<OT> New Posting: ROA-974

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 974-0608

The Phonology and Phonetics of Consonant-Tone Interaction

Katrina Tang <katie.tang at ucla.edu>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=974


Abstract:
While it has long been known that consonants and tones interact
with one another, the question of how they interact has
received relatively little attention in the literature.
I approach this question first from the perspective of a
cross-linguistic survey of consonant-tone interaction. 
The results show that, while the more commonly studied interactio
n between voicing and low tone is the most frequent type
of consonant-tone interaction, consonant-tone interaction
also includes a much larger variety of consonants than is
often assumed (e.g. Bradshaw, 1999; Bao, 1999; Odden, 2002;
Yip, 1995). It also includes a wider variety of tone types
than have been assumed by earlier phonological models.
This survey, along with the phonetic connection between
the realization of laryngeal features and the production
of F0, becomes the basis for the theoretical approach taken
in the dissertation.  I discuss the concept of a tone span
and argue that this provides an environment in which a suprasegme
ntal feature and a segmental feature can interact without
being merged into a single feature; because many consonants
are able to interact with tone, I argue that a merged feature
approach cannot account for the full range of data.  Within
a tone span, phonetically based constraints require compatible
laryngeal features to co-occur or prohibit incompatible
from co-occurring.  I further explore these ideas by providing
a detailed account of the phonology of two typologically
distinct languages, Bade and Kam.
Finally, I examine the F0 patterns in Bade to see how the
phonology is reflected in the phonetics.  The results show
that voiced obstruents, with a low tone affinity, lower
F0, and voiceless obstruents, with a high tone affinity,
raise F0.  Sonorants have an intermediate effect on F0 and
are neutral with regard to consonant-tone interaction. Implosives
are also neutral with regard to consonant-tone interaction,
but they show similarities to both voiced and voiceless
consonants in their effect on F0.  The tone span, marked
with the phonological boundaries hypothesized for Bade,
is also shown to be a phonetically distinct unit for F0
measurement.


Comments: 
Keywords: consonant-tone interaction, typology, Bade, Kam
Areas: Phonology,Phonetics
Type: PhD Dissertation

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=974