| Date & Time: | December 19, 2013 (Thu), 14:30 – 17:30 |
| Title: | The Forefront of Prosody Research |
| Location: |
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL) (10-2 Midori-cho, Tachikawa-shi, Tokyo) http://www.ninjal.ac.jp/english/utility/access/ |
| Cosponsor: | National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics |
| Registration: | No pre-registration needed. Free admission. |
| Contact information: | Planning Committee (kubozono@ninjal.ac.jp) |
| Program: |
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Abstracts
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Larry Hyman （University of California, Berkeley) Issues in the Representational Analysis of Syntagmatic Tone Systems |
| In this talk I will address some of the difficulties encountered in the interpretation of syntagmatic tone systems—specifically, two-height systems whose sparse tonal contrasts lend themselves to different analyses. The question will be how to determine whether such systems should be analyzed as a binary tonal contrast (H vs. L), as a presence vs. absence of a single tone (e.g. H vs. Ø), as a change in pitch (e.g. a pitch drop from H to L), or as a metrical or foot-based “accent”. I will cite from unrelated languages from different parts of the world including Japanese, Kham (Tibeto-Burman; Nepal), Mee (Papuan; Indonesia), and Lulamogi (Bantu; Uganda). In the course of the discussion I focus on two questions: (i) How does one choose between one vs. another tonal representation of the observed phenomena? (ii) Does it matter? To answer these questions I will suggest that much of the disagreement derives from a confusion between “facts”, “theories”, “implementations”, and “insights” (which I put in quotes for reasons also to be discussed). |
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Carlos Gussenhoven (Radboud University Nijmegen) On Prominence and Stress |
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The variation in phonological structures would seem to exceed the variation in phonetic realization, reflecting the fact that humans are more flexible in their brains than in their bodies. That is, languages sound more similar than they really are. With Germanic languages as a point of reference, I will consider four languages where an auditory impression of prominence similar to English word stress reflects quite different representations. Based on published sources (e.g. Peperkamp & Dupoux 2002) as well as my own research, I will illustrate that establishing the phonological reality behind auditory prominence in French, Libyan Berber, Yucatec and Ambonese Malay may require extensive phonetic and behavioral research. Peperkamp, Sharon & Dupoux, Emmanuel (2002). A typological study of stress ‘deafness’. In: C. Gussenhoven & N. Warner (eds.) Laboratory Phonology 7. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 203-240. |