Jesse Stewart
- Courses6
- Reviews17
- School: University of Saskatchewan
- Campus:
- Department: Linguistics
- Email address: Join to see
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Location:
Saskatoon, SK - Dates at University of Saskatchewan: November 2015 - July 2020
- Office Hours: Join to see
N/A
Would take again: Yes
For Credit: Yes
0
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Not Mandatory
Awesome
Prof Stewart's presentations are just like a textbook, you can find in them everything you need for the assignments. The people who didn't like his class were just too lazy to find the answers in the presentations.
Biography
University of Saskatchewan - Linguistics
Assistant Professor at University of Saskatchewan
Higher Education
Jesse
Stewart
Saskatchewan, Canada
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. My current interests include the production and perception of phonemic conflict sites in contact languages (specifically relating to Media Lengua), discourse analysis of ASL disfluencies and sign lengthening, and the acoustics of nasality.
Experience
University of Saskatchewan
Assistant Professor
Jesse worked at University of Saskatchewan as a Assistant Professor
Education
University of Manitoba
Master's degree
Linguistics
University of Manitoba
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
Linguistics
The Evergreen State College
Bachelor's degree
Linguistics
Publications
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol
Journal of Language Contact
This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10–58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol
Journal of Language Contact
This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10–58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
Intonation patterns in Pijal Media Lengua.
Journal of Language Contact
Pijal Media Lengua (PML) is a mixed language described as having Quichua morphosyntactic and phonological systems where nearly every content word (89%), including pronouns and determiners, is replaced by its Spanish-derived counterpart through the process of relexification. pml speakers however, often regard their language as intonationally distinct from both Quichua and Spanish. This paper offers a basic description of the pitch accent and boundary tone configurations found in pml using the autosegmental framework (Pierrehumbert, 1980) in a ToBI transcription system (Silverman, 1984). This paper also explorers the current literature on mixed language phonetics and attempts to promote acoustic analyses of intonation as a useful investigative tool for analyzing the origins of prosodic material. The results suggest that pml predominantly makes use of Quichua-like intonation patterns along with innovative and/or preserved structures.
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol
Journal of Language Contact
This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10–58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
Intonation patterns in Pijal Media Lengua.
Journal of Language Contact
Pijal Media Lengua (PML) is a mixed language described as having Quichua morphosyntactic and phonological systems where nearly every content word (89%), including pronouns and determiners, is replaced by its Spanish-derived counterpart through the process of relexification. pml speakers however, often regard their language as intonationally distinct from both Quichua and Spanish. This paper offers a basic description of the pitch accent and boundary tone configurations found in pml using the autosegmental framework (Pierrehumbert, 1980) in a ToBI transcription system (Silverman, 1984). This paper also explorers the current literature on mixed language phonetics and attempts to promote acoustic analyses of intonation as a useful investigative tool for analyzing the origins of prosodic material. The results suggest that pml predominantly makes use of Quichua-like intonation patterns along with innovative and/or preserved structures.
Earbuds: A method for measuring nasality in the field
Journal of Language Documentation and Conservation
Existing methods for collecting and analyzing nasality data are problematic for linguistic fieldworkers: aerodynamic equipment can be expensive and difficult to transport, and acoustic analyses require large amounts of optimally-recorded data. In this paper, a highly mobile and low-cost method is proposed. By connecting low impedance earbuds into a microphone jack of a recording device and placing one earbud immediately below one nostril while keeping the other earbud by the mouth, it is possible to capture the relative intensity of sound exiting the nasal and oral cavities. The two channels can then be normalized to assess the relative prominence of nasality and orality in a given speech sound. This method can not only be used to establish whether nasality is present in a speech signal, but it can also provide information about the timing and duration of nasal gestures. As such, it is an ideal tool for collecting high-quality nasality data in the field.
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol
Journal of Language Contact
This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10–58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
Intonation patterns in Pijal Media Lengua.
Journal of Language Contact
Pijal Media Lengua (PML) is a mixed language described as having Quichua morphosyntactic and phonological systems where nearly every content word (89%), including pronouns and determiners, is replaced by its Spanish-derived counterpart through the process of relexification. pml speakers however, often regard their language as intonationally distinct from both Quichua and Spanish. This paper offers a basic description of the pitch accent and boundary tone configurations found in pml using the autosegmental framework (Pierrehumbert, 1980) in a ToBI transcription system (Silverman, 1984). This paper also explorers the current literature on mixed language phonetics and attempts to promote acoustic analyses of intonation as a useful investigative tool for analyzing the origins of prosodic material. The results suggest that pml predominantly makes use of Quichua-like intonation patterns along with innovative and/or preserved structures.
Earbuds: A method for measuring nasality in the field
Journal of Language Documentation and Conservation
Existing methods for collecting and analyzing nasality data are problematic for linguistic fieldworkers: aerodynamic equipment can be expensive and difficult to transport, and acoustic analyses require large amounts of optimally-recorded data. In this paper, a highly mobile and low-cost method is proposed. By connecting low impedance earbuds into a microphone jack of a recording device and placing one earbud immediately below one nostril while keeping the other earbud by the mouth, it is possible to capture the relative intensity of sound exiting the nasal and oral cavities. The two channels can then be normalized to assess the relative prominence of nasality and orality in a given speech sound. This method can not only be used to establish whether nasality is present in a speech signal, but it can also provide information about the timing and duration of nasal gestures. As such, it is an ideal tool for collecting high-quality nasality data in the field.
Vowel perception by native Media Lengua, Quichua, and Spanish speakers
Journal of Phonetics
This study explores mid and high vowel perception in and across Ecuadorian Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua (a mixed language containing Quichua systemic elements and Spanish lexicon). Quichua and Media Lengua were originally considered three vowel systems comprised of /i, u, a/. However, recent production results reveal that mid vowels /e, o/ may have entered these languages through Spanish lexical borrowings. The aim of the present study is to test listener perception with minimal pairs containing different mid and high vowels to determine how listeners identify them. A two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) identification task experiment with paired stimuli, gradually modified along 10-step continua, revealed that listeners of all three languages demonstrate a relatively high degree of consistent response patterns with the exception of older Quichua listeners. The results of this study coupled with the ‘intermixed’ acoustic spaces in which the vowels are produced also call into question the predictions that might be made in theoretical models of L2/non-native speech perception.
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol
Journal of Language Contact
This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10–58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
Intonation patterns in Pijal Media Lengua.
Journal of Language Contact
Pijal Media Lengua (PML) is a mixed language described as having Quichua morphosyntactic and phonological systems where nearly every content word (89%), including pronouns and determiners, is replaced by its Spanish-derived counterpart through the process of relexification. pml speakers however, often regard their language as intonationally distinct from both Quichua and Spanish. This paper offers a basic description of the pitch accent and boundary tone configurations found in pml using the autosegmental framework (Pierrehumbert, 1980) in a ToBI transcription system (Silverman, 1984). This paper also explorers the current literature on mixed language phonetics and attempts to promote acoustic analyses of intonation as a useful investigative tool for analyzing the origins of prosodic material. The results suggest that pml predominantly makes use of Quichua-like intonation patterns along with innovative and/or preserved structures.
Earbuds: A method for measuring nasality in the field
Journal of Language Documentation and Conservation
Existing methods for collecting and analyzing nasality data are problematic for linguistic fieldworkers: aerodynamic equipment can be expensive and difficult to transport, and acoustic analyses require large amounts of optimally-recorded data. In this paper, a highly mobile and low-cost method is proposed. By connecting low impedance earbuds into a microphone jack of a recording device and placing one earbud immediately below one nostril while keeping the other earbud by the mouth, it is possible to capture the relative intensity of sound exiting the nasal and oral cavities. The two channels can then be normalized to assess the relative prominence of nasality and orality in a given speech sound. This method can not only be used to establish whether nasality is present in a speech signal, but it can also provide information about the timing and duration of nasal gestures. As such, it is an ideal tool for collecting high-quality nasality data in the field.
Vowel perception by native Media Lengua, Quichua, and Spanish speakers
Journal of Phonetics
This study explores mid and high vowel perception in and across Ecuadorian Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua (a mixed language containing Quichua systemic elements and Spanish lexicon). Quichua and Media Lengua were originally considered three vowel systems comprised of /i, u, a/. However, recent production results reveal that mid vowels /e, o/ may have entered these languages through Spanish lexical borrowings. The aim of the present study is to test listener perception with minimal pairs containing different mid and high vowels to determine how listeners identify them. A two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) identification task experiment with paired stimuli, gradually modified along 10-step continua, revealed that listeners of all three languages demonstrate a relatively high degree of consistent response patterns with the exception of older Quichua listeners. The results of this study coupled with the ‘intermixed’ acoustic spaces in which the vowels are produced also call into question the predictions that might be made in theoretical models of L2/non-native speech perception.
A comparative analysis of Media Lengua and Quichua vowel production
Phonetica
This study presents a comparative analysis of F1 and F2 vowel frequencies from Pijal Media Lengua (PML) and Imbabura Quichua. Mixed-effects models are used to test Spanish-derived high and low vowels against their Quichua-derived counterparts for statistical significance. Spanish-derived and Quichua-derived high vowels are also tested against Spanish-derived mid vowels. This analysis suggests that PML may be manipulating as many as eight vowels where Spanishderived high and low vowels coexist as near-mergers with their Quichua-derived counterparts, while high and mid vowels coexist with partial overlap. Quichua, traditionally viewed as a three-vowel system, shows similar results and may be manipulating as many as six vowels.
A Quantitative analysis of sign lengthening in American Sign Language
Sign language and linguistics
In spoken languages, disfluent speech, narrative effects, discourse information, and phrase position may influence the lengthening of segments beyond their typical duration. In sign languages, however, the primary use of the visual-gestural modality results in articulatory differences not expressed in spoken languages. This paper looks at sign lengthening in American Sign Language (ASL). Comparing two retellings of the Pear Story narrative from five signers, three primary lengthening mechanisms were identified: elongation, repetition, and deceleration. These mechanisms allow signers to incorporate lengthening into signs which may benefit from decelerated language production due to high information load or complex articulatory processes. Using a mixed effects model, significant differences in duration were found between (i) non-conventionalized forms vs. lexical signs, (ii) signs produced during role shift vs. non-role shift, (iii) signs in phrase-final/initial vs. phrase-medial position, (iv) new vs. given information, and (v) (non-disordered) disfluent signing vs. non-disfluent signing. These results provide insights into duration effects caused by information load and articulatory processes in ASL.
The Development of Phonological Stratification: Evidence from Stop Voicing Perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol
Journal of Language Contact
This study tests the effect of multilingualism and language contact on consonant perception. Here, we explore the emergence of phonological stratification using two alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification task experiments to test listener perception of stop voicing with contrasting minimal pairs modified along a 10-step continuum. We examine a unique language ecology consisting of three languages spoken in Northern Territory, Australia: Roper Kriol (an English-lexifier creole language), Gurindji (Pama-Nyungan), and Gurindji Kriol (a mixed language derived from Gurindji and Kriol). In addition, this study focuses on three distinct age groups: children (group I, 8>), preteens to middle-aged adults (group II, 10–58), and older adults (group III, 65+). Results reveal that both Kriol and Gurindji Kriol listeners in group II contrast the labial series [p] and [b]. Contrarily, while alveolar [t] and velar [k] were consistently identifiable by the majority of participants (74%), their voiced counterparts ([d] and [g]) showed random response patterns by 61% of the participants. Responses to the voiced stimuli from the preteen-adult Kriol group were, however, significantly more consistent than in the Gurindji Kriol group, suggesting Kriol listeners may be further along in acquiring the voicing contrast. Significant results regarding listener exposure to Standard English in both language groups also suggests constant exposure to English maybe a catalyst for setting this change in motion. The more varied responses from the Gurindji, Kriol, and Gurindji Kriol listeners in groups II and III, who have little exposure to English, help support these findings.
Intonation patterns in Pijal Media Lengua.
Journal of Language Contact
Pijal Media Lengua (PML) is a mixed language described as having Quichua morphosyntactic and phonological systems where nearly every content word (89%), including pronouns and determiners, is replaced by its Spanish-derived counterpart through the process of relexification. pml speakers however, often regard their language as intonationally distinct from both Quichua and Spanish. This paper offers a basic description of the pitch accent and boundary tone configurations found in pml using the autosegmental framework (Pierrehumbert, 1980) in a ToBI transcription system (Silverman, 1984). This paper also explorers the current literature on mixed language phonetics and attempts to promote acoustic analyses of intonation as a useful investigative tool for analyzing the origins of prosodic material. The results suggest that pml predominantly makes use of Quichua-like intonation patterns along with innovative and/or preserved structures.
Earbuds: A method for measuring nasality in the field
Journal of Language Documentation and Conservation
Existing methods for collecting and analyzing nasality data are problematic for linguistic fieldworkers: aerodynamic equipment can be expensive and difficult to transport, and acoustic analyses require large amounts of optimally-recorded data. In this paper, a highly mobile and low-cost method is proposed. By connecting low impedance earbuds into a microphone jack of a recording device and placing one earbud immediately below one nostril while keeping the other earbud by the mouth, it is possible to capture the relative intensity of sound exiting the nasal and oral cavities. The two channels can then be normalized to assess the relative prominence of nasality and orality in a given speech sound. This method can not only be used to establish whether nasality is present in a speech signal, but it can also provide information about the timing and duration of nasal gestures. As such, it is an ideal tool for collecting high-quality nasality data in the field.
Vowel perception by native Media Lengua, Quichua, and Spanish speakers
Journal of Phonetics
This study explores mid and high vowel perception in and across Ecuadorian Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua (a mixed language containing Quichua systemic elements and Spanish lexicon). Quichua and Media Lengua were originally considered three vowel systems comprised of /i, u, a/. However, recent production results reveal that mid vowels /e, o/ may have entered these languages through Spanish lexical borrowings. The aim of the present study is to test listener perception with minimal pairs containing different mid and high vowels to determine how listeners identify them. A two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) identification task experiment with paired stimuli, gradually modified along 10-step continua, revealed that listeners of all three languages demonstrate a relatively high degree of consistent response patterns with the exception of older Quichua listeners. The results of this study coupled with the ‘intermixed’ acoustic spaces in which the vowels are produced also call into question the predictions that might be made in theoretical models of L2/non-native speech perception.
A comparative analysis of Media Lengua and Quichua vowel production
Phonetica
This study presents a comparative analysis of F1 and F2 vowel frequencies from Pijal Media Lengua (PML) and Imbabura Quichua. Mixed-effects models are used to test Spanish-derived high and low vowels against their Quichua-derived counterparts for statistical significance. Spanish-derived and Quichua-derived high vowels are also tested against Spanish-derived mid vowels. This analysis suggests that PML may be manipulating as many as eight vowels where Spanishderived high and low vowels coexist as near-mergers with their Quichua-derived counterparts, while high and mid vowels coexist with partial overlap. Quichua, traditionally viewed as a three-vowel system, shows similar results and may be manipulating as many as six vowels.
Voice onset time production in Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua
Journal of the International Phonetic Association
In Ecuador there exists a dynamic language contact continuum between Urban Spanish and Rural Quichua. This study explores the effects of competing phonologies with an analysis of voice onset time (VOT) production in and across three varieties of Ecuadorian highland Spanish, Quichua, and Media Lengua. Media Lengua is a mixed language that contains Quichua systemic elements and a lexicon of Spanish origin. Because of this lexical-grammatical split, Media Lengua is considered the most central point along the language continuum. Native Quichua phonology has a single series of voiceless stops (/p/, /t/, and /k/), while Spanish shows a clear voicing contrast between stops in the same series. This study makes use of nearly 8,000 measurements from 69 participants to (i) document VOT production in the aforementioned language varieties and (ii) analyse the effects of borrowings on VOT. Results based on mixed effects models and multidimensional scaling suggest that the voicing contrast has entered both Media Lengua and Quichua through Spanish lexical borrowings. However, the VOT values of voiced stops in Media Lengua align with those of Rural and L2 Spanish while Quichua shows significantly longer prevoicing values, suggesting some degree of overshoot.
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- Jesse Stewart (40% Match)
Faculty/Instructor
Indiana University - Indiana University
