A Systematic Investigation of Mid-Vowel Sounds in Kinshasa Lingala: A Case of Extreme Contrast Reduction
| dc.contributor.advisor | Flynn, Darin | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kabasele, Philothé Mwamba | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | O'Brien, Mary Grantham | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Pounder, Amanda | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Koffi, Ettien N'da | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | George, Angela May | |
| dc.date | 2018-11 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-27T21:23:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-09-27T21:23:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-09-20 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation examines the claims in the literature that Kinshasa Lingala (KL) speakers have merged /ɛ/ and /e/, and /ɔ/ and /o/, implying that the [±ATR] contrast between [-ATR] of mid-vowels no longer exists. This claim was tested with three production tests with native and loan data, and two perception tests on the contrast between /ɛ/ and /e/, and /ɔ/ and /o/. Picture Elicitation Task and Picture Audio Contrastive Task were used to elicit the data. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) was used to compare the measurements values of F1 and F2 of a vowel with the F1 and F2 of another vowel in a pair to determine their statistical differences. Lobanov (1971) z-score was used to normalize the data. The results show that KL speakers have merged /ɛ/ and /e/ in their sociolect, in both production and perception, while the contrast survives in loan data, which were used as a test of recoverability for the underlying contrast between the vowels. Therefore, the front phonetic space of KL displays absolute neutralization in KL, that is, the contrast between /ɛ/ and /e/ survives underlyingly, while it is neutralized in surface representation. Moreover, the results show that /ɔ/ and /o/ still contrast both underlyingly and on surface; but the said contrast is deactivated in perception. Evidence for the underlying contrast comes from vowel split in KL, suggesting a near-merger in the back phonetic space of KL. The results of two-way GEE, specifically Simple Effect Testing (SET) which aimed to determine the effect of syllable onset type and age group broken down by vowel respectively, show that the production of /ɛ, e/ is impacted by the onset of the syllable. /ɛ/ is phonetically implemented as [e̝] after an obstruent, while it is implemented as [e̞] after sonorants or nasal +voiced stops. Likewise, /ɔ/ is implemented as [o̞] after nasal + stops. This phonetic realization suggests an exemplar cloud in the phonetic space of KL in which the underlying forms /ɛ, e/ are realized as either [e], [e̞], or [e̝] in KL, while /ɔ, o/ are implemented as either [ɔ], [o], and [o̞]. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Kabasele, P. M. (2018). A Systematic Investigation of Mid-Vowel Sounds in Kinshasa Lingala: A Case of Extreme Contrast Reduction (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/33055 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/33055 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1880/108702 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Arts | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Graduate Studies | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | en |
| dc.publisher.place | Calgary | en |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | |
| dc.subject | Contrast Reduction | |
| dc.subject | Absolute Neutralization | |
| dc.subject | Near Merger | |
| dc.subject | Mid-Vowels | |
| dc.subject | Kinshasa Lingala | |
| dc.subject.classification | Linguistics | en_US |
| dc.title | A Systematic Investigation of Mid-Vowel Sounds in Kinshasa Lingala: A Case of Extreme Contrast Reduction | |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Linguistics | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
| ucalgary.item.requestcopy | true |