Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis investigates a recurring issue found in fieldwork on Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan languages: how can a linguist tell if a given language has the vowels [ɪ ʊ], or [e o], or both? These...Show moreThis thesis investigates a recurring issue found in fieldwork on Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan languages: how can a linguist tell if a given language has the vowels [ɪ ʊ], or [e o], or both? These two pairs of vowels – which differ in their height and ATR (‘advanced tongue root’) value – are notoriously difficult to tell apart acoustically, and their pronunciation varies considerably between languages and even speakers. Moreover, previous studies have only focused on how to distinguish these vowels in languages with both pairs; in languages with just one pair, how do we know if that pair is [ɪ ʊ] or [e o]? To address this gap, the main acoustic study of this thesis looks at data from Boa-Leboale, a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has historically been described as only having [ɪ ʊ], not [e o]. Using the results and acoustic methodology of Starwalt’s (2008) landmark study, I construct a number of hypotheses to test two research questions; research question (I) investigates whether Boa-Leboale has one or two pairs of vowels and research question (II) attempts to identify whether a given set of vowels is more likely to be [ɪ ʊ] or [e o]. The results of this study indicate that Boa-Leboale does indeed have only one pair of vowels, and those vowels are most likely [ɪ ʊ], as suggested by previous descriptions. Given this promising result, I hope that further studies will be able to improve on the study presented here and solve the issue of identifying these vowels acoustically not just for Boa-Leboale, but for any language.Show less
This thesis gives a detailed overview of the Guīshān Mandarin sound system based on several thousands of monosyllables uttered in isolation. The analyses presented are both phonetic and...Show moreThis thesis gives a detailed overview of the Guīshān Mandarin sound system based on several thousands of monosyllables uttered in isolation. The analyses presented are both phonetic and phonological, combining quantitative and qualitative methods.Show less
This papers aims to evaluate the sound changes that took place between the Proto-Indo-European stage and the Proto-Celtic stage, that is to say before this proto-language started to be divided into...Show moreThis papers aims to evaluate the sound changes that took place between the Proto-Indo-European stage and the Proto-Celtic stage, that is to say before this proto-language started to be divided into several dialects giving birth to Old Irish, Old Welsh, Old Breton, Old Cornish, Gaulish, Celtiberian, and Lepontic, and to propose a relative chronologic order of those changes.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
Existing didactic and academic materials on Korean phonology often (partly) reason from written to spoken language or are difficult for second-language learners to understand. This thesis attempts...Show moreExisting didactic and academic materials on Korean phonology often (partly) reason from written to spoken language or are difficult for second-language learners to understand. This thesis attempts to serve as a bridge between existing linguistic and didactic works by producing a linguistically responsible yet didactically adequate overview of Korean phonology, solely based on spoken language. I do this by taking the phoneme features described in Shin, Kiaer, and Cha's (2012) The sounds of Korean as a starting point. These features are tested in line with the methodology described in Ebeling’s (1960) Linguistic units by shifting the value of one feature at a time, and asking native speakers of Korean about the meanings of these realisations, if any. In order to make sure my work be accessible without the need for prior knowledge on linguistics, it selects only those linguistic terms that are necessary, all of which are explained. Next to exemplifying Ebeling’s methodology with an accessible exploration of contemporary Korean phonology, I have provided methodological considerations for didactic purposes. This work explores means of valorisation, making expert knowledge on the Korean language available for wider societal use. It ensures maximal applicability for a book that teaches second-language learners Korean pronunciation, and maximal adaptability to an introduction to Korean orthography.Show less
Dental fricatives are amongst the rarest speech sounds in the natural languages found in the world (Jekiel, 2012) and have disappeared from most Germanic languages (Laker, 2014). However, the...Show moreDental fricatives are amongst the rarest speech sounds in the natural languages found in the world (Jekiel, 2012) and have disappeared from most Germanic languages (Laker, 2014). However, the standard varieties of English still contain both the voiced and voiceless dental fricatives as phonemes. Although these phonemes are still common in e.g. Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA) (Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996), the dental fricatives are often replaced in other, non-standard varieties through processes such as th-fronting. The phenomenon of these contemporary changes in articulation has been studied, though a large portion of the research has been based mostly on sociolinguistic descriptions and discussing the phenomenon from this field’s paradigm (see e.g. Kerswill, 2003; Stuart-Smith et al., 2013) without thoroughly discussing other potential underlying phenomena that could cause the variation and change of dental fricatives in dialects: phonetic and phonological reasons, as an addition to sociolinguistic explanations, could provide a greater understanding of the factors of speech sound variation. This thesis explores some of the various ways the subfields of linguistics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and phonetics, can work together to provide insights into the underlying factors influencing sound changes. By analysing the scientific literature concerning dental fricatives, the tentative conclusion was reached that, as dental fricatives do not have much phonemic function and are difficult to acquire and most Germanic languages have lost the dental fricatives, Britain could soon follow, especially if th-fronting loses its social stigma.Show less
Word-final clusters have been reported to develop earlier than word-initial clusters for children learning English (Kirk & Demuth, 2005),German (Lleo & Prinz, 1996), and Dutch (Levelt, et...Show moreWord-final clusters have been reported to develop earlier than word-initial clusters for children learning English (Kirk & Demuth, 2005),German (Lleo & Prinz, 1996), and Dutch (Levelt, et al.,2000). This is opposite to the development of singleton consonants which generally develop in word-initial position first, e.g. /m, n, t/ (Mennen et al., 2006). In this study I investigated the possible role of frequency in the acquisition of consonant onset and coda clusters. The hypothesis was that the frequency of the input of adult child-directed speech which here was a child’s name (repeated by caregivers many times a day and directly to a child) influences the child’s ability to acquire certain type of consonant clusters. Ideally Floortje would acquire onset clusters before codas and Max would acquire coda clusters before onset ones. The evidence collected however, suggests that there is no immediate association between a child’s name and the acquisition of consonant clusters in words. So here, the frequency accounts do not seem to provide a satisfactory explanation for the two way developmental path of cluster acquisition. Nevertheless, the research may be treated as a pilot study and will hopefully stimulate further exploration of the problem.Show less
This thesis compares similar phonological features across Táiwān Mandarin and Singapore Mandarin by measuring the acoustic properties of the variables in question. Despite both varieties’ official...Show moreThis thesis compares similar phonological features across Táiwān Mandarin and Singapore Mandarin by measuring the acoustic properties of the variables in question. Despite both varieties’ official claim of being identical to Běijīng Mandarin, they have developed a significant number of differences in parallel. I hypothesize that this is because both of these varieties grew out of having Mandarin imposed upon populations that were originally and largely Southern Mǐn speaking. To test this, I modified the Labovian sociolinguistic interview for an online survey format for easy distribution. I focused largely on four variables, the first three of which are theoretically available in both of the varieties of Mandarin under investigation: 1) dentalization of the retroflex sibilants, 2) dentalization of the velar nasal codas following mid to high front vowels, and 3) unrounding of the rounded high front vowel. The final variable under investigation was a possible fifth tone only available in Singapore Mandarin. Despite whatever ease this afforded in data collection, the online survey format also created a lot of disparity between recordings that could have been avoided by using a laboratory setting, or even just consistent recording equipment. Keeping this defect in mind, I found both the behaviours predicted in prior literature, but also its exact opposite, leading me to believe that an online survey format will need a lot of honing before it can reliably be applied to research based on measuring acoustics.Show less
This apparent-time study examines generational phonetic change in the Finland-Swedish community, occurring as a result of increased contact with the Finnish majority language. Finland-Swedish is a...Show moreThis apparent-time study examines generational phonetic change in the Finland-Swedish community, occurring as a result of increased contact with the Finnish majority language. Finland-Swedish is a variety of Swedish that is spoken as a first language by approximately 300,000 people in Finland, while also retaining a status as an official national language alongside Finnish (Hult & Pietikäinen 2014: 4). In the past Finnish and Swedish were largely spoken in different regions and culturally distinct communities. However, lately the Finnish society has become more linguistically mixed, causing the Finnish language to have a larger impact on the lives and language of Finland-Swedish speakers. Using acoustic analysis of formants, the study explores whether Finland-Swedish vowel production in young highly proficient bilingual speakers is undergoing change due to influence from Finnish. The project focuses on the Swedish open-mid front rounded vowel [œ], a more open allophone of [ø] that only occurs before /r/ (Riad 2014: 38; Leinonen 2011: 78). Sample tokens for [ø] and [œ] in different phonological contexts were collected through recordings of photo-elicited interviews from several consecutive generations of bilingual Finland-Swedish speakers. Measuring the first and second formants of the samples, the study examines the phonological differences between the older and younger generations of speakers. The measurements showed that while older-generation late bilingual speakers produced distinct formant values for both allophones, younger native and early bilingual speakers demonstrated more variation in their abilities to differentiate between the allophones in production. Additionally, a survey investigating the perception of [œ] and [ø] in Finland-Swedish suggested that native bilingual Finnish and Finland-Swedish participants were less accurate in matching allophones to target words than monolingual Finland-Swedish participants. The results of both the acoustic analysis and the survey suggest that input from Finnish may affect the perception and production of allophones [œ] and [ø] in the spoken Swedish of native and early bilingual Finland-Swedish speakers.Show less
This thesis provides evidence for a perceived overextension of labialisation of coda consonants following rounded vowels in the speech of (Saigon) Vietnamese speakers in the Netherlands. The...Show moreThis thesis provides evidence for a perceived overextension of labialisation of coda consonants following rounded vowels in the speech of (Saigon) Vietnamese speakers in the Netherlands. The regular labialisation of velar codas after rounded vowels seemed to appear in alveolar codas as well. Sixteen speakers participated in a picture-naming task designed to elicit words containing both types of codas following rounded and unrounded vowels. The speakers were either second generation/heritage speakers, first generation/baseline speakers or homeland speakers. Although the data were limited, evidence was found that the overextension is a change in progress (at least in the Netherlands). This change has made most progress in heritage speakers, followed by baseline speakers and homeland speakers show the fewest signs of the overextension. The overextension is also limited to codas following two of the three rounded vowels of Vietnamese, whereas the original labialisation occurs after all rounded vowels. It was thus concluded that the overextension is a change in progress, possibly limited to speakers of Vietnamese in the Netherlands. The fact that heritage speakers show the greatest change, provides new perspectives in the field of the phonologies of heritage languages.Show less
Recently, Buizza and Plug (2012) researched one particular allophone of the phoneme /t/ in RP English. This particular pronunciation of /t/, in which the /t/ receives an s-like secondary...Show moreRecently, Buizza and Plug (2012) researched one particular allophone of the phoneme /t/ in RP English. This particular pronunciation of /t/, in which the /t/ receives an s-like secondary articulation, has received little scholarly attention to date. B&P conclude that this variant of /t/ can be regarded as fortition, in the sense that this pronunciation makes the /t/ more prevalent in strong positions in the syllable. The main element of this thesis is an empirical study based on the study carried out by Buizza and Plug (2012). It consists of a small-scale reproduction of their research in which I analyse spontaneous speech using the speech-analysis programme Praat (Boersma & Weenink 2017). The goal of this thesis was twofold: (i) to see whether I obtained similar results as B&P and (ii) to extend our knowledge on this variant of the RP English /t/, which could in turn deepen our understanding on developments of the RP English /t/. In doing so, I help investigate how the distinction between fortition and lenition can be researched. I conclude that my results partly reflect the results in B&P, although the distribution of [ts] over the positions considered is slightly different. This can in part be explained by the smaller scale and by the choices that I made during the categorization of the data. I also add that, in researching sound changes such as fortition and lenition, it might be worth looking at the influence of surrounding words.Show less
This thesis studied the influence of pitch, melodies and vocal registers on the formant frequencies of the English vowel /æ/ sung by a young female soprano singer. Previous studies by Sundberg and...Show moreThis thesis studied the influence of pitch, melodies and vocal registers on the formant frequencies of the English vowel /æ/ sung by a young female soprano singer. Previous studies by Sundberg and Skoog (1997), Sundberg (2008), Garnier (2010), and Deme (2014) have reported that classically trained sopranos utilise resonance strategies, also known as formant tuning, when F0 approaches or surpasses the frequencies of F1 (Sundberg and Skoog, 1997; Sundberg, 2008; Deme, 2014) and F2 (Garnier 2010). This is done in order to avoid a loss in acoustic energy. This present study observed that the soprano began F1 tuning once F0 went above 440 Hz. Although possible instances of F2 tuning were found, the soprano did not show a consistent pitch-related resonance strategy as she had for F1. It was found, however, that melodies and their placement in the vocal registers influence the manner in which the soprano tuned the frequencies of the first and second formants.Show less
The processes involved in second language phonology have been long researched, yet the research is not always easy to apply in real-life teaching situations. Considering the dynamics of learning a...Show moreThe processes involved in second language phonology have been long researched, yet the research is not always easy to apply in real-life teaching situations. Considering the dynamics of learning a second language and respecting the innate processes that are involved in phonology acquisition the method of this thesis steps away from a traditional lengthy formal instruction: participants were given a very short instruction on their pronunciation. The differences before and after instruction were measured both phonetically (in F1 and F2 frequencies) and audibly (survey). One participant is successful at changing his output both phonetically and audibly, while the others are less successful. Their results, however, inform us about learners’ aptitude, the interconnectedness between vowel output and learner proficiency, transfer processes, and draws comparisons with dynamic systems theory and the effect that psychological tension may have on language output.Show less
This thesis tackles two aspects of Paraguayan Guarani. Firstly, it discusses the role of language mixing as a result of contact with Spanish. In this sense, it describes the types of mixed...Show moreThis thesis tackles two aspects of Paraguayan Guarani. Firstly, it discusses the role of language mixing as a result of contact with Spanish. In this sense, it describes the types of mixed structures reported in previous literature and it reviews contradictory claims considering, on the one hand, that mixed structures are just part of a discursive strategy (code-switching), and on the other hand, that they are part of a fully-fledged new code (a so-called mixed language). The thesis concludes that only by measuring the stability of mixed structures across speakers and across contexts of use will it be possible to reach a solid conclusion with regard to this matter. Secondly, against the prevalent assumption that Paraguayan Guarani is mostly homogeneous across regions, the thesis conducts an acoustic study comparing the formant values of Guarani vowels produced by urban speakers from Asunción and rural speakers from Concepción. Results show that the differences between individual segments are not statistically significant. However, significant differences are revealed in the F2 of two vowels, /ɨ/ and /i/, in specific consonant environments, thus pointing to potential variation in coarticulation patterns.Show less
![An Acoustic Analysis of Generational Change of the Open-Mid Front Rounded Vowel [œ] in Finland-Swedish](/sites/all/themes/scholarly/img/closed_access.png?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=ef5f77e71006e66e3137&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=7)
![Time for /t/ - An Empirical Study of the Affricated Fortis Alveolar Plosive [ts] in RP English](/sites/all/themes/scholarly/img/closed_access.png?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=ef5f77e71006e66e3137&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=9)
