Tones in Tani

7/31/2019 Tones in Tani

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Tones in Tani

A cautionary tale


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It would be wonderful if every tonal languagegave us nice, monosyllabic minimal sets tohelp us determine the tonal inventory.

Thai ma i Polar Question Marker

m i burn m i silk m i new etc.


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In Tani languages, many of which are tonal,there are usually no more than a handfulof monosyllabic words.


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98%-99+% of the lexicon generally consistsof disyllabic compounds and prefixedroots!


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98%-99+% of the lexicon generally consistsof disyllabic compounds and prefixedroots!

In Lare Galo, there are no simplex,monosyllabic minimal pairs.


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What can we do?


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What can we do?

Intersubstitute morphemes which form parts of complex words, so that we can see how they may be interacting.


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What can we do?

Intersubstitute morphemes which form parts of complex words, so that we can see how they may be interacting.

(these are exactly the same principles thatwe use when analyzing morphosyntax)


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tudiinam to kick again 19

tuumonam to make someone survey 20

Time (s)0 0.5951

P i t c h

( H z )

75

200

Time (s)0 0.5858

P i t c

h ( H z

)

75

200


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1 tunam to kick


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1 tunam to kick

2 tunam to garland


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1 tunam to kick 2

tunam to garland 3 tuunam to survey


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1 tunam to kick 2

tunam to garland 3 tuunam to survey 4 tuunam to push


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1 tunam to kick H2

tunam to garland L3 tuunam to survey H4 tuunam to push L


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1 tunam to kick H2


5 tuji kick for someone


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1 tunam to kick H2


5 tuji kick for someone 6 tumo make someone kick


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1 tunam to kick H2


5 tuji kick for someone 6 tumo make someone kick 7 tuji garland for someone


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1 tunam to kick H2


5 tuji kick for someone 6 tumo make someone kick 7 tuji garland for someone 8 tumo make someone garland


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1 tunam to kick H2


5 tuji kick for someone H6 tumo make someone kick L7 tuji garland for someone L8 tumo make someone garland L


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9 tuuji survey for someone


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9 tuuji survey for someone 10

tuumo make someone survey


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tuumo make someone survey 11 tuuji push for someone


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tuumo make someone survey 11 tuuji push for someone 12 tuumo make someone push


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9 tuuji survey for someone H10

tuumo make someone survey L11 tuuji push for someone L12 tuumo make someone push L


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Interim assessment


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Interim assessment

The only time we get a high, level pitch iswhen:


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Interim assessment

The only time we get a high, level pitch iswhen: both morpheme positions areoccupied by one of these morphemes:tu- kick tuu- survey -nam Infinitive-ji Benefactive


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Interim assessment

The only time we get a high, level pitch iswhen: both morpheme positions areoccupied by one of these morphemes:1 tu-nam kick-Infinitive 3 tuu-nam survey -Infinitive 7 tu-ji kick-Benefactive 9 tuu-ji survey -Benefactive


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Interim assessment

2 tu-nam garland -Infinitive 4 tuu-nam push -Infinitive 6

tu-mo kick-Causative 8 tu-mo garland -Causative 10 tuu-mo survey -Causative

12 tuu-mo push -Causative


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Interim assessment

H+H = HH (or just H?)H+L = HL (or just L?)

L+H = HL (or just L?)L+L = HL (or just L?)


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A bit more data

13 tu -daa kick immediately


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A bit more data

13 tu - da a kick immediately


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A bit more data

13 tu - da a kick immediately 14 tu -dii kick again


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A bit more data

13 tu - da a kick immediately 14 tu - d i kick again


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A bit more data


15 tuu-daa survey immediately


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A bit more data


15 tuu- da a survey immediately


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A bit more data


15 tuu- da a survey immediately 16 tuu-dii survey again


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A bit more data


15 tuu- da a survey immediately 16 tuu- d i survey again


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Working lexicon

H morphemes L morphemestu - kick t - garland

tuu- survey t u- push- na m Infinitive - mo Causative - da a Immediately - d i Again

- ji Benefactive


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A larger context

17 tu - ji - na m to kick for someone 18 tu - mo - na m to make someone kick


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A problem

17 tu - ji - na m to kick for someone 18 tu - mo - na m to make someone kick 19

tu - d i- na m to kick again


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A problem

17 tu - ji - na m to kick for someone 18 tu - mo - na m to make someone kick 19

tu - d i- na m to kick again 20 tuumo - na m to make someone survey


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A problem

17 tu - ji - na m to kick for someone 18 tu - mo - na m to make someone kick 19 tu

- d

i- na

m to kick again

20 tuumo - na m to make someone survey

Whats going on? How can we account for these sudden differences in the tonalcontour?


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A problem

19 tu - d i- na m to kick again H - L - H

20 tuu-

mo- na

m to make someone survey

H - L - H


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A problem

19 tu - d i- na m to kick again H - L - H

20 tuumo - na m to make someone survey H - L - H

The pitch peak in a L word is attracted toa heavy (CVV or CVC) syllable.


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The moral of the story

Tone systems can have several dimensions,and can interact in numerous (andpossibly as-yet-undiscovered) ways withother aspects of a languages phonology.


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The moral of the story

Tone systems can have several dimensions,and can interact in numerous (andpossibly as-yet-undiscovered) ways withother aspects of a languages phonology.

Always be prepared to try out a newapproachespecially in the untested

grounds of North-East Indian tonelanguages!

Documents

Tones in Tani