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Historical Comparative Acoustics and Prosodic Reanalysis: The Case of Tibetan Prosodic Typology: State of the Art and Future Prospects February 24-26, 2010 Berlin, German Nancy J. Caplow University of North Texas [email_address]

Phonological classification Distinction is some dialects are tonal, some are not Tibetan dialects are traditionally divided into two categories Archaic dialects: non-tonal; rich in consonant clusters Innovative dialects: tonal; simplified onsets and codas

Dialect variation and classification According to recent estimates (Tournadre 2005, 2008) More than 220 varieties of Tibetan (or “Tibetic”) Some are similar Others are mutually incomprehensible 25 distinct groups

Comparing monosyllabic words ‘ arrow’ mda′ ‘ horse’ rta ‘ fire’ me / myi ‘ medicine’ sman Archaic Dialects Innovative Dialects Nda ɕta Nda xta ta̱ tā me sman nyi ʰmɛn me̱ mē

What are archaic dialects? Considered to preserve older forms of the language Evidence comes in part from Written Tibetan (WT), developed in the 7 th century Consonant clusters correspond with consonant clusters in WT Innovative dialects Writing has apparently lost consonants and developed contrastive tone over time

Correspondence with WT For all the dialects (non-tonal or tonal, written or never written) Sound patterns consistently correspond with WT. The non-tonal archaic dialects show segmental correspondence with WT consonants and consonant clusters. The tonal innovative dialects show suprasegmental correspondence with WT consonants and consonant clusters.

Correspondences with WT arrow  mda’ nda ta̱ non-tonal tonal

Correspondences with WT horse  rta xta tā non-tonal tonal

Correspondences with WT boulder  brag brag ʈʰa̱k non-tonal tonal Note: tonal [ ʈʰ ] + L < WT gr , dr , and sbr cold  grang.mo [ gra χ .'mo ] [ ʈʰa̱ŋ.mo ]

Correspondences with WT brain  ’ klad.pa χ lat.'pa lɛ̄t.tā non-tonal tonal Note: tonal [ l ] + H < WT rl , gl , bl, sl flute  gl ing.bu [ χ lɛm.'bu ] [ lɪ̄ŋ.bū ]

Characteristics of Proto-Tibetan Archaic dialects Lacking in tonal contrasts Rich in consonant clusters Evidence Correlations with WT Geographic distribution

Geographic distribution is intriguing Non-tonal Archaic dialects Spoken at the western and eastern edges of the Tibetan language area. Geographically peripheral Separated by the tonal Innovative dialects Spoken across the vast expanse of the Tibetan plateau. geographically central

after Tournadre and Dorje 2003 Rebkong Amdo Balti Tokpe Gola

The similarity of the peripheral dialects Rule out borrowing No contact Rule out coincidence Similarities are systematic Similarity is due to inheritance of features from a common parent Proto-Tibetan was rich in consonant clusters and lacking in tone

Previous accounts of genesis of tone Focus on monosyllabic words Explain tonogenesis in terms of consonantal edge effects Voiced onsets ↔ lower pitch register Voiceless onsets ↔ higher pitch register Laryngeal final consonants ↔ falling contour in the preceding vowel Tone patterns are attributed to correlations between consonant types and glottal states

Universal physiological correlations Hombert, Ohala, and Ewan (1979) A voiced onset consonant causes lowering of F0 in the vowel that follows. A voiceless onset consonant causes raising of F0 in the vowel that follows. Why? The voiced / voiceless distinction corresponds to differences in larynx height, vocal fold tension, and transglottal airflow, all of which effect the rate of vibration of the vocal folds, and thus the pitch of the following vowel.

Implications Means that correlations between voicing and F0 are widespread cross-linguistically Pitch differences are unintentional, and occur even in languages that do not use tone contrastively The differences are of a discernible magnitude Available to be phonologized as tonal contrasts

Summarization Tone patterns observed on monosyllabic words High and low pitch register Level and falling pitch contour Some aspects of the tone patterns observed on polysyllabic words remains unaccounted Work provides a diachronic / phonetic explanation for tone patterns observed on disyllabic words Focusing today on disyllabic non-verbs

Tone in Disyllabic Non-Verbs willow tree lcang.ma bridge zam.pa brain klad.pa Balti (West) Amdo (East) ɬtʃa χ .'ma tʃāŋ.mā Tokpe Gola (Central) xtʃaŋ.'ma zam.'pa sa̱m.pā sam.'pa xlat.'pa lɛ̄t.tā ᵊ lai.'pa nak.'po sar.'pʰa na̱k.pū sām.pā nox.' χ u sʰo.'ma black nag.po new gsar.pa

σ 2 always high in Tokpe Gola loose, floppy flat young, young person fire arrow gun, rifle leg, foot arm, hand limbs (legs and arms) lhug.lhug leb.leb gzhon.gzhon me mda′ me. mda′ rkang.pa lag.pa rkang.lag HH LH LH L L LH HH LH HH

Tone vs. Stress in Disyllabic Non-Verbs willow tree lcang.ma bridge zam.pa brain klad.pa black nag.po new gsar.pa Balti (West) Amdo (East) ɬtʃa χ .'ma tʃāŋ.mā Tokpe Gola (Central) xtʃaŋ.'ma zam.'pa sa̱m.pā sam.'pa xlat.'pa lɛ̄t.tā ᵊ lai.'pa nak.'po sar.'pʰa na̱k.pū sām.pā nox.' χ u sʰo.'ma

Stress reported for Balti Sprigg (1966, 2002); Bielmeier (1985, 1988) Second-syllable stress on disyllabic nouns Except when that syllable is a non-stress-bearing suffix Higher pitch on that second syllable Few noun-verb minimal pairs My perceptions First-syllable stress on disyllabic verbs

Stress reported for Amdo de Roerich (1958): Rebkong Amdo Non-tonal No mention of stress Sun (1986): Ndzorge Amdo Stress on the last syllable of polysyllabic words “ Stronger articulatory force, high falling tune”

Stress reported for Amdo Haller (2004): Themchen Amdo Disyllabic words usually stressed on second syllable No evidence that stress is phonemically contrastive My perceptions: Rebkong Amdo Second-syllable stress on nouns Stronger articulatory force, sharp falling pitch First-syllable stress on verbs

Minimal pairs for stress in Balti N V N V N V A V brain to be tired rope to grind bread to carry rare to clothe xlat.'pa 'xlat. pa tʰak.'pa 'tʰak. pa kʰur.'pa 'kʰur. pa ʂkøn.'mo 'skøn.ma

Borrowed nouns in Balti hotel teacher school film hospital ho.'ʈɨl ʈi.'tʃɚ su.'kul ɸi.'lim hɑs.pɨ.'ʈal

Disyllabic words in Amdo willow tree star shooting star new flat N + verbalizer: (to) snow (to) answer (to) shoot an arrow lcang.ma skar.ma skar.zla leb.leb gangs.babs lan.gyab mda′.phen

Stress patterns in Proto-Tibetan Disyllabic non-verbs in Balti and Rebkong Amdo are stressed on σ 2 Can reconstruct a pattern of σ 2 stress for disyllabic non-verbs in Proto-Tibetan Disyllabic verbs in Balti and Rebkong Amdo are stressed on σ 1 Can reconstruct a pattern of σ 1 stress for disyllabic verbs in Proto-Tibetan

Taking this a step further… Reconstruct the acoustic correlates of stress for Proto-Tibetan, by comparing the acoustic correlates of stress in Balti and Rebkong Amdo Historical comparative acoustics Parameters measured Pitch Pitch slope Intensity Vowel duration Vowel quality

Amdo ‘willow tree’ σ 2 slope = -33 Hz / 100msec

Pitch findings – Balti Non-verbs For both speakers Isolation forms and the sentence frame Pitch is significantly higher on σ 2, the stressed syllable

Pitch findings – Rebkong Non-verbs For speaker AR_04 Isolation forms and the sentence frame Pitch is significantly higher on σ 2, the stressed syllable

Pitch slope contrasts for speaker AR_05 For speaker AR_05, it is pitch slope, rather than average pitch, which is relevant. Pitch slope is significantly “more downward” in σ 2 than in σ 1. It is this slope contrast that lends prominence to σ 2, which we perceive as stress.

F0 findings (pitch & pitch slope) For Balti Pitch is a significant acoustic correlate of stress for non-verbs produced by both speakers For Rebkong Amdo Pitch is a significant acoustic correlate of stress for non-verbs produced by AR_04 For speaker AR_05, it is pitch slope that is the significant acoustic correlate of stress

F0 as a correlate of stress in Proto-Tibetan Pitch and pitch slope are both reflexes of F0 F0 is a prominent correlate of σ 2 stress in both Balti and Rebkong Amdo Prominent correlate of the σ 2 stress pattern reconstructed for non-verbs in Proto-Tibetan

Considering intensity… For both Balti and Rebkong Amdo Intensity does not function as a correlate of stress Intrinsic correlations between intensity and vowel height govern intensity patterns Low vowels have higher intrinsic intensity High vowels have lower intrinsic intensity To compare intensity across syllables, it’s necessary to control for contrasts in vowel height

Intensity does not convey stress in PT Intensity does not consistently serve as a correlate of stress in non-verbs in Balti and Rebkong Amdo Cannot re-construct intensity as a correlate of the stress reconstructed for Proto-Tibetan

Acoustic correlates of stress Non-verbs Rebkong Amdo: pitch and pitch slope Balti: pitch Proto-Tibetan Prominent fundamental frequency Verbs Rebkong Amdo: pitch and intensity Balti: pitch and intensity

Solution to the puzzle of tone in disyllabic non-verbs in the tonal dialects of Tibetan

References Caplow, Nancy J. 2009. The role of stress in Tibetan tonogenesis: a study in historical comparative acoustics. PhD dissertation. University of California Santa Barbara. Hombert, Jean-Marie, John J. Ohala, and William G. Ewan. 1979. Phonetic explanations for the development of tones. Language 55(1): 37-58. Huang Bufan. 1995. Conditions for tonogenesis and tone split in Tibetan dialects. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman area 18(1): 43-62. Matisoff, James A. 1970. Glottal dissimilation and the Lahu high-rising tone: a tonogenetic case-study. Journal of the American Oriental Society 90(1): 13-44. Matisoff, James A. 1973. Tonogenesis in Southeast Asia. In L. Hyman (ed.), Consonant types and tone, pp. 71-96. Southern California Occasional Papers in Linguistics. Los Angeles: University of Southern California. Mazaudon, Martine. 1977. Tibeto-Burman tonogenetics. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 3(2): 1-123. Sun, Jackson T.-S. 1997. The typology of tone in Tibetan. In Chinese Languages and Linguistics IV: Typological studies of languages in China . Symposium Series of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Number 2. Taipei: Academia Sinica. Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2001. Variegated tonal developments in Tibetan. Paper presented at the 34 th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan languages and linguistics. Kunming, October 2001. Tournadre, Nicolas. 2005. L’aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes. Lalies n°25. Presse de l’école normale supérieure. Tournadre, Nicolas. 2008. Arguments against the concept ‘Conjunct’ / ‘Disjunct’ in Tibetan. In Brigitte Huber, Marianne Volkart and Paul Widmer (eds.), Chomolangma, Demawend und Kasbek: Festschrift für Roland Bielmeier zu seinem 65. Geburtstag. Band I: Chomolangma, pp. 281-308. Halle (Saale): International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies (IITBS) GmbH.

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