Phonetic fieldwork in language description – the case of Shilluk Bert Remijsen University of Edinburgh Introduction • Shilluk is part of the Western Nilotic subgroup of Nilo-Saharan. • It is spoken in Southern Sudan. • There are 175,000 speakers according Ethnologue (Lewis 2009). Figure from Storch (2005) Introduction • Shilluk has a rich prosodic system, with tone, length, and ATR distinctions. • Relatively well-studied (e.g. Westermann 1970, Gilley 1992, Miller & Gilley 2001), but nonetheless tone and length are not yet well understood. • Here are the main results of recent investigations with Cynthia L. Miller (U. of Wisconsin) and Leoma G. Gilley (SIL International) – submitted to Journal of Linguistics. ATR in Shilluk ATR in Shilluk • Shilluk has five vowel qualities, orthogonally crossed with an Advanced Tongue Root (ATR) distinction – +ATR: /i,e,ʌ,o,u/ -ATR: /ɪ,ɛ,a,ɔ,ʊ/ • ATR distinguishes lexical items, and plays an important role in the grammar. Transitive verbs become [+ATR] in antipassive, benefactive, centripetal, etc. Vowel quality and ATR CLOSED HALFOPEN OPEN +ATR -ATR +ATR -ATR +ATR á-kìiil á-ḱûuul ration:2SG gather:2SG á-ḱɪɪ̂ ɪl kʊ̂ʊlɔ̀ biteoff:2SG jog:DVN kēel á-kóool̀ spear:DVN herd:PETAL kɛ́ɛl á-kɔ́ɔɔl̀ separate:DVN herd:FUGAL á-kʌ̀ʌʌl takeaway:2SG -ATR kâal cattlecamp:SG Vowel length An example of the ATR distinction in Shilluk: Spatial deixis Transcription and gloss Centrifugal Centripetal wêel(ɔ) guest:SG wêel(ɔ) guest:SG Translation á-kɔ́ɔɔ̀k ‘Somebody has gone to pay the PAST-pay:FUGAL guest.’ ‘Somebody has á-kóoòk come to pay the PAST-pay:PETAL guest.’ examples from 9 speakers ATR in Shilluk • The IPA transcription for ATR is an abstraction of a combination of phonetic correlates: vowel quality and voice quality. • Using speech data from numerous speakers can help the researcher to get clarity about the nature of the phenomenon. Vowel length in Shilluk Vowel length An example of distinctive vowel length in Shilluk: Vowel length Transcription and gloss CVC CVVC CVVVC jāat á-ḱâk tree:S PAST-split bʊ̄ʊl á-ḱâak Bol PAST-givetodrink bʊ̄ʊl á-ḱâaak Bol Translation ‘Somebody has split wood.’ ‘Somebody gave to drink to Bol.’ ‘Somebody went away to give to PAST-givetodrink:FUG drink to Bol.’ Vowel length • We measured the durations of vowels in three-level minimal sets for vowel length like this one. • Data from 8 native speakers (6m, 2f) • The sets are embedded in various contexts: - sentence-final (11 sets) - sentence-medial (3 sets) - word-medial (suffixed) sentence-final (3 sets) Vowel length Figure 1. Means and standard deviations for vowel length (V, VV, VVV), across speakers and items, for forms without suffixes. Vowel length Shilluk Luanyjang Dinka Figure 2. Means and standard deviations for vowel length (V, VV, VVV) in Shilluk and Dinka (Remijsen & Gilley 2008). CVC CVVC CVVVC lwôol á-ḱʌ̂l lwôol á-kʌ̀ʌʌl cup PAST-takeaway ‘Somebody took away the cup.’ cup PAST-take:2S ‘You took away the cup.’ kòot̻̻ á-ḱɔ̂l ‘Somebody took out the thorn.’ kòot̻ á-kɔ̂l ‘You took out the thorn.’ d̻jâŋ á-ḱɔ̂ɔl d̻jâŋ á-kɔ̂ɔɔl ‘Somebody herded the cow away.’ ‘You herded the cow away.’ Vowel length in Shilluk morphology Conclusion • Like Dinka, Shilluk has three-levels of vowel length. • Vowel length plays a big role in verb paradigms. • Acoustic data are crucial in the study of vowel length in Shilluk – my collaborators and myself are often unable to determine the vowel length correctly by ear. And now tone Tone • We found 7 distinctive tone patterns at the syllable level (hereafter tonemes) in verb inflections: - High (cv́c) - High Fall (ćv̂c) - Low (cv̀c) - Low Fall (cv̂c) - Mid (cv̄c) - Late (High) Fall (cv́c̀) - Rise (cv̌c) High 1 2 Low 1 2 dâa ŋɔ́l kì-kɛ̂ɲ ‘There is cutting here.’ EXIST cut:DVN LOC-here jāat á-ŋɔ̀l kì-kɛ̂ɲ EXIST PAST-cut:2S LOC-here Mid 1 2 Rise 1 2 góoɟīi á-ŋɔ̄l 2 jāat ‘Smb. used a machete machete:S PAST-cut:INST tree:S to cut the tree.’ jāat á-ŋɔ̌l gʌ̀ʌt tree:S PAST-cut:FUG:2S river:S High Fall jāat á-ŋ́ɔl̂ 1 kì-kɛ̂ɲ tree:S PAST-cut LOC-here Low Fall jāat á-ŋɔ̂l kɪ̀-kɛ̂ɲ Late Fall jāat á-ŋɔ́l ̀ gʌ̀ʌt 1 1 2 2 ‘You have cut the tree here.’ ‘You went away to the river to cut the tree.’ ‘Smb. has cut the tree here.’ ‘The tree got cut here.’ tree:S PAST-cut:INTR LOC-here (unaccusative) tree:S PAST-cut:FUG river:S ‘Smb. went away to the river to cut the tree.’ Tone • We measured the fundamental frequency (f0) in 7member minimal sets for tone like /ŋɔl/. • Data from 7 native speakers (5m, 2f). • The sets are embedded in various contexts: - sentence-medial (5 sets) - sentence-final in statement & question (2 sets) • We extracted the f0 trace over the voiced part of the stem syllable (cf. display in Praat) and averaged the traces for each toneme in the set, across speakers. Tone Short vowel (/ŋɔl/) Long vowel (/lʊʊʊɲ/) Figure 3. F0 traces for the seven tonemes in medial position, averaged across speakers, for 2 verbs. Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE á-ḱɔ̂l á-ḱɔ̂l EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE á-ćâm á-ḿʌl̂ á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ á-kɔ̀l PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR CVC á-kɔ̀l CVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR CVC á-kɔ̀l CVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR CVC á-kɔ̀l CVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR CVC á-kɔ̀l CVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ŋ́ɔ̂l CVC á-ĺɛŋ ̂ CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR CVC á-kɔ̀l CVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ á-kɔ́l̀ PAST TENSE WITH DESTINATION á-kɔ́l̀ á-cáaam̀ á-mʌ́ʌʌl̀ á-ĺʊ̂ʊʊɲ á-lɛ́ɛɛŋ̀ á-lʊ́ʊʊɲ̀ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • Seven classes of transitive verbs can be distinguished on the basis of vowel length and tone: OFFEND TAKE EAT HEAT SWITCH THROW PLUCK PAST TENSE CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ḱɔ̂l CVC á-ćâm CVC á-ḿʌl̂ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ CVVC á-ĺɛ̂ɛŋ CVVC á-ĺʊ̂ʊɲ PAST TENSE 2nd SINGULAR CVC á-kɔ̀l CVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC CVVVC á-kɔ̂l á-càaam á-mʌ̂ʌʌl á-lʊ̀ʊʊɲ á-lɛ̀ɛɛŋ á-lʊ̂ʊʊɲ á-kɔ́l̀ PAST TENSE WITH DESTINATION á-kɔ́l̀ á-cáaam̀ á-mʌ́ʌʌl̀ á-ĺʊ̂ʊʊɲ á-lɛ́ɛɛŋ̀ á-lʊ́ʊʊɲ̀ Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • The distribution of tonemes does not interact with phonological length – contour tones appear on V vowels just as they appear on VVV vowels. • Consider the distribution of Late Fall and Rise: CVC Late Fall Rise CVVC CVVVC á-ŋɔ́l̀ á-kɔ́ɔɔl̀ PAST-cut:FUG PAST-herd:FUG á-ŋɔ̌l á-kɔ̌ɔɔl PAST-cut:FUG:2S PAST-herd:FUG:2S Tone in Shilluk verb morphology • However, tone does interact with morphological length: the Rise and the Late Fall are only found on the synchronic reflexes of suffixed verb forms. CVC Late Fall Rise CVVC CVVVC á-ŋɔ́l̀ á-kɔ́ɔɔl̀ PAST-cut:FUG PAST-herd:FUG á-ŋɔ̌l á-kɔ̌ɔɔl PAST-cut:FUG:2S PAST-herd:FUG:2S Conclusion • The suprasegmental system of Shilluk is very rich, and it plays an important role in the morphosyntax. • As a result the study of sound system and morphosyntax are tightly connected. • Both for length and for tone, auditory analysis is often insufficient. • In the studyof Shilluk, the instrumental approach is indispensible in two ways: (a) to get to an accurate analysis; (b) to persuade others that this analysis is correct. Thank you to… • The Shilluk speakers: John Adwok Apar, Rhoda Oman Nyibil, Daniel Thabo Nyibong, Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec, Maria Bocay Onak, Nyikwec Pakwan, Peter Mojwok Yor. • Prof. Al-Amin Abu-Manga (U. of Khartoum) for support during two data collection trips; • The Arts & Humanities Research Council (UK), for funding this research (Stress in Nilotic – a typological challenge (’05-’08) . EXTRA Lexical/morphological tone and question intonation • There is no boundary tone at the right edge of Shilluk utterances that are statements. • At the right edge of utterances that are questions, there is a Low boundary tone, and the register is increased. These characteristics can be observed from the f0 traces below. The Low boundary tone is salient when the lexical/morphological configuration ends high, (e.g. Rise [Fig. below, left]). The increase in range is salient when the lexical/morphological configuration ends low (cf. Low Fall [Fig. below, right]). Lexical/morphological tone and question intonation Rise Low Fall statement question Figure. F0 traces for the Rise and Late Fall on /lʊʊʊɲ/, sentence-finally in statement (blue) and question (brown), averaged across speakers (7).
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