M.A. Theses in Linguistics at the University of North Dakota (Abstracts)

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Julia Martin, 2016
An acoustic study of Kope, Northeast Kiwai, Papua New Guinea, with preliminary tonal analysis

Kope is a dialect of Northeast Kiwai, a language of Papua New Guinea. It exhibits contrast for length on vowels, and a two-level tonal contrast. Measurements were taken from a recording of one speaker, and subjected to statistical tests to determine the relationship between variables of tone, phonemic length, duration, F0, and the first and second formants.

The most consistent effect found is higher F1 on HI-toned vowels, and indeed some measure of correlation between F0 and F1. Another effect, less consistent but still present, is the interaction of length with F2. Duration is found to be heavily influenced by syllable position within the word. The intrinsic frequency effect is confirmed for Kope, including the exclusion of LO vowels from participation in the effect.

A preliminary tonal analysis is also included. Words were isolated by their number of syllables and their syllable profiles, and surface tone patterns in isolation and in frames are catalogued, with patterns discussed. HI tone spreading may be influenced by syllable weight, and downstep and spreading both occur across word boundaries.

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http://arts-sciences.und.edu/summer-institute-of-linguistics/theses/_files/docs/2016-martin-julia.pdf