Depressing facts about Zulu

Traill, A.; Khumalo, J.S.M.; Fridjhon, Peter

doi:10.1080/00020188708707678

Cited by 32 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…In addition, the acoustic properties of isiZulu /b/ (Traill, personal communication;Best et al, 2001) appear to be consistent with plosive rather than implosive release (thanks to Nick Clements for pointing this out). Also, isiZulu / ɓ/ causes tone-lowering, a phenomenon that is associated with plosives but not implosives (Traill et al, 1987). The possibility of a historical change from implosive to voiced plosive is consistent with observations that larynx-lowering can vary in a gradient manner, hence resulting in a gradient of ingressiveness to egressiveness (Ladefoged & Maddieson, 1996;Roux, 1991; see also a discussion of the linguistic function of air pressure differences in plosive and nonplosive stops: Clements & Osu, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…The glottal setting is virtually identical for isiZulu plosive /b/ and one of the two primary allophones of English /b/: onset of voicing is simultaneous with biliabial release (i.e., voiceless unaspirated [p]) for isiZulu /b/ (Doke, 1926), as well as for voiceless unaspirated allophones ([p]) of English /b/. As for implosive /ɓ/, although older sources state that it is produced with rapid larynx-lowering resulting in negative oral airflow at closure release (Canonici, 1989;Doke, 1926;Maddicson, 1984;Poulos & Bosch, 1997;Van Wyck, 1979;Ziervogel, Louw, & Taljaard, 1985), more recent data indicate that it is no longer realized as an implosive but rather as a prevoiced plosive stop (Giannini, Pettorino, & Toscano, 1988;Traill, Khumalo, & Fridjhon, 1987). The plosive characterization seems appropriate for our isiZulu /6/ stimuli, which are prevoiced and have prominent noise bursts at release (see Best et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infant Perception of Non-Native Consonant Contrasts that Adults Assimilate in Different Ways

2003

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Numerous findings suggest that non-native speech perception undergoes dramatic changes before the infant's first birthday. Yet the nature and cause of these changes remain uncertain. We evaluated the predictions of several theoretical accounts of developmental change in infants' perception of nonnative consonant contrasts. Experiment 1 assessed English-learning infants' discrimination of three isiZulu distinctions that American adults had categorized and discriminated quite differently, consistent with the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM: Best, 1995;Best et al., 1988). All involved a distinction employing a single articulatory organ, in this case the larynx. Consistent with all theoretical accounts, 6-8 month olds discriminated all contrasts. However, 10-12 month olds performed more poorly on each, consistent with the Articulatory-Organ-matching hypothesis (AO) derived from PAM and Articulatory Phonology (Studdert-Kennedy & Goldstein, 2003), specifically that older infants should show a decline for non-native distinctions involving a single articulatory organ. However, the results may also be open to other interpretations. The converse AO hypothesis, that non-native between-organ distinctions will remain highly discriminate to older infants, was tested in Experiment 2. using a non-native Tigrinya distinction involving lips versus tongue tip. Both ages discriminated this between-organ contrast well, further supporting the AO hypothesis. Implications for theoretical accounts of infant speech perception are discussed.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant Perception of Non-Native Consonant Contrasts that Adults Assimilate in Different Ways

2003

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“…The non-implosive nature of modern /b/ has been confirmed in recent phonetic studies of Zulu. Reporting on an instrumental study of tone depression in Zulu, Traill et al (1987) write: 'If /b/ is an implosive, it should not lower the tone. Yet it does in all our subjects.…”

Section: Two Stages In the Realisation Of Zulu Plosivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feature economy in sound systems

2003

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Feature economy is a principle of sound systems according to which languages tend to maximise the ratio of sounds over features. The major goal of this study is to confirm the predictions of feature economy at the synchronic level, using an objective sampling technique applied to a genetically and areally balanced sample of the world's languages. It also shows that feature economy can be used as a tool in phonological feature analysis, and offers voiced aspirates, voiceless sonorants and various types of glottalised sounds as illustrations. Feature economy applies not only to distinctive feature values, but to redundant values of features that are distinctive or phonologically active elsewhere in the system. Feature economy cannot be reduced to a purely phonetic principle of gesture economy, but may reflect a general principle of linguistic organisation according to which the active categories of a grammatical system tend to be used to maximal effect.

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“…Among the earliest studies on isiZulu, Beach (1924:80), cited in Traill et al (1987), attributes depressors to the presence of voicing. This viewpoint was also shared by Lanham (1958:74) on isiXhosa and Ladefoged (1971:14) on Southern Bantu more widely.…”

Section: Bantu Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative study of depression in Bantu, Khoisan and Chinese Wu – laryngeal settings and feature specifications

Xiao-xi¹,

Kula²

2018

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This paper aims to provide an overview of our current understanding of depressors by offering a comparative perspective of the types of depressors from Bantu, Khoisan and Chinese Wu. Depressor effects in Bantu/Khoisan, on the one hand, and Chinese, on the other, are hardly dealt with together leaving a more holistic approach untapped. This paper begins to bridge that gap by bringing together current findings to establish the full scope of depressor effects, from which future analyses can then build on. It is systematically observed that depressors in these languages are not restricted to voicing only. Rather, they range from voiced and breathy sounds -the most unmarked -to voiceless unaspirated sounds and even voiceless aspirated sounds as the most marked depressor type. The expansion of depressors to voiceless aspirated sounds is particularly interesting, since these sounds are traditionally assumed to correlate with a high pitch which is characteristic of high tone. Thus, the laryngeal configurations for voiceless depressors are examined and compared between Bantu, Khoisan and Chinese Wu. Proposed feature analyses for depressors are also discussed and compared.

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Depressing facts about Zulu

Cited by 32 publications

References 11 publications

Infant Perception of Non-Native Consonant Contrasts that Adults Assimilate in Different Ways

Infant Perception of Non-Native Consonant Contrasts that Adults Assimilate in Different Ways

Feature economy in sound systems

A comparative study of depression in Bantu, Khoisan and Chinese Wu – laryngeal settings and feature specifications

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