Linguistics ETDs
Publication Date
Summer 6-13-2019
Abstract
The phonetic implementation of domain-initial boundaries has gained considerable attention in the literature. However, most studies of the phenomenon have investigated small samples of articulatory data in which target syllables were lexically prominent and/or phrasally accented, introducing important potential confounds. This dissertation tackles these issues by examining how domain-initial effects operate on the acoustic properties of fully unstressed word-initial CV syllables in phrasally unaccented words. Similar materials were designed for a reading task in which 14 speakers of English, Spanish and Portuguese, languages that differ in how lexical prominence affects segmental makeup, took part. Results from the acoustic analyses show that domain-initial effects extend further than previously suggested, and that these interact with lexical stress in language-specific ways. These findings highlight how the marking of domain-initial boundaries relates to both the prominence and grouping functions of prosody, and suggest a linguistic, rather than purely biomechanical, motivation for domain-initial effects.
Language
English
Keywords
prosody, phonetics, domain-initial effects, English, Spanish, Portuguese
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Linguistics
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Department of Linguistics
First Committee Member (Chair)
Caroline L. Smith
Second Committee Member
Joan Bybee
Third Committee Member
Chris Koops
Fourth Committee Member
Taehong Cho
Recommended Citation
Napoleão de Souza, Ricardo F.. "The Interaction of Domain-initial Effects with Lexical Stress: Acoustic Data from English, Spanish, and Portuguese." (2019). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/67
