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Phonation types in production of phonological tone: the case of Green Mong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2009

Jean E. Andruski  and
Martha Ratliff
Jean E. Andruski
Affiliation:
Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology, 581 Manoogian Hall, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. j.andruski@wayne.edu
Martha Ratliff
Affiliation:
English Department, 51 West Warren, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. martha.ratliff@wayne.edu
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Abstract

This study looks at the relative importance of phonation type in identifying tones in languages with a ‘mixed’ pitch/phonation tone system. Green Mong is a tone language with an inventory of 7 contrastive tones and a tonal system that incorporates both fundamental frequency (FO) and phonation type distinctions. The study examines 3 Green Mong tones, which have similar FO contours and are characterized by the distinctive use of breathy, creaky and modal phonation. Acoustic analyses of 3 male and 3 female speakers' productions indicate that the tones are distinguished by their FO, relative amplitude of lower and higher harmonics (H1-H2), vowel duration, vowel quality and voice onset times. Discriminant analyses, used to estimate the relative value of these different cues, indicate that H1-H2 is the best predictor of tone category membership. This is the case for both high and low vowels, although the magnitude of the H1-H2 difference is substantially smaller for high vowels. The 2 predictor variables which are next most strongly correlated with the discriminant functions also relate to phonation type. However, FO does continue to play a role in classification of tokens into tone categories.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the International Phonetic Association , Volume 30 , Issue 1-2 , December 2000 , pp. 37 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Journal of the International Phonetic Association 2000

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