Acoustic correlates of syllabification patterns

49 Three of the HLH sequences are wordLfinal and are preceded by a glottal consonant. The first H vowel is nonsyllabic because of the preceding glottal consonant, and the last is nonsyllabic because it is the second part of a LH sequence. The sequence is thus realized as a L vowel with a H onglide and a H offglide. In the word ʔeai [ʔe.ai ̯] ‘fish’ the first vowel remains syllabic as there is no vowel before the preceding consonant, and it is the first vowel in the word.

4.3 Acoustic correlates of syllabification patterns

This section presents acoustic findings that reinforce the perceptual judgements in section 4.2. In section 4.3.1 I show the differences in intensity between different types of vocoid sequences, while in section 4.3.2 I discuss duration differences between the different types. 4.3.1 Intensity In vowelLglide sequences, the first vowel is articulated with more intensity, and the intensity drops off for the glide. In sequences with separate syllable peaks, intensity rises to a peak midway between the two vowels and tapers off again. In onglideLvowel sequences the onglide is short, with intensity rising steeply through the onglide to a peak in the following vowel. Below I show two examples of each syllabification pattern, one example from each of the cells in Table 13. Figure 5 shows the LH sequence in pɘis [pɘi ̯s] ‘machete’. 50 Figure 5. Intensity contour of [ɘi ̯] in [pɘi ̯s] ‘machete’ The intensity of the first vowel in the LH sequence is much greater than that of the second. This is the typical shape of intensity contours in LH sequences. Figure 6 shows a LH sequence following h in the word bohoi [boh.oi ̯] ‘rope’. 51 Figure 6. Intensity contour of [oi ̯] in [boh.oi ̯] ‘rope’ The intensity contour of [oi ̯] in Figure 6 looks very similar to that of [ɘi ̯] in Figure 5. The first vowel has greater intensity than the second vowel, whose intensity drops off to the end. The spectrogram shows that the transition from one vocoid to the next takes place about halfway through the sequence. In contrast to the vowelLoffglide sequences shown above, sequences that syllabify as separate syllable peaks have an intensity contour that rises more gradually and reaches a peak midway through the sequence. The HL sequence in piɘh [pi.ɘh] ‘massage’ is shown below in Figure 7. 52 Figure 7. Intensity contour of [iɘ] in [pi.ɘh] ‘massage’ The HL sequence here has most intensity in the middle of the transition between vowels, with a gradual rise to it and gradual tapering off after it. An example of a SH sequence with the same syllabification is shown in Figure 8 below, in the word hiɨr [hi.ɨr] ‘woman’. 53 Figure 8. Intensity contour of [iɨ] in [hi.ɨr] ‘woman’ As with the HL sequence in Figure 6, the SH sequence here has most intensity in the middle of the transition between vowels, with gradual rise to it and gradual tapering off after it. Sequences of an onglide followed by a vowel are characterized primarily by the short duration of the onglide. Intensity rises through the onglide to reach a peak in the following vowel. The HL sequence in iihion [jĩh.jõn] ‘type of tool’ in Figure 9 illustrates this. 54 Figure 9. Intensity contour of [jõ] in [jĩhjõn] ‘type of tool’ The SH sequence in bohoe [boh.o̯e] ‘wild’ in Figure 10 below has a similar pattern. 55 Figure 10. Intensity contour of [o̯e] in [boh.o̯e] ‘wild’ In this sequence, the [o̯] is very short in duration, transitioning quickly into the [e]. The [o̯] has lower intensity than the [e], whose greatest intensity is at the beginning of its articulation. There is a great difference in segment duration and pitch contour between the sequence [o̯e] shown in Figure 10 and the sequence [oi ̯] shown in Figure 6. The only other pair of words in the data that share this contrast, kõʔõĩʔ [kõʔ.õF ̯̃ʔ] ‘gray’ and koʔoeʔ [koʔ.o̯eʔ] ‘devil’, show spectrograms and intensity contours that are nearly identical to the ones above. To summarize the findings, intensity contours are different in vowelLoffglide, vowelLvowel, and onglideLvowel sequences. Disyllabic vowelLvowel sequences have greatest intensity in the middle of the vowel transition. Vowels with offglides have greatest intensity in the vowel, with intensity tapering off at the end. Vowels with 56 onglides have a short transition into the vowel, with intensity rising through the onglide to reach a peak in the following vowel. 4.3.2 Duration Auditorily, sequences of vowels with separate syllable peaks sound longer in duration than vowels with onglides and offglides. To test my auditory perception, several sequences of each type were measured for duration. Since sequences occur most frequently in final position, only final sequences were chosen for analysis. Closed and open syllables were separated since this affects duration of vowels. Words with a medial glottal consonant were separated from those with none. This gave a fourLway distinction. Combined with the threeLway height distinction LH, HL, SH, this gave twelve categories for final vocoid sequences. The words selected for each of the twelve categories are shown in Table 14. 57 Table 14. Final vocoid sequences for duration measurement No preceding glottal ʔ or h Preceding ʔ or h Closed Open Closed Open LH [jaɪ ̯ʔ] ‘sew’ [pãɪ ̯̃k] ‘shrimp’ [kai ̯s] ‘sound’ [ʔaʊ̯p] ‘four’ [pɘi ̯s] ‘machete’ [kakarai ̯] ‘chase’ [kõʔə̆mãF ̯̃] ‘immigrant’ [kãnãF ̯̃] ‘all gone’ [joroi ̯] ‘husk’ [ʔihtɘi ̯] ‘mock’ [kakɘi ̯] ‘nearly breaking’ [kĩmɘ̃mɘ̃F ̯̃] ‘overcast’ [jaʔə̆kaʔ.aɪ ̯ʔ] ‘war’ [kah.aɪ ̯ʔ] ‘one’ [kabakah.aɪ ̯ʔ] ‘nine’ [bah.aʊ̯ʔ] ‘heart’ [pãmãh.ãʊ̯̃m] ‘afternoon’ [kipaʔ.aʊ̯p] ‘ten’ [kõʔ.õɪ ̯̃ʔ] ‘gray hair’ [karaʔ.ai ̯] ‘tree sp.’ [ʔãmãh.ãF ̯̃] ‘bed’ [nãh.ãF ̯̃] ‘allow’ [baʔ.au̯] ‘guava’ [haʔ.au̯] ‘ocean’ [mãʔ.ãũ̯] ‘local people’ [jaʔə̆keʔ.ei ̯] ‘type of boil’ [pajɘʔ.oi ̯] ‘nauseous’ [pĩnõh.õF ̯̃] ‘naïve’ [kɘh.ɘi ̯] ‘spilled’ HL [ʔapi.ah] ‘graze’ [ʔɨdi.aʔ] ‘sell’ [pi.ak] ‘tired’ [karu.aʔ] ‘go first’ [pu.ak] ‘go’ [pu.ah] ‘stir’ [ʔõnẽ.ãʔ] ‘go together’ [kapare.ak] ‘banana leaf’ [do.ab] ‘lightning’ [ko.ar] ‘type of utensil’ [kõ.ãn] ‘The Lord’ [pi.ɘh] ‘massage’ [karo.a] ‘pants’ [juku.a] ‘pole’ [kore.a] ‘gull’ [karo.a] ‘pants’ [kari.ɘ] ‘work’ [ʔaraʔjah] ‘livestock of deceased’ [kuʔjaʔ] ‘push’ [kĩʔjãp] ‘grasshopper’ [kũʔwãh] ‘vehicle’ [koh.e̯aʔ] ‘hut’ [paʔ.o̯aʔ] ‘shout’ [karkoʔ.o̯aç] ‘night’ [jamakaʔ.o̯aʔ] ‘thought’ [ʔĩʔjẽʔ] ‘here’ [kiʔjop] ‘face down’ [ʔĩʔjõʔ] ‘there’ [jĩhjõn] ‘type of tool’ [kipehjɘr] ‘deaf’ [kiʔja] ‘mosquito’ [kõʔjã] ‘goiter’ [kãʔə̆nj ̃hjã] ‘dream’ [kokoɪ ̯ʔ.e̯a] ‘lazy’ [kaʔeaʔ.e̯a] ‘skinny’ [pahkoʔ.o̯a] ‘love’ [doh.o̯a] ‘boat’ [kokoʔ.o̯a] ‘love’ [kĩʔjɘ̃] ‘paralyzed’ [kĩʔjɘ̃kj ̃ʔjɘ̃] ‘sea creature sp.’ SH [kide.ok] ‘pinched’ [kike.or] ‘lost’ [bu.i] ‘prison’ [ʔaʔjur] ‘progress’ [juʔwis] ‘oar’ [kahə̆ʔu.is] ‘crab sp.’ [koʔ.o̯eʔ] ‘devil’ [keh.jɨ] ‘thirsty’ [boh.o̯e] ‘wild’ [joʔə̆ho.e] ‘bed’ [nõʔ.õ̯ẽ] ‘spilled’ Most words used for analysis are disyllabic or monosyllabic, with a few threeL and fourL syllable words. 58 Final vowels in monosyllabic words tend to be longer than final vowels in disyllabic words. Fourteen vowels in monosyllabic words were compared with fourteen vowels in comparable disyllabic words. The vowels in monosyllabic words were an average of 37 ms longer than in disyllabic words. While word length does have an influence on final vowel length, it was not possible to control for this since some categories had only monosyllabic or only multisyllabic words. The possible ramifications of this are dealt with in the discussion of results below. Final plain vowels i.e. vowels not in sequences were also measured in both open and closed syllables to compare with the vocoid sequences. These are shown in 36 and 37. All duration measurements for both vocoid sequences and plain vowels are found in Appendix C. 36 Plain vowels in closed syllables pik [pik] ‘open’ pẽʔ [pẽʔ] ‘frog’ kak [kak] ‘person’ kɨʔɨk [kɨʔɨk] ‘narrow’ kɘx [kɘx] ‘mountain’ jũkũʔ [jũkũʔ] ‘wall’ kõʔkõʔ [kõʔə̆kõʔ] ‘sago palm’ 37 Plain vowels in open syllables ʔɨki [ʔɨki] ‘mango’ ke [ke] ‘throwup’ baʔa [baʔa] ‘die’ pɨ [pɨ] ‘see’ kaLpɘ̃pɘ̃ [kãpɘ̃pɘ̃] ‘foggy’ kĩLkãʔũ [kĩkãʔũ] ‘nearly fainted’ ʔẽnõ [ʔẽnõ] ‘dig’ The results are presented in the box plots below. Each box plot shows LH, HL, and SH sequences in one of the four environments. The leftmost entry in each figure shows the duration of plain vowels in the same environment. The horizontal line across each box represents the median of the duration measurements, while the short dash in the center shows the mean. The bottom and top of each box represent the lower and upper quartiles, and the ends of the whiskers represent the minimum and maximum of all the 59 data. Diamonds represent outliers that are more than three times the interLquartile range. Figure 11 shows duration of vocoid sequences in final open syllables. Figure 11. Duration of vocoid sequences in final open syllables The syllabification processes above predict that the LH sequences will be shorter, while the other sequences will be longer. LH sequences are indeed very close to the duration of plain vowels, while both HL and SH sequences are much longer. Figure 12 shows duration of sequences in final closed syllables. 60 Figure 12. Duration of vocoid sequences in final closed syllables The HL and SH sequences are, as predicted, substantially longer than plain vowels in the same environment. LH sequences fall somewhere between the two, but closer to the disyllabic sequences than expected since they are predicted to be tautosyllabic while the others are disyllabic. HL sequences range from 250L400 ms, while LH sequences range from 250L300 ms. The mean and median of the HL is quite a bit higher than for the LH, and the quartile below the median is considerably more spread out than the quartile above the median. The lower range of the HL sequences overlaps completely with the range of the LH sequences. One possible explanation for the extra length in LH sequences is that vowels in closed syllables are shorter than those in open syllables. A sequence of two vocoids is more difficult to pronounce in this more restricted environment, so they are phonetically longer than plain vowels although not as long as HL and SH sequences in the same environment. 61 There are four HL sequences whose duration overlaps with that of the LH sequences. These are in the words [pu.ah] ‘stir’ puah with duration of 250 ms, [ʔapi.ah] ‘graze’ ʔapiah with a duration of 255 ms, [ʔɨdi.aʔ] ‘sell’ ʔɨdiaʔ with a duration of 285 ms, and [ʔõnẽ.ãʔ] ‘go together’ ʔoneaʔ, with a duration of 280 ms. Of these four, the two sequences with the shortest duration are both preceded by a labial consonant. It is possible that there is a phonetic shortening process after labial consonnts. However, if this is the case, the shortening process is optional since [pu.ak] ‘go’ puak has a midrange duration of 330 ms. The short duration of the two sequences above not preceded by labials might simply be due to quick speech. They are both preceded by a separate syllable. Plain vowels in final syllables preceded by another syllable are shorter than those not preceded by another syllable. By comparison, vocoid sequences in this environment are likely shorter as well. If these four sequences with short duration are removed, there is no overlap between the duration of the remaining eight HL sequences and the LH sequences in closed syllables. Vocoid sequences following a medial glottal consonant syllabify differently from other sequences. All sequences in this environment syllabify as a single syllable. LH sequences are realized as a vowel with an offglide as they are after nonLglottals. All other sequences are realized as an onglide and a following vowel. Therefore, all sequences are expected to be only slightly longer than plain vowels in this position, as shown in Figure 13 for open syllables. 62 Figure 13. Duration of vocoid sequences in final open syllables after glottal consonant As predicted, all the vocoid sequences in this environment are slightly longer than corresponding simple vowels. The HL sequences here are much shorter than the HL sequences in the same position preceded by a nonLglottal consonant, while the other three types are quite similar Figure 11. This evidence supports the claim that HL sequences are tautosyllabic after glottals. There are only a handful of examples of SH vocoid sequences, but they fall where expected. There are some very short HL sequences, even shorter than the corresponding plain vowels. The shortest are [kõʔ.jã] ‘tree sp.’ kõʔĩã with a duration of 360 ms and [ko.koɪ ̯ʔ.e̯a] ‘lazy’ with a duration of 385 ms. As with the HL sequences in Figure 12 above, this may be the result of a fastLspeech phenomenon where longer words are spoken more quickly. There are similar results for sequences in closed syllables, shown in Figure 14 below. 63 Figure 14. Duration of vocoid sequences in final closed syllables after glottal consonant All sequences are only slightly longer than corresponding plain vowels. This supports the claim that these sequences are tautosyllabic. In summary, duration and intensity data support the claims about syllabification of vocoid sequences made in section 4.2. LH sequences are only slightly longer in duration than plain vowels in the same environment, which supports their analysis as tautosyllabic sequences. HL and SH sequences are much longer than corresponding plain vowels when preceded by a nonLglottal consonant, but are only slightly longer than corresponding plain vowels when preceded by a glottal consonant. This supports their analysis as disyllabic after nonLglottal consonants, and tautosyllabic after glottal consonants. Intensity contours also support the claims about syllabification. Sequences claimed to be disyllabic have greatest intensity in the middle of the vowel transition. Sequences claimed to be vowels with offglides have greatest intensity in the vowel, with intensity 64 tapering off at the end. Sequences claimed to be vowels with onglides have a short transition into the vowel, with intensity rising through the onglide to reach a peak in the following vowel.

4.4 Phonological analysis in Optimality Theory