The Complex Tones of E ast/ Southeast Asian Languages Current - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Complex Tones of E ast/ Southeast Asian Languages Current Challenges for Typology and Modelling Alexis Michaud, CNRS ‐ LACITO & CNRS ‐ CEFC 1

2 Photos: Martine Toda

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Naxi, Na, Laze Naxi, Na, Laze 纳西、纳（摩梭） 、 拉热（ “ 水田话”） Tamang Tamang 4

So where’s the challenge? « Conventional methods of description of tones have not attained the degree of accuracy and generality that have been accomplished for segmental features of speech of various languages, as evidenced by the most recent version of the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols. » (H. Fujisaki, W. Gu, and S. Ohno 2007: 240) First step: typology of tone. (William Wang: « possible tone systems ») Hiroya Fujisaki, Wentao Gu, and Sumio Ohno (2007), « Physiological and physical bases of the command ‐ response model for generating fundamental frequency contours in tone languages: implications for the phonology of tones », in Experimental Approaches to Phonology , ed. by Maria ‐ Josep Sole, 5 Patrice Speeter Beddor and Manjari Ohala, Oxford University Press, pp. 228 ‐ 245

1. The diversity of tonal systems • Prototypical tone languages? H Tones defined by F 0 : Bantu; Naxi; & many others M Not just F 0 : L Vietnamese: bundle of F 0 and open quotient (%) phonation type characteristics; Tamang: F 0 ; phonation type; consonant realization consonant realization Phonation type: irrelevant for Naxi Mazaudon, Martine and Alexis Michaud. 2008. "Tonal contrasts and initial consonants: a case 6 study of Tamang Tamang , a ‘missing link’ in tonogenesis." Phonetica 65:4, pp. 231 ‐ 256.

Tamang: allophonic variation of initial consonants /c u r i p a p a / 2 cu ‐ ri 3 pa ‐ pa 2 cu ‐ ri 1 pa ‐ pa 7 u r i p a p a /

voiced voiced unvoiced unvoiced 8 8

Caveat: Not all tones are reducible to F 0 . F 0 ‘polydimensional approach’ (P. Rose) Tamang (1 speaker) O q 9

Caveat: Not all contours are decomposable . • Currently widespread viewpoint: all contours to be analyzed as sequences of levels. • Remarkable successes: positive evidence in many many languages • Unwarranted extension to Sinitic (Chinese), Thai… • common ‐ sense view: contours should be viewed as units unless there is positive evidence to the contrary (Nick Clements, p.c. 2008) Tamang word ‐ tone. ← Mazaudon, Martine. 2012. “Paths to Tone in the Tamang Branch of Tibeto ‐ Burman (Nepal).” In Dialects as a Testing Ground for Theories of Language Change , ed. Gunther de Vogelaer and Guido Seiler, 139–177. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10

The analysis of tones into features “… in spite of the vast amount of work on tone languages over the past thirty years, the number of phenomena that appear to require tone features has become significantly reduced, raising the issue whether the notion of tone features is at all useful. This paper first reviews the basic functions for which segmental features have been proposed, and then examines the evidence that tone features are needed to serve these or other functions in tone languages. The discussion focuses successively on level tones, contour tones, and register, building on examples from Africa and Asia. Our current evaluation of the evidence is that tone features, to the extent that they appear motivated at all, do not serve the same functions as segmental features.” Clements, Nick † , Alexis Michaud, and Cédric Patin. 2011. “Do We Need Tone Features?” In Tones and Features, ed. Elizabeth Hume, John Goldsmith, and W. Leo Wetzels, 3–24. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Hyman, Larry. 2011. “Do tones have features?” Same volume 11

Diachronic evolution: contour tones Gradual, continuous evolution of contours. Not categorical Not categorical (no addition/deletion of levels). Direction of tone change: Direction some regularities. Bangkok Thai Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2007. Directionality of tone change . International Conference of the Phonetic Sciences, Saarbrücken. 12 Erickson, Donna. 1976. A Physiological Analysis of the Tones of Thai : University of Connecticut. Santitham Prom ‐ On & Yi Xu. This conference. Pitch target representation of Thai tones .

Diachronic evolution: level tones Categorical evolution of levels. Categorical evolution Phonetic pool of variation; diachronic change change: by transphonologization. H XH LM L LM H H H → further investigation : diachronic models of tone change diachronic models of tone change for various tone systems. Rialland, Annie. 2001. "Anticipatory Raising in Downstep Realization: Evidence for Preplanning in 13 Tone Production." Proceedings of the symposium “Cross ‐ linguistic studies of tonal phenomena” ed. by S. Kaji, 301 ‐ 322. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.

2. From tonal typology to intonation • Studies of intonation: borrow from analyses of lexical tones. • Broadening tonal typology opens perspectives for intonation models. 14

Lexical tones and intonation: a thin line Vietnamese tones Two « difficult » tones: → like assertion . → ạ . B2: with final constriction → like interrogation ? ? → ả C1: low, long, with final rise [conservative realization] Relationship: phonetic? mnemonic? metaphorical? de Rhodes, Alexandre. 1651. Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum. Rome. 15 Haudricourt, André ‐ Georges. 1949. "L'origine des particularités de l'alphabet vietnamien." Dân Viêt ‐ Nam 3.61 ‐ 68.

Potential for tonal reinterpretation of intonation: an example Potential for tonal reinterpretation of intonation: an example Interjection 啊 , /a/: 啊！我考过了！ Wow! I passed the exam! 啊？ 你在这儿干吗 ? Huh? What are you doing here? 啊， 这样可以 。 All right, that’s fine. Described by some dictionaries as different tones : Tone 1 a ̄ : « speaker gets to know something pleasant » Tone 2 á : « call for repetition » Tone 3 ǎ : « surprise or disbelief » Tone 4 à : « sudden realization of sthg » Approximating intonation by means of tone. Attraction of the tonal system. (Transfer to L2) ‐ 《精选法汉 ‐ 汉法词典》（ Dictionnaire concis français ‐ chinois ‐ français ） , 商务印书馆、拉鲁斯出版社， 1994 16 ‐ 林語堂 《 當代漢英詞典》香港中文大學 , 一九七二年第一版

Tonal and non ‐ tonal intonation Intonation: (i) marking of boundaries/junctures – strongly linked to syntax syntax; (ii) marking of information structure – pragmatics pragmatics; (iii) expression of attitudes and emotions. Major difference across languages: to what extent (if at all) these are structured in tonal terms. tonal intonation=addition of tones of intonational origin; =addition of tones of intonational origin; DEF. tonal intonation ‘Intonational tones’: intonational origin; structurally similar to lexical tones. 17

Tonal intonation • Marginally present in Naxi: from: /h ɑ ̄ .p ɑ ̀ / ‘Han, Chinese’ • “rampant in African tone systems” (L. Hyman, p.c.) E.g. Luganda: /òmùlìmì/ ‘farmer’; with boundary H: /òmúlímí/ L L L L L H H H Interpretation Interpretation Extension, by analogy, of a tonal, categorical treatment… … Extension, by analogy, of a tonal, categorical treatment (hypothesis): (hypothesis): 18 … to intonation, which is originally nontonal, noncategorical to intonation, which is originally nontonal, noncategorical …

Telling apart tonal and non ‐ tonal phenomena: An experiment comparing Vietnamese, Naxi, and English Comparing « careful » and « emphatic » renderings of the same words in carrier sentences (This is ___ ): 1 st context: teaching a student how to pronounce a word ‐ 2 nd context: answering s.o. for the umpteenth time. ‐ Aim: ‐ Illustrating intonational malleability of tone (Vietnamese, Naxi). ‐ Comparing phonetic correlates of tone and of intonation. (in particular: F 0 , I) 19

Vietnamese: 140 Tone D2 (=nonglottalized), careful (nonemphatic) 50 reading. Mid-range open quotient. Time in ms Emphatic reading. 140 Open quotient: same range. F 0 : higher. 50 Time in ms 20 42 items in each graph.

Overall acoustic intensity (RMS amplitude): difference across reading conditions (experimental settings unchanged) ( Tone D2 Time in ms Vietnamese data: difference > 5 dB on average 21

Blue: careful reading, H red: emphatic reading High tone Open quotient (%) sec. ↑ Naxi: differences in F 0 (register + contour). English: various strategies. → 22

Differences in intensity and in F 0 I I emphatic Tone H Tone M Tone L Tone H Tone M Tone L careful F 0 F 0 Expected ratios of intensity / F 0 , Expected ratios of intensity / F 0 , Naxi language English language I 23 F 0 in Vietnamese :

Differences in intensity and in F 0 I (I in dB, F 0 in musical tones) VIETNAMESE high increase in I NAXI High values = ENGLISH Lexical tone (Naxi H vs. M) F 0 Observed ratios of intensity / F 0 English Naxi Vietn. TONES Effect of emphasis Effect of tones Emphasis: relies proportionally more on intensity in languages with tone. Lexical tone: proportionally less bearing on intensity. 24

Modelling non ‐ tonal intonation: the case of Mandarin Chinese [4 lexical tones] Speech synthesis for Tone 3: lowest tone; tone 4: high, sharply falling Mandarin: Shih Chilin et al . 1 template +strength coefficient (based on: informational prominence). Less strong = more coarticulated. Chilin Shih, April 2003, Oxford University 25