Tone Splits and Voicing Shifts in Thai: Phonetic Plausibility.
| Number | 788 |
|---|---|
| Year | 1992 |
| Drawer | 14 |
| Entry Date | 11/05/1999 |
| Authors | Abramson, A. S., Erickson, D. M. |
| Contact | |
| Publication | Pan-Asiatic Linguistics: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Language and Linguistics. Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. (pp.1-15). |
| url | http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0788.pdf |
| Abstract | It is argued that at the time of emergence of its daughter languages, Proto-Tai had three phonemic tones on "smooth" syllables & four voicing categories for initial consonants, which would have been inherited by Old Thai. Correlations between tones & initial consonants across the Tai languages have led to the positing of tonal splits conditioned by the voicing states of initial consonants, with a subsequent shifting of voicing features in certain lexical classes. An experimental study of voicing perception was designed to test the validity of this theory. In experiment 1, CV syllables were synthesized with three values of voice onset time (VOT) acceptable as Thai /b p ph/. Each was combined with a continuum of fundamental frequency (F0) contours classified as high, mid, or low tones. Resulting stimuli were played to native Thai speakers (N = 48) for tonal identification. In experiment 2, labial stops with nine values of VOT separable into /b p ph/ were coupled on synthetic mid- & low-tone syllables with upward & downward F0 onsets varying in extent & duration. Ss (N = 46) were asked to identify the initial consonants. Data show that F0 perturbations can affect the placement of perceptual boundaries along the dimension of VOT. The perceptual data generally support the historical arguments regarding interaction between tone splits & voicing shifts. |
| Notes |
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