Previous research has shown that pre-aspiration can be a phonemic and a variable linguistic feature susceptible to linguistic and extra-linguistic influences. In the case of Welsh, previous exploratory work has found the presence of pre-aspiration (Ball 1984, Morris 2010, Spooner 2016, Iosad forthcoming), but the phonetic and phonological properties of this feature and its sociophonetic patterning in the language are not known. This article presents analyses of the variety of Welsh spoken in Bethesda (Gwynedd). It reports the frequency of occurrence of pre-aspiration, its duration, and noisiness. As well as describing pre-aspiration, it attempts to ascertain the extent to which this feature is influenced by linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Wordlist data were analysed from 16 Welsh–English bilinguals from Bethesda (Gwynedd, North Wales). Speakers were aged between 16 and 18 years old and the sample was stratified by speaker sex and home language (either Welsh or English). The results indicate that pre-aspiration is frequent in both fortis and lenis plosives (the latter of which are typically devoiced in Welsh). In addition to a number of linguistic influences on its production, both speaker sex and home language were found to be significant predictors of variation for some measures. The results are discussed with reference to previous studies of pre-aspiration in other languages and work on phonetic variation in Welsh–English bilingual speech.
Mrázková M., Černý K., Tomšovský M., Strnadová V., Gregorová B., Holub V., Pánek M., Havrdová L., Hejná M. (2013): Occurrence of Phytophthora multivora and Phytophthora plurivora in the Czech Republic. Plant Protect. Sci., 49: 155-164.Beginning in 2006, a survey of two related Phytophthora species, P. multivora and P. plurivora, was performed in the Czech Republic. Both pathogens were distributed throughout a broad range of environments including forest and riparian stands and probably became naturalised in the country. The two species differed in their frequency and elevational distribution. P. multivora was less frequent, but commonly occurred in the lowest regions such as Central Bohemia and South Moravia, i.e. areas which generally exhibit a high level of invasion. This species was isolated primarily from Quercus robur and found to be involved in oak decline. Moreover it poses a high risk to other forest trees. P. plurivora was distributed in a broad range of elevations over the entire area. A substrate specificity was detected in P. plurivora -the isolates from forest trees were more aggressive to such trees than the isolates from ericaceous ornamental plants.
Using evidence from Aberystwyth English, this study shows two points relevant for the phonetic implementation of the fortis-lenis contrast in plosives and two points concerning the diachronic scenarios proposed as ways in which pre-aspiration (one of the correlates of this contrast) innovates. Firstly, a wide range of acoustic features distinguishes the fortis and the lenis series. Release duration is a correlate of the contrast in three foot-positions (initial: tot vs dot; medial: cotter vs codder; final: cot vs cod), as is vowel duration and the presence of voicing. Furthermore, pre-aspiration and breathiness differentiate the two series foot-medially and footfinally. For one speaker, glottalisation rather than preaspiration distinguishes the series foot-finally. Secondly, whilst the plosives are frequently post-aspirated foot-initially, the release of /t/ and /d/ is realised variably with affrication and/or post-aspiration in all three positions: rather than presence or absence of affrication or post-aspiration then, it is release duration that distinguishes the series. Thirdly, the data is not supportive of the suggestion that pre-aspiration innovates in the fortis series as a consequence of the loss of voicing in the lenis series or the other way round [1] and [2] or, fourthly, as a step on a degemination trajectory [3], [4].
Dissimilation is classically considered as a phonetically categorical sound change. In contrast to this assumption, this paper presents evidence for a phonetically gradient pattern of aspiration dissimilation found in Aberystwyth English (Wales): an aspiration feature is consistently reduced in the vicinity of another aspiration feature. Two other patterns of gradient aspiration dissimilation have been reported, in Halh Mongolian and in Georgian, which suggests that it may actually be a more general phenomenon. The Aberystwyth data are however better controlled for phonological contexts and lexical regularity than the Mongolian and the Georgian data. The results can then be discussed in light of the two available theories of dissimilation, Ohala's (1981) hypercorrection theory, and the traditional link with speech errors. Importantly, a number of arguments support Garrett's (2015) hypothesis that gradient dissimilation might be a(nother) precursor to complete dissimilation. The pattern thus shows how the use of careful phonetic inspection can lead to a reanalysis of our understanding of wellestablished diachronic processes.
The present study contributes to our understanding of the phonetic implementation of the fortis–lenis plosive contrast in British varieties of English via analyses of pre-aspiration and glottalisation. More specifically, we show that pre-aspiration and (pre-) glottalisation can and do function as correlates of the contrast in British English plosives in non-foot-initial position (latter vs ladder; mat vs mad). This is in addition to rather than at the expense of the other traditionally discussed potential correlates, with the exception of word-final release duration, where the pre-closure laryngeal phenomena are more robust. We also provide evidence that listeners of a range of accents of British English use pre-aspiration as a cue to the contrast, exhibiting clear categorical perception effects (based on data from 19 listeners). We conclude that the gesture of spread glottis is not necessarily tied to the release phase of the plosive in the relevant varieties of British English but instead can be found prior to the release phase, or indeed both prior to as well as during the release phase itself. Our study thus contributes to the pool of languages known to use pre-closure laryngeal features functioning as correlates of and cues to phonological contrasts (see e.g. Clayton 2009; Kingston 1990; Silverman 1995).
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