It has frequently been shown that speakers prosodically reduce repeated words in discourse. This phenomenon has been claimed to facilitate speech recognition and to be language universal. However, virtually all evidence for repetition reduction comes from English. The current study investigates to what extent repetition reduction in prosody is found in Papuan Malay. The prosody of Papuan Malay is underresearched and not yet well understood. In the current study, we hypothesize that Papuan Malay speakers show prosodic reduction of repeated words. In order to investigate this, an acoustic analysis is carried out on repeated words in short stories produced by native Papuan Malay speakers. The results show that for repeated mentions duration is reduced and mean pitch is higher. It is concluded that these findings are partially compatible with current theories on repetition and prominence.
Looking at the way different linguistic communities speak about a universally shared domain of experience raises questions that are central to the language sciences. How can we compare meaning across languages? What is the interaction between language, thought, and perception? Does linguistic diversity entail linguistic relativism? The literature on the naming systems of the body across languages have addressed these questions with little consensus. In the present study, we contribute to this debate with a comparison of body part terms in French, Indonesian, and Japanese. Using an updated version of the body coloring task, we observed both diversity and cross-linguistically shared patterns. Importantly, we also observed that speakers of languages which violate the wrist/ankle joint boundary rule do not collapse the distinction in thought. This key finding goes against the conflation of language and thought and leads us to conclude that linguistic diversity does not entail linguistic relativism. Methodologically, we advocate for the use of a culturally neutral etic space as a necessary tool in semantic typology. Theoretically, we propose that language is a multilevel phenomenon, which results from the interaction of non-linguistic and cross-culturally shared embodied motivations, context-specific situated language use, and culturally specific sedimented linguistic conventions.
We present the first musicological analysis of a Lelegesan performance, a form of musical expression of the Totoli people in Central Sulawesi. Our preliminary study of this participatory musical practice of an endangered language community describesthe overall form of the Lelegesan, consisting of two-part stanzas with improvised lyrics but relatively stable melodic patterns. We report characteristics of a performance’s frequency spectrum by drawing on computational methods, enabling us to approximate the underlying musical scale. Our analyses show that different phrase types are clearly distinguishable in terms of their frequency content, and that final tones of opening and closing phrases are generally about a major third apart.
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