Edge Effects in WarlpiriYawulyuSongs: Resyllabification, Epenthesis, Final Vowel Modification

Abstract

Song genres vary as to which aspects of language and music are matched to create a well-formed song. For example, English folk songs match stressed syllables to strong musical beats. Some song styles have no requirements on how language and music should align. This article analyses how text and music align in Warlpiri women's songs from central Australia and finds there are 'text-setting' rules for setting text to musical rhythm. We first identify the formal units of the text and music and then account for their combination by two matching rules. In Warlpiri, text-setting involves matching each syllable to one metrical (rhythmic) position and aligning phonological phrase edges with bar edges. Linguistic units smaller than the phrase, such as those in reduplications and other polymorphemic words, require no such alignment. Alignment is often met through lengthening the right edge of a phrase, which often results in a distortion of the patterns of syllabic prominence in speech. Preferred structures for both text and music can lead to variations of a song based on a reordering of these preferences. This can be exploited to restructure songs when words must be avoided for social reasons.

Testing the robustness of final strictness in verse lines

“…A related line-final effect is the lengthening of the very last syllable of the line. This is observed e. g. in Warlpiri [Pama-Nyungan; Desert Nyungic], Somali or Sardinian (Banti, Giannattasio 1996;Sassu, Sole 1972;Turpin, Laughren 2013), and has probably a widespread typological distribution (Nettl 1956: 66). One of the results of lengthening is that the temporal interval between the last syllable of a line and the first of the following line is increased with respect to the preceding inter-syllabic intervals.…”

Rhyme and Rhyming in Verbal Art, Language, and Song

“…In some couplets the rhyming words di er but their nal syllable is the same. is can be seen in Verse 16 from a Warlpiri yawulyu song set that celebrates the Budgerigar ancestral being of Partirlirri (Turpin & Laughren 2013) Here the line-nal words are Yinapaka and marlkmarlka, and so the rhyme is identical: ka [ka] in lines 1 and 4; and kayi [kei] in lines 2 and 3 (Arandic aye and Warlpiri ayi represent the same vowel quality; the di erence is purely orthographic). e phonotactics of these languages only allow codas within a word; thus, it is not surprising that the rhyme is always an open syllable.…”

“That is Why I am Telling this Story”: Musical Analysis as Insight into the Transmission of Knowledge and Performance Practice of a Wapurtarli Song by Warlpiri Women from Yuendumu, Central Australia

“…The interlocking of these melodic patterns with the rhythmic texts and other knowledge about how to perform a song are vital components that identify a particular yawulyu as being connected to specific people, related country, and Dreamings. Rhythmic texts are aligned and repeated (Turpin and Laughren 2013) but melodic forms change with the cyclical repetition within each song item. These observations of the melodic descents and intervallic ranges within the song items recorded in this performance instance of the Wapurtarli song set indicate that in this context of musical endangerment, these are crucial melodic features vital to the song.…”