In this thesis, I provide the first acoustic description of Ecuadorian Siona phonemic vowels, six oral vowels and six corresponding nasal vowels. Two phonetic dimensions – vowel height, measured...Show moreIn this thesis, I provide the first acoustic description of Ecuadorian Siona phonemic vowels, six oral vowels and six corresponding nasal vowels. Two phonetic dimensions – vowel height, measured through the first formant frequency (F1), and vowel backness, measured through the second formant frequency (F2) – are taken as the descriptors of vowel quality. These dimensions are used to illustrate the target vowels in their acoustic space. Vowel quantity, which refers to vowel duration, is also measured. For each target vowel, the mean frequencies of F1 and F2, as well as the durational means, are presented. In addition, the effects of different phonological environment on the realization of target vowels are investigated. Ultimately, I construct the acoustic vowel space for oral and nasal vowels, and I compare the acoustic properties of the two types of vowels. The results for oral vowels demonstrate six distinct qualities, similar to the ones described by Bruil (2014), with the back vowels appearing consistently lower in the vowel space. Nasal vowel space shows more variability and a general shrinking effect of vocalic contrasts. The findings also demonstrate a nasalization effect whereby all nasal vowels are on average lower than their oral counterparts. Finally, the analysis revealed that the vowels /i, ɨ̃/ are phonetically long, at least in the context that they appeared.Show less
This document contains my BA-thesis on the use of the gerund in a Spanish novel from the Ecuadorian Andes and a Spanish novel from Spain. It will give a description of each of the gerundial uses...Show moreThis document contains my BA-thesis on the use of the gerund in a Spanish novel from the Ecuadorian Andes and a Spanish novel from Spain. It will give a description of each of the gerundial uses and provide ideas for future research.Show less
Several languages in the world alternate between marked and unmarked objects with respect to different properties of the noun, including animacy and specificity. This phenomenon is called...Show moreSeveral languages in the world alternate between marked and unmarked objects with respect to different properties of the noun, including animacy and specificity. This phenomenon is called differential object marking. In this thesis, I describe the differential object marking system of Cha’palaa, a Barbacoan language spoken in Ecuador, and compare this with the differential object marking systems of the related Barbacoan languages. It can be concluded that in three of the four languages, including Cha’palaa, differential object marking is only governed by specificity. In one language, namely Awa Pit, differential object marking is governed by both animacy and specificity.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
2023-01-31T00:00:00Z
All Tukanoan languages have gender markers and classifiers, and both can be reconstructed to the proto-language to some degree. In this thesis, I provide a reconstruction of the development of the...Show moreAll Tukanoan languages have gender markers and classifiers, and both can be reconstructed to the proto-language to some degree. In this thesis, I provide a reconstruction of the development of the classifier system in the Tukanoan family, where I argue that it developed out of the older gender system morpho-syntactically, but that many of the synchronically found classifiers can morphologically be analysed as grammaticalized nouns. My arguments for this, as elaborated in this thesis, are as follows: i) all Tukanoan languages have similar gender markers which can probably be reconstructed for Proto-Tukanoan (Chacon 2021; in prep.); ii) the gender markers seem to have undergone grammaticalization at an early stage in the family; iii) many classifiers in the family are language-internal developments or can only be reconstructed for a sub-branch; iv) a few classifiers are widely found in the family and can be reconstructed for the proto-language, but these seem to be developments of either Proto-Tukanoan gender markers or originally complex forms. I analyse these complex forms as consisting of a gender marker in combination with some other marker. I furthermore provide an analysis of the development of the Proto-Tukanoan gender system, based on Chacon (2021; in prep), where I suggest that some of its morphological material may indicate borrowings from an Arawakan source. Lastly, by contributing to the reconstruction of the Proto-Tukanoan classifier system, this thesis may contribute to a reconstruction of classifiers in the wider area, as classifiers are a pervasive feature in non-Tukanoan languages as well, where the relatively gender-like morpho-syntactic characteristics of classifiers have been the subject of much discussion (e.g. Payne 1987; Aikhenvald 2000a, 10; Grinevald 2000, 81-82, 87).Show less
This thesis analyses the relationship between the indigenous Huaorani Tribe, the Ecuadorian Government and Oil Multinationals in the protected the Yasuni National Park. It answers what factors have...Show moreThis thesis analyses the relationship between the indigenous Huaorani Tribe, the Ecuadorian Government and Oil Multinationals in the protected the Yasuni National Park. It answers what factors have contributed to the Huaorani tribe being the first indigenous tribe winning the lawsuit against the Ecuadorian Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of the Environment in 2019, against tendering parts of the Yasuni National Park for oil extraction.Show less
