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Title: Distinguishing different levels of representation in the acoustics : a case study in Scottish English epenthesis
Creator: Smith, Kaylin Marie
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Much of the typology for inserted vowels-i.e. those that are not present etymologically, but which surface in the acoustics-has come from cross-linguistic patterns identified perceptually by linguists. Crucially, though, inserted vowels may superficially sound the same, despite emerging at different stages of derivation. Inserted vowels may be present in the underlying representation as vowels that have become fossilized over time (i.e. lexicalized vowels), in the surface representation by...
Show moreMuch of the typology for inserted vowels-i.e. those that are not present etymologically, but which surface in the acoustics-has come from cross-linguistic patterns identified perceptually by linguists. Crucially, though, inserted vowels may superficially sound the same, despite emerging at different stages of derivation. Inserted vowels may be present in the underlying representation as vowels that have become fossilized over time (i.e. lexicalized vowels), in the surface representation by way of a derived process (i.e. epenthetic vowels), or in the phonetic implementation as a result of gestural alignment (i.e. excrescent vowels). In a modular feedforward framework, in which phonology feeds phonetics, phonological processes can display gradience typically associated with phonetic processes. Determining what level of representation an inserted vowel originates from, then, can be challenging and may result in misclassification.Misclassifying an inserted vowel can have consequences for phonological theory, since the theory is modeled to generate the typological patterns found in natural language production. A vowel that has been misclassified may appear to be a typological exception, and this exceptional behavior can result in proposals for new categories of inserted vowels which do not fit the phonology-phonetics dichotomy, or revisions to the modular feedforward framework to incorporate some degree of overlap between the phonetics and phonology modules. It is important, then, that the methodology used to classify inserted vowels as originating in the surface representation, for example, do so by excluding the possibility that the vowel did not originate in the underlying representation or from gestural alignment.In this dissertation, I utilize an under-documented case of vowel insertion in Scottish English as a case study to distinguish between lexicalized, epenthetic, and excrescent vowels in the acoustic signal. Using data collected in two language production experiments, I assess the inserted vowel's phonological and phonetic properties against two sets of diagnostic criteria-one which I use to establish that the vowel is phonological, and another which I use to establish that the vowel is epenthetic. These diagnostic criteria are applied via a process of elimination, in which I exclude the possibility that the vowel is excrescent to establish that it is phonological using the first set of diagnostic criteria, and subsequently exclude the possibility that the phonological vowel is lexicalized to establish that it is epenthetic using the second set of diagnostic criteria. The language-specific findings, novel diagnostics and exclusion process, and patterns for epenthetic vowels presented in this dissertation serve to supplement Scottish English phonology, improve the methodology available to phonologists investigating the origins of inserted vowels, and contribute to the typology of inserted vowels in a modular feedforward framework.
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Title: Testing phonological representations through behavioral and electrophysiological methods
Creator: Trotter, Andrew (Graduate of Michigan State University)
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Languages differ in the sounds that make up their phonemic inventories. These sounds, or phonemes, are represented abstractly in the mind of a speaker, making up the underlying representations of lexical items. Additional sounds may exist in a given language, surfacing via a derivative process of phonological rule application, where they are called allophones. There are also many speech sounds that are unrepresented entirely, as separate categories, within a particular language. In either...
Show moreLanguages differ in the sounds that make up their phonemic inventories. These sounds, or phonemes, are represented abstractly in the mind of a speaker, making up the underlying representations of lexical items. Additional sounds may exist in a given language, surfacing via a derivative process of phonological rule application, where they are called allophones. There are also many speech sounds that are unrepresented entirely, as separate categories, within a particular language. In either case, learners of a second language have difficulty perceiving and producing the sounds that do not exist or have differing phonological status in their native language. English and Spanish present us with an ideal case study of these differences. Both languages contain the [d], [ð], and [027E] sounds, but they differ in how they organize them. While /d/ is a phoneme in both languages, in Spanish [ð] is an allophone of /d/, while /027E/ is a separate phoneme. Conversely, [027E] is an allophone of /d/ in English while /ð/ is a separate phoneme. There is a large amount of literature showing that sounds that contrast in one's language are more perceptible than those that do not. Boomershine et al., (2008) showed this to be true of the [d], [ð], and [027E] sounds in native Spanish and English speakers, where Spanish speakers more easily perceived the differences between [d]/[027E] than [d]/[ð]. English speakers, on the other hand, had difficulty distinguishing [d] from [027E], but no issue with [d] and [ð]. The studies in this dissertation extend this work by first replicating the results of Boomershine et al., (2008) with a group of monolingual English speakers as well as a group of native Spanish speakers on a forced choice perception task. Additionally, I add a group of native English-speaking advanced learners of Spanish and show that their perception of the relevant sounds is more like that of the native Spanish speakers on a number of behavioral metrics. In a second study, I test the same three speaker groups in an Electroencephalography study (EEG) using the mismatch negativity protocol (MMN) which has been previously shown to probe auditory categorical perception (Naatanen et al., 1978). If the MMN is sensitive to phonemic contrasts, as has been claimed, the expectation is that, similarly to the behavioral perception results, speakers should show larger mismatch responses to phonemic contrasts than to allophonic contrasts. I also explore the possibility of using the MMN to probe category formation in the learner group. However, while there are subtle differences in the EEG data for each speaker group, the results are contra predictions. Instead, all three language groups pattern similarly on each sound in the EEG study, with larger MMNs being elicited by the [027E]/[d] comparison than the [ð]/[d] comparison. This mismatch response suggests that the MMN is not probing phonological status but is sensitive to phonetic category. A discussion of methodology and the validity of using the MMN in phonology research is included.
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Title: On syntax, alternative semantics, and computation in coordination
Creator: Agafonova, Irina
Date: 2011
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation tackles various puzzles at the syntax-semantics interface in coordination. The first question is whether different readings of natural language conjunction, such as coordinate and subordinate interpretations, can be deduced from a unifying syntax-semantics. I explore the behavior of both types of coordinate structures and attribute their distinct properties to the difference in syntactic representations. The new approach does not solve all puzzles, but it challenges the...
Show moreThis dissertation tackles various puzzles at the syntax-semantics interface in coordination. The first question is whether different readings of natural language conjunction, such as coordinate and subordinate interpretations, can be deduced from a unifying syntax-semantics. I explore the behavior of both types of coordinate structures and attribute their distinct properties to the difference in syntactic representations. The new approach does not solve all puzzles, but it challenges the power of the standard semantics of conjunctions. This challenge is then addressed by the second research question.The second question is what is the appropriate semantics for natural language conjunctions. The traditional semantic approach assumes natural language conjunctions to be logical operators. However, it fails to capture various meanings of conjunctions and their scopal properties, asking for an alternative approach. I propose that natural language conjunction is a set forming operator and conjoined structures denote the set whose members are Hamblin alternatives created by the conjuncts. The new approach provides a better explanation of scope ambiguities in coordination. I further address this type of ambiguity in the third research question.The third question is how to implement a solution to the mapping problem from a computational point of view. The problem is that ambiguities in natural language create possible readings which can grow exponentially. Enumerating such readings is an onerous task. A much more efficient solution is to use underspecified semantic representations within a Minimalist Grammars formalism.
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Title: Consonantal effects on F0 in tonal languages
Creator: Luo, Qian (College teacher)
Date: 2018
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Consonant types can influence F0 values of the adjacent vowels (this F0 perturbation effect is henceforth referred as C-F0). C-F0 may be enlarged to maximize perceptual distinctiveness and thus reinforce aspiration contrast. In tonal languages, the effect may also be inhibited to cue tone contrast by constraining F0 variability by the demands of the lexical tone system. This dissertation investigates how C-F0 can be related to tone contrast and aspiration contrast by asking the following...
Show moreConsonant types can influence F0 values of the adjacent vowels (this F0 perturbation effect is henceforth referred as C-F0). C-F0 may be enlarged to maximize perceptual distinctiveness and thus reinforce aspiration contrast. In tonal languages, the effect may also be inhibited to cue tone contrast by constraining F0 variability by the demands of the lexical tone system. This dissertation investigates how C-F0 can be related to tone contrast and aspiration contrast by asking the following questions:(1) Is C-F0 conditioned by lexical tones? (2) Is C-F0 conditioned by F0 difference between tones? (3) Is there a cue trading relation between F0 and VOT for aspiration contrast?Fifteen Mandarin speakers and fifteen Cantonese speakers participated in the production experiments. All stimuli followed a CV template. The Mandarin stimuli had four Mandarin tones: M-T1(55), M-T2(35), M-T3(214) and M-T4(51). The Cantonese stimuli covered six Cantonese tones: C-T1(55), C-T2(25), C-T3(33), C-T4(21), C-T5(23) and C-T6(22). Initial consonants were aspirated obstruents, unaspirated obstruents and sonorants. F0 values following sonorants were the baseline for evaluating C-F0. The major results are as follow: for Question 1, the major findings are that tones can influence the vowel duration that C-F0 can extend and the difference between F0 following different consonants in Mandarin and Cantonese. A consistent direction was found: F0 following aspirated stops was higher than F0 following unaspirated stops and following sonorants. The trajectory of F0 following aspirated stops started as the second highest and converged with the lowest baseline F0 following sonorants. The results indicate a robust aspiration raising and a weaker voiceless unaspirated raising effect in both Mandarin and Cantonese.For Question 2, the pattern of the vowel duration that C-F0 can extend was found to follow the pattern of the F0 difference between the target tone and its closest tone in the tone inventory. However, the difference between F0 following different consonants within the first 10ms did not follow the patterns of F0 difference between tones in Mandarin or Cantonese. Finally, the cross-linguistic comparison provides support to the hypothesis that higher degree of tone competition may restrict C-F0.For Question 3, the results show that VOT is a strong cue for the aspiration contrast while onset F0 is a weak cue. However, the findings do not provide evidence for a cue trading relation between VOT and onset F0 in Mandarin or Cantonese. This dissertation has offered a new angle that few previous studies have dealt with before: traditionally, the enhancement of voicing contrast or the physical properties of producing voicing were proposed as the major trigger that give rise to C-F0. This dissertation has introduced a new contrast, i.e. the contrast of lexical tones, to explore the question. Furthermore, the major findings for all three questions confirm a hybrid account for explaining C-F0 in tonal languages: the tone enhancement account and the consonant automatic account.
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Title: Intensification and attenuation across categories
Creator: Anderson, Curtis
Date: 2016
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation examines the syntax and semantics of intensification and attenuation in English through four cases studies. These case studies provide a way of addressing two questions on the nature of intensification and attenuation. First, what components can intensification and attenuation be decomposed into, and are these components shared across various constructions? Second, can instances of intensification and attenuation be unified under one theoretical framework, or are...
Show moreThis dissertation examines the syntax and semantics of intensification and attenuation in English through four cases studies. These case studies provide a way of addressing two questions on the nature of intensification and attenuation. First, what components can intensification and attenuation be decomposed into, and are these components shared across various constructions? Second, can instances of intensification and attenuation be unified under one theoretical framework, or are intensification and attenuation broad terms for disparate phenomena?Chapter 2 focuses on the modifiers sorta and kinda. These modifiers are of interest due to their cross-categorial nature, being able to modify noun phrases, verb phrases, and adjective phrases. When composed with a gradable category, such as a gradable adjective (e.g., sorta tall), these degree words weaken entailments to the standard. When used with a non-gradable category (e.g., sorta swim), they weaken the conditions when the non-gradable category can be used, allowing it to be used imprecisely. I adapt the framework in Morzycki 2011, supposing that natural language expressions have flexible denotations corresponding to pragmatic halos, in the sense of Lasersohn (1999). These halos are linked to a degree of precision on the interpretation function. Typeshifting mechanisms allow this degree of precision to be accessed through grammatical meanings, coercing predicates from being non-gradable into gradable, with the degree of precision providing the scale along which to grade the predicate.The analysis of sorta in chapter 2 is extended to very in chapter 3. Canonically, when very is used with a gradable adjective, it asserts that the adjective holds to a high degree. However, there exist other cases where very is used with a nominal, such as in the very center of the Earth and I spoke with this very person, as well as with ordinals (the very first person in line). I argue that these are imprecision-related uses of very, and that, like with sorta/kinda, an implicit typeshift is used toconvert these noun phrase into predicates that are graded by their degree of precision. In keeping with its use in the adjectival domain, very also asserts that these predicates are to hold to a high degree—in this case, a high degree of precision.In chapter 4, I examine the use of some as a numeral modifier, as in twenty-some people were at the party. These cases commit the speaker to ignorance about which particular number satisfies a claim. Moreover, these examples have both a lower bound, coming from the modified numeral and an upper bound due to the syntax of the numeral. I build a syntax for these constructions, and adapt Alonso-Ovalle & Menéndez-Benito’s 2010 analysis of algún in order to show how the ignorance effect is derived from presuppositions on some.Finally, chapter 5 focuses on some in a type of exclamative construction using the determiner some. These are examples such as John is some lawyer!. I show that these some-exclamatives are constrained in that the noun phrase that some combines with must be able to be construed so that subkinds can be associated with it. In analyzing these exclamatives, I adopt a question-theory of exclamatives in the style of Zanuttini & Portner (2003), where exclamatives underlyingly make use of an alternative semantics in the style of Hamblin 1973. The existence of exclamatives being built from an indefinite such as some provides additional support for exclamatives more generally being an alternative-sensitive construction.These case studies shed light on various components that underly intensification and attenuation. First, chapters 2 and 3 show how imprecision and slack regulation can be modeled using a degree semantics, as well as a special typeshifting mechanism that transforms non-gradable predicates into gradable predicates by grading them based on precision. Chapter 4 shows how properties of the epistemic determiner some are used in generating ignorance effects with numerals and building approximate meanings. Finally, chapter 5 shows how speakers exclaim about kinds and subkinds, and how exclamative constructions depend on alternative-generating constituents (whether they are questions or indefinites). The variety of analytical tools used suggests that intensification and attenuation are not primitive theoretical notions and should not be unified.
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Title: The semantics of Russian indefinite pronouns : scope, domain widening, specificity, and proportionality and their interaction
Creator: Eremina, Olga
Date: 2012
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The main goal of this dissertation is to consider the different types of indefinites in Russian as a system and provide a semantic account for each of them that would be able to naturally explain their distribution. The four sets of so-called `indefinite pronouns' (-to, -nibud', -libo, and koe- indefinites) differ in their degree of specificity. Indefinites with the prefix koe- are epistemically specific (known to the speaker, but unknown to the addressee). They also induce the effect of...
Show moreThe main goal of this dissertation is to consider the different types of indefinites in Russian as a system and provide a semantic account for each of them that would be able to naturally explain their distribution. The four sets of so-called `indefinite pronouns' (-to, -nibud', -libo, and koe- indefinites) differ in their degree of specificity. Indefinites with the prefix koe- are epistemically specific (known to the speaker, but unknown to the addressee). They also induce the effect of proportionality (and refer to a part of a given set). As such, they can be analyzed as unambiguously choice-functional proportional indefinites. Indefinites with the suffix -to are usually analyzed as scopally (but not epistemically) specific. The conclusion that they can only take a wide scope often leads to analyzing them as choice-functional items as well. Such an approach, though, requires some additional stipulations to be made to distinguish -to and koe- indefinites. It also fails to account for the cases when -to indefinites are perceived as having a narrow apparent scope. I propose that -to indefinites are instances of the parameterized choice function with an implicit argument which can be bound from outside; in particular, the function can be parameterized by times yielding the quazi- narrow-scope interpretation. Under such an analysis, -to indefinites are not classic choice-functional indefinites because they can behave similar to quantifiers when the implicit parameter is bound from outside. Traditional approaches to -nibud' indefinites are based on their non-specificity or/and peculiar distribution (they are only licensed in questions, conditional sentences, imperatives, future tense sentences, in the scope of modal operators, and in some characterizing/generic sentences, e.g. dictionary definitions). I propose that their syntactic distribution is due to their domain-widening semantics. The indefinites with the suffix -libo are very similar to -nibud' pronouns in their semantics and functions. The only difference lies in the degree of universality. -Nibud' indefinites can never receive a universal interpretation, -libo items, however, seem to function as universals in comparisons and under negation. This difference is caused by another, stylistic in nature, property of the system: only a formal-style -libo but not a stylistically neutral -nibud' is able to function as a universal (free choice) indefinite in some contexts, because the truly free-choice items do not meet the stylistic requirements of these contexts. The system of the different sets of Russian indefinite pronouns, then, covers the whole continuum of `indefiniteness' via non-overlapping in their semantics and functions lexical items: from mere choice-functional koe- items through `half-quantificational' -to indefinites to domain-widening (quantificational) -nibud' indefinite pronouns. The indefinites demonstrate competition and distribution of labor. Each of the indefinites has its own semantics and functions, but at the same time their semantics and behavior are closely tied to and dependent on the other parts of the system.
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Title: The generalizable nature of lexical retuning
Creator: Nelson, Scott (Graduate of Michigan State University)
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Auditory speech identification has been observed to be influenced by both lexical and visual information. Perceptual learning experiments have used two unique paradigms to test how each of these information sources affects the identification of ambiguous stimuli. In both cases, listeners are more likely to identify ambiguous stimuli in the direction of the disambiguating information they receive. It has been further argued that the resulting effects are the same and can be traced back to the...
Show more"Auditory speech identification has been observed to be influenced by both lexical and visual information. Perceptual learning experiments have used two unique paradigms to test how each of these information sources affects the identification of ambiguous stimuli. In both cases, listeners are more likely to identify ambiguous stimuli in the direction of the disambiguating information they receive. It has been further argued that the resulting effects are the same and can be traced back to the same general speech perception mechanism. Despite this claim, there have been conflicting results in regards to generalization. Lexically induced perceptual learning has been observed to generalize to new contexts, while visually induced perceptual learning has been observed to be context dependent. While the difference in these observed results could be explained by the information source (lexical vs. visual), there are also crucial differences in the experimental designs that may offer a better account. The training stimuli set for lexically induced perceptual learning experiments includes many unique tokens that are presented one time each. For visually induced perceptual learning experiments, the training set includes just one unique token presented multiple times. Listeners therefore only receive type variation in the lexically induced perceptual learning experiments. Crucially, type variation has been observed to be necessary for learning linguistic patterns and therefore may explain the differences in observed results between the two paradigms. This current study uses three new experiments to study the generalizable nature of lexically induced perceptual learning. The results corroborate the idea that generalization of the effect to new contexts is possible in lexically induced perceptual learning experiments when listeners are trained with type variation, but when type variation is eliminated the ability to generalize the effect to new contexts is no longer observed."--Page ii.
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Title: Twice versus two times in phrases of comparison
Creator: Gobeski, Adam Michael
Date: 2011
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The interaction of factor phrases--things like "half", "twice", and "three times"--with degree constructions such as comparatives (i.e., comparisons of the form "-er" or "more...than") and equatives (comparisons of the form "as...as") is an area that has seldom been touched upon. While much has been written about comparatives in general, and some has been written about adverbial versions of these factor phrases (in sentences such as "John went to the store twice today"), degree-related factor...
Show moreThe interaction of factor phrases--things like "half", "twice", and "three times"--with degree constructions such as comparatives (i.e., comparisons of the form "-er" or "more...than") and equatives (comparisons of the form "as...as") is an area that has seldom been touched upon. While much has been written about comparatives in general, and some has been written about adverbial versions of these factor phrases (in sentences such as "John went to the store twice today"), degree-related factor phrases have been largely neglected. In particular, the distinction between factor phrases like "twice", which combine only with equatives, and phrases like "two times", which combine with both equatives and comparatives, has been overlooked. I will thus be examining these factor phrases as they relate to degree constructions. I will argue that for many factor phrases, like "twice" and "half", Bierwisch (1989)'s prediction that they interact only with equatives holds true, while in cases of the form "n times" this prediction breaks down. I will also argue that factor phrases like "twice" involve a maximality operator, while factor phrases like "two times" simply involve an existential operator.
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Title: The acquisition of Korean pluralizer --tul
Creator: Kim, Mikyung
Date: 2011
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This thesis presents an experiment designed to test children's knowledge of the Korean pluralizer -tul. Acquisition of this pluralizer was investigated in two ways: as an Intrinsic Plural Marker (IPM) attached to nominals and as an Extrinsic Plural Marker (EPM) attached to non-nominals. First of all, the results show that eight-year-olds associated the IPM -tul as plural. Seven- and eight-year-olds, however, were more confident with a singular interpretation than with a plural interpretation....
Show moreThis thesis presents an experiment designed to test children's knowledge of the Korean pluralizer -tul. Acquisition of this pluralizer was investigated in two ways: as an Intrinsic Plural Marker (IPM) attached to nominals and as an Extrinsic Plural Marker (EPM) attached to non-nominals. First of all, the results show that eight-year-olds associated the IPM -tul as plural. Seven- and eight-year-olds, however, were more confident with a singular interpretation than with a plural interpretation. Such behavior is due to the optionality of -tul. If children are exposed to inconsistent input, and the interpretation is ambiguous, the acquisition can be delayed. Second, the results show that the IPM -tul plays the same role in subject and in indirect object. Eight-year-olds treated the IPM -tul equally, regardless of the place that it is attached to. Third, the results with adults' responses suggest that the EPM -tul is associated to a plural subject interpretation. Seven- and eight-year-olds seemed that they did not know the interpretation of the EPM. Fourth, the results show that the EPM is harder for seven- and eight-year-olds to acquire than the IPM. The IPM is attached more locally than the EPM in terms of its semantic effect. Lastly, the results clearly show that there were age differences in acquisition of the pluralizer -tul. Although eight-year-olds were not adult-like, they performed a lot better than seven-year-olds did since they were more likely to be exposed to the plural interpretations.
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