Phonological features in infancy

Author(s):  
Alejandrina Cristià ◽  
Amanda Seidl ◽  
Alexander L. Francis
2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Babel

Abstract This article describes the use of aspirates and ejectives in a variety of Spanish with significant Quechua contact influence that is spoken in the Santa Cruz valleys of central Bolivia. Aspirates and ejectives occur primarily on Quechua loanwords, making these ‘intermediate phonological relationships’ (Hall 2013) that are hard to categorize with respect to their status as phonetic vs. phonological features. Results from a small-scale perception and shadowing task show that language users are able to distinguish between these sounds and canonical Spanish consonants in minimal pairs, but that there is variation among speakers in the way these sounds are reproduced. While the use of aspirates and glottal stops in Spanish in contact with Mayan languages has been documented (Michnowicz 2015; Michnowicz and Kagan 2016) previous studies of Andean Spanish phonology have not reported the use of aspirates and ejectives as part of the sound system (Boynton 1981; Cassano 1974; Pyle 1981).


2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
INKIE CHUNG

This paper provides a Distributed Morphology analysis of the paradoxical interaction of the two cases of verbal suppletion in Korean, and argues that the two suppletion types are characterized by two different types of morphological operations. The two roots found with short-form negation and honorification suggest different morphological structures: [[Neg-V] Hon] for al- ‘know’, molu- ‘not.know’, a-si- ‘know-hon’, molu-si- (not *an(i) a-si-) ‘neg know-hon’; and [Neg [V-Hon]] for iss- ‘exist’, eps- ‘not.exist’, kyey-si- ‘exist-hon’, an(i) kyey-si- (not *eps-(u)-si-) ‘neg exist-hon’. Predicate repetition constructions support the [[Neg-V] Hon] structure. In this structure, however, the negative suppletion (analyzed as fusion of negation and the root) is blocked by the honorific suffix structurally more peripheral to the root. C-command is the only requirement for context allomorphy in Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993). Since the [+hon] feature c-commands the root, the root can show honorific suppletive allomorphy in the first cycle with negation intervening between the root and [+hon]. Negation fusion occurs in the second cycle after vocabulary insertion of the root. Fusion, then, should refer to vocabulary items, not abstract features, and will be interleaved with vocabulary insertion. If the output of the root is /kyey/ due to the honorific feature, negative suppletion will not apply and the correct form an(i) kyey-si- will be derived. Therefore, both of the distinct morphological operations for suppletion, i.e., fusion and contextual allomorphy, are necessary. The revised formulation of fusion shows that certain morphological operations follow vocabulary insertion. This derivational approach to the suppletion interaction provides support for separation of phonological and nonphonological features and for late insertion of phonological features.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-171
Author(s):  
Min Wang

Abstract This study examines the ability to identify different Chinese dialects through the English language and evaluates how often respondents pay attention to phonological features and rate of speech to explain their categorizations. The research includes 100 Chinese undergraduate students and 100 young people without advanced degrees aged 20 to 25. Discrete independent data samples collected during the interview of participants are analyzed with the help of such statistical methods as Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Wilcoxon's test. The obtained results indirectly show the ability of respondents to identify native and non-native English speakers around the world, as well as determine their nationality. The outcomes of the paper explicate who, in general, categorize Chinese dialects better and which dialects are the most recognizable. Research data reveal a high degree of stereotypization of various dialects, especially the Beijing and U dialects. Moreover, based on the data obtained, it can be concluded that speaking rate significantly affects the perception and classification of a speaker from a particular province of China.


Author(s):  
Milos Cernak ◽  
Elmar Noth ◽  
Frank Rudzicz ◽  
Heidi Christensen ◽  
Juan Rafael Orozco-Arroyave ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Baye Yimam

This paper examines the phonological features that characterize the Amharic variety spoken in South Wəllo, an area which has been influenced by the diffusion of linguistic and cultural features arising from longstanding contact situations between Semitic and non-Semitic linguistic groups. Data from eight districts of the zone have shown that the South Wəllo variety has 26 consonant and seven vowel phonemes. The consonants are four fewer than that reported of the standard variety. The co-occurrence restrictions of the consonants and the syllable structures are the same as those of the standard variety. However, the phonological rules that operate at morpheme internal, morpheme and word boundary levels are different in the degree of complexity and directionality. These include inter-vocalic lenition of velar stops, word-final weakening of alveo-palatals, coalescence of lowering diphthongs, centering, lowering and fronting of vowels, metathesis of coronals and anteriors, and lexeme specific alternations of homorganic consonants. The description of the facts provides more substantive arguments in favor of the long-held claim that Wəllo constitutes a distinct dialect area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Zainab Sa’aida

This article aims at investigating phonological substitution in classical Arabic. I hypothesise that consonantal and vocalic substitution is motivated by phonological features of adjacent consonantal or vocalic segments. Data of the study were collected from classical Arabic literary works in Aldiwan – encyclopaedia of Arabic poetry. Data were analysed in the framework of Chomsky and Halle’s SPE theory. Findings of the study have revealed that phonological features of consonantal or vocalic segments motivate other adjacent consonants to undergo a phonological substitution process in specific phonological contexts in classical Arabic. It has been revealed that the glide /w/ surfaces as /t/ when it is followed by /t/ or as /j/ when it occurs between two vowels, the first of which is high short /i/ and the second is low long /aː/, word-internally. The phoneme /t/ becomes /ṭ/ when it is preceded by /ṣ/, /ḍ/, /ṭ/ or /ð̣/ across a syllable, and it surfaces as /d/ when it is preceded by /d/, /z/ or /ð/ word-internally. It has been also found that the long vowels /aː, iː, uː/ replace glide phonemes in vocalic substitution processes when glides are adjacent to corresponding short vowels either word-internally or word-finally.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Junyu Ruan

Strong verbs in Middle High German (MHG) have two past indicative stems in the verb inflectional paradigm, which merged into one in Modern High German (NHG). This change is mostly assumed as paradigmatic leveling in previous studies. However, the NHG past indicative stems are inherited from different cells in the MHG paradigm across different inflectional classes, or even innovatively created by combining different parts of the MHG past indicative stems. This paper attempts to identify the base of leveling using a computational model called Minimal Generalization Learner, proposed in Albright (2002b). The results can account for the extraordinary patterns of merger found in German to some extent, but they are not perfect and even pose new problems. As a counter-proposal, I argue that the merger that appears to be paradigmatic leveling might be triggered by reanalysis of phonological features as morphological exponents.


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