Yamdena is an Austronesian language of eastern Indonesia. Although many language materials are available, the language has received very little scientific attention. In this article, I present the Yamdena corpus, which includes glossed legacy materials and original fieldwork. I also give an up-to-date introduction to Yamdena grammar, sketching its…

Every language has its own rhythm. Unlike many other languages in the world, English depends on the correct pronunciation of stressed and unstressed or weakened syllables recurring in the same phrase or sentence. Mastering the rhythm of English makes speaking more effective. Experiments have shown that we tend to hear speech as more rhythmical…

This is a reconstruction of Proto-Ersuic, the ancestor language of Lizu, Tosu, and Ersu, three closely related languages spoken in southwestern Sichuan which are generally considered to be part of the Qiangic branch of Tibeto-Burman. To date, no in-depth historical work has been carried out on these languages. Approximately 800 lexical items are…

This handbook is designed to give the kind of information about Arabic that will be useful to students of the language, specialists in the region where Arabic is spoken, or linguists interested in learning about the structure and use of one of the world's principal language. Three sections present the following: (1) "An Outline of Arabic…

A discussion of two aspects of Hindi phonology, schwa deletion and vowel nasalization, compares two theories concerning the processes behind these phenomena. A non-linear analysis is compared with a more traditional, linear notation. Results indicate that in most cases, both sets of rules work equally well but in some, the linear explanation is…

This document describes the Shanghai dialect of Chinese. An introduction to the paper provides information on previous research on the dialect. Items covered in the phonological description include syllable structure, initials, finals, tones, tone change, and differences in initials and finals in the colloquial and literary forms. The morphemes of…

This document describes the Wen-ch'ang and Ting-an dialects of Chinese. Items covered in the phonological description of Wen-ch'ang include syllable structure, initials, finals, tones, tone change, and differences in the initials and finals in colloquial and literary forms. Initials, finals, and tones in the Ting-an dialect are also discussed. The…

This document provides a description of the Teng-xian dialect of Chinese. In the introduction, the author discusses the geographical location of the dialect and its relationship to other Chinese dialects; a map is provided. Items covered in the phonological description include syllable structure, initials, finals, tones, tone sandhi, combinations…

This document provides a description of the Foochow dialect of Chinese. Introductory remarks concern the geographical area of the dialect and previous analysis. The phonological description includes statements on syllable structure, initial consonants, finals, tones, changed tones, combinations of initials, finals, and tones, and syllables in…

This document provides a description of the Tai-shan dialect of Chinese. Maps illustrate the area where the dialect is spoken, and introductory remarks concern previous study of the dialect, sources of current information, and relationship to other dialects. The phonological description provides information on syllable structure, initials, finals,…

Discusses the types of arguments available for settling questions of phonological constituency. On the basis of these arguments the most frequently assumed syllable structure is selected in which the relationship between "Peak" and "Coda" is closer than that between "Peak" and "Onset." (Author/LMO)

Traditional descriptions of Italian phonology have occasionally suggested that some type of connection exists between "raddoppiamento sintattico" (RS) and the word internal consonant length contrast. (RS is defined as a systematic lengthening of the first consonant of the second word in a two-word sequence in certain syntactic and phonological…

This document provides a description of the Chien-yang dialect of Chinese along with a comparative description of the Chien-ou dialect and a discussion of the entire Min dialect family. The Min dialects are considered with respect to geography (including maps), internal subgrouping, numbers of speakers, and mutual intelligibility. The main part of…

This work contains five papers in the area of experimental linguistics. Papers include: (1) "Units of Speech Perception," a study which deals with problems of the temporal organization of speech; (2) a study, "Manner of Articulation, Parallel Processing, and the Perception of Duration," which examines the durational patterns characterizing the…

This paper examines the validity of the concept of linguistic units in a theory of speech production. Substantiating data are drawn from the study of the speech production process itself. Secondarily, an attempt is made to reconcile the postulation of linguistic units in speech production theory with their apparent absence in the speech signal.…