Title: What is missing to confirm a typology of rhythm? : theoretical observations and a preliminary application to two Greek varieties
Source document: Neograeca Bohemica. 2024, vol. 24, iss. [1], pp. 61-83
Extent
61-83
-
ISSN1803-6414 (print)2694-913x (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/NGB2024-24-5
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.81887
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 International
Rights access
open access
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
Since 1940, numerous eff orts have been made to either verify or refute the hypothesis of a rhythm typology, yet no defi nitive conclusions have been reached. In this paper, I discuss the limitations of the reliability of data collection and processing methods, as well as the indices that dominate the attempts to measure the phenomenon, highlighting the obstacles to creating a rhythm typology. To highlight the issues under discussion, I conduct a test application of the frameworks from international literature on two varieties of the Greek language, the Amaliada variety and Cypriot Greek, based on the analysis of 192 intonational phrases, which were systematically and randomly selected from recordings of unscripted natural speech by two female speakers for each linguistic system. The analysis demonstrates such variability among speakers of the same dialect that it calls into question the validity of the rhythm measurement practices used to date. I propose the key pillars upon which rhythm research should be based in order to draw reliable conclusions and obtain cross-linguistically and inter-study comparable results, aiming to reach a defi nitive confirmation or refutation of a rhythm typology.
References
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[24] Pike, K. 1945. The Intonation of American English. Ann Arbor.
[25] Ramus, F. 2002. Acoustic Correlates of Linguistic Rhythm: Perspectives. In Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2002 (Aix-en-Provence, France, 11–13 April 2002), 115–120, doi.org/10.21437/SpeechProsody.2002-16.
[26] Ramus, F. – Dupoux, E. – Mehler, J. 2003. The Psychological Reality of Rhythm Class: Perceptual Studies. In M. J. Solé – D. Recasens – J. Romero (eds.), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (Barcelona, Spain, August 3–9, 2003). Barcelona, 337–342 [online]. Available from: http://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs/icphs2003 [28 June 2024].
[27] Ramus, F. – Nespor, M. – Mehler, J. 1999. Correlates of Linguistic Rhythm in the Speech Signal. Cognition 73/3, 265–292, doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00058-X.
[28] Schmid, S. 2012. Phonological Typology, Rhythm Types and the Phonetics-Phonology Interface. A Methodological Overview and Three Case Studies on Italo-Romance Dialects. In A. Ender – A. Leemann – B. Wälchli (eds.), Methods in Contemporary Linguistics. Berlin – Boston, 45–68, doi.org/10.1515/9783110275681.45.
[29] Shen, Y. – Peterson, G. G. 1962. Isochronism in English. Studies in Linguistics, Occasional Papers 9. Buffalo, New York, 1–36.
[30] Uldall, E. T. 1971. Isochronous Stresses in R.P. In L. L. Hammerich – R. Jakobson – E. Zwirner (eds.), Form and Substance: Phonetic and Linguistic Papers Presented to Eli Fischer-Jørgensen. København.
[2] Arvaniti, A. 1994. Acoustic Features of Greek Rhythmic Structure. Journal of Phonetics 22/3, 239–268, doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30203-7.
[3] Arvaniti, A. 2012. The Usefulness of Metrics in the Quantification of Speech Rhythm. Journal of Phonetics 40/3, 351–373, doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2012.02.003.
[4] Arvaniti, A. – Tserdanelis, G. 2000. On the Phonetics of Geminates: Evidence from Cypriot Greek. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Spoken Language Processing (Beijing, China, October 16–20, 2000), Vol. 2, 559–562, doi.org/10.21437/ICSLP.2000-330.
[5] Bloch, B. 1942. Studies in Colloquial Japanese IV: Phonemics. Language 26/1, 86–125, doi.org/10.2307/410409.
[6] Bolinger, D. 1965. Forms of English: Accent, Morpheme, Order. Edited by I. Abe and T. Kanekiyo. Cambridge, Mass.
[7] Dauer, R. M. 1983. Stress-timing and Syllable-timing Reanalyzed. Journal of Phonetics 11/1, 51–62, doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30776-4.
[8] Dellwo, V. 2010. Influences of Speech Rate on the Acoustic Correlates of Speech Rhythm: An Experimental Phonetic Study Based on Acoustic and Perceptual Evidence. PhD Dissertation. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, hdl.handle.net/20.500.11811/4239.
[9] Dellwo, V. – Wagner, P. 2003. Relations Between Language Rhythm and Speech Rate. In M. J. Solé – D. Recasens – J. Romero (eds.), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (Barcelona, Spain, August 3–9, 2003). Barcelona, 471–474 [online]. Available from: www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs/icphs2003 [28 June 2024].
[10] Eckert, P. – McConnell-Ginet, S. 1992. New Generalizations and Explanations in Language and Gender Research. Language in Society 28/2, 185–201, doi.org/10.1017/S0047404599002031.
[11] Gibbon, D. 2023. The Rhythms of Rhythm. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 53/1, 233–265, doi.org/10.1017/S0025100321000086.
[12] Grabe, E. – Low, E. 2002. Durational Variability in Speech and the Rhythm Class Hypothesis. In C. Gussenhoven – N. Warner (eds.), Laboratory Phonology 7, Berlin – New York, 515–546, doi.org/10.1515/9783110197105.2.515.
[13] Han, M. S. 1962. The Feature of Duration in Japanese. Onsei no Kenkyuu (Phonetics Research) 10/1, 65−80.
[14] Holmes, J. – Meyerhoff, M. 1999. The Community of Practice: Theories and Methodologies in Language and Gender Research. Language in Society 28/2, 173–183, doi.org/10.1017/S004740459900202X.
[15] James, L. 1940. Speech Signals in Telephony. London.
[16] Ladefoged, P. 1975. A Course in Phonetics. New York.
[17] Lehiste, I. 1977. Isochrony Reconsidered. Journal of Phonetics 5/3, 253–263, doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(19)31139-8.
[18] Liu, S. – Takeda, K. 2021. Mora-timed, Stress-timed, and Syllable-timed Rhythm Classes: Clues in English Speech Production by Bilingual Speakers. Acta Linguistica Academica 68/3, 350–369, doi.org/10.1556/2062.2021.00469.
[19] Marinis, M. I. 2020. Klisi kai organosi klitikon paradeigmaton. PhD Dissertation. University of Patras. [Μαρίνης, Μ. Ι. 2020. Κλίση και οργάνωση κλιτικών παραδειγμάτων. Διδακτορική διατριβή. Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών.] doi.org/10.12681/eadd/46842.
[20] Marinis, M. Ι. 2024. Morphological Interpretations of Syncretism in the Panorama of Greek. Folia Linguistica 58/2, 541–562, doi.org/10.1515/flin-2024-2021.
[21] Marinis, M. I. (forthcoming). Greek Enclaves in Southern Italy: An Introduction to Contemporary Language and its History. In B. D. Joseph (ed.), Greek Around the World. Publications of the Laboratory for the Study of Greek Language. Vol. 1.
[22] Nespor, M. 1990. On the Rhythm Parameter in Phonology. In I. M. Roca (ed.), Logical Issues in Language Acquisition. Berlin – Boston, 157–176, doi.org/10.1515/9783110870374-009.
[23] Nolan, F. – Asu, E. L. 2009. The Pairwise Variability Index and Coexisting Rhythms in Language. Phonetica 66/1–2, 64–77, doi.org/10.1159/000208931.
[24] Pike, K. 1945. The Intonation of American English. Ann Arbor.
[25] Ramus, F. 2002. Acoustic Correlates of Linguistic Rhythm: Perspectives. In Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2002 (Aix-en-Provence, France, 11–13 April 2002), 115–120, doi.org/10.21437/SpeechProsody.2002-16.
[26] Ramus, F. – Dupoux, E. – Mehler, J. 2003. The Psychological Reality of Rhythm Class: Perceptual Studies. In M. J. Solé – D. Recasens – J. Romero (eds.), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (Barcelona, Spain, August 3–9, 2003). Barcelona, 337–342 [online]. Available from: http://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs/icphs2003 [28 June 2024].
[27] Ramus, F. – Nespor, M. – Mehler, J. 1999. Correlates of Linguistic Rhythm in the Speech Signal. Cognition 73/3, 265–292, doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00058-X.
[28] Schmid, S. 2012. Phonological Typology, Rhythm Types and the Phonetics-Phonology Interface. A Methodological Overview and Three Case Studies on Italo-Romance Dialects. In A. Ender – A. Leemann – B. Wälchli (eds.), Methods in Contemporary Linguistics. Berlin – Boston, 45–68, doi.org/10.1515/9783110275681.45.
[29] Shen, Y. – Peterson, G. G. 1962. Isochronism in English. Studies in Linguistics, Occasional Papers 9. Buffalo, New York, 1–36.
[30] Uldall, E. T. 1971. Isochronous Stresses in R.P. In L. L. Hammerich – R. Jakobson – E. Zwirner (eds.), Form and Substance: Phonetic and Linguistic Papers Presented to Eli Fischer-Jørgensen. København.