Tone and intonation in Kammu

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Tone and intonation in Kammu

• David House (KTH)
• Jan-Olof Svantesson (Lund)

Contribution to Word Accents and Tones in
Sentence Perspective A symposium in conjunction
with the 60th birthday of Professor Gösta Bruce
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Kammu in northern Laos
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Words illustrating Kammu tonogenesis
E Kammu N Kammu W Kammu taa? táa? táa? pack
daa? tàa? thàa? lizard thaa? tháa? tháa?
to clear raa? ráa? ráa? tooth raa? ràa?
ràa? flower
o
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Northern Kammu
..
táa?
___
tàa?
Eastern Kammu
..
taa?
___
daa?
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Production experiment
Northern Kammu speaker
Eastern Kammu speaker
Average tone curves normalized for duration
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Perception experiment
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Intonation in Kammu

• New Project (Sift) Separating intonation from
  tone
• Phrasing
• Focussing
• Questions
• Vocative chant
• In elicited and spontaneous speech

Anastasia Karlsson Funding from The Bank of
Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
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Theoretical issues

• Can we find evidence that the tonal and non-tonal
  dialects have the same underlying intonation
  system?
• If so, how do tones affect and constrain the
  intonation system?

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Northern Kammu Speaker (tonal)
(pregnant for about seven years)


nàa màan p?an cét píi
màan p?an cét píi
Eastern Kammu Speaker (non-tonal)
b?an cet pii
maan g?? gni? b?an cet pii
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Northern Kammu Speaker (tonal)
cét píi
cét píi
(seven years)
Eastern Kammu Speaker (non-tonal)
cet pii
cet pii
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Northern Kammu Speaker (tonal)
yò? k?? y?h m?h
(Father he went where?)
Eastern Kammu Speaker (non-tonal)
yo? g?? y?h m?h
o
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Northern Kammu Speaker (tonal)
yò? k?? y?h m?h
(Father he went where?)
yò?
Eastern Kammu Speaker (non-tonal)
yo? g?? y?h m?h
o
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Selected references
Gandour, Jackson T., Eva Gårding Kristina
Lindell (1978). Tones in Northern Kammu a
perceptual investigation. Acta Orientalia 39.
181-189. Gårding, Eva Kristina Lindell (1977).
Tones in Northern Kammu a phonetic
investigation. Acta Orientalia 38.
321-332. House, David (1990). Tonal perception
in speech. Lund Lund University
Press. Svantesson, Jan-Olof (1983). Kammu
phonology and morphology. Lund
Gleerup. Svantesson, Jan-Olof (1989).
Tonogenetic mechanisms in Northern Mon-Khmer.
Phonetica 46. 60-79. Svantesson, Jan-Olof
David House (2006). Tone production, tone
perception and Kammu tonogenesis. Phonology 23.
309-333.