Syllable isochrony and the prosodic features of stop syllables in Cantonese

Cantonese is a syllable-timed language: that is, the syllable is the isochronous unit of speech. However, in Cantonese, there is a type of closed syllable with the stop codas [-p], [-t], or [-k] (i.e. syllables with the so called “entering-tones”) which sound much shorter than other syllables. On the surface, the shorter duration of stop syllables and the general prosodic feature of syllable-isochrony seem to conflict. This study conducted acoustic investigations of stop syllables in Cantonese in different contexts (i.e. in isolated form, in disyllabic words, and in disyllabic words located at the beginning, middle, and final positions of sentences). The results showed that stop syllables alone are shorter than non-stop syllables in various contexts. However, in disyllabic words or in sentences, there is a supplementary lengthening effect immediately after the stop syllables: there is more acoustic blank, and in some circumstances the initial of the following syllable is lengthened. Therefore, we propose that the phonetic realization of syllable isochrony is beyond the syllable itself in Cantonese. The results and discussions of this study may also shed light on the problem of the disappearance of “entering tones” from various Chinese dialects.

Ada Aksara di Antara Angka dan Bulatan Itu: Sakala Dihyang dan Upaya Penafsirannya

Sakala Dihyang is a kind of chronogram that considered as puzzle in the Merapi-Merbabu manuscript collection. This article purposes to discuss the issue about how to interpret this kinds, especially through the list of the numbers, alphabets, and circles combination that found in the manuscript 6 L 107 (folio 25r) and ms. 14 L 290 (folio 16v). The amalgamation of numbers and circles in sakala dihyang constructs the series of—preciselly four—disyllabic words, arranged in aṅkānāṃ vāmato gatiḥ principles, the writing moves from right to left, and every disyllabic words represents a specific number. Sakala Dihyangis similar to sakala milir (in Javanese: sěngkalan lamba), a kind of chronogram used bhūtasaṃkhya system, but it uses the implicit expression. The interpretation to sakal dihyang can assisted by other chorongram (mělok, milir, dan koci) that are used in the same discourse simultaneouslly. The kakawin contains the list of words used in chronogram, i.e. Candrabhūmi, is also functioned in the interpretation process. The arranging pattern of disyllabic word structureused in sakala dihyang is also become obstruction in its interpretation process—especially when it compares to Candrabhūmi. Because of disyllabic structure is the necessity in sakala dihyang composition, conversely the words in candrabhūmi list do not always shave disyllabic structure, and so its modification pattern is also discussed in this article.

Phonetic fusion in Chinese conversational speech

This paper presents a corpus-based perspective on the phonetic fusion of disyllabic words in a Chinese conversational speech corpus. Four categorical types that reflect the phonological features of reduction degrees are automatically derived from gradient, acoustic properties. A transcription experiment is conducted with the most common disyllabic words. Both automatic derivation by acoustic signals and human transcription by perceptual judgment refer to the same sound inventory. We have shown that the complete form of fusion occurring in conversation need not be legitimate syllables and it appears consistently in the form of syllable merger that represents a group of phonetic variants.

The Southwestern Mandarin /n/-/l/ Merger: Effects on Production in Standard Mandarin and English

Southwestern Mandarin is one of the most important modern Chinese dialects, with over 270 million speakers. One of its most noticeable phonological features is an inconsistent distinction between the pronunciation of (n) and (l), a feature shared with Cantonese. However, while /n/-/l/ in Cantonese has been studied extensively, especially in its effect upon English pronunciation, the /l/-/n/ distinction has not been widely studied for Southwestern Mandarin speakers. Many speakers of Southwestern Mandarin learn Standard Mandarin as a second language when they begin formal schooling, and English as a third language later. Their lack of /l/-/n/ distinction is largely a marker of regional accent. In English, however, the lack of a distinction risks loss of intelligibility because of the high functional load of /l/-/n/. This study is a phonetic investigation of initial and medial (n) and (l) production in English and Standard Mandarin by speakers of Southwestern Mandarin. Our goal is to identify how Southwestern Mandarin speakers produce (n) and (l) in their additional languages, thus providing evidence for variations within Southwestern Mandarin and identifying likely difficulties for L2 learning. Twenty-five Southwestern Mandarin speakers recorded English words with word initial (n) and (l), medial <ll> or <nn> spellings (e.g., swallow, winner), and word-medial (nl) combinations (e.g., only) and (ln) combinations (e.g., walnut). They also read Standard Mandarin monosyllabic words with initial (l) and (n), and Standard Mandarin disyllabic words with (l) or (n). Of the 25 subjects, 18 showed difficulties producing (n) and (l) consistently where required, while seven (all part of the same regional variety) showed no such difficulty. The results indicate that SWM speakers had more difficulty with initial nasal sounds in Standard Mandarin, which was similar to their performance in producing Standard Mandarin monosyllabic words. For English, production of (l) was significantly less accurate than (n), and (l) production in English was significantly worse than in Standard Mandarin. When both sounds occurred next to each other, there was a tendency toward producing only one sound, suggesting that the speakers assimilated production toward one phonological target. The results suggest that L1 influence may differ for the L2 and L3.

Names of Large Exotic Animals and the Urheimat of Japonic

This article argues that three words designating large tropical animals not endemic for Japan: kisa ‘elephant’, tora ‘tiger’, and wani ‘saltwater crocodile’ were borrowed into Japonic from Austroasiatic or Kradai languages. If so, this becomes another important piece of evidence for locating the Urheimat of the Japonic Language family in Southern China and/or Northern South-East Asia driving yet another nail into the coffin of the ‘Altaic’ theory. Since all these words are disyllabic, they also contribute to the reconstruction of the disyllabic words in Austroasiatic and Kradai. This is especially important in the case of Kradai, where in spite of the rather recent fall of the monosyllabic curtain, the idea about the ‘primordial’ nature of the monosyllabic structure is still enjoying considerable support.

The Prosody of Two-Syllable Words in French-Speaking Monolingual and Bilingual Children: A Focus on Initial Accent and Final Accent

This study examined the acoustic characteristics of disyllabic words produced by French-speaking monolingual and bilingual children, aged 2;6 to 6;10, and by adults. Specifically, it investigated the influence of age, bilingualism, and vocabulary on final-to-initial syllable duration ratios and on the presence of initial and final accent. Children and adults took part in a word-naming task in which they produced a controlled set of disyllabic words. Duration and maximum pitch were measured for each syllable of the disyllabic word and these values were inserted into mixed-effects statistical models. Results indicated that children as young as 2;6 obtained final-to-initial syllable duration ratios similar to those of adults. Young children realized accent on the initial syllable more often and accent on the final syllable less often than older children and adults. There was no influence of bilingualism on the duration and pitch characteristics of disyllabic words. Children aged 2;6 with smaller vocabularies produced initial accent more often than children with large vocabularies. Our findings suggest that early word productions are constrained by developmental tendencies favouring falling pitch across an utterance.

PROSODIC PATTERNS IN SYLHETI-ENGLISH BILINGUALS

The primary aim of this study was to investigate prosodic prominence across three groups of Sylheti-English bilinguals: first-generation who arrived as adults, first-generation who arrived as children, and second-generation, i.e., born in the United Kingdom to parents who grew up in Bangladesh. To measure prominence, f0, duration, and intensity were measured across disyllabic words in Sylheti and English. The results showed significant differences in the f0 analysis. Regarding monolinguals, Sylheti prominence displayed a rising contour, in contrast to the English falling contour. In Sylheti, the bilinguals born in the United Kingdom were the only group significantly different from the Sylheti monolinguals, displaying an English-like falling pattern in their Sylheti prominence. In English, the late arrival bilinguals displayed a Sylheti-like prominence realization, but the early arrivals and those born in the United Kingdom approximated the monolingual English prominence realization. Overall, language use patterns were the most significant factor related to the bilinguals’ prominence realization.

The Relative Weight of Temporal Envelope Cues in Different Frequency Regions for Mandarin Disyllabic Word Recognition

ObjectivesAcoustic temporal envelope (E) cues containing speech information are distributed across all frequency spectra. To provide a theoretical basis for the signal coding of hearing devices, we examined the relative weight of E cues in different frequency regions for Mandarin disyllabic word recognition in quiet.DesignE cues were extracted from 30 continuous frequency bands within the range of 80 to 7,562 Hz using Hilbert decomposition and assigned to five frequency regions from low to high. Disyllabic word recognition of 20 normal-hearing participants were obtained using the E cues available in two, three, or four frequency regions. The relative weights of the five frequency regions were calculated using least-squares approach.ResultsParticipants correctly identified 3.13–38.13%, 27.50–83.13%, or 75.00–93.13% of words when presented with two, three, or four frequency regions, respectively. Increasing the number of frequency region combinations improved recognition scores and decreased the magnitude of the differences in scores between combinations. This suggested a synergistic effect among E cues from different frequency regions. The mean weights of E cues of frequency regions 1–5 were 0.31, 0.19, 0.26, 0.22, and 0.02, respectively.ConclusionFor Mandarin disyllabic words, E cues of frequency regions 1 (80–502 Hz) and 3 (1,022–1,913 Hz) contributed more to word recognition than other regions, while frequency region 5 (3,856–7,562) contributed little.

Beowulf 501b and the authority of Old English poetical manuscripts

In his Old English grammar, A. Campbell put forward his theory of Old English accentuation, according to which disyllabic words like Bēowulf and ǣniġ receive a half-stress only if made trisyllabic by the addition of an inflection (as in Bēowulfes or ǣniġra), provided the middle syllable is heavy. A. J. Bliss tacitly rejected Campbell’s analysis when he postulated the existence of metrical type 3B2, a rare rhythmical pattern in which trisyllabic forms like Bēowulfes and ǣniġra must exceptionally be assumed to lose their otherwise conventional half-stress. Bliss based his analysis on the evidence afforded by four readings from the text of Beowulf: ll. 501b, 932b, 949b, and 1830b. Even though Bliss expressed reservations about his own analysis, he still preferred it to the alternative possibility of emending these four exceptional verses (a possibility that he did not even consider in his book). Non-metrical arguments in support of the emendation of at least one of these verses (1830b), however, had been advanced well before The metre of Beowulf was first published. Since then, ll. 932b and 949b have also been emended on grounds other than metre. This article offers new linguistic reasons for the emendation of l. 501b, the one remaining reading for which no alternative explanation had yet been proposed. It concludes that Bliss was unnecessarily cautious in his treatment of these four aberrant verses, and that, as Kenneth Sisam memorably stated in 1946, conjectural emendation is, and still remains, a useful tool for the study of Old English poetical manuscripts.

The morphology and semantics of presyllables in Hmong-Mien languages

The first components of sesquisyllabic and disyllabic words in languages of the Hmong-Mien family include forms which are believed by native speakers to be derived from phonologically fuller forms (characteristic of languages of the Mienic branch of the family) and forms which have lexical or grammatical significance (characteristic of languages of the Hmongic branch). Grammatical and phonological factors, not fully understood, determine when the first component of a sesquisyllabic word can be omitted, but the biggest challenge is to describe the meanings of lexical presyllables in Hmongic languages, which may require a consideration of both lexical semantics and ethno-semantics.