Suprasegmental Systems Research Articles

Die Nativierung des Standarddeutschen

AbstractPresently, Standard German is in the process of becoming a nativized variety of German after centuries without native speakers. Over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first century, an increasing number of speakers have acquired Standard German as a first language, marking an important transitional phase in its social history. The article first discusses this from a theoretical and socio-historical perspective before providing empirical evidence for this change: Drawing on data from an apparent time study (involving 142 participants aged 20 to 90) and an experimental elicitation (from 35 kindergartners), it documents that at the present stage two typologically distinct systems can be observed in Southern Germany: Both a non-standard suprasegmental system that allows stressed syllables to be light and the Standard German system that requires stressed syllables to be heavy exist and are used simultaneously. The analyses show an ongoing shift towards the Standard German syllable system, proving that the Standard German syllable system is indeed undergoing a nativization process. The article closes with implications for language teaching, variational linguistics and the typological assessment of German that arise from these findings.

PROCESSOS DE NASALIZAÇÃO EM LUNG’IE

RESUMO Este artigo descreve e analisa a nasalidade vocálica produzida por coda e onset nasal em lung’Ie, língua crioula falada em São Tomé e Príncipe. Assim, observamos o comportamento fonotático da língua, investigando a aplicação dos processos de nasalização conforme o acento lexical e a possibilidade de ressilabificação dos segmentos. Ademais, através de um teste perceptivo, visamos identificar o modo que a nasalidade engatilhada por coda é concebida em lung’Ie. Nesse caso, os resultados indicam que, com a exclusão da consoante em onset da sílaba seguinte à sílaba que continha nasalização, os falantes compreendiam o apêndice nasal como uma consoante plena [n] ressilabificada na posição de onset nasal, reforçando, portanto, a interpretação bifonêmica da nasalidade no lung’Ie (AGOSTINHO, 2015). A análise fonotática, por sua vez, indica que o acento é primordial para o engatilhamento da nasalização a partir de onset silábico, ao passo que a nasalização em coda pode ocorrer independentemente da maior proeminência lexical envolvida. O acento como fator importante na concretização deste processo sugere a existência de um sistema suprassegmental misto em lung’Ie, constituído por tom e acento, sendo o acento a categoria suprassegmental mais importante (AGOSTINHO, 2015).

Processos de sândi vocálico externo em Lung’Ie considerando acento e tom

Este trabalho investiga os contextos em que ocorrem processos de sândi vocálico externo em Lung’Ie, uma língua crioula de base portuguesa falada na Príncipe Island, São Tomé e Príncipe, e sua relação com o sistema suprassegmental da língua. Através da análise da relação entre acento e tom nos processos de sândi, esta pesquisa pretende demonstrar que o padrão tonal do Lung’Ie, tal como descrito por Maurer (2009), não bloqueia o fenômeno, que é bloqueado em determinados contextos de acento. A contribuição desta pesquisa envolve a compreensão do sistema suprassegmental do Lung’Ie e da relação das categorias de tom e acento na língua.

Z zagadnień interferencji prozodycznej - intonacja polskich i angielskich zdań wykrzyknikowych

The paper addresses the issue of intonation structure in Polish and English exclamation sentences as well as the problem of prosodic errors performed by Polish speakers of English in exclamation utterances. In our analysis narrow approach to intonation has been implemented, which means that intonation is tantamount to one component of suprasegmental system – speech melody. Discussion on the experimental findings is preceded by classification of head and terminal tone types with corresponding meanings for exclamation sentences in both languages under study. The auditory and acoustic data obtained show differences in Polish and English melodic structures, which can be the source of interference. The most crucial discrepancies refer to: 1. the ratio of initial pitch level of head and terminal tone, 2. types of tones in head, 3. types of terminal tones, 4. the shape of the falling tone.

The emergence of systems of lexical and grammatical tone and stress in Caribbean and West African Creoles

The complex contact situation that developed among speakers of Niger-Congo and Indo-European languages in the Caribbean during the era of colonial plantation slav-ery gave rise to creoles with similarly complex pitch-related suprasegmental systems. In Afro-Caribbean creoles, the reinterpretation of stress in European superstrate languages in terms of the tone and stress systems that typify West African substrate languages often leads to greater complexity than that found in either the superstrate or the substrate languages. Despite this complexity, the general characteristics of tone and stress in Afro-Caribbean creoles resemble much more those found along the west coast of Africa than those found in other regions where tone systems are commonly encountered, such as East Asia and Mesoamerica. This suggests that in any scenario for the emergence of creole languages, consideration should be given to linguistic and cultural continuity from the substrates.

Changes in excitability of motor cortical circuitry in primary restless legs syndrome.

To investigate the excitability of segmental and suprasegmental systems in patients with primary restless legs syndrome (pRLS) by measuring the cortical silent period (C-SP) and the peripheral silent period (P-SP). There is some evidence that RLS may be the motor manifestation of normal CNS periodicity that becomes disinhibited under certain conditions. The mechanism of this disinhibition is unclear. Ten patients with pRLS and 10 normal age-matched subjects were studied. The mixed nerve P-SP produced by electrical stimulation of the median and common peroneal nerves was recorded during maximal contraction of the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. The C-SP produced by a single magnetic shock to motor cortex at 150% of resting threshold was also measured during maximal contraction of the APB and TA muscles. The average of 5 to 10 trials at each site was obtained and compared using Student's t-test. Resting central motor threshold was not significantly different between pRLS patients and the control group. The average duration of the C-SP was shorter in the APB (74.5+/-37.7 versus 129.56+/-35.95 msec, p<0.05) and TA (66.81+/-25.63 versus 136.1+/-40.35 msec, p<0.05) in patients with pRLS. The P-SP duration, however, was not significantly different between two groups in either limb. The supraspinal inhibitory system is impaired in pRLS.

A prominence account of syllable reduction in early speech development: the child's prosodic phonology of tiger and giraffe.

When young children produce multiword utterances and words that are polysyllabic in adult speech, they are most likely to omit unstressed syllables. Because unstressed syllables are omitted more often in weak-strong (iambic) than in strong-weak (trochaic) environments, a trochaic metrical theory has been proposed to account for the asymmetrical omission pattern. This paper presents an alternative explanation based on the notion of relative prosodic prominence. I propose that syllable prominence is a product of two orthogonal suprasegmental systems: one that marks stress/accent peaks and one that marks phrase boundaries. A two-component scale of prominence values reflecting the contributions of both systems was used to analyze single- and multi-word speech samples of 11 children 19 to 26 months of age. The results show that the prominence scale parsimoniously accounts not only for the bias toward syllable omissions in nontrochaic environments but also explains other types of syllable reduction not captured by metrical theories. Implications of the dual-system prosodic model are discussed in terms of possible contributions to a perceptually based theory of early polysyllabic and multiword patterns in child speech.

Analysis of the mechanisms of interaction between generators of cyclic motor reactions and inputs from suprasegmental systems

The simulation mathematical model of neuronal generator systems was used for analyzing the interaction between inputs from descending (afferent) systems and generators of scratching (locomotion). The data obtained indicate that in cases when generators of cyclic motor reactions influence the effectiveness of synaptic transmission from the fibers of descending (or afferent) systems, the differences in the main characteristics of signals that are produced by these generators themselves and those that come to them are emphasized. These data allow us to conclude that the system supplying interaction between inputs from suprasegmental (afferent) fiber systems and generators of locomotion of scratching can be interpreted as an adaptive filter which processes spatial and temporal information coming to the spinal cord via different suprasegmental or primary afferent inputs and allows generators of cyclic motor reactions to correct their functioning in accordance with changing external conditions.

Brainstem pathways of the initiation of locomotion

This overview of the brainstem pathways of the initiation of locomotion can be summarized as follows. There are locomotor regions (hypothalamic and mesencephalic) whose stimulation leads to the appearance of rhythmic stepping movements. These regions are nonuniform in composition: transient fibers as well as cells are found. The locomotor effects of electrical stimulation of these regions can largely be explained on the basis of the presence of efferent projections of the neurons to the medial reticular formation, as well as the activation of the transient fibers of other brain systems. The ventromedial parts of the reticular formation of the medulla oblongata, including areas of the macrocellular and (to a lesser extent) gigantocellular nuclei, form the final element in the suprasegmental system of locomotion initiation. The inconclusive data of different scientists who have used chemical microinjections into the locomotor regions make it impossible at present to specify precisely the neurochemical mechanisms underlying the initiation of locomotion. NMDA has been found to play an important role. The activation of the reticular formation during the triggering of stepping movements can take place either from the locomotor regions or by means of signals coming from the collaterals of the ascending sensory tracts. The wide spectrum of possible pathways of the initiation of locomotion apparently affords the organism a choice of ways by which to realize this process and is an important factor in its adaptation to its environment.

Spatial organization of origins of the spino-reticulo-cerebellar pathway

Parameters of the spatial distribution of spinal neurons projecting to the bulbar lateral reticular nucleus were calculated using the horseradish peroxidase retrograde axonal transport technique. Average numbers of labelled units per 60 μm transverse section were as follows: 12.55 (C2−C4), 7.77 (C5−Th1, 1.07 (Th2−Th13), and 1.60 (L1−L7). Two groupings (the lateral and ventromedial) of spino-reticular neurons could be identified according to their highest density of distribution. The first of these groups puts out mainly (but not exclusively) direct projections, while the latter have primarily crossed projections. The remaining spino-reticular neurons are widely scattered, spanning the gray matter. The percentage of lateral neurons reaches its peak at the upper cervical segment and declines travelling in a caudal direction, whereas the proportion of ventromedial cells rises. The relationship between findings on the spatial organization of spino-reticular neurons and available data on their functional grouping is discussed. The presence of a lateral neuronal group at all segmental levels casts doubt on the validity of distinguishing an “ipsilateral forelimb tract.” Consideration is also given to structural and functional aspects of the fact that cells are comprised in the spino-reticular system both forming intersegmental propriospinal connections and fulfilling the function of units relaying descending activity from within suprasegmental systems.

The phonetic realization of trochaeic meter in Latvian and Estonian

Introduction Both Latvian and Estonian folk songs employ trochaeic lines. The two languages are genetically unrelated and typologically different; yet the folk poetry produced by the two peoples has developed a similar metric structure. We believe that the suprasegmental system of a language is crystallized in the metric structure of its traditional poetry;1 would it then not follow that similar metric structures found in traditional poetry imply similarities in the suprasegmental systems? We decided to study the phonetic realization of trochaeic lines in contemporary Estonian and Latvian poetry, with a view toward establishing the similarities and differences between trochaeic lines in the two languages, hoping also that the results of our study may throw some light on the metrics of the respective folk