LINGUIST List 20.227
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Sat Jan 24 2009
Diss: Phonetics/Phonology: Starwalt: 'The Acoustic Correlates of ...'
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1. Coleen
Starwalt,
The Acoustic Correlates of ATR Harmony in Seven- and Nine-Vowel African Languages: A phonetic inquiry into phonological structure
Message 1: The Acoustic Correlates of ATR Harmony in Seven- and Nine-Vowel African Languages: A phonetic inquiry into phonological structure
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Date: 23-Jan-2009
From: Coleen Starwalt <coleenstarwaltgmail.com>
Subject: The Acoustic Correlates of ATR Harmony in Seven- and Nine-Vowel African Languages: A phonetic inquiry into phonological structure
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Institution: University of Texas at Arlington
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2008
Author: Coleen Starwalt
Dissertation Title: The Acoustic Correlates of ATR Harmony in Seven- and Nine-Vowel African Languages: A phonetic inquiry into phonological structure
Dissertation URL: http://dspace.uta.edu/handle/10106/1015
Linguistic Field(s):
Phonetics
Phonology
Language Family(ies): Niger-Congo
Dissertation Director:
David J. Silva
Dissertation Abstract:
This study compares eleven Niger-Congo languages with [ATR] harmony and
seeks to determine especially whether the acoustic properties of the 'voice
quality' differences associated with [ATR] in nine-vowel languages, such as
Akan, are present or absent in all, some or none of the seven-vowel languages.
Of particular interest is the nature of the height 2 and 3 vowels of the
nine- and degree 2 vowels of seven-vowel systems. First, this study
corroborates previous work on nine-vowel systems by demonstrating that
height 2 vowels [-ATR] [ɪ ʊ] frequently overlap with height 3 vowels [+ATR]
[e o]. Next, it considers the question that the two types of seven-vowel
systems recognized in African languages - /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/ and /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ
u/ - may be manifestations of a single system. Given that degree 2 vowels
of either seven-vowel system (/e o/ or /ɪ ʊ/) overlap in nine-vowel
languages, how can we know which system we have? Do the acoustic correlates
of [ATR] in nine-vowel systems help us to answer this question or is it
reasonable for linguists to use indeterminacy as an argument for new
theories of vowel features?
Results confirm that F1 is the primary acoustic correlate of [ATR] in both
nine and seven vowel systems: [+ATR] vowels have lower F1 mean values than
their [-ATR] counterparts. Other acoustic correlates of [ATR], such as
bandwidth or 'Normalized A1-A2,' have some value in understanding the
acoustics of systems with [ATR] harmony. Center of gravity, another measure
of spectral flatness, also shows promise: [-ATR] vowels have higher center
of gravities than their [+ATR] counterparts. Evidence suggests the extreme
ends of the center of gravity measures may be more perceptually salient
than those in the middle. Speakers of languages with nine underlying or
surface vowels tend to exploit center of gravity extremes for one of the
[ATR] pairs, but speakers of 7-vowel languages tend to have more neutral
center of gravity settings. The latter finding leaves open the door that
some speakers of 7-vowel languages may not be manipulating tongue root
position in differentiating [ATR] harmony pairs.
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