15.2678, Diss: Phonetics: van Leyden: 'Prosodic...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-15-2678. Tue Sep 28 2004. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 15.2678, Diss: Phonetics: van Leyden: 'Prosodic...'

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1)
Date: 24-Sep-2004
From: Klaske van Leyden < kvleyden at wxs.nl >
Subject: Prosodic Characteristics of Orkney and Shetland Dialects: An Experimental Approach


	
-------------------------Message 1 ----------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 11:07:36
From: Klaske van Leyden < kvleyden at wxs.nl >
Subject: Prosodic Characteristics of Orkney and Shetland Dialects: An Experimental Approach



Institution: Leiden University
Program: Leiden Centre for Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 25-Jun-1905

Author: Klaske van Leyden

Dissertation Title: Prosodic Characteristics of Orkney and Shetland Dialects:
An Experimental Approach

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics; Phonetics; Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s):
English (Code: ENG)


Dissertation Director(s):
Beverley Collins
Vincent J. van Heuven

Dissertation Abstract:

The dialects presently spoken in Orkney and Shetland - north of
mainland Scotland - are conservative varieties of Lowland Scots with
a substantial Scandinavian substratum. Shetland, the more northerly
of the two island groups, appears to have retained its Scandinavian
substratum to a greater degree than has Orkney. Although there is
considerable variance between the two dialects, not only at lexical
and syntactic levels but also with respect to segmental phonology and
syllable structure, by far the most immediately striking differences
concern intonation. Impressionistically, one may say that Orkney
intonation is characterised by a very distinctive 'lilting' pattern,
while that of Shetland is more compressed, having a preponderance of
low, level tunes.

This study describes a series of production and perception
experiments carried out with native speakers from Orkney and
Shetland, and using speakers of Scottish Standard English to provide
a control condition. The investigations had the following aims: (1)
to examine the relationship between vowel and final-consonant
duration in monosyllabic words; (2) to explore the role of intonation
versus segmental information in the identification of the two
varieties; (3) to conduct an acoustic investigation of the melodic
and temporal differences between the two dialects and (4) to
investigate the perceptual relevance of the prosodic parameters that
were identified in the acoustic investigation. In addition, an
attempt has been made to determine whether the observed prosodic
characteristics can be better ascribed to the Scandinavian substratum
or rather to Scottish influences.

This research will be of interest not only to phoneticians and
phonologists working in the field of intonation but also to
dialectologists and historical linguists.



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