Tone Ranges in a Two-Tone Language (Lingala)

Guthrie, Malcolm

doi:10.1017/s0041977x00087632

Cited by 5 publications

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“…Lingala is a lexical tone language in which every syllable is associated with a tone. The language has two lexical tones, L and H (Clements, 1979; Guthrie, 1940; Kukanda, 1983). Word melodies are variable, and any combinations of tones within the word are possible.…”

Section: Prosodic Systems Of Participants’ Other Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The production of Norwegian tones by multilingual non-native speakers

Steien

Dommelen

2016

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Abstract:Aim and objectives/purpose/research questions: The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which multilingual second language speakers of Norwegian manage to produce lexical pitch accents (L*H¯ or H*LH¯) as expected in natural spontaneous speech. Using native speech as a reference, we analyze realizations of multilingual speakers whose respective dominant languages are Lingala, a lexical tone language, and Swahili, a non-tonal language with fixed stress, and hypothesize that this difference might be reflected in the speakers' competence in the East Norwegian tone system. Design/methodology/approach: We examined a corpus of spontaneous speech produced by eight L2 speakers and two native speakers of East Norwegian. Acoustic analysis was performed to collect fundamental frequency (f0) contours of 60 accentual phrases per speaker. Data and analysis: For LH and HLH tonal patterns, measuring points were defined for quantitative evaluation of f0 values. Relevant aspects investigated were (a) pattern consistency, (b) f0 dynamic range and (c) rate of f0 change. Pattern consistency data were statistically evaluated using chi-square. Dynamic range and rate of f0 change data were explored through to linear mixed effects models. Findings/conclusions: We found no really substantial differences between the speaker groups in the parameters we examined, neither between the L2 speakers and the Norwegian natives nor between the Lingala and Swahili speakers. Originality and significance/implications: This study is a contribution to the scarcely explored area of L2 acquisition of tones. It is concerned with languages that have received little or no attention in the field: Norwegian, Lingala and Swahili. Participants are multilinguals who have extensive language learning experience. Further, the study is based on a corpus of spontaneous speech.

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Section: Prosodic Systems Of Participants’ Other Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The production of Norwegian tones by multilingual non-native speakers

Steien

Dommelen

2016

International Journal of Bilingualism

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“…A high boundary tone on the phrase-final syllable distinguishes questions from statements in Swedish (Hadding-Koch & Studdert-Kennedy 1964), Venda (Ziervogel, Wentzel & Makuya 1972: 147), Kinyarwanda (Sibomana 1974: 185), English (Pierrehumbert 1980), Japanese (Pierrehumbert & Beckman 1988: 75), Kinande (Hyman 1990: 114), Chichewa (Myers 1996), and German (Féry 1993: 73). Questions are also marked by raising of the pitch range and/or reduction of phrasal pitch downtrends, as in Lingala (Guthrie 1940), Kongo (Carter 1973), Danish (Thorsen 1978), Kikuyu (Clements & Ford 1981), Hausa (Inkelas & Leben 1990), Jita (Downing 1995), and Kipare (Herman 1996). Final low tones mark yes-no questions in languages such as Chickasaw (Gordon 2005), Akan (Genzel & Kügler, 2020), and the languages surveyed in Rialland (2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The intonation of yes–no questions in Luganda

Myers¹

2021

Journal of the International Phonetic Association

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The intonation of yes–no questions in Luganda (Bantu, Uganda) has only been sketched in passing. Hyman states that Luganda yes–no questions are marked by a ‘super-high tone’ immediately following the last lexical high tone in the sentence, but there is little agreement in the literature about the intonation of yes–no questions if there is no lexical high tone in the sentence. To clarify the differences between statements and yes–no questions in Luganda, an acoustic production study was conducted. Nineteen speakers read aloud sentences differing in the location of the last lexical high tone relative to the end of the sentence. Each sentence was produced as a statement and as a question. Analysis of f0 measurements supported Hyman’s description of sentences with a lexical high tone, since the questions had an f0 peak that was higher and later than in the corresponding statements. For sentences without a lexical high tone, yes–no questions were found to begin with an interval in which f0 is higher than in corresponding statements, and end with a final f0 value lower than in statements. It is proposed that the yes–no question marker is a phrase accent (H–). Like the high phrase accent posited by Pierrehumbert for English, this intonational tone is associated after the last tone in the phrase, but in Luganda that last tone is lexical, rather than being an intonational focus marker as in English. This H– accent is subject to upstep in the position after a high tone.

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De Zinsintonatie in Toontalen

Siertsema¹

1962

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Tone Ranges in a Two-Tone Language (Lingala)

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

The production of Norwegian tones by multilingual non-native speakers

The production of Norwegian tones by multilingual non-native speakers

The intonation of yes–no questions in Luganda

De Zinsintonatie in Toontalen

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