Intrinsic fundamental frequency in two tonal Austronesian languages

Laura Arnold; Jiayin Gao; James P. Kirby

Intrinsic fundamental frequency in two tonal Austronesian languages

Laura Arnold, Jiayin Gao, James P. Kirby

School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

We report on intrinsic fundamental frequency (IF0) differences in Butlih Salawati and Biga, two closely related Austronesian languages. Both languages have small inventories of six underlying vowels; they both also have simple tone systems, with two specified tones. We show that IF0 differences between high and low vowels in the languages range from 1.5 to 2.8 ST, depending on tonal specification and utterance context. Overall, these results are larger than the mean crosslinguistic difference of 1.65 ST. Based on the previous literature, strong claims that IF0 is under the control of the speaker predict that IF0 differences are attenuated in tone languages, and not enhanced in languages with small vowel inventories. The results presented here do not support these claims. However, we suggest that these results may explain the comparatively frequent tonal developments conditioned by vowel height attested in Austronesian languages.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences
Editors	Radek Skarntizl, Jan Volín
Place of Publication	Prague
Publisher	Guarant International
Pages	3345-3349
ISBN (Electronic)	9788090811423
Publication status	Published - 10 Aug 2023
Event	20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS) - Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic Duration: 7 Aug 2023 → 11 Aug 2023 https://www.icphs2023.org/

Conference

Conference	20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS)
Abbreviated title	ICPhS 2023
Country/Territory	Czech Republic
City	Prague
Period	7/08/23 → 11/08/23
Internet address	https://www.icphs2023.org/

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Austronesian
intrinsic fundamental frequency
vowels
tone
production

Access to Document

ArnoldEtAl2023IntrinsicFundamentalFrequencyFinal published version, 307 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

https://guarant.cz/icphs2023/577.pdfLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

A data collection on three undocumented Austronesian languages of Halmahera
Arnold, L.
Learned Societies
31/08/20 → 31/08/23
Project: Research
Synchronic and diachronic investigations in Raja Ampat-South Halmahera, a little-known subbranch of Austronesian
Arnold, L. & Kirby, J.
Learned Societies
1/09/19 → 1/03/24
Project: Research
The emergence and evolution of linguistic tone
Kirby, J.
EU government bodies
1/06/18 → 31/05/24
Project: Research

20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS)
Laura Arnold (Presenter), Jiayin Gao (Advisor) & James Kirby (Advisor)
7 Aug 2023
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference

Cite this

@inproceedings{de8f9d44782c440d948c72d73afbf367,

title = "Intrinsic fundamental frequency in two tonal Austronesian languages",

abstract = "We report on intrinsic fundamental frequency (IF0) differences in Butlih Salawati and Biga, two closely related Austronesian languages. Both languages have small inventories of six underlying vowels; they both also have simple tone systems, with two specified tones. We show that IF0 differences between high and low vowels in the languages range from 1.5 to 2.8 ST, depending on tonal specification and utterance context. Overall, these results are larger than the mean crosslinguistic difference of 1.65 ST. Based on the previous literature, strong claims that IF0 is under the control of the speaker predict that IF0 differences are attenuated in tone languages, and not enhanced in languages with small vowel inventories. The results presented here do not support these claims. However, we suggest that these results may explain the comparatively frequent tonal developments conditioned by vowel height attested in Austronesian languages. ",

keywords = "Austronesian, intrinsic fundamental frequency, vowels, tone, production",

author = "Laura Arnold and Jiayin Gao and Kirby, {James P.}",

note = "Acknowledgements: This study was funded by a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (PF19\100004) and a Moray Endowment Grant (University of Edinburgh) to L. Arnold, and an ERC Starting Grant (758605) to J. Kirby. ; 20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS), ICPhS 2023 ; Conference date: 07-08-2023 Through 11-08-2023",

year = "2023",

month = aug,

day = "10",

language = "English",

pages = "3345--3349",

editor = "Radek Skarntizl and Jan Vol{\'i}n",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences",

publisher = "Guarant International",

url = "https://www.icphs2023.org/",

}

Arnold, L, Gao, J & Kirby, JP 2023, Intrinsic fundamental frequency in two tonal Austronesian languages. in R Skarntizl & J Volín (eds), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences., 577, Guarant International, Prague, pp. 3345-3349, 20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS), Prague, Czech Republic, 7/08/23. <https://guarant.cz/icphs2023/577.pdf>

TY - GEN

T1 - Intrinsic fundamental frequency in two tonal Austronesian languages

AU - Arnold, Laura

AU - Gao, Jiayin

AU - Kirby, James P.

N1 - Acknowledgements: This study was funded by a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (PF19\100004) and a Moray Endowment Grant (University of Edinburgh) to L. Arnold, and an ERC Starting Grant (758605) to J. Kirby.

PY - 2023/8/10

Y1 - 2023/8/10

N2 - We report on intrinsic fundamental frequency (IF0) differences in Butlih Salawati and Biga, two closely related Austronesian languages. Both languages have small inventories of six underlying vowels; they both also have simple tone systems, with two specified tones. We show that IF0 differences between high and low vowels in the languages range from 1.5 to 2.8 ST, depending on tonal specification and utterance context. Overall, these results are larger than the mean crosslinguistic difference of 1.65 ST. Based on the previous literature, strong claims that IF0 is under the control of the speaker predict that IF0 differences are attenuated in tone languages, and not enhanced in languages with small vowel inventories. The results presented here do not support these claims. However, we suggest that these results may explain the comparatively frequent tonal developments conditioned by vowel height attested in Austronesian languages.

AB - We report on intrinsic fundamental frequency (IF0) differences in Butlih Salawati and Biga, two closely related Austronesian languages. Both languages have small inventories of six underlying vowels; they both also have simple tone systems, with two specified tones. We show that IF0 differences between high and low vowels in the languages range from 1.5 to 2.8 ST, depending on tonal specification and utterance context. Overall, these results are larger than the mean crosslinguistic difference of 1.65 ST. Based on the previous literature, strong claims that IF0 is under the control of the speaker predict that IF0 differences are attenuated in tone languages, and not enhanced in languages with small vowel inventories. The results presented here do not support these claims. However, we suggest that these results may explain the comparatively frequent tonal developments conditioned by vowel height attested in Austronesian languages.

KW - Austronesian

KW - intrinsic fundamental frequency

KW - vowels

KW - tone

KW - production

M3 - Conference contribution

SP - 3345

EP - 3349

BT - Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences

A2 - Skarntizl, Radek

A2 - Volín, Jan

PB - Guarant International

CY - Prague

T2 - 20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS)

Y2 - 7 August 2023 through 11 August 2023

ER -

Intrinsic fundamental frequency in two tonal Austronesian languages

Abstract

Conference

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

A data collection on three undocumented Austronesian languages of Halmahera

Synchronic and diachronic investigations in Raja Ampat-South Halmahera, a little-known subbranch of Austronesian

The emergence and evolution of linguistic tone

Activities

20th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS)

Cite this