Tonal Patterns Research Articles

European starlings (sturnus vulgaris) discriminate rhythms by rate, not temporal patterns.

Humans can perceive a regular psychological pulse in music known as the beat. The evolutionary origins and neural mechanisms underlying this ability are hypothetically linked to imitative vocal learning, a rare trait found only in some species of mammals and birds. Beat perception has been demonstrated in vocal learning parrots but not in songbirds. We trained European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) on two sound discriminations to investigate their perception of the beat and temporal structure in rhythmic patterns. First, we trained birds on a two-choice discrimination between rhythmic patterns of tones that contain or lack a regular beat. Despite receiving extensive feedback, the starlings were unable to distinguish the first two patterns. Next, we probed the temporal cues that starlings use for discriminating rhythms in general. We trained birds to discriminate a baseline set of isochronous and triplet tone sequences. On occasional probe trials, we presented transformations of the baseline patterns. The starlings' responses to the probes suggest they relied on absolute temporal features to sort the sounds into "fast" and "slow" and otherwise ignored patterns that were present. Our results support that starlings attend to local features in rhythms and are less sensitive to the global temporal organization.

Longer Cochlear Implant Experience Leads to Better Production of Mandarin Tones for Early Implanted Children.

Children with cochlear implants (CIs) face challenges in acquiring tones, since CIs do not transmit pitch information effectively. It has been suggested that longer CI experience provides additional benefits for children implanted early, enabling them to achieve language abilities similar to that of normal-hearing (NH) children (Colletti 2009). Mandarin is a tonal language with four lexical tones and a neutral tone (T0), characterized by distinct pitch and durational patterns. It has been suggested that early implantation (i.e., before 2 years) greatly benefits the acquisition of Mandarin tones by children with CIs (Tang et al. 2019c). In this study, we extend those findings to investigate the effect of CI experience on the acquisition of Mandarin tones for children implanted early. We asked the extent to which they were able to produce distinct pitch and durational patterns of both lexical tones and T0 as a function of CI experience, and the extent to which their tonal productions were acoustically like that of NH children. Forty-four NH 3-year olds and 28 children implanted with CIs between 1 and 2 years, aged 3 to 7, were recruited. The children with CIs were grouped according to the length of CI experience: 3 to 6 years, 2 to 3 years, and 1 to 2 years. Lexical tone and T0 productions were elicited using a picture-naming task. Tonal productions from the children with CIs were acoustically analyzed and compared with those from the NH children. Children with 3 to 6 years of CI experience were able to produce distinct pitch and durational patterns for both lexical tones and T0, with NH-like acoustic realizations. Children with 2 to 3 years of CI experience were also able to produce the expected tonal patterns, although their productions were not yet NH-like. Those with only 1 to 2 years of CI experience, however, were not yet able to produce the distinct acoustic patterns for either lexical tones or T0. These results provide acoustic evidence demonstrating that, when Mandarin-speaking children are implanted before the age of 2, only those with 3 to 6 years of experience were able to produce NH-like tones, including both lexical tone and T0. Children with shorter CI experience (less than 3 years) were unable to produce distinct acoustic patterns for the different tones. This suggests that at least 3 years of CI experience is still needed for early implanted children to acquire tonal distinctions similar to those of NH 3-year olds.

Grammaticalization in Somali and the development of morphological tone

We demonstrate how grammaticalization may cause the restructuring of prosodic systems, leading to the development of new prosodic types. Illustrated with data from Northern Somali and related varieties, we show how a restricted tone system has developed into one of morphological tone through grammatical­ization of independent words to bound forms. Diachronic change has weakened the “accentual” properties of the High tone in Somali, and the tone patterns are synchronically best analyzed as properties of morphological constructions rather than of prosodic domains.

Change detection of auditory tonal patterns defined by absolute versus relative pitch information. A combined behavioural and EEG study.

The human auditory system often relies on relative pitch information to extract and identify auditory objects; such as when the same melody is played in different keys. The current study investigated the mental chronometry underlying the active discrimination of unfamiliar melodic six-tone patterns by measuring behavioural performance and event-related potentials (ERPs). In a roving standard paradigm, such patterns were either repeated identically within a stimulus train, carrying absolute frequency information about the pattern, or shifted in pitch (transposed) between repetitions, so only relative pitch information was available to extract the pattern identity. Results showed that participants were able to use relative pitch to detect when a new melodic pattern occurred. Though in the absence of absolute pitch sensitivity significantly decreased and behavioural reaction time to pattern changes increased. Mismatch-Negativity (MMN), an ERP indicator of auditory deviance detection, was elicited at approximately 206 ms after stimulus onset at frontocentral electrodes, even when only relative pitch was available to inform pattern discrimination. A P3a was elicited in both conditions, comparable in amplitude and latency. Increased latencies but no differences in amplitudes of N2b, and P3b suggest that processing at higher levels is affected when, in the absence of absolute pitch cues, relative pitch has to be extracted to inform pattern discrimination. Interestingly, the response delay of approximately 70 ms on the behavioural level, already fully manifests at the level of N2b. This is in accordance with recent findings on implicit auditory learning processes and suggests that in the absence of absolute pitch cues a slowing of target selection rather than a slowing of the auditory pattern change detection process causes the deterioration in behavioural performance.

The improved photosensitivity of photosensitive polyimides containing o‐nitrobenzyl ether groups induced by the addition of photoacid generator

AbstractIn this article, photosensitive polyimides (PSPIs) with photosensitive groups, o‐nitrobenzyl ether groups (Nb), were successfully synthesized based on 2,2′‐dihydroxy benzophenone‐3,3′,4,4′‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride and on diamine containing ethylene glycol chains (ODA). Also, a series of polyimide (PI), ODA‐1‐PI, ODA‐3‐PI, and ODA‐5‐PI with a number of ethylene glycol chains of 1, 3, and 5 were prepared to investigate the relationship between structure and solubility. Interestingly, ODA‐5‐PI, which possesses a large number of ethylene glycols, exhibited the most excellent solubility. Therefore, due to the good solubility of ODA‐5‐PI in organic solvents and alkaline solutions, a PSPI, poly(1,4‐phenyleneoxy‐3,6,9,12,15‐pentaoxaoctane‐1,4‐phenylene‐2,2′‐di[2‐nitrobenzyloxy]benzophenone‐3,3′,4,4′‐tetracarboxdiimide), named ODA‐5‐PSPI, was synthesized by linking Nb, which is a photosensitive group. Aiming at producing positive tone patterns, the synthesized ODA‐5‐PSPI was exposed to UV irradiation and then to a post‐exposure bake. Afterward, it was developed using a 2.38 wt% tetramethylammonium hydroxide solution. Furthermore, a photoacid generator (PAG) was additionally incorporated for a micropatterning process. Notably, in the presence of the PAG, the photocleavage of ODA‐5‐PSPI occurred not only by the intramolecular rearrangement of Nb but also by its hydrolysis reaction. As a result, due to the synergistic effect of photocleavage, the micropatterning of ODA‐5‐PSPI with PAG could be clearly obtained with less energy (2.0 J/cm2) compared with that without PAG (3.6 J/cm2). Therefore, through the addition of PAG, the photosensitivity was improved by 45%.

A Critical Review of Some Contentious Issues in the Phonetics and Phonology of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba

Some contentious/controversial issues in the Phonetics/Phonologies of Ẹdo, Igbo, and Yoruba, (all members of the Kwa group of languages) are examined in this paper. This includes the appropriateness or otherwise of the use of the term “coalescence” in phonology based on available data in Ẹdo and Yoruba. The data from the Ẹdo language, and the reanalyzed Yoruba data do not seem to support the continued use of the term “coalescence” without any overt phonetic motivation as a tool for defining/describing what is actually vowel assimilation, vowel elision, and tone shift as a set of phonologically ordered processes. The second issue examined in this paper is the generally held view of the total assimilation of V₂ by V₃ across word boundary in a V₁CV₂ # V₃CV₄ collocation in Igbo. It is a known fact in languages that a more plausible (natural) assimilatory process involves a left to right movement not a right to left movement. It is argued that the so-called (total) vowel assimilation in Igbo V₁CV₂ # V₃CV₄ collocation is simply the case of the elision of V₂, and the re-association of the tone thereon with V₃, i. e., the first vowel of the second word. The autosegmental perspective is employed to elucidate this fact. In the third issue examined, it is argued that mutual exclusivity, used as the defining characteristic of languages that manifest vowel harmony, effectively excludes the Ẹdo and other Ẹdoid languages, in which there is free co-occurrence of vowels in any position of the word from being characterized as languages that manifest vowel harmony. The fourth issue examined is the manifestation of the downdrift and downstep phenomena. It is argued that the phenomena are language specific: non-phonemic in Ẹdo, involving a set of phonologically ordered rules whereas it is phonemic in Igbo. It is demonstrated that the only condition for obtaining a downstepped tone in Ẹdo is the presence of a H # L tone pattern across word boundary. The donwnstepped High tone in Igbo is phonemic irrespective of the nature (voice or voiceless) of the intervocalic consonants in VCV words.

“Autumn Thoughts”: Shared Images, Shifting Phrases, and Promiscuous Poetics

The famous short sanqu lyric known as “Autumn Thoughts” to the tune “Tianjing sha” has been attributed to Ma Zhiyuan since the late sixteenth century. Despite the skepticism of a long list of important qu scholars from the fourteenth to the twentieth century, this attribution is still repeated in textbooks from grade school to doctoral programs. A careful examination of extant versions from 1309 onward shows some degree of difference, from narrow to wide, dependent on contextual use. Phrases from the lyric may also be found as early as the late twelfth century. By carefully investigating these sources and the way in which the tonal pattern of “Tianjing sha” is expanded, contracted, and exploited in other sources, we can see that the use of the famous phrases making up the poem occurs when context and rhyme come together. This leads one to doubt whether attributable authorship of the lyric is possible, or if it is simply the use of nearly cliché phrases that just happened to combine in exactly the perfect order. This would fit with what we know about the performance tradition and about its tendency for collective and anonymous creation through accretion.

Across-the-board tonal polarity in Kipsigis: Implications for the morphology-phonology interface

Using novel data from Kipsigis (Southern Nilotic; Kenya), we present the first attested case of across-the-board paradigmatic tonal polarity. The nominative case forms of nominal modifiers (adjectives, possessives, and demonstratives) are segmentally identical to their oblique case counterparts but have the opposite tonal pattern across the board: nominative and oblique modifiers differ in not just one but every tonal specification. Kipsigis polarity thus results in maximal tonal contrast between two morphologically related words. We show how the Kipsigis pattern may be captured in an item-and-process theory of morphology with dedicated exchange mechanisms and in an item-and-arrangement theory that allows for morpheme-specific phonology; we suggest that an item-and-process approach may provide a more straightforward account.

An Experimental Study on the Development of Chinese Tones of Korean Learners

The error analysis is based on an experiment among Korean learners in three Chinese language levels, and Chinese native speakers are taken as the reference.<BR> It is found that Korean learners have not only the phasic characteristics of tone acquisition in different stages but also the common characteristics of different stages. The front T2 word and the back word tone produce assimilation and coarticulation in the tonal pattern, and the reverse coarticulation in the tonal value. The correlation between tone listening and articulating performance is related to Chinese language proficiency. The causes of listening and mispronunciation were related to the learners’ tendency to choose the acoustic features of the Chinese tones.

You Are What You Sing: Folksong Tone Pattern Feature Correlation to Geographical Distance with Gabor Filter and OLS Linear Regression

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; Cultural diffusion occurs. This is evidenced by the existence of cultural heritage artifacts. There are many types of artifacts, tangible or intangible. Folksongs are one of the intangible cultural artifacts. Songs have tone, tone patterns are a unique feature of a song. Regional province songs are the identity of each region, because songs are images of the culture of an area. This study uses folk songs from each province in Indonesia which are extracted features by applying Gabor filters and then differences in output and geographical distance are put into linear regression. The results show that the tone pattern feature have a correlation relationship with the distance between regions throughout Indonesia. When observing the scope per large island, there is also correlation between the number of tone patterns with the distance of province. However, this has less confidence result for Sumatra island.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

The internal reconstruction of Bena-Yungur consonants and tone patterns

This paper provides proposals for the internal reconstruction of Bena-Yungur [Glottocode: bena1260]. The present-day three-tone system of Bena-Yungur with an opposition between H, M and L must result from a relatively recent process of tonogenesis in which L tones were reinterpreted as M whenever they were not realised extra low due to a preceding voiced stop that acted as a depressor consonant. Although subsequent changes have somewhat blurred the correlation between tones and segments, this correlation still proves highly relevant for the internal reconstruction of the laryngeal settings of stem-initial consonants. We also show that the contemporary Bena-Yungur lexical tone patterns are the result of the neutralisation of a higher number of previously existing patterns due to the application of tone rules. The former distinctions between different tone patterns are still observable in the genitive construction for nouns and in positive perfective forms and product nominalisations for verbs. This allows us to reconstruct the original tone patterns of nouns and verbs, as well as aspects of the genitive construction and perfective verb forms. Remarkably, the tonal reconstruction makes it clear that the direction of tonal interactions must have shifted from anticipatory to perseveratory in the history of Bena-Yungur.

Patterns of atypical muscle tone in the general infant population - Prevalence and associations with perinatal risk and neurodevelopmental status

BackgroundMuscle tone is an indispensable element in motor development. Its assessment forms an integral part of the infant neurological examination. Knowledge on the prevalence of atypical tone in infancy is lacking. AimTo assess the prevalence of atypical muscle tone in infancy and of the most common atypical muscle tone patterns, and associations between atypical tone and perinatal risk and neurodevelopmental status. Study designCross-sectional study. Subjects1100 infants (585 boys; gestational age 39.4 weeks (27.3–42.4)), 6 weeks–12 months corrected age, representative of the Dutch population. Outcome measuresMuscle tone and neurodevelopmental status were assessed with the Standardized Infant NeuroDevelopmental Assessment (SINDA). Perinatal information was obtained by questionnaire and medical records. Univariable and multivariable statistics were applied. ResultsNinety-two infants (8%) had atypical muscle tone in 3–4 body parts (impaired pattern), while atypical muscle tone in 1–2 body parts was observed in 50%. Isolated leg hypotonia and isolated arm hypertonia were most common. Isolated arm hypertonia and the impaired pattern were most clearly but only moderately associated with perinatal risk. These patterns were also most clearly associated with lower neurological scores. Only the impaired pattern was associated with lower developmental scores. ConclusionAtypical muscle tone in one or two body parts is common in infancy and has in general little clinical significance. This finding corresponds to the well-known high prevalence of a typical but non-optimal neurological condition. Eight percent of infants show atypical muscle tone in 3–4 body parts. This clinically relevant pattern is associated with perinatal risk and less favourable neurodevelopmental status.

Aspectual phase heads in Muskogee verbs

Current phasal models of words differ from one another in two main ways: which heads are phasal and whether a phase head allows higher heads to access its complement. Through an investigation of verbs in Muskogee, this paper argues that in some languages, words have functional phase heads that divide them into two domains and that block all higher heads from access to morphemes. Specifically, Muskogee verbs contain aspectual phase heads (Asp0), which separate the verb into a sub-aspectual, VP-level domain—Phase One (Φ1)—and a superaspectual, InflP-level domain—Phase Two (Φ2). As previous work on Muskogee has shown, Φ1 (the ‘Stem’ in previous literature) and Φ2 form separate domains both in phonology, affecting stress and tone patterns, and in temporal semantics. This paper makes the novel observation that morphemes in Φ1 and Φ2 do not interact with each other in rules of allomorphy or allosemy, despite widespread interaction within each domain. An Asp0 phase head that follows the strong PIC1 accounts for the lack of interaction between Φ1 and Φ2. Categorizers, which are typically taken to be phase heads, behave differently from Asp0 in Muskogee, though their phasal status is unclear.

Perceptual learning of tone patterns changes the effective connectivity between Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale.

Learning of complex auditory sequences such as music can be thought of as optimizing an internal model of regularities through unpredicted events (or “prediction errors”). We used dynamic causal modeling (DCM) and parametric empirical Bayes on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to identify modulation of effective brain connectivity that takes place during perceptual learning of complex tone patterns. Our approach differs from previous studies in two aspects. First, we used a complex oddball paradigm based on tone patterns as opposed to simple deviant tones. Second, the use of fMRI allowed us to identify cortical regions with high spatial accuracy. These regions served as empirical regions‐of‐interest for the analysis of effective connectivity. Deviant patterns induced an increased blood oxygenation level‐dependent response, compared to standards, in early auditory (Heschl's gyrus [HG]) and association auditory areas (planum temporale [PT]) bilaterally. Within this network, we found a left‐lateralized increase in feedforward connectivity from HG to PT during deviant responses and an increase in excitation within left HG. In contrast to previous findings, we did not find frontal activity, nor did we find modulations of backward connections in response to oddball sounds. Our results suggest that complex auditory prediction errors are encoded by changes in feedforward and intrinsic connections, confined to superior temporal gyrus.

Categorical Auditory Working Memory in Crows.

SummaryThe ability to group sensory data into behaviorally meaningful classes and to maintain these perceptual categories active in working memory is key to intelligent behavior. Here, we show that carrion crows, highly vocal and cognitively advanced corvid songbirds, possess categorical auditory working memory. The crows were trained in a delayed match-to-category task that required them to flexibly match remembered sounds based on the upward or downward shift of the sounds' frequency modulation. After training, the crows instantaneously classified novel sounds into the correct auditory categories. The crows showed sharp category boundaries as a function of the relative frequency interval of the modulation. In addition, the crows generalized frequency-modulated sounds within a category and correctly classified novel sounds kept in working memory irrespective of other acoustic features of the sound. This suggests that crows can form and actively memorize auditory perceptual categories in the service of cognitive control of their goal-directed behaviors.

Tonal patterns of the IP-final AP in Chonnam dialect of Korean.

Tonal patterns of the IP-final AP in Chonnam dialect of Korean.

A quantitative study of sound change in progress: The case of Suzhou Wu

Suzhou Wu is one of the major Chinese varieties and represents the Wu culture. Many researchers have anecdotally noted ongoing sound change of its phonemic and tonal systems. However, the latest investigation remains Ye and Sheng's description (1996). Thus, this study conducted an acoustic analysis on how young (M = 21.63, SD = 0.92) and middle-aged (M = 46.75, SD = 3.77) native speakers produced monosyllables in Suzhou Wu. Four male and four female local Mandarin-Wu bilinguals from each age group (16 speakers in total) were recruited to read 97 Chinese characters covering all phonemes and the 7 tones in the previous Suzhou Wu inventories (Wang, 1987; Ye and Sheng, 1996). Results suggest that there are noticeable acoustic differences between the two age groups in terms of consonants (excluding the lateral approximant [l]), vowels (some monophthongs: [i, a, ã, ˀ], most diphthongs and triphthongs), the tonal patterns (tone 2: low rising, tone 3: high falling). These results not only indicate sound change of Suzhou Wu, but also provide evidence for the age-related divergence which might be attributed to its frequent contact with the official language (Mandarin).

Orthopaedic manifestations of glutaric acidemia Type 1.

PurposeGlutaric acidemia type 1 (GA1), a rare hereditary metabolic disease caused by biallelic mutations of GCDH, can result in acute or insidious striatal degeneration within the first few years of life. We reviewed the orthopaedic sequelae and management of 114 neurologically injured patients with a confirmed molecular diagnosis of GA1.MethodsWe performed a retrospective chart review spanning 28 years identifying 114 GA1 patients, most from the Old Order Amish population of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who were homozygous for a pathogenic founder variant of GCDH (c.1262C>T). We collected demographics, medical comorbidities, muscle tone patterns, Gross Motor Function Classification System level, gastrostomy tube status, seizure history, inpatient events, orthopaedic diagnoses and operative characteristics.ResultsOver an average follow-up of 4.7 ± 3.4 years, 24 (21%) of 114 patients had musculoskeletal problems requiring orthopaedic consultation. Scoliosis (n = 14), hip dislocation (n = 8/15 hips), hip subluxation (n = 2/three hips), and windswept hip deformity (n = 2) in the spine and hip joint were most common. In total, 35 orthopaedic surgeries were performed in 17 (71%) patients. The most common primary operations were one-stage procedures with proximal femoral varus derotation osteotomy and/or pelvic osteotomy (n = 8/14 hips) for subluxation or dislocation. In all, 11 patients had posterior spinal fusion for severe scoliosis. With the recommended metabolic management, there were no disease-specific complications in this cohort.ConclusionsChildren with GA1 who have static striatal lesions are at risk for musculoskeletal complications, especially scoliosis and hip dislocation, and appropriate operative management requires consultation with a metabolic specialist with specific considerations for fluid management and nutrition.Level of EvidenceIV

Reduced Sensitivity to Between-Category Information but Preserved Categorical Perception of Lexical Tones in Tone Language Speakers With Congenital Amusia.

Previous studies have shown that for congenital amusics, long-term tone language experience cannot compensate for lexical tone processing difficulties. However, it is still unknown whether such difficulties are merely caused by domain-transferred insensitivity in lower-level acoustic processing and/or by higher-level phonological processing of linguistic pitch as well. The current P300 study links and extends previous studies by uncovering the neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning lexical tone perception difficulties in Mandarin-speaking amusics. Both the behavioral index (d′) and P300 amplitude showed reduced within-category as well as between-category sensitivity among the Mandarin-speaking amusics regardless of the linguistic status of the signal. The results suggest that acoustic pitch processing difficulties in amusics are manifested profoundly and further persist into the higher-level phonological processing that involves the neural processing of different lexical tone categories. Our findings indicate that long-term tone language experience may not compensate for the reduced acoustic pitch processing in tone language speakers with amusia but rather may extend to the neural processing of the phonological information of lexical tones during the attentive stage. However, from both the behavioral and neural evidence, the peakedness scores of the d′ and P300 amplitude were comparable between amusics and controls. It seems that the basic categorical perception (CP) pattern of native lexical tones is preserved in Mandarin-speaking amusics, indicating that they may have normal or near normal long-term categorical memory.

The emergence of a medieval pitch concept

ABSTRACTThe ninth century witnessed a fundamental change in the way Western musicians thought about music. Before the Carolingians assimilated ancient music theory, they had no functional concept of how the intervals between pitches of the scale differed from one another and how those differences affected melodic structure. The transition to interval-based thinking may be traced in writings about music. The first half of Aurelian of Réôme's mid-centuryMusica disciplinaquotes from Boethius, Cassiodorus and other ancient authors, but fails to make sense of what they say about intervals. The second half describes the rise and fall of chant melodies without reference to intervals. Treatises of the later ninth century (theEnchiriadistreatises, Hucbald'sMusica) are the first to treat music in terms of individual pitches and explain how patterns of whole tones and semitones define modes and scales. However, an early draft ofMusica enchiriadis, theInchiriadon, still displays no awareness of the role that semitones played. A parallel evolution occurred in notation. Neumes, which outline melodic direction but not precise intervals, can be documented from the second quarter of the ninth century and are likely older. They lack pitch content because musicians who invented them lacked a conceptual framework for understanding pitch. Pitched notations do not appear until late in the century and their use is confined to examples in theory treatises.