10.335, Qs: Throat Singing, Con clusters, Syntax, Italian

[LINGUIST Network]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-10-335. Thu Mar 4 1999. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 10.335, Qs: Throat Singing, Con clusters, Syntax, Italian

Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Wayne State U.<aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Dry: Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at linguistlist.org>
            Andrew Carnie: U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Reviews: Andrew Carnie: U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Associate Editors:  Martin Jacobsen <marty at linguistlist.org>
                    Brett Churchill <brett at linguistlist.org>
                    Ljuba Veselinova <ljuba at linguistlist.org>

Assistant Editors:  Scott Fults <scott at linguistlist.org>
		    Jody Huellmantel <jody at linguistlist.org>
		    Karen Milligan <karen at linguistlist.org>

Software development: John H. Remmers <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
                      Chris Brown <chris at linguistlist.org>

Home Page:  http://linguistlist.org/


Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scott at linguistlist.org>
 ==========================================================================

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then  strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list.   This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

=================================Directory=================================

1)
Date:  Tue, 2 Mar 1999 23:35:15 -0600
From:  "Anthony M. Lewis" <am-lewis at students.uiuc.edu>
Subject:  The articulatory gestures of Tuvan throat singing

2)
Date:  Wed, 03 Mar 1999 01:54:17 PST
From:  Hideo Yamada <hyamada at csulb.edu>
Subject:  English consonant clusters VS Japanese phonology

3)
Date:  Wed, 3 Mar 1999 13:18:54 -0500 (EST)
From:  Tamara Rae Neuberger <tamara18 at bu.edu>
Subject:  Lang Acquisition -- Syntax

4)
Date:  Wed, 3 Mar 1999 19:08:39 -0500 (EST)
From:  "Jillian R. Cavanaugh" <jrc6207 at is4.nyu.edu>
Subject:  Etruscan & Latin

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Tue, 2 Mar 1999 23:35:15 -0600
From:  "Anthony M. Lewis" <am-lewis at students.uiuc.edu>
Subject:  The articulatory gestures of Tuvan throat singing



Dear friends,

	My question has to do with the vocal configurations assumed by the
traditional Tuvan throat singers of Siberia.  For those of you who may not
be familiar, the Tuvan Autonomous Republic is a central territory of the
Russian Federation situated on the border of Russia and Mongolia.  This
particular style of singing (also known as "overtone" singing, and attested
in other parts of the world) is most notably characterized by the singer's
production of (at least ) a single, fundamental musical note, accompanied
by the corresponding overtones (presumably, harmonics, of the fundamental
tone).  The perceptual effect is that of a robust, whistling, almost
chord-like nature.

	I have two rather simple questions regarding this phenomenon:
first, is this unique acoustic effect the result of a highly coordinated
posturing of the vocal folds (e.g., a complex setting of register(s)... a
la "soprano" in voice science terminology)?; purely supra-laryngeal in
nature?; or a combination of both?.  My suspicion is that the robust
percept is purely the result of sustaining a configuration of the
supra-laryngeal cavity which enhances certain (resonant) frequencies of the
fundamental tone.  I'd be most interested to hear alternative accounts
(e.g., complex laryngeal posturing, contribution of the pharyngeal wall,
etc.).  My second question asks whether or not Tuvan singers (or any other
"overtone" singers for that matter) are capable of producing more than a
single "fundamental" tone (and, presumably, the corresponding harmonics) at
the same time.  This, as far as I can figure, would require the vocal folds
to vibrate simultaneously at two different fundamental frequencies.


	If responses warrant, I will most pleased to post a summary to the
list.

Anthony M. Lewis


Anthony M. Lewis
Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

e-mail to:  am-lewis at uiuc.edu


-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 03 Mar 1999 01:54:17 PST
From:  Hideo Yamada <hyamada at csulb.edu>
Subject:  English consonant clusters VS Japanese phonology

I am a linguistic student from Japan, studying at California
State University, Long Beach. I am now writing my thesis
paper on the topic of comparative phonology between Japanese
and English.

My question is; English has consonant clusters, while
Japanese doesn't. Therefore, when Japanese try to pronounce
English words that have consonant clusters, they tend to
insert certain vowels in between the clusters, which is /u/
or /o/ generally. (e.g.  'street' is not /strit/ but
/sutoriito/.) Though many literatures have mentioned this
phenomenon, I cannot find the reason why they choose /u/ or
/o/ to insert. Are there any 'rules' to apply to this? What
do other people who have similar phonological system to
Japanese do when they borrow words with consonant clusters?
I would like to get some useful information, advice,
literatures, or anything else.


-------------------------------- Message 3 -------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 3 Mar 1999 13:18:54 -0500 (EST)
From:  Tamara Rae Neuberger <tamara18 at bu.edu>
Subject:  Lang Acquisition -- Syntax

Dear Linguists,

I am a graduate student currently working on a research paper for a
language acquisition course.  I am interested in exploring the theoretical
implications of the acquisition of aspect in child language from a
syntactic point of view. Unfortunately, I have had trouble locating
literature on this topic.  I appreciate any suggestions or leads you may
have and will post a summary of any results that I receive.

Thank you for your time,

		  Tamara Rae Neuberger
		  Boston University


-------------------------------- Message 4 -------------------------------

Date:  Wed, 3 Mar 1999 19:08:39 -0500 (EST)
From:  "Jillian R. Cavanaugh" <jrc6207 at is4.nyu.edu>
Subject:  Etruscan & Latin

Has there been any work done on the relationship between Etruscan and
Latin, especially in terms of how Tuscan itself was formed? I've been
doing research on Italian dialects, and have been trying to understand the
relationships between Latin and the 'ethnical substrata' that developed
into Italian regional dialects. Any references would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Jillian R. Cavanaugh
jrc6207 at is4.nyu.edu
Department of Anthropology
New York University

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-10-335