Doctoral Dissertation Research: Doctoral Dissertation Research: Multilingualism, Phonation and Tone

语言会随着时间自然变化。许多语言学工作试图理解是什么导致了语言变化的共同模式。“声调发生”，即语言中声调的发展，就是这样一种变化。在有音调的语言中，说话者使用音高来区分不同的单词，例如，单词“kha”在用上升音调说话时表示“腿”，而“kill”在用下降音调说话时表示“杀死”。从理论上讲，当音高成为对比中的主要线索时，就会发生张力生成。为了理解张力发生，作为一名博士生，联合项目负责人将与三种濒临灭绝的非声调语言的使用者一起工作，这些语言在一个以声调为主导语言的地区使用。要研究的对比是语音质量，即通过声带收缩的程度来区分单词。操纵音质调节音调作为次要线索，这可能导致张力发生。这个项目的高质量语音记录对于促进对语音质量的普遍理解以及这些语言社区的保存和振兴工作将是无价的。快速的现代化和集中化导致在社区和个人层面上更多地使用主导语言。在这种情况下，研究少数民族语言的语言使用对理解语言变化至关重要。联合研究所将进行实验，让说话者说出不同音质的单词。当主导语言为声调时，使用该语言较多和/或与主流社会融合程度较高的说话者会减少对音质线索的重视，而增加对音高线索的重视，从而为音高成为主要线索奠定基础，从而导致声调发生。本研究将有助于更好地理解语言变化和线索加权作为一种超越语言的心理过程。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Languages change naturally over time. Much linguistic work attempts to understand what gives rise to common patterns in language change. "Tonogenesis," the development of tone in a language, is one such change. In a tonal language, speakers use pitch to distinguish different words, for example, the word "kha" meaning "leg" when spoken with a rising pitch, but "kill" when spoken with a falling pitch. Tonogenesis is theorized to take place when pitch becomes a primary cue in a contrast. In order to understand tonogenesis, the co-PI, a doctoral student, will work with speakers of three endangered non-tonal languages spoken in a region where the dominant language is tonal. The contrast to be studied is voice quality, the distinguishing of words by the degree of constriction of the vocal folds. Manipulating voice quality modulates pitch as a secondary cue and this can lead to tonogenesis. The high-quality phonetic recordings from this project will be invaluable for advancing general understanding of voice quality and for the preservation and revitalization efforts in these language communities.Rapid modernization and centralization lead to greater usage of the dominant language at both the community and individual levels. Studying language usage in minority languages in such situations is crucial to understanding language change. The co-PI will carry out experiments in which speakers produce words differing in voice quality. When the dominant language is tonal, speakers who use it more and/or are more integrated into mainstream society are expected to weigh voice quality cues less heavily and pitch cues more heavily, laying the foundation for pitch to become a primary cue, and thus leading to tonogenesis. This study will provide a better understanding of language change and of cue weighting as a psychological process generalizable beyond language.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.