Pitch accent timing in Chickasaw

Abstract

This paper examines the temporal realization of pitch accents in Chickasaw, a Muskogean language of Oklahoma. Questions in Chickasaw have a Lat their right edge preceded by a H* pitch accent that docks on one of the final three syllables of the last word in the Intonational Phrase: on a final CVV, otherwise on a heavy (CVV or CVC) penult, otherwise on the antepenult. Three speakers of Chickasaw were recorded uttering a list of words varying in the location of the pitch accent and the type of syllable carrying the pitch accent. Results indicate a tendency to realize the pitch accent relatively late in non-final pitch accented syllables (during the last 25 and during the coda consonant following a short vowel). However, final accented syllables realize the pitch accent early (within the first 20 vowel) and also display substantial vowel lengthening (by over 50 vowels in the penult or antepenult). These results suggest that pressure to avoid tonal crowding between the pitch accent and boundary tone overrides the late realization of pitch accents characteristic of positions in which crowding is less of an issue.