A perception-induced /t/-to-/k/ sound change: evidence from a cross-linguistic study.

John Ohala claimed that the source of sound change may lie in misperceptions which can be replicated in the laboratory. We tested this claim for a historical change of /t/ to /k/ in the coda in the Southern Min dialect of Chaoshan. We conducted a forced-choice segment identification task with CVC syllables in which the final C varied across the segments [p t k ʔ] in addition to a number of further variables, including the V, which ranged across [i u a]. The results from three groups of participants whose native languages have the coda systems /p t k ʔ/ (Zhangquan), /p k ʔ/ (Chaoshan) and /p t k/ (Dutch) indicate that [t] is the least stably perceived segment overall. It is particularly disfavoured when it follows [a], where there is a bias towards [k]. We argue that this finding supports a perceptual account of the historically documented scenario whereby a change from /at/ to /ak/ preceded and triggered a more general merger of /t/ with /k/ in the coda of Chaoshan. While we grant that perceptual sound changes are not the only or even the most common type of sound change, the fact that the perception results are essentially the same across the three language groups lends credibility to Ohala's perceptually motivated sound changes.

Linguistic and human effects on F(0) in a tonal dialect of Qiang.

While both human and linguistic factors affect fundamental frequency (F(0)) in spoken language, capturing the influence of multiple effects and their interactions presents special challenges, especially when there are strict time constraints on the data-gathering process. A lack of speaker literacy can further impede the collection of identical utterances across multiple speakers. This study employs linear mixed effects analysis to elucidate how various effects and their interactions contribute to the production of F(0) in Luobuzhai, a tonal dialect of the Qiang language. In addition to the effects of speaker sex and tone, F(0) in this language is affected by previous and following tones, sentence type, vowel, position in the phrase, and by numerous combinations of these effects. Under less than ideal data collecting conditions, a single experiment was able to yield an extensive model of F(0) output in an endangered language of the Himalayas.