Chinese is a highly complex language with internal variation unprecedented in most other languages. Yet, that does not mean Chinese is unique in the sense that it cannot be compared to other languages and new concepts need to be introduced for the description of it. This paper is dedicated to the question of how to apply the notion of…

The present paper addresses the study of non-arbitrariness in language within a deep learning framework. We present a set of experiments aimed at assessing the pervasiveness of different forms of non-arbitrary phonological patterns across a set of typologically distant languages. Different sequence-processing neural networks are trained in a set…

The expansion of the English language produced by non-native speakers has, in recent decades, been discussed by applied linguists from various theoretical perspectives. The discussion has highlighted evidence showing that the multiplicity and diversity of English uses have given rise to an acceleration in the rate of inter-variety contacts where…

The present study comprehensively analyzes vowel harmony as an important phonetic rule in Turkic languages. Recent changes in the vowel harmony potential of Turkic sounds caused by linguistic and extra-linguistic factors were described. Vowels in the Kazakh, Turkish, and Uzbek language were compared. The way this or that phoneme sounded in the…

A great deal of the research on cross-linguistic phonetic influence demonstrates that a speaker's knowledge of their first language (L1) significantly affects their ability to perceive and produce sounds in any other language. While current studies show that cross-linguistic transfer occurs at the L3 level, some research suggests that properties…

Palatalization refers to a type of coarticulation in which the place of articulation of some sound is closer to the palate than otherwise expected, very often triggered by adjacent palatal segments. It has been known as one of the most dynamic phonological phenomena in phonetic and phonological research, but the articulatory nature of…

Variability in the form of article (i.e., a and the) omissions and stressing has been attributed to a mismatch between first (L1) and second language (L2) prosodic and syntactic structures. An overlap between the L1 and L2 systems, on the other hand, is expected to contribute to native-like article productions. This case study aims to explore the…

In this dissertation, I investigated how cognitive resources as well as formal, and informal language experience impact language learning in two studies. In the first study (Chapter 2), I examined the learning of Spanish grammatical gender by Chinese international students who were studying abroad in the US. The goal of that study was to uncover…

Infants have remarkable abilities to learn several languages. However, phonological acquisition in bilingual infants appears to vary depending on the phonetic similarities or differences of their two native languages. Many studies suggest that learning contrasts with different realizations in the two languages (e.g., the /p/, /t/, /k/ stops have…

Research on syllable weight in generative phonology has focused almost exclusively on systems in which weight is treated as an ordinal hierarchy of clearly delineated categories (e.g. light and heavy). As I discuss, canonical weight-sensitive phenomena in phonology, including quantitative meter and quantity-sensitive stress, can also treat weight…

This paper is concerned with a specific case of L3 acquisition: the starting position for English vowel acquisition by infant German-Italian bilinguals will be investigated in light of prototype theory. The chosen example of triple language contact is characterised by consecutive bilingualism as the basis of L3 acquisition, where the learners' L2…

The comparative method is not a single method of reconstruction but a complex set of procedures based on different assumptions and hypotheses about language change. The paper examines sound-meaning relationships, traditions, phonetic distinctions and the sets of oppositions, & regularity and irreversibility of phonetic change in the discussion.…

Critical analysis of Fan-Kuei Li's article which appeared in "Journal of Chinese Linguistics", v1 n1 p1-13 Jan 1973. (DD)

The basis for understanding the origin, development, and behavior of language is presented in this introduction to linguistic science. Aspects of language that link linguistics to anthropology, social studies, and mathematics are examined. Major emphasis is on phonetics and phonemics, historical considerations, vocabulary, and semantic change.…

This paper discusses research and developments in the study of Papuan languages, a designation formerly used to group those languages which were geographically close to, but structurally quite different from, the Austronesian languages; the grouping had nothing to do with relationships among the Papuan languages themselves. Increasing knowledge…