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 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 is focussed on the pronunciation and acquisition of second language phonology. More specifically, the acquisition of Dutch vowels in native Japanese speakers. A lot of research on...Show moreThis thesis is focussed on the pronunciation and acquisition of second language phonology. More specifically, the acquisition of Dutch vowels in native Japanese speakers. A lot of research on phonology acquisition, especially with Japanese, tends to look at consonants. However, in this paper vowel acquisition is addressed. Dutch has an extensive vowel system with twelve monophthongs and three diphthongs while Japanese has only five vowels. Japanese learners of Dutch were recorded and formant analysis was used to determine which phonological processes influence the pronunciation of target language phonemes.Show less
There are many irregularities regarding rendaku (sequential voicing) in Japanese surnames (Sugito 1965, Kubozono 2005, Tanaka 2017). A characteristic of Japanese surnames is that the final...Show moreThere are many irregularities regarding rendaku (sequential voicing) in Japanese surnames (Sugito 1965, Kubozono 2005, Tanaka 2017). A characteristic of Japanese surnames is that the final consonant of the first element of the name determines whether rendaku occurs. It is possible to categorize these surnames based on the natural class in which the consonant belongs. This classification can explain rendaku in surnames to a certain extent, but there are still many irregularities within a category and even within specific surnames, where names can occur both with and without rendaku. Therefore the purpose of this research is to have a clear overview of rendaku in surnames by investigating the variation within a category and within specific surnames. The first aim of this research is to investigate whether the rendaku rate depends on dialects, since an informal report of the Nikkei Shinbun suggests that a few surnames undergo rendaku more often in East Japan (Iwasaki 2013). The second aim of this research is to further investigate the occurrence of rendaku within a category in order to explain the irregularities. Furthermore, it is investigated if there is a connection between the regional variation of rendaku and the category to which a surname belongs. In order to investigate this, 231 native speakers of Japanese filled out a digital questionnaire in which they were asked for the region they came from and to convert 80 surnames written in kanji into hiragana. The results indicate that the region seems to determine variation within a surname. However, there is no connection between a category and regional variation. This thesis presents three possible explanations for the irregularities within a category. Firstly, the word type of the first element might have an effect on rendaku. Secondly, for some morphemes it is lexically specified whether they undergo rendaku or not, regardless of the category. Thirdly, external factors such as the names of people in the surroundings or well-known place names might also influence the results.Show less
The thesis discusses the velar graphemes in Hittite, commonly transliterated as KA, GA and QA. It is normally assumed that these graphemes can be used interchangeably. However, it is argued that...Show moreThe thesis discusses the velar graphemes in Hittite, commonly transliterated as KA, GA and QA. It is normally assumed that these graphemes can be used interchangeably. However, it is argued that this is clearly not the case. The thesis then tries to show in which environments the different graphemes are used and how the use can be motivated phonologically.Show less
![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=2dc4a19404ff3cbee2b8&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=1&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=2)
