- Home
- e-Journals
- Linguistic Variation
- Previous Issues
- Volume 20, Issue 1, 2020
Linguistic Variation - Volume 20, Issue 1, 2020
Volume 20, Issue 1, 2020
-
A computational modelof phonotactic acquisition
Author(s): Ildikó Emese Szabópp.: 3–32 (30)More LessAbstractThis paper presents a model that connects phonotactic exceptionality to perceptibility, more specifically to functional load and acoustic detail. I identify two patterns in exceptionality: lexical exceptions and phonotactic vacillation, where the former is restricted to specific lexical items, while the latter affects two contrastive sound categories as a whole. Through the example of Hungarian word-final phonotactics, the Model of Perceptual Categorization associates these two patterns with different functional load and acoustic properties of contrasts, that lead to two categorizational malfunctions. On the one hand, phonotactic vacillation is a result of a frequent failure to categorize ambiguous tokens: low functional load coinciding with little acoustic difference. On the other hand, lexical exceptions are systematic categorizational mistakes brought about by salient categories – in this case distributional generalizations are hindered by interference from mislabeled tokens.
-
Lexical stress variation and rhythmic alternation in Russian
Author(s): Anton Kukhto and Alexander Piperskipp.: 33–55 (23)More LessAbstractOur paper investigates lexical stress placement variation in Modern Standard Russian past tense verbal forms. This kind of variation has arisen due to complex interactions of various processes in the development of Russian and its present-day state is said (often rather impressionistically) to be conditioned by intra-speaker sociolinguistic factors. However, cases of inter-speaker variation can also be observed. We put forward a proposal that stress placement in forms with variable stress is influenced by the rhythmic pattern of immediate linear context. To support this, we report on a pilot experiment that shows a preference towards alternating rhythm in a sequence consisting of a past tense verbal form of a transitive verb and its direct object, thus conforming to the fundamental principle of rhythmic alternation. The results also raise some questions about the phonology of stress and stress variation in Russian and beyond.
-
Neutralisation and contrast preservation
Author(s): Zsuzsanna Bárkányi and Zoltán G. Kisspp.: 56–83 (28)More LessAbstractThis paper studies the contextual variation in the voicing properties of three-consonant clusters (CC#C) in Hungarian. We investigate the velar+alveolar stop clusters /kt/ and /ɡd/, and the alveolar fricative+stop clusters /st/ and /zd/ in potentially voicing-neutralising and assimilating contexts. We show that in these contexts, regressive voicing assimilation in Hungarian is categorical, but partially contrast preserving, and that stops and fricatives are not affected in the same way. Fricatives resist voicing before a voiced obstruent and are devoiced utterance-finally. This is a phonetically unfavourable position, therefore other duration-related cues step up to prevent complete laryngeal neutralisation.
-
Conditions on the variable interpretation of |U| in Japanese
Author(s): Phillip Backley and Kuniya Nasukawapp.: 84–101 (18)More LessAbstractThis paper examines the historical and phonological properties of h in Japanese. It shows that, by analysing a specific case of segmental variation, we not only deepen our understanding of the sound which varies but also shed light on some general characteristics of the sound system as a whole. Using an Element Theory approach (Anderson and Jones 1974; Kaye et al. 1985; Harris and Lindsey 1995; Scheer 1999; Nasukawa 2005; Cyran 2010; Backley 2011), the discussion focuses on the distribution of the element |U|, arguing that |U| is naturally weak in Japanese. This helps explain two idiosyncrasies in Japanese phonology – the restricted distribution of labial consonants and rounded vowels, and the patterning of h with labials.
In modern Japanese, labiality is phonologically and phonetically weak. In vowels, u and w are produced without lip rounding, as unrounded [ɯ] and [ɰ]. And in consonants, the labial stop p is banned from certain contexts. These facts point to the inherent weakness of |U| in Japanese, where weakness refers to structural headedness; following Backley and Nasukawa (2009), it is assumed that labials are represented by headed |U| (cf. non-headed |U| in velars). To account for the restricted distribution of labials, it is argued that labiality (headed |U|) is only realised in Japanese if a specific structural condition is met: |U| must co-occur with (i.e. be supported by) another element from the same sub-group of ‘dark’ elements. Thus, the paper exploits the natural division between dark elements {|A|, |U|, |L|} and light elements {|I|, |H|, |Ɂ|}.
-
Degree modification across categories in Afrikaans
Author(s): Robyn Berghoff, Rick Nouwen, Lisa Bylinina and Yaron McNabbpp.: 102–135 (34)More LessAbstractThe paper presents an analysis of the Afrikaans degree modifier baie ‘very/much/many’. Baie appears to be a single lexical item with a wide distribution in terms of the categories of gradable predicate with which it can combine. However, the paper shows that two syntactically distinct instances of baie should be distinguished. These instances of baie portion out the modification of different grammatical categories between them: one, a head, exclusively modifies gradable adjectives, and the other, an adjunct, modifies the remaining categories of gradable predicate.
-
The variation of the subjunctive II in Austria
Author(s): Ludwig Maximilian Breuer and Anja Wittibschlagerpp.: 136–171 (36)More LessAbstractThe primary goal of this paper is to investigate areal-horizontal as well as the social-vertical (morpho-)syntactic variation of subjunctive II in urban and rural areas in Austria. The data come from two different corpora that consist of spoken data gathered in two different projects on German in Austria, collected using the method of Language Production Experiments. The high degree of comparability of our data between the two studies highlights the success and reliability of this elicitation method. Beyond this methodological insight, the study has found a global tendency towards a decline of synthetic subjunctive II constructions, whereas periphrastic constructions show an increase, both in more dialect and more standard oriented registers. Our findings further suggest that the city of Vienna exerts a minor influence on neighboring locations regarding the use of subjunctive II forms. At the same time, our data provide evidence for a more decisive influence of the dialect region.
Most Read This Month

-
-
A typology of Bantu subject inversion
Author(s): Lutz Marten and Jenneke van der Wal
-
-
-
Unspeakable sentences
Author(s): Liliane Haegeman
-
- More Less