Tonal Behavior Research Articles

Tonal Behavior as of Areal and Typological Concerns: Centering on the Sinitic and Kam-Tai Languages in Lingnan

From the perspective of areal linguistics, this paper examines the similarities in tonal behavior between Sinitic and Kam-Tai, the two most populous language groups in Lingnan. By relying on some frameworks for investigating tone systems, i.e., tone-box theories, which largely involve the evolution of tones, the following duplicating patterns and paths of diffusion of areal features are identified. (1) The secondary tonal split conditioned by vowel length on checked syllables, as well as the secondary tonal split of the upper-register tones conditioned by the laryngeal features of initial consonants, both originated in Kam-Tai languages and have diffused into some neighboring Sinitic languages. (2) The pattern of the secondary tonal split of the lower-register tones conditioned by laryngeal features of the initial consonants originated in northern authoritative Sinitic languages and spread widely among different subgroups of Sinitic languages; its diffusion into the Kam-Tai languages is limited to the lexical category of loanwords. (3) The upper-register tones associated with sonorant initials found in Lingnan Sinitic languages are suggested to be of a Kam-Tai origin trait. Further, their underlying areal typological rules are also summarized, concentrating on different upper limits for the possible secondary tonal split in the Sinitic and Kam-Tai languages, which were determined by the historically distinct laryngeal features of the initial consonants of the two language groups.

Comparison of transfer path characteristics for different wind turbine drivetrain variations

To reduce acoustic emissions of a wind turbine (WT), the source of the vibrations (e.g. blades, gearbox), the emitting surfaces (e.g. blades, tower, nacelle cover) and the transmission between the source and surface have to be studied. The focus of this paper lies on a method to identify relevant transfer paths between the WT drivetrain and the sound-emitting surfaces and their respective contribution. The identified transfer paths can be used to improve turbine acoustics, especially by identifying problematic transmission areas.This paper will cover the application of transfer path analysis methods for different wind turbine drivetrains. The method will be applied to an MBS model of a 3 MW turbine. Different Bearing arrangements of the drivetrain and their influence on the Transfer path are compared. With the result of the TPA, developers will be able to determine critical contributions to the tonal behavior of the turbine and optimize either the transfer characteristics or the excitation specifically responsible for tonal behavior. The methods described can be applied to field measurement as well as an MBS-Model of the turbine to be able to optimize transfer characteristics during development.

An Analysis of Noise in Multi-Bit ΣΔ Modulators with Low-Frequency Input Signals.

Digital and smart sensors are commonly implemented using multi-bit Modulators. Undesired signals can be present at the ADC input, such as low-frequency signals with medium or high amplitude, as a consequence of mechanical artifacts in the MEMS and/or temporary signal overload. Simulations and measurements of those sensors with such signals show temporary increments of in-band noise power. This paper investigates the factors that produce this transient performance loss. Interestingly, noise increments happen when the modulator is forced to toggle between three adjacent levels and is not correlated with the typical tonal behavior of Modulators. Hence, the sensor performance is sensitive to some specific input patterns even if tonal behavior is decreased by dithering the input of the ADC. Different error sources, such as the mismatch between DAC cells, loop filter linearity error, and quantization error, contribute to the observed noise increments. Our aim is to analyze each of these error sources to understand and quantify in-band noise power increments, and to desensitize the ADC from the undesired input patterns. Some estimation equations are proposed and verified through extensive simulations, by means of deterministic and stochastic methods. These equations are influenced by some modulator parameters and can be used to optimize them in order to reduce such in-band noise power increments.

An Optimality Theoretic Analysis of the Mid Tone in Isekírì

The asymmetric behaviour of the mid tone has been reported in the Yoruboid literature and previous accounts of tone behaviour in Iṣẹkírì suggest that a low tone is always deleted in favour of others at word boundary. However, synchronic data have shown that this is not the case. This paper investigates tonal asymmetry and the non-participation of the mid tone in some phonological processes in Iṣẹkírì. The study adopts an Optimality Theory (OT) version that incorporates the grounding conditions to develop constraints of implicational statements into faithfulness constraints. Data are elicited from eight speakers of the language, recordings are with the aid of a digital audio device and the tool used for our acoustic measurement is Praat 6.0.30. The analysis reveals that tonal asymmetry in this language always deletes the Mid-tone at word boundary and not the Low tone, also noting that the Low tone may be deleted in some cases. The lack of participation of the M tone in some phonological processes such as vowel elision, glide formation and vowel assimilation reveals the unstable nature of this tone in Iṣẹkírì. This paper concludes that the M tone is in asymmetry to the H and L tones in Iṣẹkírì and demonstrates the need for more perceptual and acoustic studies of tonal behaviour in Iṣẹkírì.

A Constraint-based Analysis of Obligatory Contour Principle in Anaang Morphological Constructions

The obligatory contour principle forbids identical consecutive features in the underlying representation. This work undertakes a description of the Anaang tonal structure, the tonal behaviour of compounds and reduplicates in the language, bearing in mind their sensitivity to the OCP and the environments that trigger the adherence. An adapted Ibadan wordlist of 400 Basic Items (Trial) English version was used via interview for data collection from six men and six women within Abak Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State. The data were analysed using optimality theoretical framework. The analysis shows that Anaang compounds as well as reduplicates exhibit cases of tonal modifications in line with OCP. For compounds, the tone of the second noun changes depending on the tonal sequence. In the HH noun base, the second-high tone of the second noun changes to a low tone, in the LH noun base, the tone of the second noun is raised to a down-stepped high tone, the LL noun base sees the tone of the second noun being raised to a high tone. For reduplication, the tone of the L verb base changes when the redup
 lication is partial. When the reduplication is complete, the high tone of the second noun is down-stepped.

A Review of Landsat False Color Composite Images for Lithological Mapping of Pre-Cambrian to Recent Rocks: A Case Study of Pail/Padhrar Area in Punjab Province, Pakistan

This research is based to review the efficacy of Landsat thematic mapper (TM) on different band combinations for mapping of different geological formations ranging in age from Pre-Cambrian to most recent rocks. These band combinations include 742, 247, 564, 456, 567 and 765. Out of these, the most suitable false color composite combination is assessed for differentiation of lithology. To differentiate formations, the Landsat TM image is processed in Erdas imagine software and accordingly different lithological formations are identified on the basis of their tonal variations. Findings of the research show that 742 and 247 are the most suitable false color composite for sedimentary rocks of lower eocene (Nammal and Sakaser Formations), middle and lower Miocen (Murree and Kamlial Formations) and Pre-Cambrian (Salt Range Formation) lithological formations. The 564 and 456 FCC combinations have complexities in the identification of different lithologies; however, 456 FCC combination identified Paleocene rocks of Makarwal group (Patala Formation) and Pre-Cambrian (Salt Range Formation). The other two combinations 567 and 765 differentiate only middle Pliocene (Chinji and Nagri Formations), whereas lower eocene (Chorgali Formation) reflects fluctuating tonal behavior. The other lithologies are unidentifiable in these two combinations. Findings of the research are the base for the utilization of Landsat TM data in identification of similar lithologies in the salt range as well as in other areas having sedimentary rocks.

Masked Dithering of MASH Digital Delta-Sigma Modulators With Constant Inputs Using Multiple Linear Feedback Shift Registers

The output signal of a digital delta-sigma modulator (DDSM) with a constant input may has a small fundamental period and therefore its spectrum may be characterized by a small number of strong periodic tones. Pseudorandom dither can be used to break up the tones, but it is indistinguishable from signal. The dither signal can be masked by using short sequence lengths but this may result in ineffective dithering and consequent tonal behavior. This paper shows how to use multiple shaped dither signals which are masked by the shaped quantization noise of the DDSM and yield a long fundamental output period.

An OT Analysis of Efik Contrastive Verbal Reduplication

This paper provides an optimality-theoretic analysis of two types of contrastive verbal reduplication in Efik (Niger-Congo; Nigeria). Lexical contrast reduplication puts contrastive focus on the meaning of the verb while performance contrast reduplication puts contrastive focus on the tense/aspect of the verb. Lexical contrast and performance contrast reduplication have distinct phonological patterns in the affirmative but do not contrast in the negative, giving rise to three patterns (Cook 1985). I posit three verbal reduplicants, REDNEG, REDLEX, and REDPRF, and derive their segmental and tonal properties in Generalized Template Theory (McCarthy & Prince 1995). I propose that REDLEX and REDPRF are affixes while REDNEG is a root. REDLEX and REDPRF exhibit TETU effects that REDNEG does not, including onset cluster simplification, coda deletion, monosyllabicity, and the absence of high vowels. These effects are derived by ranking various markedness constraints between IO and BR-Root faithfulness and BR faithfulness. As a root, REDNEG has faithful tones. I analyze the polar tone of REDLEX as a case of alternating fixed autosegmentism (a TETU effect driven by the OCP) and the fixed high tone of REDPRF as a case of morphological fixed autosegmentism. Finally, the constraint *HLH explains the tonal behavior of LH verbs.

Influence of Initial Conditions on the Fundamental Periods of LFSR-Dithered MASH Digital Delta–Sigma Modulators With Constant Inputs

A digital delta–sigma modulator (DDSM) with a constant input may produce a periodic output with a small fundamental period, resulting in strong tonal output behavior instead of the expected shaped white quantization noise. In practice, the problem is alleviated by dithering the DDSM. Pseudorandom dither generators based on linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) are widely used to “break up” periodic cycles in DDSMs with constant inputs. Pseudorandom dither signals are themselves periodic and can lead to relatively short output sequences from dithered DDSMs. It is known that the fundamental period of the output signal depends not only on the input and the initial condition of the DDSM but also on the initial state of the LFSR. This brief shows that bad LFSR initial conditions can lead to ineffective dithering, producing short cycles and strong tonal behavior. Furthermore, it explains how to set the initial state of the DDSM as a function of the initial state of the LFSR in order to obtain a maximum-length dithered output.

Le ton dans le système pronominal du bissa barka

This paper presents an introductory overview of the pronominal system in Bissa Barka, an Eastern Mande language spoken in south-east Burkina Faso and northern Ghana. Primary focus is placed on the tonal behaviour of the pronouns. The paper begins with a discussion of the number of level tones represented in the language, including a summary of past tonal research. Next, it presents the two sets of personal pronouns used in the language. The tonal behaviour of each of the personal pronouns is presented, along with the tonal behaviour of the pronouns in a possessive phrase, and the tonal behaviour of the logophoric pronoun. The paper ends with a discussion of the four tonal processes identified in the pronominal system including a floating H tone, L tone spread, final falling tone and a restriction of L tone followed by a L tone.

A probability model for key analysis in music

This paper presents a novel method to analyse the tonal behaviour of a music piece. The method is based on the development of a novel probability model of the predominant key using the well known Pitch Class Profile (PCP or chroma) descriptor. This feature represents the importance of each note of the chromatic scale within the spectral content of the audio signal.Making use of PCP feature, a main novel contribution presented is the development of new profile models for the characterization of major and minor keys. Most of the key profile models found in the literature assign a single value to each pitch class for a particular key. This value represents the salience of this pitch class in a specific key. The new key profiles, that will be described in this paper, are based on the identification of specific probability density functions (PDFs), defined after the analysis of the presence of the pitch classes of the chromatic scale in the different keys.

Tonemic Substitution in Ekwulobia Igbo: A Descriptive Account

This paper presents an analysis of the tonal behavior of level tones in the Ekwulobia variety of Igbo. It gives a descriptive account of the peculiar tonal patterning of words in this lect. This unique tonal pattern is linked to insignificant and regular tonemic substitution realized especially on nouns and verbs in grammatical constructions. The choice of substitutable tonemes as observed from the analyzed data is highly Ezenwafordependent on the intuitive judgement of the native speaker. This work shows with adequate data, that regular tonemic changes are not always meaningful in Ekwulobia lect. Such tonemic alternations are therefore accorded phonetic status.

Study of tonal noise behavior of an airfoil by using parabolized stability equations

Tonal noise or whistle noise is an aerodynamic noise known to be generated due to boundary layer instability. The relation between the instability of Tollmien–Schlichting wave and the tonal noise was dealt with, in previous studies, for rather limited cases that employed linear stability analysis or results for idealized flow configuration. To investigate the relation between the instability wave and tonal noise in a more thorough and systematic way, we employ the parabolized stability equation approach to compute details of the stability characteristics of boundary layer developed over pressure side surface of an airfoil at various angles of attack and various free-stream velocities. Discussions on the relation between the instability and the tonal noise have been given based on the comparison of the present computational results with the experimental data. We confirm that the overall U 1.5 dependency of the noise frequency with velocity is caused by the most amplified Tollmien–Schlichting wave. Application of a simple feedback model to the stability data of the present work provides us with the results that explain well the ladder-like structure and local U 0.8 dependency of the tonal noise. Effects of angle of attack and chord length on the tonal noise including the frequency, velocity range, and frequency difference between peaks of the noise are also examined.

Disambiguating Yorùbá tones: At the interface between syntax, morphology, phonology and phonetics

This paper considers a particular type of tonal behavior in Yorùbá with the goal of testing whether syntactic and phonological domains converge or diverge. We consider two types of syntactically conditioned phonological rules: (i) the appearance of phonological elements not present lexically (epenthesis/insertion), (ii) the loss of phonological elements (deletion). These types of rules are often tightly interconnected as the (apparent) loss of one element may involve the appearance of some other element. The cases we consider here involve two Yorùbá tone rules whose surface effect is to change a lexically specified tone (or tone sequence). One of the rules is syntactically conditioned in that it applies across a phrasal boundary; the other rule is morphologically conditioned in that it applies within the word/X 0 domain. The two tone rules are conditioned by two distinct domains, namely syntax (the phrasal domain) versus morphology (the word-level domain). We will demonstrate that a consideration of two independent well-formedness conditions—syntactic inclusiveness and phonological structure preservation—leads us to entertain the possibility that the outputs of tone rules will be distinct from one another according to whether they apply across a phrasal domain (i.e. are syntactically conditioned) or whether they apply within a word (i.e. are morphologically conditioned).

Tonal Representation of Chinese Wenzhou Dialect

This paper centers on tonal representation of Chinese Wenzhou dialect. Tonal behaviors in Wenzhou indicate that tone is on an independent tier to the segment. Also, because of the complex of register and contour, Chinese tones have been represented with a structure of two dimensions, i.e. register and contour. However, these representations present an insolvable dilemma when analyzing the tonal behavior of Wenzhou dialect. Noticing that tone sandhi in Wenzhou is totally blind to register, we will propose that register is not an underlying feature for Wenzhou tone. We will further suggest that it is the initial consonant that carries the feature of register. This paper will conclude that the tonal representation of Wenzhou dialect has only one level, the tonal contour is formed by concatenation of level tones, and initial consonants carry the burden of meaning distinction that “tonal register” is supposed to carry.

Introduction: Tone and intonation from a typological perspective

Traditionally, tone languages and intonation languages are considered to be typologically distinct. Tone languages use pitch changes to distinguish morphemes, while intonation languages use meaningful pitch changes at the sentence level, often anchoring them to positions of phrasal stress (Ladd, 1996). However, tone and intonation have come to be considered more and more as overlapping areas of research since Pierrehumbert’s (1980) influential Ph.D. dissertation persuasively argued that intonation melodies are best represented as sequences of tones, using the autosegmental formalism developed for the analysis of tone languages. Modern textbooks (Ladd, 1996; Yip, 2002; Gussenhoven, 2004) recognize this fundamental compositional similarity between tone and intonation. Recent research shows, moreover, that there is no clear-cut distinction between tone and intonation languages. Tone languages also make use of intonation, defined as meaningful alternations in pitch across the sentence (e.g., Xu, 1999 for focus in Chinese, Downing et al., 2004 for Chichewa and Rialland (this issue)). Similarly, recent research argues that intonational melodies show tonal behavior in some non-tonal languages (Fery and Kugler, 2008). For reasons like these, Jun (2005) argues for a more fine-grained feature set to classify languages according to how they use pitch changes, placing them along a typological continuum rather than in absolute classes like tone vs. intonation language. For instance, the tone language Mandarin Chinese has both lexical pitch (i.e., tone) and stress, whereas Cantonese only has lexical pitch (Jun, 2005:444). Mandarin thus shares the property of having stress with well-known intonation languages like German or English, even though it is also clearly a tone language (i.e., a language with phonemic tone) while English and German are not. Some of the articles in this www.elsevier.com/locate/lingua Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Issues in the evaluation of the tonality of nonstationary sounds containing time‐ varying harmonic complexes

Nonstationary sounds that contain broadband noise and tone complexes whose fundamental frequency varies with time are encountered frequently. Aircraft flyovers and machines shifting operating speeds are examples. The tonalness of such sounds is a factor in how annoying they are. Most metrics used to quantify the tonalness of sounds have been developed for stationary sounds and are based on an analysis of spectra. Contributions from individual sinusoids are estimated and either summed or the maximum is taken. When sounds vary, spectral estimation can be problematic due to the conflicting needs to reduce the variance of the estimate, maintain high frequency resolution, and generate spectra at a rate where the varying tonal behavior can be tracked sufficiently. Harmonic complexes are often perceived holistically, having one dominant pitch, thus treating sinusoidal components independently and summing may not be appropriate. Tests conducted to analyze the tonalness of harmonic complexes in noise are described, and an analysis of aircraft flyovers is used to illustrate the issues that need to be addressed when estimating the tonalness of complex time‐varying sounds.

Micromachined Vibratory Gyroscopes Controlled by a High-Order Bandpass Sigma-Delta Modulator

This work reports on the design of novel closed-loop control systems for the sense mode of a vibratory-rate gyroscope based on a high-order sigma-delta modulator (SigmaDeltaM). A low-pass and two distinctive bandpass topologies are derived, and their advantages discussed. So far, most closed-loop force-feedback control systems for these sensors were based on low-pass SigmaDeltaM's. Usually, the sensing element of a vibratory gyroscope is designed with a high quality factor Q to increase the sensitivity and, hence, can be treated as a mechanical resonator. Furthermore, the output characteristic of vibratory rate gyroscopes is narrowband amplitude-modulated signal. Therefore, a bandpass SigmaDeltaM is a more appropriate control strategy for a vibratory gyroscope than a low-pass SigmaDeltaM. Using a high-order bandpass SigmaDeltaM, the control system can adopt a much lower sampling frequency compared with a low-pass SigmaDeltaM while achieving a similar noise floor for a given oversampling ratio (OSR). In addition, a control system based on a high-order bandpass SigmaDeltaM is superior as it not only greatly shapes the quantization noise, but also alleviates tonal behavior, as is often seen in low-order SigmaDeltaM control systems, and has good immunities to fabrication tolerances and parameter mismatch. These properties are investigated in this study at system level

Focus in Bantu: verbal morphology and function

Although verb forms encoding focus were recorded in various Bantu languages during the twentieth century it was not until the late 1970's that they became the centre of serious attention, starting with the work of Hyman and Watters. In the last decade this attention has grown. While focus can be expressed variously, this paper concentrates largely on its morphological, partly on its tonal expression. On the basis of morphological and tonal behaviour, it identifies four blocks of languages, representing less than a third of all Bantu languages: those with metatony, those with a binary constituent contrast between verb ("disjunctive") and post-verbal ("conjunctive") focus, those with a three-way contrast, and those with verb initial /ni-/. Following Güldemann's lead, it is shown there is a fairly widespread grammaticalisation path whereby focus markers may come to encode progressive aspect, then present tense. Many Bantu languages today have a pre-stem morpheme /a/ 'non-past' and it is hypothesized that many of these /a/, which are otherwise hard to explain historically, may derive from an older focus marker.

Low-distortion bandpass - modulator for wireless radio receivers

A low-distortion bandpass sigma-delta modulator is proposed. It was found that the key to improving linearity is to add a feedforward signal path in a double-delay resonator bandpass structure. The proposed technique improves the tonal behaviour even at low oversampling ratio and can be applied for any order of modulator. Based on the proposed architecture, a fourth-order single-bit sigma-delta modulator can achieve a dynamic range of 84 dB and a spurious free dynamic range of 98 dB at 10.71 MHz with a signal bandwidth of 200 kHz, making it ideal for a narrowband IF-sampled wireless receiver designed for compliance with GSM/GPRS standards.