Laryngeal Realism Research Articles

Another fortis-lenis language: A reanalysis of Old English obstruents

AbstractThe theoretical framework adopted in the analysis of Old English obstruents is laryngeal realism, a framework using privative features in modelling laryngeal oppositions. Equipollent oppositions, although real in the phonetic sense, must clearly be delineated from phonology. Old English obstruents are either unmarked (lenis/neutral) or marked: 〈b〉 /b/, 〈d〉 /d/, 〈cg〉 /dʒ/ or /ɟ/, 〈g〉 /ɡ/ are not marked for [voice] (although they are passively voiced between sonorants) and as such cannot regressively voice obstruents, singleton 〈p〉 /p/, 〈t〉 /t/, 〈ć〉 /tʃ/ or /c/, 〈c〉 /k/ are marked for [spread] (aspiration, or GW ‘glottal width’), singleton 〈f〉, 〈þ/ð〉, 〈s〉, 〈g〉, 〈h〉 are unmarked, but are passively voiced in the FricV/Son environment. Fricatives in unstressed syllables (even when couched between sonorants) are not voiced. If there is a sonorant separating the fricative from the stressed vowel there is no voicing (SonFricV/Son). The only voiced fricatives after a stressed vowel+sonorant consonant are /f/ [v] and /x/ [ɣ] (but this is a historical coincidence). (Phonetically voiceless) Geminates, s+stop and f/h+stop clusters are special in that they constitute a sequence of a fortis followed by a lenis obstruent impervious to passive voicing.

Laryngeal realism and the voicing contrast in Khuzestani Arabic stops

In laryngeal realism (LR), laryngeal specification of stops is explained by direct maps of cues (e.g. VOT) onto privative phonological laryngeal features [voice] or [spread glottis]. Phonetic realization of the segments and speakers’ ‘control’ (e.g. the degree of intervocalic voicing and speech rate manipulation effects on VOT duration) are used as diagnostics of phonological specification. Similar to some Arabic vernacular dialects (e.g. Qatari Arabic), Khuzestani Arabic in Iran presents a case where three voiced stops /b d ɡ/ are in contrast with voiceless stops /p t k/, but two voiceless guttural plosives /tˁ q/ have no voiced homorganic counterparts. In this paper we examine the phonetic realization of voicing in these stops at word-initial and intervocalic position, as well as the effects of speech rate manipulation on VOT and closure voicing. The data came from 12 native speakers recorded in Khorramshahr, Iran. Our findings suggest an over-specified voicing system in this Arabic variety. We found that voiced /b d ɡ/ were produced with voicing lead in initial position and complete closure voicing word medially, voiceless /p t k/ had long lag VOT, while guttural /tˁ q/ had short lag VOT. Speech rate manipulation revealed that only duration of (pre)voicing and duration of aspiration increased in slower speech. Also, f0, F1, and F2 were measured at vowel onset to evaluate the glottal state in production of stops. The results support the predictions of LR that voiced stops are specified by [voice], voiceless stops are [sg], while gutturals lack underlying specification for voice.

Bilingual phonology in dichotic perception: A case study of Malayalam and English voicing

Listeners often experience cocktail-party situations, encountering multiple ongoing conversations while tracking just one. Capturing the words spoken under such conditions requires selective attention and processing, which involves using phonetic details to discern phonological structure. How do bilinguals accomplish this in L1-L2 competition? We addressed that question using a dichotic listening task with fluent Malayalam-English bilinguals, in which they were presented with synchronized nonce words, one in each language in separate ears, with competing onsets of a labial stop (Malayalam) and a labial fricative (English), both voiced or both voiceless. They were required to attend to the Malayalam or the English item, in separate blocks, and report the initial consonant they heard. We found that perceptual intrusions from the unattended to the attended language were influenced by voicing, with more intrusions on voiced than voiceless trials. This result supports our proposal for the feature specification of consonants in Malayalam-English bilinguals, which makes use of privative features, underspecification and the “standard approach” to laryngeal features, as against “laryngeal realism”. Given this representational account, we observe that intrusions result from phonetic properties in the unattended signal being assimilated to the closest matching phonological category in the attended language, and are more likely for segments with a greater number of phonological feature specifications.

Interarticulatory Timing and Celtic Mutations

After providing an analysis of Celtic phonology as per the approach to phonology known as Laryngeal Realism, this paper addresses the differing realizations of the two mutations common to Goidelic and Brittonic, the first lenition and nasalization. It is proposed that differences in interarticulatory timing between consecutive segments led to the attested differing realizations of these mutations. Some attention is also paid to the differing realizations of nasalization between Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

Speech Rate Effects on VOT in a 3-category Language: Evidence from Hakha Chin

This study probes the claim made under the Laryngeal Realism (Beckman et al. 2011/2013 among others), by investigating the effect of speech rate on VOT in Hakha Chin. The present study uses the diagnostics of changing the speech rate (Beckman et al. 2011), and examines whether it can be used to find the specified phonological features of a language with a three-way contrast, Hakha Chin. The Laryngeal Realism states that the phonological features are privative and that the aspirating language is specified with the feature [spread glottis], while the true voiced language is specified with the feature of [voice]. It has been widely known that the speech rate affects laryngeal stops asymmetrically, and LR authors argue this is because the phonological features are privative rather than binary (e.g. Kessinger & Blumstein 1997). Methodologically, it attempts to experimentally control the rate variation with the help of metronome (de Jong 2001). The present study observes that in Hakha Chin, at a slower rate, the VOT of the prevoiced stop and the aspirated stop increase, while the voiceless unaspirated does not, which support the claims of the LR, but with caveats due to speaker variations.

Realization and representation of Nepali laryngeal contrasts: Voiced aspirates and laryngeal realism

Theories of laryngeal realism argue for a tight correspondence between a segment’s phonetic cues and the (laryngeal) phonological features that represent it. As such, the ‘p’/‘b’ contrast in French, expressed phonetically by vocal fold vibration during the stop closure, is represented by a [voice] feature while the ‘p’/‘b’ contrast in English, expressed phonetically by contrasting long and short lag VOT, is represented by a [spread] feature. Laryngeal realist literature focuses on whether a given segment is best represented by [voice] or [spread], and proposes a set of criteria and tests by which to diagnose the representation. In this study we push laryngeal realist theory in a new direction – to segments proposed to be specified for both [voice] and [spread] features – a combination which poses challenges to the current diagnostics. To do so, we analyze acoustic data from Nepali, an Indic (a.k.a. Indo-Aryan) language with a single class of stops described as both voiced and aspirated. We apply the same criteria and diagnostics used in laryngeal realism. We find support for the proposed representation, with a caveat that the [voice] feature appears ‘stronger’ than [spread].

Laryngeal Realism and early Insular Celtic orthography

One of the well-known features of early Insular Celtic orthographic practice is that <p t k b d g m> represent [p t k b d g m] in initial position, but [b d g β ð ɣ β/w̃] in post-vocalic position. Kenneth Jackson proposed that this system arose in Britain when Brittonic underwent lenition and British Latin did so, as well. That this is the correct scenario can hardly be doubted and is now received doctrine. But Jackson assumed that Brittonic and British Latin both contrasted their plosive series via the Laryngeal feature [voice], a view that cannot be maintained. This paper draws upon instrumental work conducted upon modern Celtic languages and adopts the approach to phonology known as Laryngeal Realism to propose that, in fact, initial <p t k b d g> in early Insular Celtic languages represent [ph th kh p t k], i.e., they were contrasted via the Laryngeal feature [spread glottis], precisely as in Scottish Gaelic, and that their orthographies are, likewise, directly comparable to Scottish Gaelic.

PHARMACOGENETIC TESTING IN PSYCHIATRY: CRITICAL REVIEW OF EXISTING TESTING KITS AND CLINICAL TRIALS

Theories of laryngeal realism argue for a tight correspondence between a segment’s phonetic cues and the (laryngeal) phonological features that represent it. As such, the ‘p’/‘b’ contrast in French, expressed phonetically by vocal fold vibration during the stop closure, is represented by a [voice] feature while the ‘p’/‘b’ contrast in English, expressed phonetically by contrasting long and short lag VOT, is represented by a [spread] feature. Laryngeal realist literature focuses on whether a given segment is best represented by [voice] or [spread], and proposes a set of criteria and tests by which to diagnose the representation. In this study we push laryngeal realist theory in a new direction – to segments proposed to be specified for both [voice] and [spread] features – a combination which poses challenges to the current diagnostics. To do so, we analyze acoustic data from Nepali, an Indic (a.k.a. Indo-Aryan) language with a single class of stops described as both voiced and aspirated. We apply the same criteria and diagnostics used in laryngeal realism. We find support for the proposed representation, with a caveat that the [voice] feature appears ‘stronger’ than [spread].

Laryngeal Relativism predicts Italian

AbstractTwo-way laryngeal systems are classified by Laryngeal Realism into [voice] languages (or “L-systems”, e.g., Slavic, Romance) and [spread glottis] ([sg]; or aspiration) languages (or “H-systems”, e.g., the typical Germanic pattern). More recently, Cyran (2014) has proposed Laryngeal Relativism (LR), claiming that phonetic interpretation is arbitrary, and as a result, two phonetically identical systems, even two dialects of a language, may turn out to diverge phonologically. His example is Polish: while Warsaw Polish represents the typical [voice]/L-system, he analyses phonetically identical Cracow Polish as anH-system (counter to Laryngeal Realism’s uniform classification of Slavic languages).However, in the “classical” version of [sg] languages (e.g., English), no laryngeal activity in the form of any kind of spreading is attested, which suggests the absence of any source element and, instead, a dominant role of obstruency (|h|). We, therefore, arrive at a three-way typology:h-systems,H-systems andL-systems. At the same time, arbitrary phonetic interpretation in LR predicts the existence of, e.g.,h-systems with virtually no aspiration in the fortis series. We claim that this is indeed the characterisation of Italian. Using data from potential feature spreading situations, elicited in loanword and foreign accent settings, we show that Italian is anh-system, exhibiting no true laryngeal activity.

Laryngeal Realism vs. Modulation Theory – evidence from VOT discrimination in Polish

A perception study testing Polish listeners' discrimination of the voice-voiceless contrast in stop consonants is presented. Results show that the absence of pre-voicing in /bdg/ does not hinder perception of voiced stops in Polish. These findings are presented within a wider discussion of the phonological representation of laryngeal contrasts in languages with two series of consonants. The approach of Laryngeal Realism is compared with a new approach based on the assumptions of Modulation Theory (MT) and couched within the Onset Prominence (OP) representational framework. It is suggested that the MT/OP approach offers an insightful way forward for further study into laryngeal phonology.

Laryngeal Realism and the Prehistory of Celtic

AbstractThis paper examines the proto‐Celtic plosive system through the lens of Laryngeal Realism. Drawing upon phonetic data from contemporary Celtic languages and philological data from medieval Insular Celtic and ancient Continental Celtic languages, it concludes that the active Laryngeal feature in these languages is not [voice], but [spread glottis], and that this feature should be projected back to proto‐Celtic. Such an analysis allows for a much more straightforward analysis of the evolution of the early Celtic plosive system, and, in particular, allows for a non‐stipulative analysis of perhaps the best known of Celtic sound changes, the loss of proto‐IE*/p/, in simple aerodynamic terms. It is demonstrated, furthermore, that the loss of proto‐IE*/p/ cannot be explained by contact with pre‐Basque or Iberian, but, instead, was, in all likelihood, a natural development.

Predictions of Laryngeal Realism for breathy-voiced stops: Counter-evidence from Bangla

The Laryngeal Realism (LR) framework (Honeybone 2005, Beckman et al. 2013) argues that the breathy-voiced stops in the four-way stop systems are specified for multiple features: [voice] and [spread glottis] ([sg]). As a diagnostic of the specified features, Beckman et al. (2013) proposed that the acoustic cues for a specified feature be longer in slower speech. While predictions of the LR framework have been tested on two- and three-way stop systems using this technique, there has not been much on the four-way stop systems. This study presents evidence from Bangla and argues that the predictions of the LR framework apply variably for the breathy-voiced stops; [sg] is found to be the stronger candidate as the specified feature than [voice]. In slower speech, the cue for the breathy voicing (the lag-time) lengthened in the breathy-voiced stops. Contrarily, the acoustic cue for the [voice] feature (the prevoicing) was not affected by speech rate. Mixed-effects models confirmed that the effect of speech rate ...

Voice-induced vowel lengthening

Vowels are longer before sonorants and voiced obstruents than before voiceless obstruents. This pattern is found in many languages and by some is argued to be universal. In some languages it has been phonologized and gives rise to alternations. Three cases are examined: Western Slavic, English and German. In all cases, I argue that the mechanism which modifies vowel duration in a voiced context is phonetic in kind (not phonological), and involves voice-induced lengthening, rather than so-called ‘pre-fortis clipping’. Phonetic length can be phonologized by its inscription into the lexical recording of morphemes. Phonological processes such as (Canadian) raising in English or oo &gt; uu raising in Western Slavic may then take this lexical length as an input. This analysis allows us to keep spontaneous and non-spontaneous voicing truly separate: voicing in sonorants and vowels is never phonologically active, its spreading can only occur in the phonetics (‘passive voicing’ in Laryngeal Realism). A strong argument in favour of this view is the fact that cross-linguistically sonorants appear to always be among the triggers of voice-induced vowel lengthening: there are no cases where vowels lengthen before voiced obstruents, but not before sonorants. This is predicted if lengthening is phonetic, but unexpected if it were phonological: the phonologically active voicing of obstruents should at least sometimes be the only trigger.

Voicing distinctions in the Dutch-German dialect continuum

Abstract This study investigates the phonetics and phonology of voicing distinctions in the Dutch-German dialect continuum, which forms a transition zone between voicing and aspiration systems. Two phonological approaches to represent this contrast exist in the literature: a [±voice] approach and Laryngeal Realism. The implementation of the change between the two language types in the transition zone will provide new insights in the nature of the phonological representation of the contrast. In this paper I will locate the transition zone by looking at phonetic overlap between VOT values of fortis and lenis plosives, and I will compare the two phonological approaches, showing that both face analytical problems as they cannot explain the variation observed in word-initial plosives and plosive clusters.

Fricative patterning in aspirating versus true voice languages

Building on the empirical insights of Beckman, Jessen &amp; Ringen (2013), we compare the fricatives within the laryngeal systems of Russian and Turkish on the premise that the former is a final devoicing language, while the latter is not, but instead has alternations based on processes of intervocalic voicing and final fortition. This view has consequences for the analysis of fricatives in Russian vs. Turkish: Russian fricatives undergo final devoicing, while Turkish fricatives do not. By contrast, unlike Russian fricatives, Turkish fricatives induce [spread glottis] assimilation in following sonorants. We show that these differences are upheld in three phonetic studies, extending the relevance of the ‘laryngeal realism’ hypothesis to fricatives as well as stops.

Voice] And/versus [spread glottis] in the modified Leiden model

The paper stresses the need to distinguish between two subtypes of binary laryngeal systems, viz. [voice] languages versus [spread glottis] languages (“laryngeal realism”—Honeybone 2005). It criticizes the use of the primes H and L for this distinction in Government Phonology, and proposes an alternative representation, based on Backley-Takahashi (1998) and Nasukawa-Backley (2005). This feature geometric model assumes the same set of melodic components for obstruents and sonorants within a system but with a difference in the status of source elements across the language types. Therefore, accompanied by the mechanism of element activation, it is claimed to capture the cross-linguistic observations more adequately.

Domains and directionality in the evolution of German final fortition

Laryngeal realism (Honeybone 2005) holds that thoroughly voiced stops in a language like Dutch will be represented phonologically with the feature [voice], leaving the voiceless unaspirated stops laryngeally neutral, whereas the typically aspirated stops of a language like German are marked with the feature [spread glottis], rendering the passively voiced stops in this language neutral. These two languages also merge laryngeal oppositions in final environments, Dutch undergoing final devoicing but German final fortition. We apply the findings of Evolutionary Phonology (Blevins 2004, 2006b) to these distinctions in final laryngeal neutralisation, underscoring that the evolutionary approach to phonological alternation allows for non-assimilatory feature addition as well as loss. We examine in particular the known history of final fortition in German and find that the reference standard form of the language has evolved an alignment condition to the effect that a fortified syllable edge must match up with the morpheme edge.