Related Experiment Videos
Contextual variations in trisyllabic sequences of Thai tones
S Potisuk1, J Gandour, M P Harper
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Chulachomklao Military Academy, Nakom Nayok, Thailand.
Phonetica
|January 1, 1997
Summary
Tonal assimilation in Thai speech shows that adjacent tones influence each other. This study found that preceding tones alter following tones (perseverative assimilation), while following tones affect preceding tones differently (anticipatory dissimilation).
Area of Science:
- Phonetics
- Linguistics
- Acoustic Phonetics
Background:
- Tones in tonal languages, like Thai, function similarly to vowels and consonants.
- Tonal assimilation involves changes in tone height and shape due to adjacent tones.
- Previous Thai tonal assimilation research used two-tone sequences with intervening consonants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate tonal assimilation in Thai using three-tone sequences with continuous voicing.
- To examine how F0 contours are affected by adjacent tones in uninterrupted speech.
- To determine if continuous voicing enhances assimilatory effects.
Main Methods:
- Acoustic analysis of 125 three-tone sequences of the five Thai tones.
- Stimuli were monosyllabic words in a carrier sentence with all syllables stressed.
- Focus on continuously voiced syllables to isolate tonal interactions.
Main Results:
- Perseverative effects demonstrated tonal assimilation, altering both height and shape of subsequent tones.
- Anticipatory effects showed tonal dissimilation, primarily affecting high and rising tones.
- Perseverative assimilation was independent of specific tonal categories and occurred between contiguous tones, lasting over half the following tone's duration.
Conclusions:
- Continuous voicing in Thai speech facilitates perseverative tonal assimilation.
- Anticipatory effects in Thai tones exhibit dissimilatory rather than assimilatory patterns.
- Tonal assimilation in Thai is complex, with different mechanisms for perseverative and anticipatory influences.