Languages

Research

29 pages, 4202 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rhotic Variation in Brazilian Portuguese

by Michael Ramsammy and Beatriz Raposo de Medeiros

Languages 2024, 9(12), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9120364 - 27 Nov 2024

Viewed by 225

We present acoustic and articulatory data from an experiment designed to test the phonetic variability of rhotics in Brazilian Portuguese, focusing on the São Paulo variety. Ultrasound tongue imaging was used to examine the realisation of rhotics in a range of phonological environments. [...] Read more.

We present acoustic and articulatory data from an experiment designed to test the phonetic variability of rhotics in Brazilian Portuguese, focusing on the São Paulo variety. Ultrasound tongue imaging was used to examine the realisation of rhotics in a range of phonological environments. Our analysis reveals that word-initial and intervocalic fricatives are acoustically and articulatorily distinct for most speakers. We attribute a tendency for utterance-initial fricatives to display longer duration, less voicing, and greater tongue-dorsum displacement than word-medial intervocalic counterparts to phonetic enhancement at the site of a major prosodic boundary. Similarly, rhotic taps in utterance-final position show a tendency for devoicing and frication (aspiration or assibilation) speaker-dependently. By comparison, word-medial pre-consonantal and intervocalic taps are characterised by shorter durations and greater voicing: hence, a pattern of phonetic reduction in prosodically weaker environments. We relate our findings to theoretical debates around the phonological status of rhotics in Portuguese. Whilst not providing conclusive proof in favour of any one particular approach, our results highlight the need to recognise the reality of prosodically driven strengthening in developing a full account of rhotic variation in the variety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 3612 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Exploratory Study of Yes-No Question Intonation in Bilingual Labourdin French

by Nerea Delgado

Languages 2024, 9(12), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9120362 - 26 Nov 2024

Viewed by 364

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in the study of intonation in bilingual regions in France, the case of Basque French remains under-investigated. Previous research on yes-no questions in standard French has shown that rising contours are the prototypical realization, while bilingual varieties in contact [...] Read more.

Despite the growing interest in the study of intonation in bilingual regions in France, the case of Basque French remains under-investigated. Previous research on yes-no questions in standard French has shown that rising contours are the prototypical realization, while bilingual varieties in contact with Corsican or Occitan also seem to allow falling intonation to different extents. To investigate the case of Basque French, data from 11 Basque-French bilinguals from Labourd were considered. Participants completed a contextualized reading task and the Bilingual Language Profile questionnaire, which was used to examine their linguistic profile and language dominance. The results showed that rising intonation predominated (90%), presenting two main realizations: A low rise (L+H* H%) and a high rise ((¡)H* H%). Falling contours, in turn, appeared in only 10% of the data. In a preliminary consideration of these results by language dominance group, low rising contours were found to be more common among Basque-dominant participants, while falling ones appeared more often among French-dominant participants. While surprising, this result could, at least partly, stem from the participants’ personal experiences with bilingualism and their contact with other varieties of Basque. We thus conclude that, for the most part, Basque Labourdin French resembles standard French intonation. The higher prevalence of falling intonation among French-dominant speakers, however, calls for future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 419 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Loanword Phonology of Spanish Anglicisms: New Insights from Corpus Data

by Linda Bäumler

Languages 2024, 9(9), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9090294 - 31 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 847

Abstract

Previous research shows that several factors influence the adaptation of English phonemes in Spanish Anglicisms: speaker age, English proficiency, and geographic distance from the U.S.A, among others.Due to globalization, increased mobility, and the ubiquitous availability of English media, the question arises whether these [...] Read more.

Previous research shows that several factors influence the adaptation of English phonemes in Spanish Anglicisms: speaker age, English proficiency, and geographic distance from the U.S.A, among others.Due to globalization, increased mobility, and the ubiquitous availability of English media, the question arises whether these factors are still relevant in today’s world. For the present study, 70 speakers from Mexico and Spain read a word list containing Anglicisms aloud. A generalized linear mixed effects model was applied to analyze which factors directly influence pronunciation. Results show that the realization of Spanish grapheme-phoneme correspondences plays a major role in the adaptation process. Moreover, the analysis shows that it is exposure to the English language that mainly influences the pronunciation: the more exposure speakers from both countries have to the English language, the more likely they are to imitate the English pronunciation instead of the realization of Spanish grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Finally, the analysis revealed differences not only between the phonemes and the speakers but also between the words included in the study and once more highlighted that every word has a history of its own. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 1861 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Interplay between Syllabic Duration and Melody to Indicate Prosodic Functions in Brazilian Portuguese Story Retelling

by Plinio A. Barbosa and Luís H. G. Alvarenga

Languages 2024, 9(8), 268; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9080268 - 1 Aug 2024

Viewed by 892

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between syllabic duration and F0 contours for implementing three prosodic functions. Work on rhythm usually describes the evolution of syllable-sized durations throughout utterances, rarely making reference to melodic events. On the other hand, work on intonation usually describes [...] Read more.

This paper investigates the relationship between syllabic duration and F0 contours for implementing three prosodic functions. Work on rhythm usually describes the evolution of syllable-sized durations throughout utterances, rarely making reference to melodic events. On the other hand, work on intonation usually describes linear sequences of melodic events with indirect references to duration. Although some scholars have explored the relationship between these two parameters for particular functions, to our knowledge, there has been no investigation on the systematic correlation between syllabic duration and F0 values throughout narrative sequences. Based on a corpus of story retelling with nine speakers of Brazilian Portuguese from two regions, our work investigated the interplay between syllabic duration and melody to signal three prosodic functions: terminal and non-terminal boundary marking and prominence. The examination of local syllabic duration maxima and four F0 descriptors revealed that these maxima act as landmarks for particular F0 shapes: for non-terminal boundaries, the great majority of shapes were increasing and increasing–decreasing patterns; for terminal boundaries, almost all shapes were decreasing F0 patterns; and for prominence marking, the great majority of shapes were high tones across the stressed syllable. Time series analyses revealed significant correlations between duration and specific F0 descriptors, pointing to a ruled interplay between F0 and syllabic duration patterns in Brazilian Portuguese story retelling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1693 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Effect of Manner of Articulation and Syllable Affiliation on Tongue Configuration for Catalan Stop–Liquid and Liquid–Stop Sequences: An Ultrasound Study

by Daniel Recasens

Languages 2024, 9(7), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9070233 - 27 Jun 2024

Viewed by 879

Abstract

The present study reports tongue configuration data recorded with ultrasound for two sets of consonant sequences uttered by five native Catalan speakers. Articulatory data for the onset cluster pairs [kl]-[ɣl] and [kɾ]-[ɣɾ], and also for [l#k]-[l#ɣ] and [r#k]-[r#ɣ], analyzed in the first part [...] Read more.

The present study reports tongue configuration data recorded with ultrasound for two sets of consonant sequences uttered by five native Catalan speakers. Articulatory data for the onset cluster pairs [kl]-[ɣl] and [kɾ]-[ɣɾ], and also for [l#k]-[l#ɣ] and [r#k]-[r#ɣ], analyzed in the first part of the investigation revealed that, as a general rule, the (shorter) velar approximant is less constricted than the (longer) voiceless velar stop at the velar and palatal zones while exhibiting a more retracted tongue body at the pharynx. These manner of articulation-dependent differences may extend into the preceding liquid. Data for [k#l]-[kl] and [k#r]-[kɾ] dealt with in the second part of the study show that the velar is articulated with more tongue body retraction for [k#l] vs. [kl] and for [k#r] vs. [kɾ], and with a higher tongue dorsum for [k#l] vs. [kl] and the reverse for [k#r] vs. [kɾ]. Therefore, clusters are produced with a more extreme lingual configuration across a word boundary than in syllable-onset position, which at least in part may be predicted by segmental factors for the [k#r]-[kɾ] pair. These articulatory data are compared with duration data for all sequence pairs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 5891 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of (Re)Syllabification on Coarticulatory Nasalization: Aerodynamic Evidence from Spanish

by Ander Beristain

Languages 2024, 9(6), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9060219 - 17 Jun 2024

Viewed by 1167

Abstract

Tautosyllabic segment sequences exhibit greater gestural overlap than heterosyllabic ones. In Spanish, it is presumed that word-final consonants followed by a word-initial vowel undergo resyllabification, and generative phonology assumes that canonical CV.CV# and derived CV.C#V onsets are structurally [...] Read more.

Tautosyllabic segment sequences exhibit greater gestural overlap than heterosyllabic ones. In Spanish, it is presumed that word-final consonants followed by a word-initial vowel undergo resyllabification, and generative phonology assumes that canonical CV.CV# and derived CV.C#V onsets are structurally identical. However, recent studies have not found evidence of this structural similarity in the acoustics. The current goal is to investigate anticipatory and carryover vowel nasalization patterns in tautosyllabic, heterosyllabic, and resyllabified segment sequences in Spanish. Nine native speakers of Peninsular Spanish participated in a read-aloud task. Nasal airflow data were extracted using pressure transducers connected to a vented mask. Each participant produced forty target tokens with CV.CV# (control), CVN# (tautosyllabic), CV.NV# (heterosyllabic), and CV.N#V (resyllabification) structures. Forty timepoints were obtained from each vowel to observe airflow dynamics, resulting in a total of 25,200 datapoints analyzed. Regarding anticipatory vowel nasalization, the CVN# sequence shows an earlier onset of nasalization, while CV.NV# and CV.N#V sequences illustrate parallel patterns among them. Carryover vowel nasalization exhibited greater nasal spreading than anticipatory nasalization, and vowels in CV.NV# and CV.N#V structures showed symmetrical nasalization patterns. These results imply that syllable structure affects nasal gestural overlap and that aerodynamic characteristics of vowels are unaffected across word boundaries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

28 pages, 4013 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Buenas no[tʃ]es y mu[ts]isimas gracias: A Sociophonetic Study of the Alveolar Affricate in Peninsular Spanish Political Speech

by Matthew Pollock

Languages 2024, 9(6), 218; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9060218 - 14 Jun 2024

Viewed by 1087

Abstract

While variation in the southern Peninsular Spanish affricate /tʃ/ has been considered in the context of deaffrication to [ʃ], this study examines an emergent variant [ts] in the context of sociolinguistic identity and style in political speech. Based on a corpus of public [...] Read more.

While variation in the southern Peninsular Spanish affricate /tʃ/ has been considered in the context of deaffrication to [ʃ], this study examines an emergent variant [ts] in the context of sociolinguistic identity and style in political speech. Based on a corpus of public speech from Madrid and Andalusia, Spain, this study examines the phonetic and sociolinguistic characteristics of the affricate, finding variation in the quality of the frication portion of the segment through an analysis of segment duration (ms), the center of gravity (Hz), and a categorical identification of realization type. The results suggest that both linguistic variables, like phonetic environment, stress, lexical frequency, and following vowel formant height, as well as extralinguistic variables, like speaker city, gender, political affiliation, and speech context, condition use. Based on these findings, it appears that production of the alveolar affricate [ts] is an incipient sociolinguistic marker in the process of acquiring social meaning. It is particularly associated with female speech and prestige norms that transcend regional identification. This alveolar variant serves as an additional sociolinguistic resource accessible for identity development among politicians and offers insight into ongoing change in the affricate inventory of southern and northern-central Peninsular Spanish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3932 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phonation Patterns in Spanish Vowels: Spectral and Spectrographic Analysis

by Carolina González, Susan L. Cox and Gabrielle R. Isgar

Languages 2024, 9(6), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9060214 - 12 Jun 2024

Viewed by 741

Abstract

This article provides a detailed examination of voice quality in word-final vowels in Spanish. The experimental task involved the pronunciation of words in two prosodic contexts by native Spanish speakers from diverse dialects. A total of 400 vowels (10 participants × 10 words [...] Read more.

This article provides a detailed examination of voice quality in word-final vowels in Spanish. The experimental task involved the pronunciation of words in two prosodic contexts by native Spanish speakers from diverse dialects. A total of 400 vowels (10 participants × 10 words × 2 contexts × 2 repetitions) were analyzed acoustically in Praat. Waveforms and spectrograms were inspected visually for voice, creak, breathy voice, and devoicing cues. In addition, the relative amplitude difference between the first two harmonics (H1–H2) was obtained via FFT spectra. The findings reveal that while creaky voice is pervasive, breathy voice is also common, and devoicing occurs in 11% of tokens. We identify multiple phonation types (up to three) within the same vowel, of which modal voice followed by breathy voice was the most common combination. While creaky voice was more frequent overall for males, modal voice tended to be more common in females. In addition, creaky voice was significantly more common at the end of higher prosodic constituents. The analysis of spectral tilt shows that H1–H2 clearly distinguishes breathy voice from modal voice in both males and females, while H1–H2 values consistently discriminate creaky and modal voice in male participants only. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 689 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Feature Alignment Approach to Plural Realization in Eastern Andalusian Spanish

by Stuart Davis and Matthew Pollock

Languages 2024, 9(5), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9050166 - 2 May 2024

Viewed by 1356

Abstract

Using an optimality theoretic analysis, this study offers a conception of the problem of plural realization in Eastern Andalusian Spanish (EAS) where plural suffix /s/ was deleted diachronically that differs from other accounts that assign the EAS plural an underlying suffixal /s/ synchronically. [...] Read more.

Using an optimality theoretic analysis, this study offers a conception of the problem of plural realization in Eastern Andalusian Spanish (EAS) where plural suffix /s/ was deleted diachronically that differs from other accounts that assign the EAS plural an underlying suffixal /s/ synchronically. Using alignment constraints, we argue that plural /s/ does not appear in the underlying form synchronically in EAS, but that instead the plural morpheme is represented by a floating [–ATR]PL feature that aligns to the right edge of the word and spreads left. The [–ATR] feature, represented phonetically as a laxing or opening of vowels, applies to all mid vowels, low vowels in word final position, and combines with vowel epenthesis to explain Eastern Andalusian pluralization tendencies in words with final consonants. We discuss the behavior of high vowels, which can be transparent to harmony, and focus in particular on the plural of words that end in a final stressed vowel that have been rarely discussed in the EAS literature. We develop an optimality-theoretic analysis on the Granada variety and extend that analysis to other varieties with somewhat different patterns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages)

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Phonetics and Phonology of Ibero-Romance Languages

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (9 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI