YPL2 - Issue 11

Issue 11 (March 2011)

Editors: Lisa Roberts, Mariola Turek and Theodora Lee

Comparing Vowel Formant Normalisation Procedures

1–28

Nicholas Flynn

Abstract

This article compares 20 methods of vowel formant normalisation. Procedures were evaluated depending on their effectiveness at neutralising the variation in formant data due to inter-speaker physiological and anatomical differences. This was measured through the assessment of the ability of methods to equalise and align the vowel space areas of different speakers. The equalisation of vowel spaces was quantified through consideration of the SCV of vowel space areas calculated under each method of normalisation, while the alignment of vowel spaces was judged through considering the intersection and overlap of scale-drawn vowel space areas. An extensive dataset was used, consisting of large numbers of tokens from a wide range of vowels from 20 speakers, both male and female, of two different age groups. Normalisation methods were assessed. The results showed that vowel-extrinsic, formant-intrinsic, speaker-intrinsic methods performed the best at equalising and aligning speakers' vowel spaces, while vowel-intrinsic scaling transformations were judged to perform poorly overall at these two tasks. 

Old English Psych Verbs and Quirky Experiencers

29–48

Luiz Guilherme Guidi

Abstract

This paper presents a corpus–based study of Old English psychological verbs (e.g. andian ‘to envy’, abelgan ‘to annoy’), examining them based on recent theoretical advances on the syntax of this class of verbs (Landau, 2009) and presenting the occurrence of reflexive psych verbs (e.g. (a(n)/on–)drædan ‘to fear’), a pattern not previously noted in the litera- ture. From this new perspective, the data suggests that there is some evidence supporting the claim that Old English non–nominative Experiencers (accusative and dative) can be clausal subjects i.e. quirky subjects (in parallel with Allen, 1995). The finding impacts on the debate regarding whether topicalisation in Old English was restricted to main clauses or also allowed in subordinate clauses (van Kemenade, 1987, 1997; Pintzuk, 1999). The paper also discusses the difficulties of establishing the unacusativity of certain Old English psych verbs. 

Sequentially Determined Function of Pitch Contours: The Case of English News Receipts

49–73

Marianna Kaimaki

Abstract

This paper examines the pitch characteristics of a responsive turn, the news receipt, in order to explore the relationship between the prosodic design of a turn and its impact on the way conversation evolves. The results suggest that at this place in interactional structure the prosodic design of the news is dependent on whether the turn involves an explicit positive or negative lexical assessment (valenced news receipt) or not (non-valenced news receipt). When a non-valenced news receipt is employed the option of employing a falling or a rising pitch contour is open to the producer of the turn. When a valenced news receipt is employed there is only the option of a falling pitch contour. Non-valenced news receipts employing falling and rising pitch contours were found to receive the same range of interactional treatments suggesting that rising and falling pitch contours are in free variation – they can alternate without affecting the 'meaning' and further development of conversation at least at next turn position. This finding is particularly important as it suggests that at some places in interactional structure the function and meaning of pitch contours might not be the same as at some other place in structure. 

Variation and Similarity in the Phonological Development of French Dizygotic Twins: Phonological Bootstrapping Towards Segmental Learning?

74–87

Catherine Smith

Abstract

The few existing studies comparing the language acquisition of twins have shown contrasting findings with regard to phonological development (Bloch (1921), Leonard et al (1980)). Focussing on the implementation of templates – preferred output patterns implemented to facilitate production – this study compares the phonological acquisitions of a pair of twins, as systematisation of the output through templates appears to set the framework for an important shift in language development. Parallel templates are discussed alongside the observation of a coordinated shift towards segmental learning despite an initially dissimilar approach to language learning. Evidence from this data suggests that a form of phonological bootstrapping is taking place between these infants, which leads to further questions regarding the language acquisition of twins in the longer-term. 

The Acquisition of Consonant Clusters in Polish - A Case Study

88–102

Marta Szreder

Abstract

This paper examines the phonological processes affecting consonant clusters in the speech of a child acquiring Polish (1;5-1;9). Word-initial, word-medial and word-final clusters are discussed, and compared to word-initial singleton consonants in the data. The nature of the processes, as well as the wide range of variability within the child's system, lead to the conclusion that articulation, attention and word-based processing are the main factors affecting the child's production. 

Multiple Negative Fragmentary Answers

103–119

Hidekazu Tanaka

Abstract

This article shows that fragmentary negative concord answers in Japanese are derived by movement of the negative concord item to the specifier of C with a negative feature. Movement is driven by an uninterpretable feature on the negative concord item. Multiple fragmentary negative concord answers form a surprising constituent (Takano (2002)).