The 55th Language Lunch
Date: 2016-12-01
Location: G.07 Informatics Forum
The space of possible grammars revisited
Patrik,Austin; Department of General Linguistics, University of Helsinki; None
How linguistic variation is limited is one of the basic questions of syntactic theory. The prevalent paradigms concerning the amplitude of possibility were delineated in the 20th century when Chomsky challenged the structuralist view that “languages can differ from each other without limit and in unpredictable ways”, as articulated by Joos. According to Chomsky, if the infinite logical space of grammars was in no way constrained, language learning could not take place. Chomsky’s solution was that a genetically encoded Universal Grammar must set the bounds for variation in human languages.rn rnThis research re-examines the question of linguistic variation by making a 2-dimensional map of the space of grammars using a mathematical approach. Such a model reveals clear-cut edges that restrict the space of possibilities. This suggests that, while the structuralist view is logically untenable, Chomsky’s idea is at odds with Occam’s razor since logical constraints already give a sufficient account of the bounds of variation.
Sexual Orientation, Masculinity, and Cross-Linguistic Perceptions of /s/
Zac,Boyd; None; None
There is well documented, cross-linguistic evidence that /s/ variation can index sexual orientation and non-normative masculinity in both production and perception. The present study expands on previous research on monolingual speech perception with a cross-linguistic Matched-Guise study. We examine the extent to which English listeners associate /s/ variation with sexual orientation and gender typicality in languages that listeners may have little to no knowledge of. Raters heard speech in English, French, German, and Estonian, all manipulated by three /s/ levels and three pitch levels. Our findings show that English listeners rate higher pitch and more fronted /s/ with gayness and femininity not only in English but also in the languages which they have limited or no knowledge of. These findings raise the question of how indexical meaning is associated with grammatical knowledge.
The Effect of Gender and Tone on Voice Onset Time in Mandarin
Tian,Li; None; None
In the study of Richard J. et. al. (2007), the VOT differs between males and females in the English speaking environment. In English, there is a phenomenon that females produce longer VOTs than males for voiceless consonants (Koenig, 2000; Swartz, 1992; Robb, Gilbert, & Lerman, 2005; Wadnerker et al., 2006; Whiteside, et al., 2004; Whiteside & Irving, 1997; Whiteside & Marshall, 2001). Besides, in the study of Kang (2013), they found out that distinction exists among phrases (in the speech of male and female) and it is affected by the intonation. Therefore, we would like to assume that as an important independence, intonation would also affect the length of VOT. Thus, a hypothesis that in Mandarin Chinese, the difference will appear between men and women in voice feature is made. 15 men and 15 women aged from 18 to 30 years old participated in the experiment. In CV structure of Mandarin Chinese, the combination of stop consonants (/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/) followed by the vowels /a/ and /u/ are all legal, but when applying to other vowels, some of the combinations are phonetically illegal. Therefore, words beginning with lingual stop consonants followed by the vowels /a/ and /u/ are selected to form the word list. Besides, all the combinations will be provided with four intonations. As we expected, result shows that female has longer VOT than male in both aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops because female’s vocal fold is relatively stiffer than male’s.
Prominence in Archaic Chinese and Old English
Tian,Li; None; None
The topic phenomenon in Archaic Chinese and Old English, based on Li & Thompson’s (1976) paper, the former being a typical topic-prominent (Tp) language while the latter being a subject-prominent (Sp) language with topic-prominent features, is analyzed with data found in Ælfric’s Lives of Saints (996-997AD) and The Records of the Grand Historian (around 104BC and also known as Shiji) in the project. Archaic Chinese has a larger proportion of using topic than Old English in the sentence. Making a comparison between these two languages and find the similarities between them is a breakthrough. Also, a new definition of topic is given in the dissertation, which mostly absorbs the advantages of the existing research of the related area.
