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Intonation Adapts to Lexical Tone: The Case of Kammu

Karlsson, Anastasia LU ; House, David and Svantesson, Jan-Olof LU (2012) In Phonetica 69(1-2). p.28-47
Abstract
In this paper, we investigate how lexical tones interact with intonation, using data from the Austroasiatic language Kammu, one of few languages with two dialects whose only major phonological difference is the presence or absence of lexical tones. Northern (and Western) Kammu have developed tones in connection with the merger of voiceless and voiced initial consonants, while the non-tonal Eastern dialect kept the segmental opposition with no tones. We found the following prosodic hierarchy: (1) lexical tones, (2) phrase-final boundary tone, (3) focus marking. The results strongly suggest that the intonational systems of the two Kammu dialects are basically identical, and that the main differences between the dialects are adaptations of... (More)
In this paper, we investigate how lexical tones interact with intonation, using data from the Austroasiatic language Kammu, one of few languages with two dialects whose only major phonological difference is the presence or absence of lexical tones. Northern (and Western) Kammu have developed tones in connection with the merger of voiceless and voiced initial consonants, while the non-tonal Eastern dialect kept the segmental opposition with no tones. We found the following prosodic hierarchy: (1) lexical tones, (2) phrase-final boundary tone, (3) focus marking. The results strongly suggest that the intonational systems of the two Kammu dialects are basically identical, and that the main differences between the dialects are adaptations of intonation patterns to the lexical tones when the identities of the tones are jeopardized. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Tone, Intonation, Kammu, Khmu
in
Phonetica
volume
69
issue
1-2
pages
28 - 47
publisher
Karger
external identifiers
  • wos:000311328000003
  • scopus:84870034933
  • pmid:23172238
ISSN
1423-0321
DOI
10.1159/000343169
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Linguistics and Phonetics (015010003)
id
a8d5fb4a-9e67-48fa-bb8c-843d5d0bec61 (old id 3202873)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:57:55
date last changed
2023-08-30 14:29:01
@article{a8d5fb4a-9e67-48fa-bb8c-843d5d0bec61,
  abstract     = {{In this paper, we investigate how lexical tones interact with intonation, using data from the Austroasiatic language Kammu, one of few languages with two dialects whose only major phonological difference is the presence or absence of lexical tones. Northern (and Western) Kammu have developed tones in connection with the merger of voiceless and voiced initial consonants, while the non-tonal Eastern dialect kept the segmental opposition with no tones. We found the following prosodic hierarchy: (1) lexical tones, (2) phrase-final boundary tone, (3) focus marking. The results strongly suggest that the intonational systems of the two Kammu dialects are basically identical, and that the main differences between the dialects are adaptations of intonation patterns to the lexical tones when the identities of the tones are jeopardized.}},
  author       = {{Karlsson, Anastasia and House, David and Svantesson, Jan-Olof}},
  issn         = {{1423-0321}},
  keywords     = {{Tone; Intonation; Kammu; Khmu}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1-2}},
  pages        = {{28--47}},
  publisher    = {{Karger}},
  series       = {{Phonetica}},
  title        = {{Intonation Adapts to Lexical Tone: The Case of Kammu}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000343169}},
  doi          = {{10.1159/000343169}},
  volume       = {{69}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}