Phonological Reduction Research Articles

Hearsay Evidential Markers: On the Degree of Grammaticalization of Italian dice che and Romanian cică

In this study, I examined the hearsay evidential markers, namely dice che in Italian (central southern varieties) and cică in Romanian, both of which convey the meaning ‘it is said that/allegedly’ and have solidified into functional elements within their respective languages. To verify that the forms dice che/cică represent evidential markers, I analysed them phonologically, morphologically, syntactically and semantically. I began with Italian dice che, which has not undergone phonological reduction. Subsequently, after a brief overview of other Romance languages, I examined Romanian cică to understand its degree of grammaticalization. The results thus obtained clearly show the differences in the degree of grammaticalization between dice che and cică: Italian dice che is still in an early stage of grammaticalization, while Romanian cică is much more advanced.

Constructional sources of durational shortening in discourse markers

Abstract Using naturally occurring data from Spanish from Madrid, this study is the first to analyze durations of the Spanish word decir ‘to say, to tell’ both as a verb with prepositional meaning and as part of the reformulating construction [es decir] ‘that is to say’ (N = 388). We show that, although it is neither highly grammaticalized nor frequent, [es decir] undergoes phonological reduction to a significantly greater degree than the more frequent lexical source decir ‘to say’. Results of linear mixed-effects models predicting target duration suggest these durational differences cannot be explained due to conditioning factors of the target context controlled in this analysis (speech rate of the target word context, predictability of following words, number of phones, distance from pause). They do not appear to stem from an accumulation in memory of patterns of likelihood of use in those conditioning environments. We propose that [es decir] is stored as a lexical unit that contains as part of the lexical representation shorter word durations relative to the lexical form decir and that this durational shortening is part of the [reformulator] construction.

Pronominal Adverbs in German: A Grammaticalization Account

Pronominal adverbs in German, which consist of da ‘there’, hier ‘here’, or wo ‘where’ as first element and a preposition as second element, like davor ‘before’, hierbei ‘hereby’, worin ‘wherein’, have often been explained by a movement of the first element out of the complement position of the preposition. This article points out some of the problems of movement analyses and presents an alternative account based on the diachronic development of pronominal adverbs. It is argued that the pattern after which pronominal adverbs are formed can be traced back to the univerbation of two adverbs with spatial meaning. This is accompanied by processes often associated with grammaticalization, such as semantic bleaching, phonological reduction, and a loss of separability in the standard variety. Some of the reduced forms are obligatory in phrasemes and particle verbs, thus constituting a split which can occur during grammaticalization. The reduction of the first element of pronominal adverbs and a doubling of the first element can be seen as part of a grammaticalization cycle.

The Emergence of Tab in Najdi Arabic

This study empirically investigates functional and social variation in the use of TAYYIB (‘okay, well, right’) in light of grammaticalisation. Thirty naturally occurring conversations of 60 Najdi Arabic speakers were recorded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The analysis demonstrates that TAYYIB has two realisations: full Tayyib [tˁajjib] and reduced Tab [tˁab]. Drawing on the conversation analytic approach within a variationist framework, TAYYIB was used to perform multiple discourse-pragmatic functions: interpersonal, textual and interpersonal–textual. The statistical analysis reveals that variant choice is significantly conditioned by the pragmatic functions. While Tayyib is employed to perform all three functions, Tab is only used for textual and interpersonal–textual meanings. As for social factors, Tab is significantly more likely to be used by younger speakers than adults and also more likely to be used by females than males. This can be interpreted as an indication of ongoing change driven by young people, primarily females, towards the greater use of the innovative Tab. Given the evidence of linguistic change in Tab including semantic bleaching, pragmatic strengthening and phonological reduction, the study suggests that Tab has undergone advanced grammaticalisation.

A multidimensional perspective on the acquisition of subject-verb dependencies by Haitian-Creole speaking children

AbstractThe present multidimensional study investigates the acquisition of pronominal subject-verb dependencies in Standard Haitian Creole (HC). A corpus analysis confirms that HC subject pronouns are phonological clitics in the target grammar and that their reduction is optional and unpredictable. The comprehension and production of dependencies involving these subject pronouns in 20 preschoolers acquiring HC as their first language were investigated. While the production of third person singular and plural subject pronounsl(i)andy(o)reveals early mastery of adult constraints on their phonological reductions, the systematic assignments ofl(i)to singular subjects vs.y(o)to plural subjects of the verb in the syntactic dependency emerge later, in both production and comprehension. The few syntactic contexts in which HC-learning children show evidence of comprehension involve full forms, rather than phonological reductions. Possible factors that explain these findings include the relative unpredictability of their forms and the linguistic status of HC pronouns.

Verb repetition as a template for reactive tokens in Japanese everyday talk

AbstractA systematic investigation into the first large scale Japanese conversation corpus reveals that repeated verbs (RVs) occurring in the response position tend to involve frequently used verbs such asaru‘to exist’ andchigau‘to differ’ (e.g.,aru aru aru). Further, longer RVs, those involving more repetition, are even more likely to occur with frequent verbs. In RVs, we find the verb having lost some of its lexical meaning and phonological substance (e.g.,chigau>chiga). RVs in fact behave more like pragmatic particles functioning as reactive tokens, i.e., short responses interjected by non-main speakers. RVs as reactive tokens are most clearly observed when they are used together with standard reactive tokens such ashai hai hai hai‘yes, yes, yes, yes’,so(o) so(o) so(o)‘yes, yes, yes’, and(i)ya (i)ya (i)ya‘no, no, no’, which also exhibit repetition and phonological reduction. Verb repetition is thus better understood as a template to turn verbs into reactive tokens.

The Grammaticalization of the Discourse Marker genre in Swiss French

By conducting an apparent-time analysis of the OFROM corpus collected in Francophone Switzerland, this study examined the use of genre as discourse marker in the speech of 306 French L1 speakers. First, we examined the effect of extralinguistic factors on the discursive use of genre. The logistic mixed-effects regression analysis results revealed that the emerging use of genre is indeed an ongoing change led by female speakers in Swiss French. This use was favored by monolinguals in Francophone Swiss. Second, we examined the vowel reduction of the DM genre in the corpus. Our results revealed that speakers who received only a high school education favor the vowel reduction in the DM genre the most. Given the high percentage of phonological reduction in the DM genre, we believe that the grammaticalization of this particle has reached its advanced stage in Swiss French. Compared to previous findings on the emerging use of genre in Hexagonal French, we suggested that the grammaticalization of the particle genre in Swiss French may be independent of that in Hexagonal French. The grammaticalization in Swiss French was much more advanced than in Hexagonal French. This study supplied comparable results on the grammaticalization of the same particle in two different Francophone countries.

“It can do me1 (‘what’)?” — On the development of a Cantonese interrogative pronoun into a negative stance marker

Based on data obtained from Cantonese corpora and interactions in everyday contexts, this paper identifies and analyzes the range of pragmatic functions that the interrogative pronoun me1 has. Focusing on the subjective evaluative functions of me1 that go beyond interrogation, this present study attempts to suggest the development pathway of me1 becoming a negative stance marker. Derived from combining the interrogative pronoun mat1 ‘what’ and the general noun je5 ‘thing’ followed by phonological reduction, it is observed that me1 (<mat1je5) has gone a long way, from replacing an item of enquiry, to substituting for an unretrievable or unutterable item to avoid taboo and embarrassment, and further to a negative evaluative attitudinal marker that can occupy a range of syntactic positions (including the pre-nominal and clause-initial positions) to signal the speaker's disagreement and derogatory attitude, and finally to become an interrogative sentence-final particle which is essentially subjective and negatively biased. Adopting a broadly interactional linguistic perspective (Ochs et al., 1996; Selting and Couper-Kuhlen, 2001), our present study looks at how me1 can be used to negotiate interpersonal functions in the course of conversational interactions. Findings in this paper will have significant contributions to the study of wh-markers generally, and provide important insights into how extended functions of wh-markers can be developed in Sinitic languages specifically.

광주광역시 지명수어에서 나타나는 다양한 조어 방법

The purpose of this study is to examine the sign language place names of Gwangju Metropolitan City and identify some of the linguistic patterns of Korean Sign Language (KSL). First, we analyze 106 signed place names of Gwangju, and classify them into five types: (i) finger-spelling Korean place names, (ii) translating Chinese characters of Korean place names into KSL, (iii) using rebus, (iv) representing regional characteristics, and (v) mixing finger-spelling and translation of Korean place names. Through the analysis, it is shown that linguistic phenomena found in spoken languages such as folk etymology, creativity, phonological reduction and assimilation, etc., as well as those found uniquely in signed languages such as simultaneity and iconicity, can also be found in signed place names. Finally, the relations of form and meaning with respect to the position of a word and with respect to each other are discussed.

Patterns of variation in subject-indexing prefixes in Vatlongos, Southeast Ambrym

AbstractThis paper describes four patterns of variation in the subject-indexing paradigm of Vatlongos (Oceanic, Vanuatu). It explores their quantitative distribution in a corpus of monologic texts from speakers in three different communities: Mele Maat, a relocated peri-urban community; Endu, which has a distinct dialect; and Ase-Taveak, the other villages of Southeast Ambrym. Speakers in Mele Maat are more likely to use a zero variant of the third person singular Non-future prefix and shorter syllabic variants, and less likely to use the paucal number category. All three patterns suggest formal simplification in the Mele Maat community. The latter two patterns are also associated with higher levels of education, and consequent greater exposure to national and international languages. Overall these patterns suggest that changes which involve reduction of distinctions in morphological paradigms are more likely to be accelerated in contexts of language endangerment than phonological change or phonological reduction.

Faded copies: Reduplication as distribution of activity

This paper proposes a new theory of reduplication that is based on redefining phonological copying as distribution of underlying activity within the framework of Gradient Symbolic Representations (Smolensky &amp;amp; Goldrick 2016). This assumption correctly predicts that copied elements are more likely to undergo phonological reduction and that reduction in a non-copying context implies reduction in a copying context but not vice versa. These predictions are summarized in the new empirical generalization of the ‘Copying-Weakening-Implication’. It is illustrated with case studies of two language types that show different thresholds for reduction: languages can show reduction only for copied material or only for material that is copied twice. Another important result of the proposal is the fact that copying symmetrically weakens all elements that are involved in the copying and does not single out the ‘reduplicant’ as the best target for reduction processes. This prediction is an important difference to accounts of reduplication based on BR-faithfulness (McCarthy &amp;amp; Prince 1995).

Zmiany wymagań syntaktycznych w procesach gramatykalizacji i postgramatykalizacji przyimków wyłączających

Artykuł prezentuje w ujęciu dynamicznym powstanie i rozwój tak zwanych przyimków wyłączających w języku polskim na tle słowiańskim. Autorzy kładą nacisk na procesy gramatykalizacji i postgramatykalizacji, w wyniku których powstają tak pierwotne, jak i wtórne przyimki w rodzaju bez – przez, oprócz, poza, kromia, wyjąwszy, z wyjątkiem itd. Większość tych wyrażeń powstała z rzeczowników, przysłówków lub czasowników, natomiast przyimki oprócz i poza powstały z innych przyimków, odpowiednio prócz oraz po + za. W wyniku tych procesów doszło do przekształcenia cech kategorialnych przyimków, które nasycają się nowymi treściami i przechodzą na wyższy (nieprzedmiotowy) poziom języka, by ostatecznie zmienić się w tzw. kontekstualizatory. O rekategoryzacji badanych wyrażeń świadczą m.in.: zmiany składniowe, przynajmniej w zakresie rodzaju prawostronnego argumentu i kontekstowego uogólnienia, redukcja fonologiczna (cf. proče &gt; proč, kromia &gt; krom), a także utrata własności składniowych charakterystycznych dla form wyjściowych. Nadal jednak zachowują (dziedziczą) one rekcję, charakterystyczną dla ich podstaw, por. krom + gen, wyjąć + acc &gt; wyjąwszy + acc.

Phonological Reduction in Pashto

The study is concerned with the phonological reduction in Pashto. The study particularly focuses on the reduction in the structure of complex predicates, verbal clitics and postpositional phrases in Pashto. The study finds out that the phonological reduction has syntactic/semantic or phonological factors allowing or constraining it. These more or less reduced and expanded forms are closely related to a number of linguistics abstractions. In structures with verbal clitics and postpositions, the reduction is optional, while in structure with complex predicates, the phonological reduction is obligatory if the compound verb denotes imperfective aspect. The obligatory reduction makes a single phonological unit from two syntactic units by omitting consonants or vowels in the structure of the phrase. The reduction is avoided if it creates an ambiguity of some kind or if the meaning of the lexical items is changed, and so, its allowance in one structure is constrained in another.

A study on the phonological reduction of adverb based on the spontaneous speech corpus

A study on the phonological reduction of adverb based on the spontaneous speech corpus

Simplifying M&lt;small&gt;ATCH&lt;/small&gt; W&lt;small&gt;ORD&lt;/small&gt;: Evidence from English functional categories

In work on the syntax-prosody interface, there is a prevalent idea that while lexical categories are preferentially mapped to prosodic words, no such pressure exists for functional categories (Selkirk 1984; 1996; 2011; Selkirk &amp;amp; Shen 1990; Truckenbrodt 1999; Elfner 2012). In Match Theory (Selkirk 2011), in which syntax-prosody isomorphism is enforced by a series of violable constraints, this supposed pressure is built into the system with the claim that MATCH WORD in some sense “ignores” functional categories. I argue that this idea is misguided, and that MATCH WORD does not discriminate between lexical and functional heads. The pervasive phonological reduction of function words is instead ascribed to the idiosyncratic prosodic requirements of the function words themselves. In particular, I adopt the model of Prosodic Subcategorization (Inkelas 1989; Zec 2005). This approach explains particular interactions that would be unexpected if MATCH WORD were genuinely indifferent to functional categories, and fits in with a large body of evidence suggesting that functional elements can behave in prosodically idiosyncratic ways (Nespor &amp;amp; Vogel 1986; Inkelas &amp;amp; Zec 1990; Zec 2005). The evidence comes from the behavior of several classes of English functional categories: prepositions, auxiliaries, determiners, weak object pronouns and contracted negation -n’t.

Reduction without fusion: Grammaticalization and wordhood in Turkish

AbstractDespite ample evidence that grammaticalization is accompanied by phonological reduction and ultimately morphological fusion, the latter process is remarkably less common in Turkish – hence its prototypically agglutinating morphology. Since vowel harmony is a means of articulatory reduction, Turkish, as a vowel-harmonic language, therefore shows reduction but (virtually) no fusion. One morphosyntactic consequence of agglutination is that Turkish “suffixes” in many ways continue to behave like free words. To compensate for the resulting lack of clear-cut suffixes, vowel harmony and stress are co-opted to perform affixal functions such as the demarcation of words and encoding of relationships among morphemes. Due to the grammatical function of suffix vowels, however, even grammaticalized items must then remain at least monosyllabic, which constrains the extent of fusion possible. This situation suggests that theories of grammaticalization that do not sufficiently distinguish between reduction and fusion need to be refined. In addition, it highlights the need for language-specific analyses on the diachronic dimension and restores the status of morphological typology as a predictor of certain linguistic variables.

Vowel Reduction in Coratino (South Italy): Phonological and Phonetic Perspectives

Vowel reduction may involve phonetic reduction processes, with nonreached targets, and/or phonological processes in which a vowel target is changed for another target, possibly schwa. Coratino, a dialect of southern Italy, displays complex vowel reduction processes assumed to be phonological. We analyzed a corpus representative of vowel reduction in Coratino, based on a set of a hundred pairs of words contrasting a stressed and an unstressed version of a given vowel in a given consonant environment, produced by 10 speakers. We report vowelformants together with consonant-to-vowel formant trajectories and durations, and show that these data are rather in agreement with a change in vowel target from /i e ɛ·ɔ u/ to schwa when the vowel is a non-word-initial unstressed utterance, unless the vowel shares a place-of-articulation feature with the preceding or following consonant. Interestingly, it also appears that there are 2 targets for phonological reduction, differing in F1 values. A “higher schwa” - which could be considered as /ɨ/ - corresponds to reduction for high vowels /i u/ while a “lower schwa” - which could be considered as /ə/ - corresponds to reduction for midhigh

A corpus-based study of the recurrent lexical bundle ka li kong ‘let (me) tell you’ in Taiwanese Southern Min conversations

Abstract This paper investigates the most frequent lexical bundle (LB) ka li kong (to-you-say) (KLK), in an 18.5-hour Taiwanese Southern Min conversation corpus. The analysis focuses on the discourse-pragmatic functions of KLK, the role it plays in the speaker’s management of information in talk-in-interaction, and the collocations that are employed. The results show that the speaker utilizes KLK to imply epistemic authority regarding the veracity of the predication. Meanwhile, it expresses the speaker’s stance or functions as a discourse organizer to initiate a narrative that is newsworthy. Prosodically, it is always processed as a holistic chunk with great phonological reduction. Along with the low transitivity of the verb kong demonstrated by the type of object it takes, we argue that KLK is developing into a discourse marker. Collocation of KLK with the marker toh further triggers the grammaticalization of the four-word bundle toh ka li kong (TKLK) to encode an extreme stance.

Análisis pragmaprosódico del marcador discursivo bueno

En líneas generales los marcadores del discurso han sido estudiados desde un enfoque gramatical, léxico, pragmático o pragmasintáctico, si bien, son pocos los estudios que han centrado su atención hacia el plano suprasegmental o prosódico. Nuestro trabajo parte de una hipótesis previa sobre la que ciertos rasgos prosódicos (acento, duración silábica, pausa, fronteras tonales) se asocian a la diversidad funcional de este tipo de unidades lingüísticas. De este modo, desarrollaremos de forma cualitativa y a título ejemplificador un análisis prosódico sobre el marcador discursivo bueno mediante la herramienta informática Praat, de acuerdo con la bibliografía al uso. Nos centraremos así en el estudio de ciertos rasgos prosódicos presentados como rasgos distintivos (pausas, reducción fonológica, nivel tonal, contorno melódico) a partir de la propuesta de Hidalgo (2010). Para ello estudiaremos el corpus de conversaciones coloquiales de Briz y Grupo Val.Es.Co. (2002) que recoge 19 conversaciones secretas en diversas situaciones informales sobre la modalidad del español coloquial peninsular. Para el caso particular de bueno, nos hemos apoyado también en la información ofrecida por el Diccionario de partículas discursivas del español (Briz, et al., 2008) que incluye el corpus del Grupo Val.Es.Co. (Briz, 2002) como referencia principal en el análisis de tales unidades.

Reflexive derivations in Thulung

Thulung Rai, an endangered Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Eastern Nepal, presents two derivational suffixes associated with reflexivization: -siand -s. The first, -si, is quite productive, found in complete paradigms, and derives reflexives, reciprocals, antipassives and anticausatives from transitive verbs (and occasionally from intransitive verbs). The second marker, -s, is more difficult to analyze: it has a limited distribution in verb paradigms, only appearing with 1pi and 3sg forms, and appears in a number of different contexts: it is found with the same types of derivations as -sibut also — in some cases obligatorily, in others optionally — with verbs that do not have reflexive (or related) functions. It is even found with some transitive verbs. In this presentation, I will propose an analysis of the phenomena above based on elicited and narrative data I have collected in the field. The -sin fact has multiple, albeit related, origins: it is a phonological reduction of -siin certain circumstances, while in others it appears to be an older reflexivizing suffix which has been integrated, to different degrees, into verb morphology. With transitives, it appears to be a trace reflecting the complex derivational history of verbs which are derived from intransitives.