LINGUIST List 2.692

Tue 22 Oct 1991

Misc: Phonology, Pauses, R-linking

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

  • Richard Ogden, RE: 2.674 Phonological Issues
  • , Filled pauses
  • Monica Macaulay, filled pauses
  • , Re: 2.675 Pauses
  • Geoffrey Russom, Re: 2.681 R-linking

    Message 1: RE: 2.674 Phonological Issues

    Date: Fri, 18 Oct 91 9:36 BST
    From: Richard Ogden <RAO1vaxb.york.ac.uk>
    Subject: RE: 2.674 Phonological Issues
    Jim Scobbie points out that one way to deal with 'intrusive stops' is by 'altering the timing and overlap of the exponents of the features in question' and that 'this is to claim that there are sophisticated, systematic, non-univeral rules of phonetic implementation. Is this contraversial?' I don't know if it is or not; but I think it is right. Why else do different languages just sound different? French doesn't sound like English in any way, nor does German, or any other language. Why? because the 'low level' phonetics is just different. What then does it mean to say that certain phonological features are 'the same' when their interpretation in different languages is different? or when the features they stand in relation to in different languages is different? If phonetic interpretation rules are non-universal (as I believe), to what extent can phonological features said to be universal? -- and if each language has a different interpretation of 'the same' feature, what are the constraints on what might constitute an interpretation of that feature so that you recognise it as 'the same'? Richard Ogden

    Message 2: Filled pauses

     Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1991 09:37:18 +0100
    From: <kjetilrhhedda.uio.no>
    Subject: Filled pauses
    Bulgarian has a well-developed system of pause fillers: _tova_ (proximal demonstrative, neuter) for definite NP's, _takova_ (demonstrative adjective/pronoun,neuter, "such") for indefinite NP's, and _takovam_ (conjugated as a verb of the a-class) for verbs. Let me also point out a definite advantage that similar pause-fillers have over _um_, _e:_ and the like: you can actually go on speaking, even if you have forgotten much of what you were going to say. -Kjetil Ra Hauge, U. of Oslo, P.O. Box 1030 Blindern, N-0315 Oslo 3, Norway -E-mail: kjetilrhhedda.uio.no -Fax: +472-454310 -Phone: +472-456710

    Message 3: filled pauses

     Date: Fri, 18 Oct 91 00:00:30 -0500
    From: Monica Macaulay <macaulayj.cc.purdue.edu>
    Subject: filled pauses
    Add to our list: in Spanish (Mexican, anyway) I've heard "este" ('this') used to hold the floor... Mixtec speakers (bilingual in Mixtec & Spanish) use it while speaking Mixtec, too. Monica

    Message 4: Re: 2.675 Pauses

    Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1991 08:44 CST
    From: <LIFY460orange.cc.utexas.edu>
    Subject: Re: 2.675 Pauses
    Lee Hartman's contribution about final _um_ reminded me of something I noticed 20 years ago in Zurich, namely final _oder_ 'or'. My impression at the time was that it was an open-minded invitation for discourse participants to present an alternative viewpoint. Christine Kamprath

    Message 5: Re: 2.681 R-linking

    Date: Sat, 19 Oct 91 11:06:36 EDT
    From: Geoffrey Russom <EL403015brownvm.brown.edu>
    Subject: Re: 2.681 R-linking
    My understanding is that you get r-linking primarily to avoid a hiatus between vowels. With tense "u," there's an off-glide "w" to avoid the hiatus, so it's not surprising to find that Ellen doesn't get r-linking in that environment. Linking "-r" is also sometimes present word-finally before a pause (my British grandmother said "akapulker" for "Acapulco" even at the end of a sentence). But a word-final "-r" after tense "u" amounts to a final consonant cluster [wr], which is so awkward for English speakers that epenthesis or vowel shortening would be used to correct it. -- Rick