James Kirby
2023
Kirby, James
Vietnamese and the structure of NP Bachelor Thesis
2023.
@bachelorthesis{Kirby2023b,
title = {Vietnamese and the structure of NP},
author = {James Kirby},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-31},
urldate = {2023-01-31},
abstract = {Evans (2001a, 2001b) argues that modern Southern Qiang (SQ) developed tones through a somewhat typologically unusual pathway: after developing pitch accent from earlier lexical stress, the languages became increasingly 'tone-prone' following phonological reduction of syllables and the segmental inventory (Matisoff, 1998), developing tonal systems after heavy borrowing from Mandarin. Here, I suggest that otherwise phonolog-ically conservative Taoping Qiang also shows evidence of more 'traditional' tonogenetic mechanisms, which may have conditioned a tone split from the original *H reflex.
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Evans (2001a, 2001b) argues that modern Southern Qiang (SQ) developed tones through a somewhat typologically unusual pathway: after developing pitch accent from earlier lexical stress, the languages became increasingly 'tone-prone' following phonological reduction of syllables and the segmental inventory (Matisoff, 1998), developing tonal systems after heavy borrowing from Mandarin. Here, I suggest that otherwise phonolog-ically conservative Taoping Qiang also shows evidence of more 'traditional' tonogenetic mechanisms, which may have conditioned a tone split from the original *H reflex.
Kirby, James; Yu, Alan
Morphological paradigm effects on phonetic realization Journal Article
In: 2023.
@article{Kirby2023c,
title = {Morphological paradigm effects on phonetic realization},
author = {James Kirby and Alan Yu},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-31},
urldate = {2023-01-31},
abstract = {Previous studies have shown phonetic variation can be lexically conditioned (Wright, 1997; Munson and Solomon, 2004; Munson, 2007; Scarborough, 2006). Mor-phological paradigms have also been implicated in phonetic variation (Steriade, 2000; Kuperman et al., 2007). This paper investigates the nature of morphologi-cal paradigm effects on vowel production in German verbs. We report the results of a production experiment showing that, while paradigmatic complexity affects vowel dispersion, the effect is mediated by word frequency.
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Previous studies have shown phonetic variation can be lexically conditioned (Wright, 1997; Munson and Solomon, 2004; Munson, 2007; Scarborough, 2006). Mor-phological paradigms have also been implicated in phonetic variation (Steriade, 2000; Kuperman et al., 2007). This paper investigates the nature of morphologi-cal paradigm effects on vowel production in German verbs. We report the results of a production experiment showing that, while paradigmatic complexity affects vowel dispersion, the effect is mediated by word frequency.
Kirby, James
Comparative-induced event measure relations Journal Article
In: 2023.
@article{Kirby2023d,
title = {Comparative-induced event measure relations},
author = {James Kirby},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-31},
urldate = {2023-01-31},
abstract = {In Vietnamese quantity comparison structures, differentials are prohibited from appearing phrase-internally. I argue this is because they are athematic measure phrases. However, this leads to a se-mantic type clash given the meaning of the comparative. I propose to resolve this by means of a COMPARATIVE-INDUCED EVENT MEASURE RELATION which type-shifts the predicate in the appro-priate context. This relation is also shown to be active in English, suggesting that it may be a more general property of predicates cross-linguistically.
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In Vietnamese quantity comparison structures, differentials are prohibited from appearing phrase-internally. I argue this is because they are athematic measure phrases. However, this leads to a se-mantic type clash given the meaning of the comparative. I propose to resolve this by means of a COMPARATIVE-INDUCED EVENT MEASURE RELATION which type-shifts the predicate in the appro-priate context. This relation is also shown to be active in English, suggesting that it may be a more general property of predicates cross-linguistically.
Kirby, James
MODELING THE ACQUISITION OF COVERT CONTRAST Journal Article
In: 2023.
@article{Kirby2023e,
title = {MODELING THE ACQUISITION OF COVERT CONTRAST},
author = {James Kirby},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-31},
urldate = {2023-01-31},
abstract = {This paper explores the learnability of covert contrasts (impressionistically homophonous categories that can be reliably distinguished at the phonetic level) through a series of model-based clustering simulations using human production data. Allowing the models to learn both the number and parameters of those categories provides a way to explore the potential stability of category structures. The results indicate that while a statistical learner can be quite effective at inducing covert contrasts, success depends crucially on the number and distributional characteristics of the relevant cue dimensions.
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This paper explores the learnability of covert contrasts (impressionistically homophonous categories that can be reliably distinguished at the phonetic level) through a series of model-based clustering simulations using human production data. Allowing the models to learn both the number and parameters of those categories provides a way to explore the potential stability of category structures. The results indicate that while a statistical learner can be quite effective at inducing covert contrasts, success depends crucially on the number and distributional characteristics of the relevant cue dimensions.
2022
Kirby, James; Alves, Mark
Exploring Statistical Regularities in the Syllable Canon of Sino-Vietnamese Loanmorph Phonology Journal Article
In: 2022.
@article{Kirby2022,
title = {Exploring Statistical Regularities in the Syllable Canon of Sino-Vietnamese Loanmorph Phonology},
author = {James Kirby and Mark Alves},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-05-01},
urldate = {2022-05-01},
abstract = {https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/52500 We consider the question of whether phonotactic criteria can be used to identify a Vietnamese syllable as being Sinitic in origin, focusing on the layer of Sino-Vietnamese (từ Hán Việt) borrowings. We first assembled a corpus of 8,148 phonologically unique Vietnamese syllables, of which 1,939 are Sino-Vietnamese (i.e., have a Chinese character reading stemming to Late Middle Chinese). We then applied statistical and computational methods to identify phonotactic patterns of both native and Sino-Vietnamese syllables and considered them in their historical phonological context. We find that while there are features that are reliable indicators of native forms, the Sino-Vietnamese stratum has been largely nativized, with little to distinguish it phonotactically from native syllables. Our findings reflect the tight integration of Sino-Vietnamese borrowings into the modern Vietnamese lexicon and phonological system over many centuries.
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https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/52500 We consider the question of whether phonotactic criteria can be used to identify a Vietnamese syllable as being Sinitic in origin, focusing on the layer of Sino-Vietnamese (từ Hán Việt) borrowings. We first assembled a corpus of 8,148 phonologically unique Vietnamese syllables, of which 1,939 are Sino-Vietnamese (i.e., have a Chinese character reading stemming to Late Middle Chinese). We then applied statistical and computational methods to identify phonotactic patterns of both native and Sino-Vietnamese syllables and considered them in their historical phonological context. We find that while there are features that are reliable indicators of native forms, the Sino-Vietnamese stratum has been largely nativized, with little to distinguish it phonotactically from native syllables. Our findings reflect the tight integration of Sino-Vietnamese borrowings into the modern Vietnamese lexicon and phonological system over many centuries.
2020
Kirby, James; Tạ, Tấn T.; Brunelle, Marc; Giang, Dinh Lu
Transphonologization of voicing in Chru: Studies in production and perception Journal Article
In: Laboratory Phonology, vol. 11, iss. 1, pp. 1-33, 2020.
@article{Kirby2020,
title = {Transphonologization of voicing in Chru: Studies in production and perception},
author = {James Kirby and Tấn T. Tạ and Marc Brunelle and Dinh Lu Giang},
doi = {10.5334/labphon.278},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-10-13},
urldate = {2020-10-13},
journal = {Laboratory Phonology},
volume = {11},
issue = {1},
pages = {1-33},
abstract = {Chru, a Chamic language of south-central Vietnam, has been described as combining contrastive obstruent voicing with incipient registral properties (Fuller, 1977). A production study reveals that obstruent voicing has already become optional and that the voicing contrast has been transphonologized into a register contrast based primarily on vowel height (F1). An identification study shows that perception roughly matches production in that F1 is the main perceptual cue associated with the contrast. Structured variation in production suggests a sound change still in progress: While younger speakers largely rely on vowel height to produce the register contrast, older male speakers maintain a variety of secondary properties, including optional closure voicing. Our results shed light on the initial stages of register formation and challenge the claim that register languages must go through a stage in which breathiness or aspiration is the primary contrastive property (Haudricourt, 1965; Wayland & Jongman, 2002; Thurgood, 2002). This article also complements several recent studies about the transphonologization of voicing in typologically diverse languages (Svantesson & House, 2006; Howe, 2017; Coetzee, Beddor, Shedden, Styler, & Wissing, 2018).
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Chru, a Chamic language of south-central Vietnam, has been described as combining contrastive obstruent voicing with incipient registral properties (Fuller, 1977). A production study reveals that obstruent voicing has already become optional and that the voicing contrast has been transphonologized into a register contrast based primarily on vowel height (F1). An identification study shows that perception roughly matches production in that F1 is the main perceptual cue associated with the contrast. Structured variation in production suggests a sound change still in progress: While younger speakers largely rely on vowel height to produce the register contrast, older male speakers maintain a variety of secondary properties, including optional closure voicing. Our results shed light on the initial stages of register formation and challenge the claim that register languages must go through a stage in which breathiness or aspiration is the primary contrastive property (Haudricourt, 1965; Wayland & Jongman, 2002; Thurgood, 2002). This article also complements several recent studies about the transphonologization of voicing in typologically diverse languages (Svantesson & House, 2006; Howe, 2017; Coetzee, Beddor, Shedden, Styler, & Wissing, 2018).
Kirby, James; Nadin, Misnadin
Acoustic correlates of plosive voicing in Madurese Journal Article
In: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 147, iss. 4, pp. 2779-2790, 2020.
@article{Kirby2020b,
title = {Acoustic correlates of plosive voicing in Madurese},
author = {James Kirby and Misnadin Nadin
},
doi = {10.1121/10.0000992},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-04-01},
urldate = {2020-04-01},
journal = {The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America},
volume = {147},
issue = {4},
pages = {2779-2790},
abstract = {Madurese, a Malayo-Polynesian language of Indonesia, is of interest both areally and typologically: it is described as having a three-way laryngeal contrast between voiced, voiceless unaspirated, and voiceless aspirated plosives, along with a strict phonotactic restriction on consonant voicing-vowel height sequences. An acoustic analysis of Madurese consonants and vowels obtained from the recordings of 15 speakers is presented to assess whether its voiced and aspirated plosives might share acoustic properties indicative of a shared articulatory gesture. Although voiced and voiceless aspirated plosives in word-initial position pattern together in terms of several spectral balance measures, these are most likely due to the following vowel quality, rather than aspects of a shared laryngeal configuration. Conversely, the voiceless (aspirated and unaspirated) plosives share multiple acoustic properties, including F0 trajectories and overlapping voicing lag time distributions, suggesting that they share a glottal aperture target. The implications of these findings for the typology of laryngeal contrasts and the historical evolution of the Madurese consonant-vowel co-occurrence restriction are discussed.
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Madurese, a Malayo-Polynesian language of Indonesia, is of interest both areally and typologically: it is described as having a three-way laryngeal contrast between voiced, voiceless unaspirated, and voiceless aspirated plosives, along with a strict phonotactic restriction on consonant voicing-vowel height sequences. An acoustic analysis of Madurese consonants and vowels obtained from the recordings of 15 speakers is presented to assess whether its voiced and aspirated plosives might share acoustic properties indicative of a shared articulatory gesture. Although voiced and voiceless aspirated plosives in word-initial position pattern together in terms of several spectral balance measures, these are most likely due to the following vowel quality, rather than aspects of a shared laryngeal configuration. Conversely, the voiceless (aspirated and unaspirated) plosives share multiple acoustic properties, including F0 trajectories and overlapping voicing lag time distributions, suggesting that they share a glottal aperture target. The implications of these findings for the typology of laryngeal contrasts and the historical evolution of the Madurese consonant-vowel co-occurrence restriction are discussed.
2019
Kirby, James; Brunelle, Marc; Tạ, Tấn T.; Giang, Đinh Lư
Obstruent Devoicing and Registrogenesis in Chru Conference
2019.
@conference{Kirby2019,
title = {Obstruent Devoicing and Registrogenesis in Chru},
author = {James Kirby and Marc Brunelle and Tấn T. Tạ and Đinh Lư Giang},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
urldate = {2019-01-01},
abstract = {We describe the register system of Chru, a Chamic language of Vietnam. In Chru, a historical contrast between prevoiced and voiceless stops is now a system of two registers signalled by differences in f0, voice quality, and F1 in addition to closure voicing. However, closure voicing is in a state of flux: while older men maintain closure voicing in the onsets of low-register items, younger speakers and some older women frequently have no (or only weak) closure voicing in this context. In addition, the distribution of VOT in low register onsets is bimodal, realized either with strong closure voicing or greater VOT than voiceless stops. Interestingly, f0, F1 and voice quality cues are not enhanced after devoiced low-register stops, but instead are more pronounced after stops realized with closure voicing. We argue this indicates that enhancement of cues in phonologization must in some sense be complete before neutralization takes place.
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We describe the register system of Chru, a Chamic language of Vietnam. In Chru, a historical contrast between prevoiced and voiceless stops is now a system of two registers signalled by differences in f0, voice quality, and F1 in addition to closure voicing. However, closure voicing is in a state of flux: while older men maintain closure voicing in the onsets of low-register items, younger speakers and some older women frequently have no (or only weak) closure voicing in this context. In addition, the distribution of VOT in low register onsets is bimodal, realized either with strong closure voicing or greater VOT than voiceless stops. Interestingly, f0, F1 and voice quality cues are not enhanced after devoiced low-register stops, but instead are more pronounced after stops realized with closure voicing. We argue this indicates that enhancement of cues in phonologization must in some sense be complete before neutralization takes place.
2018
Kirby, James; Ladd, D. Robert
Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel F0: Implications for laryngeal realism Journal Article
In: Yearbook of the Poznan Linguistic Meeting, vol. 4, iss. 1, pp. 213-235, 2018.
@article{Kirby2018,
title = {Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel F0: Implications for laryngeal realism},
author = {James Kirby and D. Robert Ladd},
doi = {10.2478/yplm-2018-0009},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-01},
urldate = {2018-12-01},
journal = {Yearbook of the Poznan Linguistic Meeting},
volume = {4},
issue = {1},
pages = {213-235},
abstract = {It is sometimes argued that languages with two-way laryngeal contrasts can be classified according to whether one series is realized canonically with voicing lead or the other with voicing lag. In languages of the first type, such as French, the phonologically relevant feature is argued to be [voice], while in languages of the second type, such as German, the relevant feature is argued to be [spread glottis]. A crucial assumption of this position is that the presence of certain contextually stable phonetic cues, namely voicing lead or lag, can be used to diagnose the which feature is phono-logically active. In this paper, we present data on obstruent-intrinsic F0 perturbations (CF0) in two [voice] languages, French and Italian. Voiceless obstruents in both languages are found to raise F0, while F0 following (pre)voiced obstruents patterns together with sonorants, similar to the voiceless unaspirated stops of [spread glottis] languages like German and English. The contextual stability of this cue implies that an active de-voicing gesture is common to languages of both the [voice] and [spread glottis] types, and undermines the idea that a strict binary dichotomy between true voicing and aspirating languages can be reliably inferred based on properties of the surface phonetics.
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It is sometimes argued that languages with two-way laryngeal contrasts can be classified according to whether one series is realized canonically with voicing lead or the other with voicing lag. In languages of the first type, such as French, the phonologically relevant feature is argued to be [voice], while in languages of the second type, such as German, the relevant feature is argued to be [spread glottis]. A crucial assumption of this position is that the presence of certain contextually stable phonetic cues, namely voicing lead or lag, can be used to diagnose the which feature is phono-logically active. In this paper, we present data on obstruent-intrinsic F0 perturbations (CF0) in two [voice] languages, French and Italian. Voiceless obstruents in both languages are found to raise F0, while F0 following (pre)voiced obstruents patterns together with sonorants, similar to the voiceless unaspirated stops of [spread glottis] languages like German and English. The contextual stability of this cue implies that an active de-voicing gesture is common to languages of both the [voice] and [spread glottis] types, and undermines the idea that a strict binary dichotomy between true voicing and aspirating languages can be reliably inferred based on properties of the surface phonetics.
Kirby, James
Onset pitch perturbations and the cross-linguistic implementation of voicing: Evidence from tonal and non-tonal languages Journal Article
In: Journal of Phonetics, vol. 71, pp. 326-354, 2018.
@article{Kirby2018b,
title = {Onset pitch perturbations and the cross-linguistic implementation of voicing: Evidence from tonal and non-tonal languages},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1016/j.wocn.2018.09.009},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-11-01},
urldate = {2018-11-01},
journal = {Journal of Phonetics},
volume = {71},
pages = {326-354},
abstract = {This paper investigates the relationship between Voice Onset Time (VOT) and onset f0 perturbations in three languages with a three-way laryngeal contrast between prevoiced, short-lag, and long-lag stops. To assess the relative contributions of aspiration and tonality to the realization of onset f0, a non-tonal language (Khmer) is compared to two tonal languages (Central Thai and Northern Vietnamese) using a common set of methods and materials. While the VOT distributions of the three languages are extremely similar, they differ in terms of their onset f0 behavior. Aspirated stops in general condition higher f0 on the following vowel, but this effect is mediated by tonal and sentential context: it is more prominent in citation forms than in connected speech, and for the tone languages, it is more visible with higher as opposed to lower tones. Examination of individual differences suggests that speakers may differ systematically in terms of their laryngeal adjustments for expressing voicelessness even while maintaining similar timing relations as indicated by VOT. Onset f0 differences may serve a useful complement to VOT, particularly when reasoning about the cross-linguistic implementation of voicing.
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This paper investigates the relationship between Voice Onset Time (VOT) and onset f0 perturbations in three languages with a three-way laryngeal contrast between prevoiced, short-lag, and long-lag stops. To assess the relative contributions of aspiration and tonality to the realization of onset f0, a non-tonal language (Khmer) is compared to two tonal languages (Central Thai and Northern Vietnamese) using a common set of methods and materials. While the VOT distributions of the three languages are extremely similar, they differ in terms of their onset f0 behavior. Aspirated stops in general condition higher f0 on the following vowel, but this effect is mediated by tonal and sentential context: it is more prominent in citation forms than in connected speech, and for the tone languages, it is more visible with higher as opposed to lower tones. Examination of individual differences suggests that speakers may differ systematically in terms of their laryngeal adjustments for expressing voicelessness even while maintaining similar timing relations as indicated by VOT. Onset f0 differences may serve a useful complement to VOT, particularly when reasoning about the cross-linguistic implementation of voicing.
Kirby, James; Nadin, Misnadin
Madurese Journal Article
In: Journal of the International Phonetic Association, vol. 50, iss. 1, pp. 1-18, 2018.
@article{Kirby2018c,
title = {Madurese},
author = {James Kirby and Misnadin Nadin},
doi = {10.1017/S0025100318000257},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-09-28},
urldate = {2018-09-28},
journal = {Journal of the International Phonetic Association},
volume = {50},
issue = {1},
pages = {1-18},
abstract = {Madurese ( bhâsa Madhurâ ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken primarily on the island of Madura and a number of regions in East Java, Indonesia. Its further subgrouping has remained a matter of some dispute. Early work placed Madurese in a Malayo-Javanic subgroup containing Javanese, Sundanese, and Malay (Dyen 1963). Glottolog and Ethnologue use the more recent ‘Malayo-Sumbawan’ classification (Adelaar 2005a), which puts Malayic, Chamic, and the Balinese-Sasak-Sumbawa group into one branch with Madurese and Sundanese in two other branches, to the exclusion of Javanese. Robert Blust, rejecting the Malayo-Sumbawan hypothesis, tentatively places Madurese in a Malayo-Chamic subgroup (Blust 2009), but also suggests (Blust 2010) that, as Madurese is lexically similar to Malay but phonologically and morphologically quite different, it may once have subgrouped with Javanese and later underwent heavy relexicalization due to language contact (see also discussion in Kluge 2017: 3).
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Madurese ( bhâsa Madhurâ ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken primarily on the island of Madura and a number of regions in East Java, Indonesia. Its further subgrouping has remained a matter of some dispute. Early work placed Madurese in a Malayo-Javanic subgroup containing Javanese, Sundanese, and Malay (Dyen 1963). Glottolog and Ethnologue use the more recent ‘Malayo-Sumbawan’ classification (Adelaar 2005a), which puts Malayic, Chamic, and the Balinese-Sasak-Sumbawa group into one branch with Madurese and Sundanese in two other branches, to the exclusion of Javanese. Robert Blust, rejecting the Malayo-Sumbawan hypothesis, tentatively places Madurese in a Malayo-Chamic subgroup (Blust 2009), but also suggests (Blust 2010) that, as Madurese is lexically similar to Malay but phonologically and morphologically quite different, it may once have subgrouped with Javanese and later underwent heavy relexicalization due to language contact (see also discussion in Kluge 2017: 3).
Kirby, James; Sonderegger, Morgan
Mixed-effects design analysis for experimental phonetics Journal Article
In: Journal of Phonetics, vol. 70 , 2018.
@article{Kirby2018d,
title = {Mixed-effects design analysis for experimental phonetics},
author = {James Kirby and Morgan Sonderegger},
doi = {10.1016/j.wocn.2018.05.005},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-06-01},
urldate = {2018-06-01},
journal = {Journal of Phonetics},
volume = {70 },
abstract = {It is common practice in the statistical analysis of phonetic data to draw conclusions on the basis of statistical significance. While p-values reflect the probability of incorrectly concluding a null effect is real, they do not provide information about other types of error that are also important for interpreting statistical results. In this paper, we focus on three measures related to these errors. The first, power, reflects the likelihood of detecting an effect that in fact exists. The second and third, Type M and Type S errors, measure the extent to which estimates of the magnitude and direction of an effect are inaccurate. We then provide an example of design analysis (Gelman & Carlin, 2014), using data from an experimental study on German incomplete neutralization, to illustrate how power, magnitude, and sign errors vary with sample and effect size. This case study shows how the informativity of research findings can vary substantially in ways that are not always, or even usually, apparent on the basis of a p-value alone. We conclude by repeating three recommendations for good statistical practice in phonetics from best practices widely recommended for the social and behavioral sciences: report all results; design studies which will produce high-precision estimates; and conduct direct replications of previous findings.
},
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It is common practice in the statistical analysis of phonetic data to draw conclusions on the basis of statistical significance. While p-values reflect the probability of incorrectly concluding a null effect is real, they do not provide information about other types of error that are also important for interpreting statistical results. In this paper, we focus on three measures related to these errors. The first, power, reflects the likelihood of detecting an effect that in fact exists. The second and third, Type M and Type S errors, measure the extent to which estimates of the magnitude and direction of an effect are inaccurate. We then provide an example of design analysis (Gelman & Carlin, 2014), using data from an experimental study on German incomplete neutralization, to illustrate how power, magnitude, and sign errors vary with sample and effect size. This case study shows how the informativity of research findings can vary substantially in ways that are not always, or even usually, apparent on the basis of a p-value alone. We conclude by repeating three recommendations for good statistical practice in phonetics from best practices widely recommended for the social and behavioral sciences: report all results; design studies which will produce high-precision estimates; and conduct direct replications of previous findings.
Kirby, James; Shoemark, Philippa; Goldwater, Sharon
Inducing a lexicon of sociolinguistic variables from code-mixed text Conference
Association for Computational Linguistics, 2018.
@conference{Kirby2018e,
title = {Inducing a lexicon of sociolinguistic variables from code-mixed text},
author = {James Kirby and Philippa Shoemark and Sharon Goldwater},
doi = {10.18653/v1/W18-6101},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
pages = {1–6},
publisher = {Association for Computational Linguistics},
abstract = {Sociolinguistics is often concerned with how variants of a linguistic item (e.g., nothing vs. nothin’) are used by different groups or in different situations. We introduce the task of inducing lexical variables from code-mixed text: that is, identifying equivalence pairs such as (football, fitba) along with their linguistic code (football→British, fitba→Scottish). We adapt a framework for identifying gender-biased word pairs to this new task, and present results on three different pairs of English dialects, using tweets as the code-mixed text. Our system achieves precision of over 70% for two of these three datasets, and produces useful results even without extensive parameter tuning. Our success in adapting this framework from gender to language variety suggests that it could be used to discover other types of analogous pairs as well.
},
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Sociolinguistics is often concerned with how variants of a linguistic item (e.g., nothing vs. nothin’) are used by different groups or in different situations. We introduce the task of inducing lexical variables from code-mixed text: that is, identifying equivalence pairs such as (football, fitba) along with their linguistic code (football→British, fitba→Scottish). We adapt a framework for identifying gender-biased word pairs to this new task, and present results on three different pairs of English dialects, using tweets as the code-mixed text. Our system achieves precision of over 70% for two of these three datasets, and produces useful results even without extensive parameter tuning. Our success in adapting this framework from gender to language variety suggests that it could be used to discover other types of analogous pairs as well.
2017
Kirby, James; Giang, Đinh Lư
On the r>h Shift in Kiên Giang Khmer Bachelor Thesis
2017, ISSN: 1836-6821.
@bachelorthesis{Kirby2017,
title = {On the r>h Shift in Kiên Giang Khmer},
author = {James Kirby and Đinh Lư Giang},
doi = {10524/52414},
issn = {1836-6821},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-12-10},
urldate = {2017-12-10},
journal = {Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society},
volume = {10},
pages = {66 - 85},
abstract = {This paper presents an acoustic and perceptual study of the r>h shift in the variety of Khmer spoken in Giồng Riềng district, Kiên Giang province, Vietnam. In Phnom Penh Khmer, /r/ is realized as [h] in syllable onsets and onset clusters, and accompanied by lowered pitch, breathiness, and in some cases a change in the quality of the following vowel. In Kiên Giang Khmer, the r>h shift is accompanied by pitch lowering, but without changes in aspiration or vowel quality, and spectral measures did not indicate substantial differences in voice quality. Consistent with their productions, users of this dialect appear to rely solely on differences pitch to identify these lexical items. We discuss the implications of our findings for Khmer dialectology, mechanisms of sound change, and variation in the realization of rhotics more generally.
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This paper presents an acoustic and perceptual study of the r>h shift in the variety of Khmer spoken in Giồng Riềng district, Kiên Giang province, Vietnam. In Phnom Penh Khmer, /r/ is realized as [h] in syllable onsets and onset clusters, and accompanied by lowered pitch, breathiness, and in some cases a change in the quality of the following vowel. In Kiên Giang Khmer, the r>h shift is accompanied by pitch lowering, but without changes in aspiration or vowel quality, and spectral measures did not indicate substantial differences in voice quality. Consistent with their productions, users of this dialect appear to rely solely on differences pitch to identify these lexical items. We discuss the implications of our findings for Khmer dialectology, mechanisms of sound change, and variation in the realization of rhotics more generally.
Kirby, James; Shoemark, Philippa; Goldwater, Sharon
Topic and audience effects on distinctively Scottish vocabulary usage in Twitter data Conference
Association for Computational Linguistics, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2017.
@conference{Kirby2017b,
title = {Topic and audience effects on distinctively Scottish vocabulary usage in Twitter data},
author = {James Kirby and Philippa Shoemark and Sharon Goldwater},
doi = {10.18653/v1/W17-4908},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
urldate = {2017-01-01},
pages = {59–68},
publisher = {Association for Computational Linguistics},
address = {Copenhagen, Denmark},
abstract = {Sociolinguistic research suggests that speakers modulate their language style in response to their audience. Similar effects have recently been claimed to occur in the informal written context of Twitter, with users choosing less region-specific and non-standard vocabulary when addressing larger audiences. However, these studies have not carefully controlled for the possible confound of topic: that is, tweets addressed to a broad audience might also tend towards topics that engender a more formal style. In addition, it is not clear to what extent previous results generalize to different samples of users. Using mixed-effects models, we show that audience and topic have independent effects on the rate of distinctively Scottish usage in two demographically distinct Twitter user samples. However, not all effects are consistent between the two groups, underscoring the importance of replicating studies on distinct user samples before drawing strong conclusions from social media data.
},
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Sociolinguistic research suggests that speakers modulate their language style in response to their audience. Similar effects have recently been claimed to occur in the informal written context of Twitter, with users choosing less region-specific and non-standard vocabulary when addressing larger audiences. However, these studies have not carefully controlled for the possible confound of topic: that is, tweets addressed to a broad audience might also tend towards topics that engender a more formal style. In addition, it is not clear to what extent previous results generalize to different samples of users. Using mixed-effects models, we show that audience and topic have independent effects on the rate of distinctively Scottish usage in two demographically distinct Twitter user samples. However, not all effects are consistent between the two groups, underscoring the importance of replicating studies on distinct user samples before drawing strong conclusions from social media data.
2016
Kirby, James; Ladd, D. Robert
Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel F0: Evidence from “true voicing” languages Bachelor Thesis
2016.
@bachelorthesis{Kirby2016,
title = {Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel F0: Evidence from “true voicing” languages},
author = {James Kirby and D. Robert Ladd},
doi = {10.1121/1.4962445},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-10-07},
urldate = {2016-10-07},
journal = {The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America},
volume = {140},
pages = { 2400 - 2411},
abstract = {This study investigates consonant-related F0 perturbations (“CF0”) in French and Italian by comparing the effects of voiced and voiceless obstruents on F0 to those of voiced sonorants. The voiceless obstruents /p f/ in both languages are found to have F0-raising properties similar to American English voiceless obstruents, while F0 following the (pre)voiced obstruents /b v/ in French and Italian patterns together with /m/, again similar to English [Hanson (2009). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125(1), 425–441]. In both languages, F0 is significantly depressed, relative to sonorants, during the closure for voiced obstruents, but cannot be differentiated from sonorants following the release of oral constriction. These findings are taken as support for a model on which F0 perturbations are fundamentally the result of laryngeal maneuvers initiated to sustain or inhibit phonation, regardless of other language-particular aspects of phonetic realization.
},
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This study investigates consonant-related F0 perturbations (“CF0”) in French and Italian by comparing the effects of voiced and voiceless obstruents on F0 to those of voiced sonorants. The voiceless obstruents /p f/ in both languages are found to have F0-raising properties similar to American English voiceless obstruents, while F0 following the (pre)voiced obstruents /b v/ in French and Italian patterns together with /m/, again similar to English [Hanson (2009). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125(1), 425–441]. In both languages, F0 is significantly depressed, relative to sonorants, during the closure for voiced obstruents, but cannot be differentiated from sonorants following the release of oral constriction. These findings are taken as support for a model on which F0 perturbations are fundamentally the result of laryngeal maneuvers initiated to sustain or inhibit phonation, regardless of other language-particular aspects of phonetic realization.
Kirby, James; Pittayaporn, Pittayawat
Laryngeal contrasts in the Tai dialect of Cao Bằng Bachelor Thesis
2016.
@bachelorthesis{Kirby2016b,
title = {Laryngeal contrasts in the Tai dialect of Cao Bằng},
author = {James Kirby and Pittayawat Pittayaporn},
doi = {10.1017/S0025100316000293},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-09-13},
urldate = {2016-09-13},
journal = {Journal of the International Phonetic Association},
volume = {47},
issue = {1},
pages = {1-21},
abstract = {The Tai dialect spoken in Cao Bằng province, Vietnam, is at an intermediate stage between tonal register split and the accompanying transphonologization of a voicing contrast into a dual-register tone system. While the initial sonorants have completely lost their historical voicing distinction and developed a six-way tonal contrast, the obstruent series still preserves the original voicing contrast, leaving the tonal split incomplete. This paper presents the first acoustic study of tones and onsets in Cao Bằng Tai. Although f0, VOT, and voice quality were all found to play a role in the system of laryngeal contrasts, the three speakers considered varied in terms of the patterns of acoustic cues used to distinguish between onset types, particularly the breathy voiced onset / /. From the diachronic perspective, our findings may help to explain why the reflex of modal pre-voiced stops (*b) can be either aspirated or unaspirated voiceless stops.},
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The Tai dialect spoken in Cao Bằng province, Vietnam, is at an intermediate stage between tonal register split and the accompanying transphonologization of a voicing contrast into a dual-register tone system. While the initial sonorants have completely lost their historical voicing distinction and developed a six-way tonal contrast, the obstruent series still preserves the original voicing contrast, leaving the tonal split incomplete. This paper presents the first acoustic study of tones and onsets in Cao Bằng Tai. Although f0, VOT, and voice quality were all found to play a role in the system of laryngeal contrasts, the three speakers considered varied in terms of the patterns of acoustic cues used to distinguish between onset types, particularly the breathy voiced onset / /. From the diachronic perspective, our findings may help to explain why the reflex of modal pre-voiced stops (*b) can be either aspirated or unaspirated voiceless stops.
Kirby, James; Ladd, D. Robert
Tone-melody correspondence in Vietnamese popular song Conference
2016.
@conference{Kirby2016c,
title = {Tone-melody correspondence in Vietnamese popular song},
author = {James Kirby and D. Robert Ladd},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-05-26},
urldate = {2016-05-26},
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Kirby, James; Brunelle, Marc
Tone and Phonation in Southeast Asian Languages Journal Article
In: Language and Linguistics Compass 10(4): DOI:, vol. 10, iss. 4, pp. 191-207, 2016.
@article{Kirby2016d,
title = {Tone and Phonation in Southeast Asian Languages},
author = {James Kirby and Marc Brunelle},
doi = {10.1111/lnc3.12182},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-04-01},
urldate = {2016-04-01},
journal = {Language and Linguistics Compass 10(4): DOI:},
volume = {10},
issue = {4},
pages = {191-207},
abstract = {Southeast Asia is often considered a quintessential Sprachbund where languages from five different language phyla have been converging typologically for millennia. One of the common features shared by many languages of the area is tone: several major national languages of the region have large tone inventories and complex tone contours. In this paper, we suggest a more fine-grained view. We show that in addition to a large number of atonal languages, the tone languages of the region are actually far more diverse than usually assumed, and employ phonation type contrasts at least as often as pitch. Along the same lines, we argue that concepts such as tone and register, while descriptively useful, can obscure important underlying similarities and impede our understanding of the behavior of phonetic properties, typological regularities, and diachrony. We finally draw the reader's attention to some issues of current interest in the study of tone and phonation in Southeast Asia and describe some technical developments that are likely to allow researchers to address new lines of research in years to come.},
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Southeast Asia is often considered a quintessential Sprachbund where languages from five different language phyla have been converging typologically for millennia. One of the common features shared by many languages of the area is tone: several major national languages of the region have large tone inventories and complex tone contours. In this paper, we suggest a more fine-grained view. We show that in addition to a large number of atonal languages, the tone languages of the region are actually far more diverse than usually assumed, and employ phonation type contrasts at least as often as pitch. Along the same lines, we argue that concepts such as tone and register, while descriptively useful, can obscure important underlying similarities and impede our understanding of the behavior of phonetic properties, typological regularities, and diachrony. We finally draw the reader's attention to some issues of current interest in the study of tone and phonation in Southeast Asia and describe some technical developments that are likely to allow researchers to address new lines of research in years to come.
Kirby, James; Shoemark, Philippa; Goldwater, Sharon; Sarkar, Rik
Towards robust cross-linguistic comparisons of phonological networks Conference
Association for Computational Linguistics, 2016.
@conference{Kirby2016e,
title = {Towards robust cross-linguistic comparisons of phonological networks},
author = {James Kirby and Philippa Shoemark and Sharon Goldwater and Rik Sarkar},
doi = {10.18653/v1/W16-2018},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
urldate = {2016-01-01},
pages = {110 - 120},
publisher = {Association for Computational Linguistics},
abstract = {Recent work has proposed using network science to analyse the structure of the mental lexicon by viewing words as nodes in a phonological network, with edges connecting words that differ by a single phoneme. Comparing the structure of phonological networks across different languages could provide insights into linguistic typology and the cognitive pressures that shape language acquisition, evolution, and processing. However, previous studies have not considered how statistics gathered from these networks are affected by factors such as lexicon size and the distribution of word lengths. We show that these factors can substantially affect the statistics of a phonological network and propose a new method for making more robust comparisons. We then analyse eight languages, finding many commonalities but also some qualitative differences in their lexicon structure.
},
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Recent work has proposed using network science to analyse the structure of the mental lexicon by viewing words as nodes in a phonological network, with edges connecting words that differ by a single phoneme. Comparing the structure of phonological networks across different languages could provide insights into linguistic typology and the cognitive pressures that shape language acquisition, evolution, and processing. However, previous studies have not considered how statistics gathered from these networks are affected by factors such as lexicon size and the distribution of word lengths. We show that these factors can substantially affect the statistics of a phonological network and propose a new method for making more robust comparisons. We then analyse eight languages, finding many commonalities but also some qualitative differences in their lexicon structure.
2015
Kirby, James; Brunelle, Marc
Re-assessing tonal diversity and geographical convergence in Mainland Southeast Asia Book Chapter
In: Enfield, N. J.; Comrie, Bernard (Ed.): pp. 80 - 108, Mouton de Gruyter, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-5015-0843-1.
@inbook{Kirby2015,
title = {Re-assessing tonal diversity and geographical convergence in Mainland Southeast Asia},
author = {James Kirby and Marc Brunelle},
editor = {N. J. Enfield and Bernard Comrie},
doi = {10.1515/9781501501685-004},
isbn = {978-1-5015-0843-1},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-12-31},
urldate = {2015-12-31},
pages = {80 - 108},
publisher = {Mouton de Gruyter},
abstract = {Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) is often described as the quintessential Spra-chbund, or language area, in which languages belonging to different language families converge as a result of contact (Alieva 1984; Enfield 2005). While we hold this to be true in a general sense, we suspect that there is little to be gained in arguing about what defines a language area or in determining the exact boundary of this language area (e.g., should it just include the mainland or insular Southeast Asia as well?). What seems much more interesting to us is to gain a better understanding of how convergence happens for specific features, especially phonological and phonetic ones. In this paper, we look in detail at a specific phonological feature, tone, and at two of its phonetic correlates, pitch and voice quality. Based on a database of 197 languages and dialects (Section 2), we assess the extent of tonal diversity in MSEA languages (Section 3) and con-struct a statistical model of the degree to which tonal inventories can be pre-dicted on the basis of geographic proximity, genealogical relatedness and popu-lation size (Section 4). Although it is generally agreed that MSEA languages are highly tonal, this characterization is often based on large national languages. Furthermore, there is often little attention paid to the types of phonetic properties that characterize tonal inventories. To our knowledge, the only systematic attempt to establish a topography of tone in Southeast Asia is Henderson (1965), who looked, among other features, at lexically contrastive pitch, phonation type, and combinations thereof. In this study, Henderson showed convincingly that tone is more preva-lent on the mainland than in the archipelago and that phonation type plays a crucial role in MSEA lexical contrasts. However, because of the state of the field in 1965, Henderson’s observations were only based on 31 MSEA languages, and she had limited access to phonetic data. },
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Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) is often described as the quintessential Spra-chbund, or language area, in which languages belonging to different language families converge as a result of contact (Alieva 1984; Enfield 2005). While we hold this to be true in a general sense, we suspect that there is little to be gained in arguing about what defines a language area or in determining the exact boundary of this language area (e.g., should it just include the mainland or insular Southeast Asia as well?). What seems much more interesting to us is to gain a better understanding of how convergence happens for specific features, especially phonological and phonetic ones. In this paper, we look in detail at a specific phonological feature, tone, and at two of its phonetic correlates, pitch and voice quality. Based on a database of 197 languages and dialects (Section 2), we assess the extent of tonal diversity in MSEA languages (Section 3) and con-struct a statistical model of the degree to which tonal inventories can be pre-dicted on the basis of geographic proximity, genealogical relatedness and popu-lation size (Section 4). Although it is generally agreed that MSEA languages are highly tonal, this characterization is often based on large national languages. Furthermore, there is often little attention paid to the types of phonetic properties that characterize tonal inventories. To our knowledge, the only systematic attempt to establish a topography of tone in Southeast Asia is Henderson (1965), who looked, among other features, at lexically contrastive pitch, phonation type, and combinations thereof. In this study, Henderson showed convincingly that tone is more preva-lent on the mainland than in the archipelago and that phonation type plays a crucial role in MSEA lexical contrasts. However, because of the state of the field in 1965, Henderson’s observations were only based on 31 MSEA languages, and she had limited access to phonetic data.
Kirby, James; Nadin, Misnadin; Remijsen, Bert
Temporal and spectral properties of Madurese stops Conference
2015.
@conference{nokey,
title = {Temporal and spectral properties of Madurese stops},
author = {James Kirby and Misnadin Nadin and Bert Remijsen},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-08-13},
urldate = {2015-08-13},
abstract = {Madurese is a language with a three-way laryngeal contrast and an unusual consonant-vowel co-occurrence restriction. We provide new data on the phonetic realisation of Madurese stops from a sample of 15 native speakers by examining VOT, f0 and two acoustic correlates of voice quality, H1*-H2* and H1*-A3*. Our data indicate that while f0 distinguishes voiced from voiceless (aspirated and unaspirated) stops, at least one voice quality measure contrasts voiced and voiceless aspirated stops with voiceless unaspirated stops, suggesting that the relationship between these features may be more complex than has previously been assumed. Madurese appears to be best described as ‘register system’ of the Mon-Khmer type, albeit one in which pitch and voice quality are dissociated.
},
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Madurese is a language with a three-way laryngeal contrast and an unusual consonant-vowel co-occurrence restriction. We provide new data on the phonetic realisation of Madurese stops from a sample of 15 native speakers by examining VOT, f0 and two acoustic correlates of voice quality, H1*-H2* and H1*-A3*. Our data indicate that while f0 distinguishes voiced from voiceless (aspirated and unaspirated) stops, at least one voice quality measure contrasts voiced and voiceless aspirated stops with voiceless unaspirated stops, suggesting that the relationship between these features may be more complex than has previously been assumed. Madurese appears to be best described as ‘register system’ of the Mon-Khmer type, albeit one in which pitch and voice quality are dissociated.
Kirby, James; Ladd, D Robert
Stop voicing and F0 perturbations: evidence from French and Italian Conference
2015.
@conference{Kirby2015b,
title = {Stop voicing and F0 perturbations: evidence from French and Italian},
author = {James Kirby and D Robert Ladd},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-08-10},
urldate = {2015-08-10},
abstract = {We report new experimental evidence on consonant-induced F0 perturbations in two languages with prevoiced stops, French and Italian. A positive correlation between duration of voicing lead and F0 at the onset of post-release voicing is observed, consistent with the predictions of an automatic or biomechanical account of the source of this effect. While the findings do not strictly rule out a role for onset F0 as a controlled enhancement, they support the proposal that, if anything, the enhancement is of [-voice] or [stiff] rather than [+voice].
},
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We report new experimental evidence on consonant-induced F0 perturbations in two languages with prevoiced stops, French and Italian. A positive correlation between duration of voicing lead and F0 at the onset of post-release voicing is observed, consistent with the predictions of an automatic or biomechanical account of the source of this effect. While the findings do not strictly rule out a role for onset F0 as a controlled enhancement, they support the proposal that, if anything, the enhancement is of [-voice] or [stiff] rather than [+voice].
Kirby, James; Sonderegger, Morgan
Bias and population structure in the actuation of sound change Journal Article
In: pp. 30, 2015.
@article{Kirby2015e,
title = {Bias and population structure in the actuation of sound change},
author = {James Kirby and Morgan Sonderegger},
doi = {10.48550/arXiv.1507.04420},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-07-15},
urldate = {2015-07-15},
pages = {30},
abstract = {Why do human languages change at some times, and not others? We address this longstanding question from a computational perspective, focusing on the case of sound change. Sound change arises from the pronunciation variability ubiquitous in every speech community, but most such variability does not lead to change. Hence, an adequate model must allow for stability as well as change. Existing theories of sound change tend to emphasize factors at the level of individual learners promoting one outcome or the other, such as channel bias (which favors change) or inductive bias (which favors stability). Here, we consider how the interaction of these biases can lead to both stability and change in a population setting. We find that population structure itself can act as a source of stability, but that both stability and change are possible only when both types of bias are active, suggesting that it is possible to understand why sound change occurs at some times and not others as the population-level result of the interplay between forces promoting each outcome in individual speakers. In addition, if it is assumed that learners learn from two or more teachers, the transition from stability to change is marked by a phase transition, consistent with the abrupt transitions seen in many empirical cases of sound change. The predictions of multiple-teacher models thus match empirical cases of sound change better than the predictions of single-teacher models, underscoring the importance of modeling language change in a population setting.},
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Why do human languages change at some times, and not others? We address this longstanding question from a computational perspective, focusing on the case of sound change. Sound change arises from the pronunciation variability ubiquitous in every speech community, but most such variability does not lead to change. Hence, an adequate model must allow for stability as well as change. Existing theories of sound change tend to emphasize factors at the level of individual learners promoting one outcome or the other, such as channel bias (which favors change) or inductive bias (which favors stability). Here, we consider how the interaction of these biases can lead to both stability and change in a population setting. We find that population structure itself can act as a source of stability, but that both stability and change are possible only when both types of bias are active, suggesting that it is possible to understand why sound change occurs at some times and not others as the population-level result of the interplay between forces promoting each outcome in individual speakers. In addition, if it is assumed that learners learn from two or more teachers, the transition from stability to change is marked by a phase transition, consistent with the abrupt transitions seen in many empirical cases of sound change. The predictions of multiple-teacher models thus match empirical cases of sound change better than the predictions of single-teacher models, underscoring the importance of modeling language change in a population setting.
2014
Kirby, James; Roettger, Timo B.; Winter, Bodo; Grawunder, Sven; Grice, Martine
Assessing incomplete neutralization of final devoicing in German Journal Article
In: Journal of Phonetics, vol. 43, iss. 2, pp. 11-25, 2014.
@article{Kirby2014,
title = {Assessing incomplete neutralization of final devoicing in German},
author = {James Kirby and Timo B. Roettger and Bodo Winter and Sven Grawunder and Martine Grice},
doi = {10.1016/j.wocn.2014.01.002},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-03-01},
urldate = {2014-03-01},
journal = {Journal of Phonetics},
volume = {43},
issue = {2},
pages = {11-25},
abstract = {It has been claimed that the long established neutralization of the voicing distinction in domain final position in German is phonetically incomplete. However, many studies that have advanced this claim have subsequently been criticized on methodological grounds, calling incomplete neutralization into question. In three production experiments and one perception experiment we address these methodological criticisms. In the first production study, we address the role of orthography. In a large scale auditory task using pseudowords, we confirm that neutralization is indeed incomplete and suggest that previous null results may simply be due to lack of statistical power. In two follow-up production studies (Experiments 2 and 3), we rule out a potential confound of Experiment 1, namely that the effect might be due to accommodation to the presented auditory stimuli, by manipulating the duration of the preceding vowel. While the between-items design (Experiment 2) replicated the findings of Experiment 1, the between-subjects version (Experiment 3) failed to find a statistically significant incomplete neutralization effect, although we found numerical tendencies in the expected direction. Finally, in a perception study (Experiment 4), we demonstrate that the subphonemic differences between final voiceless and “devoiced” stops are audible, but only barely so. Even though the present findings provide evidence for the robustness of incomplete neutralization in German, the small effect sizes highlight the challenges of investigating this phenomenon. We argue that without necessarily postulating functional relevance, incomplete neutralization can be accounted for by recent models of lexical organization.},
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}
It has been claimed that the long established neutralization of the voicing distinction in domain final position in German is phonetically incomplete. However, many studies that have advanced this claim have subsequently been criticized on methodological grounds, calling incomplete neutralization into question. In three production experiments and one perception experiment we address these methodological criticisms. In the first production study, we address the role of orthography. In a large scale auditory task using pseudowords, we confirm that neutralization is indeed incomplete and suggest that previous null results may simply be due to lack of statistical power. In two follow-up production studies (Experiments 2 and 3), we rule out a potential confound of Experiment 1, namely that the effect might be due to accommodation to the presented auditory stimuli, by manipulating the duration of the preceding vowel. While the between-items design (Experiment 2) replicated the findings of Experiment 1, the between-subjects version (Experiment 3) failed to find a statistically significant incomplete neutralization effect, although we found numerical tendencies in the expected direction. Finally, in a perception study (Experiment 4), we demonstrate that the subphonemic differences between final voiceless and “devoiced” stops are audible, but only barely so. Even though the present findings provide evidence for the robustness of incomplete neutralization in German, the small effect sizes highlight the challenges of investigating this phenomenon. We argue that without necessarily postulating functional relevance, incomplete neutralization can be accounted for by recent models of lexical organization.
Kirby, James
Incipient tonogenesis in Phnom Penh Khmer: Acoustic and perceptual studies Journal Article
In: Journal of Phonetics, vol. 43, iss. 1, pp. 69–85, 2014.
@article{Kirby2014b,
title = {Incipient tonogenesis in Phnom Penh Khmer: Acoustic and perceptual studies},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1016/j.wocn.2014.02.001},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-03-01},
urldate = {2014-03-01},
journal = {Journal of Phonetics},
volume = {43},
issue = {1},
pages = {69–85},
abstract = {Unlike many languages of Southeast Asia, Khmer (Cambodian) is not a tone language. However, in the colloquial speech of the capital Phnom Penh, /r/ is lost in onsets, reportedly supplanted by a range of other acoustic cues such as aspiration, a falling- or low-rising f0 contour, breathy voice quality, and in some cases diphthongization, e.g. /krɑː/ ‘poor’>[kɑ], [khɔˇɑ], [kɔ¨ɑ¨], /kruː/ ‘teacher’>[ku`ː], [khuˇː], [ku¨ː]. This paper presents the results of production and perception studies designed to shed light on this unusual sound change. Acoustic evidence shows that colloquial /CrV/ forms differ from reading pronunciation forms in terms of VOT, f0, and spectral balance measures, while a pair of perceptual studies demonstrate that f0 is a sufficient cue for listeners to distinguish underlying /CrV/-initial from /CV/-initial forms, but that F1 is not. I suggest that this sound change may have arisen via the perceptual reanalysis of changes in spectral balance, coupled with the coarticulatory influence of the dorsal gesture for /r/.},
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Unlike many languages of Southeast Asia, Khmer (Cambodian) is not a tone language. However, in the colloquial speech of the capital Phnom Penh, /r/ is lost in onsets, reportedly supplanted by a range of other acoustic cues such as aspiration, a falling- or low-rising f0 contour, breathy voice quality, and in some cases diphthongization, e.g. /krɑː/ ‘poor’>[kɑ], [khɔˇɑ], [kɔ¨ɑ¨], /kruː/ ‘teacher’>[ku`ː], [khuˇː], [ku¨ː]. This paper presents the results of production and perception studies designed to shed light on this unusual sound change. Acoustic evidence shows that colloquial /CrV/ forms differ from reading pronunciation forms in terms of VOT, f0, and spectral balance measures, while a pair of perceptual studies demonstrate that f0 is a sufficient cue for listeners to distinguish underlying /CrV/-initial from /CV/-initial forms, but that F1 is not. I suggest that this sound change may have arisen via the perceptual reanalysis of changes in spectral balance, coupled with the coarticulatory influence of the dorsal gesture for /r/.
Kirby, James
Incipient tonogenesis in Phnom Penh Khmer: Computational studies Journal Article
In: Laboratory Phonology, vol. 5, iss. 1, 2014.
@article{Kirby2014c,
title = {Incipient tonogenesis in Phnom Penh Khmer: Computational studies},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1515/lp-2014-0008},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-02-01},
urldate = {2014-02-01},
journal = {Laboratory Phonology},
volume = {5},
issue = {1},
abstract = {In the colloquial Phnom Penh dialect of Khmer (Cambodian), lexical use of F0 is emerging together with an intermediate VOT category and breathy phonation following the loss of /r/ in onsets (e.g., `teacher' > []). I show how this incipient tonogenesis might arise in a series of computational simulations tracing the evolution of multivariate phonetic category distributions in a population of ideal observers. Acoustic production data from a fieldwork study conducted in Phnom Penh was used as the starting point for the simulations. After establishing that the basic framework predicted relative stability over time, two possible responses to a phonetic production bias were considered: one in which agents correctly identified the source of (and thereby compensated for) the effects of the bias, and one in which agents misattributed the acoustic effects of the bias as a property of the onset. Good qualitative fits to the empirical production data were found for the latter group of learners, while the outcome for compensating learners resembled production data from a related dialect. These results are consistent with the sudden and discontinuous nature of many sound changes, and suggest that what appear to be enhancement effects may also emerge under different assumptions about the number of cue dimensions accessible to or deemed relevant by the learner.
},
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In the colloquial Phnom Penh dialect of Khmer (Cambodian), lexical use of F0 is emerging together with an intermediate VOT category and breathy phonation following the loss of /r/ in onsets (e.g., `teacher' > []). I show how this incipient tonogenesis might arise in a series of computational simulations tracing the evolution of multivariate phonetic category distributions in a population of ideal observers. Acoustic production data from a fieldwork study conducted in Phnom Penh was used as the starting point for the simulations. After establishing that the basic framework predicted relative stability over time, two possible responses to a phonetic production bias were considered: one in which agents correctly identified the source of (and thereby compensated for) the effects of the bias, and one in which agents misattributed the acoustic effects of the bias as a property of the onset. Good qualitative fits to the empirical production data were found for the latter group of learners, while the outcome for compensating learners resembled production data from a related dialect. These results are consistent with the sudden and discontinuous nature of many sound changes, and suggest that what appear to be enhancement effects may also emerge under different assumptions about the number of cue dimensions accessible to or deemed relevant by the learner.
2013
Kirby, James
The role of probabilistic enhancement in phonologization Book Chapter
In: pp. 228-246, Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN: 9780199573745.
@inbook{Kirby2013,
title = {The role of probabilistic enhancement in phonologization},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573745.003.0011},
isbn = {9780199573745},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-01-24},
urldate = {2013-01-24},
pages = {228-246},
publisher = {Oxford University Press},
abstract = {This chapter argues for the role of probabilistic enhancement in phonologization through computational simulation of an ongoing sound change in Seoul Korean. Two challenges faced by a phonologization model of sound change are addressed: explaining which cues are selected for phonologization, and explaining why phonologization is often accompanied by dephonologization. It is proposed that cues are targeted for enhancement as a probabilistic function of their statistical reliability in signaling a contrast. Simulation results using empirically derived cue values are taken to support the idea that loss of contrast precision may drive the phonologization process.},
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This chapter argues for the role of probabilistic enhancement in phonologization through computational simulation of an ongoing sound change in Seoul Korean. Two challenges faced by a phonologization model of sound change are addressed: explaining which cues are selected for phonologization, and explaining why phonologization is often accompanied by dephonologization. It is proposed that cues are targeted for enhancement as a probabilistic function of their statistical reliability in signaling a contrast. Simulation results using empirically derived cue values are taken to support the idea that loss of contrast precision may drive the phonologization process.
2011
Kirby, James
Vietnamese (Hanoi Vietnamese) Journal Article
In: Journal of the International Phonetic Association, vol. 41, iss. 3, pp. 381-392, 2011.
@article{Kirby2011,
title = {Vietnamese (Hanoi Vietnamese)},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1017/S0025100311000181},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-12-01},
urldate = {2011-12-01},
journal = {Journal of the International Phonetic Association},
volume = {41},
issue = {3},
pages = {381-392},
abstract = {Vietnamese, the official language of Vietnam, is spoken natively by over seventy-five million people in Vietnam and greater Southeast Asia as well as by some two million overseas, predominantly in France, Australia, and the United States. The genetic affiliation of Vietnamese has been at times the subject of considerable debate (Diffloth 1992). Scholars such as Tabard (1838) maintained a relation to Chinese, while Maspero (1912), despite noting similarities to Mon-Khmer, argued for an affiliation with Tai. However, at least since the work of Haudricourt (1953), most scholars now agree that Vietnamese and related Vietic languages belong to the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic family.
},
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Vietnamese, the official language of Vietnam, is spoken natively by over seventy-five million people in Vietnam and greater Southeast Asia as well as by some two million overseas, predominantly in France, Australia, and the United States. The genetic affiliation of Vietnamese has been at times the subject of considerable debate (Diffloth 1992). Scholars such as Tabard (1838) maintained a relation to Chinese, while Maspero (1912), despite noting similarities to Mon-Khmer, argued for an affiliation with Tai. However, at least since the work of Haudricourt (1953), most scholars now agree that Vietnamese and related Vietic languages belong to the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic family.
2010
Kirby, James
Dialect experience in Vietnamese tone perception Journal Article
In: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 127, iss. 6, pp. 3749-3757, 2010.
@article{Kirby2010,
title = {Dialect experience in Vietnamese tone perception},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1121/1.3327793},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-06-01},
urldate = {2010-06-01},
journal = {The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America},
volume = {127},
issue = {6},
pages = {3749-3757},
abstract = {This study investigated the perceptual dimensions of tone in Vietnamese and the effect of dialect experience on listener's prelinguistic perception of tone. While Northern Vietnamese tones are cued by a combination of pitch and voice quality, Southern Vietnamese tones are purely pitch based. 30 listeners from two Vietnamese dialects (10 Northern, 20 Southern) participated in a speeded AX discrimination task using northern stimuli. The resulting reaction times were used to compute an INDSCAL multidimensional scaling solution and were submitted to hierarchical clustering analysis. While the analysis revealed a similar three-dimensional perceptual space structure for both listener groups, corresponding roughly to f(0) offset, voice quality, and contour type, the relative salience of these dimensions varied by dialect: Southern listeners were more likely to confuse tones produced with nonmodal voice quality, whereas Northern listeners found tones with similar pitch excursions to be more confusable. The results of hierarchical clustering of the stimuli further support an analysis where low-level perceptual similarity is influenced by primary dialect experience.
},
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This study investigated the perceptual dimensions of tone in Vietnamese and the effect of dialect experience on listener's prelinguistic perception of tone. While Northern Vietnamese tones are cued by a combination of pitch and voice quality, Southern Vietnamese tones are purely pitch based. 30 listeners from two Vietnamese dialects (10 Northern, 20 Southern) participated in a speeded AX discrimination task using northern stimuli. The resulting reaction times were used to compute an INDSCAL multidimensional scaling solution and were submitted to hierarchical clustering analysis. While the analysis revealed a similar three-dimensional perceptual space structure for both listener groups, corresponding roughly to f(0) offset, voice quality, and contour type, the relative salience of these dimensions varied by dialect: Southern listeners were more likely to confuse tones produced with nonmodal voice quality, whereas Northern listeners found tones with similar pitch excursions to be more confusable. The results of hierarchical clustering of the stimuli further support an analysis where low-level perceptual similarity is influenced by primary dialect experience.
Kirby, James
A probabilistic model of phonetic cue restructuring Journal Article
In: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, ICCM 2010, 2010.
@article{Kirby2010b,
title = {A probabilistic model of phonetic cue restructuring},
author = {James Kirby},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-01-01},
urldate = {2010-01-01},
journal = {Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, ICCM 2010},
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2009
Kirby, James
Linguistic experience in tone perception. Journal Article
In: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 125, iss. 4, pp. 2771, 2009.
@article{Kirby2009,
title = {Linguistic experience in tone perception.},
author = {James Kirby},
doi = {10.1121/1.4784727},
year = {2009},
date = {2009-05-01},
urldate = {2009-05-01},
journal = {The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America},
volume = {125},
issue = {4},
pages = {2771},
abstract = {This paper examines the effect of regional dialect on tone perception. Thirty speakers of Northern and Southern Vietnamese performed an AX discrimination task using natural speech tokens of Northern (NVN) speech. NVN distinguishes six tones, three of which are produced with creaky voice, while Southern Vietnamese (SVN) distinguishes only five tones, none of which are canonically produced with creaky voice; however, both groups of listeners have shown some sensitivity to voice quality as well as F0 cues (Brunelle, 2008). While the results of hierarchical cluster analysis show both Northern and Southern listeners broadly group tones by F0 onset, multidimensional scaling shows the effects of dialect-specific perception: despite some familiarity with NVN speech, SVN listeners did not adjust their perceptual cue space when listening to NVN talkers. As a result, tones with similar F0 profiles but different voice qualities were more likely to be confused by SVN listeners. This is consistent with studies showing that perceptual processes are organized in a language-specific fashion, with the acoustic cue space weighted by phonological relevance to L1 perception (Werker and Tees, 1999; Strange, 2002). It is argued that language-specific prosodic as well as segmental experience affects speech processing at the prelexical level.
},
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This paper examines the effect of regional dialect on tone perception. Thirty speakers of Northern and Southern Vietnamese performed an AX discrimination task using natural speech tokens of Northern (NVN) speech. NVN distinguishes six tones, three of which are produced with creaky voice, while Southern Vietnamese (SVN) distinguishes only five tones, none of which are canonically produced with creaky voice; however, both groups of listeners have shown some sensitivity to voice quality as well as F0 cues (Brunelle, 2008). While the results of hierarchical cluster analysis show both Northern and Southern listeners broadly group tones by F0 onset, multidimensional scaling shows the effects of dialect-specific perception: despite some familiarity with NVN speech, SVN listeners did not adjust their perceptual cue space when listening to NVN talkers. As a result, tones with similar F0 profiles but different voice qualities were more likely to be confused by SVN listeners. This is consistent with studies showing that perceptual processes are organized in a language-specific fashion, with the acoustic cue space weighted by phonological relevance to L1 perception (Werker and Tees, 1999; Strange, 2002). It is argued that language-specific prosodic as well as segmental experience affects speech processing at the prelexical level.
2007
Kirby, James; Yu, Alan
Lexical and phonotactic effects on wordlikeness judgments in Cantonese Conference
2007.
@conference{Kirby2007,
title = {Lexical and phonotactic effects on wordlikeness judgments in Cantonese},
author = {James Kirby and Alan Yu},
year = {2007},
date = {2007-08-01},
urldate = {2007-08-01},
abstract = {This paper reports the results of a wordlikeness task designed to investigate Cantonese speakers' phonotactic knowledge of systematic and acciden-tal gaps. Regression analyses found that word-likeness judgments correlate with token frequency-weighted neighborhood density and conditional (bi-gram) probability. This is suggested to be an effect of the relative phonological densities of the Can-tonese and English lexica.
},
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This paper reports the results of a wordlikeness task designed to investigate Cantonese speakers' phonotactic knowledge of systematic and acciden-tal gaps. Regression analyses found that word-likeness judgments correlate with token frequency-weighted neighborhood density and conditional (bi-gram) probability. This is suggested to be an effect of the relative phonological densities of the Can-tonese and English lexica.
Kirby, James; Yu, Alan
Lexical and phonotactic effects on wordlikeness judgments in Cantonese Conference
2007.
@conference{Kirby2007b,
title = {Lexical and phonotactic effects on wordlikeness judgments in Cantonese},
author = {James Kirby and Alan Yu},
year = {2007},
date = {2007-08-01},
urldate = {2007-08-01},
abstract = {This paper reports the results of a wordlikeness task designed to investigate Cantonese speakers' phonotactic knowledge of systematic and acciden-tal gaps. Regression analyses found that word-likeness judgments correlate with token frequency-weighted neighborhood density and conditional (bi-gram) probability. This is suggested to be an effect of the relative phonological densities of the Can-tonese and English lexica.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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This paper reports the results of a wordlikeness task designed to investigate Cantonese speakers' phonotactic knowledge of systematic and acciden-tal gaps. Regression analyses found that word-likeness judgments correlate with token frequency-weighted neighborhood density and conditional (bi-gram) probability. This is suggested to be an effect of the relative phonological densities of the Can-tonese and English lexica.
2006
Kirby, James; McGee, Kathryn; Kilpatrick, Cynthia D.
Intrusive vowels in Cruceno Spanish Journal Article
In: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 120, iss. 5, pp. 3373 , 2006.
@article{Kirby2006,
title = {Intrusive vowels in Cruceno Spanish},
author = {James Kirby and Kathryn McGee and Cynthia D. Kilpatrick},
doi = {10.1121/1.4781579},
year = {2006},
date = {2006-11-01},
urldate = {2006-11-01},
journal = {The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America},
volume = {120},
issue = {5},
pages = {3373 },
abstract = {Intrusive vowels are short vowels appearing within consonant clusters that are not treated phonologically like full vowels. Though reported in many languages, few quantititative studies have examined these vowels. Here, an acoustic study of intrusive vowels in obstruent+tap clusters in the Spanish of Santa Cruz, Bolivia is reported. The results support earlier studies in that the intrusive vowel quality resembles that of the following nucleic vowel, rather than a neutral vowel, and intrusive vowels are significantly longer in clusters with voiced obstruents than in those with voiceless ones. However, results do not fully support all previous phonetic descriptions and related theoretical assumptions. In particular, a significant difference is not found in intrusive vowel length based on variables such as place of articulation of the obstruent, quality of the nucleic vowel, or placement of stress in relation to the cluster. In addition, where previous work finds no significance for position in the word, the present work finds that intrusive vowels are significantly longer in word‐medial clusters than in word‐initial clusters. The data further suggest that the articulation of obstruent+tap does not require an intrusive vowel, as has previously been claimed, as not all obstruent+tap clusters include an intrusive vowel.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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Intrusive vowels are short vowels appearing within consonant clusters that are not treated phonologically like full vowels. Though reported in many languages, few quantititative studies have examined these vowels. Here, an acoustic study of intrusive vowels in obstruent+tap clusters in the Spanish of Santa Cruz, Bolivia is reported. The results support earlier studies in that the intrusive vowel quality resembles that of the following nucleic vowel, rather than a neutral vowel, and intrusive vowels are significantly longer in clusters with voiced obstruents than in those with voiceless ones. However, results do not fully support all previous phonetic descriptions and related theoretical assumptions. In particular, a significant difference is not found in intrusive vowel length based on variables such as place of articulation of the obstruent, quality of the nucleic vowel, or placement of stress in relation to the cluster. In addition, where previous work finds no significance for position in the word, the present work finds that intrusive vowels are significantly longer in word‐medial clusters than in word‐initial clusters. The data further suggest that the articulation of obstruent+tap does not require an intrusive vowel, as has previously been claimed, as not all obstruent+tap clusters include an intrusive vowel.