible without my Burmese friends in the Washington, D.C. and Seattle, WA areas. They participated out of kindness and an eagerness to share their language and culture. They accepted me into their homes, fed me, and happily worked with me through long hours of not very stimulating data collection. I owe a great thanks to each of them. In particular, I want to thank Merle and Eddie Nakhuda for their role and the many times they hosted me in their home. I am greatly indebted to the efforts of my committee members, Drs. Elizabeth Zsiga, Marc Brunelle, and Robert Podesva. Lisa Zsiga has had a profound impact on both this work and my development as a linguist. The dissertation exists because of Lisa’s encouragement to pursue and expand the topic from an initial seminar project, and later, to seek funding for the research tools. Beyond this work, Lisa has had a tremendous role in my development as a linguist and cultivating my interest in phonetics, phonology, and tone. From the day I walked into her office as a first year graduate student who thought he wanted to study syntax, she has been nothing but supportive and committed to my cause. I have benefited greatly from her knowledge and her teaching. This dissertation was greatly improved by the counsel of Marc Brunelle and Rob Podesva, and their individual expertise in voice quality research. Marc’s experience investigating similar phenomena in Southeast Asian languages was invaluable. Every discussion I had with Marc led to significant re-thinking or refinement of a claim. Rob v repeatedly drew my attention to details I had not considered, and valuably redirected me from details I was getting lost in. I never felt more confident about the next step I was taking than after meeting with Rob. I also owe thanks to Dan Loehr who, as the unofficial fourth member of my dissertation committee, worked with me on my early attempts at Burmese and continued to supervise and provide his thoughtful feedback at numerous steps along the way. I am also grateful for the advice of Maria Gouskova. I still struggle with writing, but I know that I am a better writer today because of Maria’s efforts. I am thankful for the financial support provided by the National Science Foundation, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences. The research was funded by the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, BCS 0844031. This research would have been excessively more difficult without the excellent work and the willingness to discuss this work by Justin Watkins, Alexis Michaud, David Bradley, Christian DiCanio, and Pat McCormick. Mietta Lennes, Christian DiCanio, and Cedric Gendrot all generously shared Praat scripts which were critical to tackling my data. I am similarly indebted to my friends Zhaleh Feizollahi, Michael Diercks, Justin Kelly, Rebecca Sachs, Kjell Konis, and Melissa Martz for the many hours they have spent helping me improve this work. For making my time at Georgetown fruitful in fields of study beyond phonetics and phonology, I want to thank Héctor Campos, Polyvia Parara, and Guiseppe Tosi. For their friendship, and for proving to me that I could survive life on the East Coast, I would like to particularly thank my brother Joe and his family. Kind thoughts are similarly extended to Jen Sclafani and Steve Hamilton, Carlos Balhana, Chad McHenry, Rachael Albritten, Jon Philips, Kris Concepcion, Dom Parr and many others. vi My parents and family deserve special recognition for enabling me to get to this position: Fred and Anne, Young-Wha, Joe, and my comforting canine friend Rocco. I want to express my deepest appreciation for my wife Shannon and the time and effort she has expended on my behalf during the writing of this dissertation. Every setback or trial that I endured, she also endured. With great love, Shannon, I thank you for both your patience and impatience, as both were necessary to either persevere through the long process or to occasionally light a fire. I also want to thank my son, Royal, for changing my life. I haven’t met Royal yet, but he will be born in early 2012 and I am certain he will be an amazing person. This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, Anne, who passed away in November 2008. Her life, her enthusiasm, and her curiosity continue to inspire me. vii Table of Contents List of Figures xv List of Tables xxi Chapter One • Outline of the Problem and the Data 1 0. Introduction................................................................................................1 1.1 Goal of the Dissertation ............................................................................1 1.2 Description of Burmese Phonology...........................................................3 1.2.1 Overview of the Language ...............................................................3 1.2.2 Description of Burmese Phonology: Inventory of Burmese Phonemes.......................................................................4 1.2.3 Description of Burmese Phonology: Inventory of Burmese Tonemes.........................................................................5 1.2.3.1 Overview ................................................................................5 1.2.3.2 The Low Tone [a]....................................................................6 1.2.3.3 High Tone [á]..........................................................................7 1.2.3.4 Creaky Tone [à̰] ......................................................................9 1.2.3.5 Checked Tone [àɁ] ................................................................10 1.2.3.6 Minor Syllables [ә]................................................................12 1.2.4 Description of Burmese Phonology: Syllable Codas.......................13 1.2.5 Description of Burmese Phonology: Vowel Quality .......................18 1.3 Typological Interest of the Dissertation ..................................................23 1.3.1 Burmese Dialects and the Language Background 1.3.1.1 of Study Participants...........................23 1.3.2 Tone or Register?...........................................................................26 1.3.3 Typology of Tone in Southeast Asia ..............................................28 1.3.4 The Tonogenetic Roots of Typological Tone Patterns ....................31 1.4 Outline of the Dissertation......................................................................37