[Lingtyp] languages with just lexical contour tones / bitonal units?

[Adam James Ross Tallman]

Thanks Larry and Laura,

Larry - I don't think it *has* to be analyzed this way either ... But is it
better if it makes the interpretation of the phonetics smoother? I'm not
sure. Otherwise I think I have to say, H tones are systematically realized
as raising... or with a low pitch mapped to the previous syllable or else
LH or MH depending on context.

But then maybe this is true of 0 vs. H tones all the time - perceptually
you need *some* pitch movement to make the contrast and so this shouldn't
be put in the phonology as a matter of principle because 0 vs. H systems
will always be realized like contours phonetically... Laura, I think this
relates to your point, but I'm wondering whether there might be a language
that has L,M,H,0 where none of the privative tones are realized as contours
in some sense.

Adam

On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 5:56 PM Laura McPherson <laura.emcpherson at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Adam,
>
> I've been working on the tone system of Poko (Skou, PNG) where the
> language appears to have 0, L, M, H as tonal primitives, but L and H only
> ever surface as part of complex melodies (LM, MH, LH), which are generally
> realized as contour tones on monosyllabic roots and as tonal sequences on
> disyllabic roots. M can occur as a melody of its own. While LM or MH could
> at some (abstract) level be analyzed as simply L and H, on the surface, the
> M appears to be phonologically real (for instance, a docked floating H on a
> 0 root is surface-distinct from a MH contour).
>
> This isn't exactly the same as what you're asking about, but it is another
> case of complex melodies or tones appearing in a language without the more
> basic melodies.
>
> Best,
> Laura
>
> On Sun, Mar 22, 2020 at 12:15 PM Adam James Ross Tallman <
> ajrtallman at utexas.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hey all,
>>
>> It's been suggested to me that the language I'm working on really makes a
>> distinction between 0 vs. LH lexical marking, rather than 0 vs. H as I had
>> previously thought. Looking at connected speech the evidence for this seems
>> very strong and I'm starting to overcome my initial resilience to the
>> proposal.
>>
>> Has this been proposed for any other language? (i.e. a language that just
>> has 0, LH or 0, HL and no corresponding lexical Ls and Hs). I want to know
>> what the evidence looks like for other language? In my case it's primarily
>> phonetic and I'm not really sure what strictly phonological evidence would
>> look like.
>>
>> Notice I'm not asking about pitch accents or intonational marking etc.
>> But cases where it can be shown that the categories are really lexically
>> specified.
>>
>> Help would be appreciated, I hope everyone is well and healthy.
>>
>> best,
>>
>> Adam
>>
>> --
>> Adam J.R. Tallman
>> PhD, University of Texas at Austin
>> Investigador del Museo de Etnografía y Folklore, la Paz
>> ELDP -- Postdoctorante
>> CNRS -- Dynamique Du Langage (UMR 5596)
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>>
>

-- 
Adam J.R. Tallman
PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Investigador del Museo de Etnografía y Folklore, la Paz
ELDP -- Postdoctorante
CNRS -- Dynamique Du Langage (UMR 5596)
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