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1. From sounds to words: The relation between phonological and lexical processing of tone in L2 Mandarin

   https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658320941546  

   Ling, Wenyi; Grüter, Theres (July 2020, Second language research)

   null (Ed.)

   Successful listening in a second language (L2) involves learning to identify the relevant acoustic–phonetic dimensions that differentiate between words in the L2, and then use these cues to access lexical representations during real-time comprehension. This is a particularly challenging goal to achieve when the relevant acoustic–phonetic dimensions in the L2 differ from those in the L1, as is the case for the L2 acquisition of Mandarin, a tonal language, by speakers of non-tonal languages like English. Previous work shows tone in L2 is perceived less categorically (Shen and Froud, 2019) and weighted less in word recognition (Pelzl et al., 2019) than in L1. However, little is known about the link between categorical perception of tone and use of tone in real time L2 word recognition at the level of the individual learner. This study presents evidence from 30 native and 29 L1-English speakers of Mandarin who completed a real-time spoken word recognition and a tone identification task. Results show that L2 learners differed from native speakers in both the extent to which they perceived tone categorically as well as in their ability to use tonal cues to distinguish between words in real-time comprehension. Critically, learners who reliably distinguished between words differing by tone alone in the word recognition task also showed more categorical perception of tone on the identification task. Moreover, within this group, performance on the two tasks was strongly correlated. This provides the first direct evidence showing that the ability to perceive tone categorically is related to the weighting of tonal cues during spoken word recognition, thus contributing to a better understanding of the link between phonemic and lexical processing, which has been argued to be a key component in the L2 acquisition of tone (Wong and Perrachione, 2007). 

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2. North Germanic Tonal Accent is Equipollent and Metrical: Evidence from Compounding

   https://doi.org/10.3765/amp.v9i0.4913  

   Kaldhol, Nina Hagen; Köhnlein, Björn (May 2021, Proceedings of the Annual Meetings on Phonology)

   null (Ed.)

   For the North Germanic opposition between two tonal accents, it has been claimed that Accent 2 has a lexical tone, that Accent 1 has a lexical tone, that both accents are marked tonally in the lexicon, or that the accent opposition is based on two types of feet. Based on evidence from compounding, we argue that the opposition between Accent 1 and Accent 2 is equipollent, and that this is best expressed in a foot-based approach since each lexical item will necessarily receive a foot. Elaborating on previous metrical work on tonal accent, we assume that binary feet can be built on moras (= Accent 1) or syllables (= Accent 2) and show how this successfully captures compound accentuation in Central Swedish and Urban East Norwegian. Our foot-based analysis is in line with recent work on tonal accent that calls into question the claim that all tonal contrasts within syllables must be due to the presence of lexical tone. In addition, our analysis addresses issues surrounding the phonology of compounds in general, and prosodic effects of compounding in particular. 

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3. Scan-classify-overlay model for Bozo and Bangime nominal tones

   https://doi.org/10.4000/130be  

   Heath, Jeffrey (January 2024, Mandenkan)

   Nominal compounds (N-N) and noun-adjective (N-Adj) sequences share a distinctive morphotonology and behave as (extended) prosodic words in four Bozo languages studied. Input N and Adj stems of various tone melodies are scanned for tonal characteristics that classify the numerous melodies into just two melodic superclasses for initials. Separately, finals are also scanned and classified. The criterial tonal feature varies from language to language and from initial to final; it may be the leftmost tone element or a configuration (level versus contour). Tone overlays are then associated with the initial, the final, or both jointly. In some cases, the lexical melody of the initial is overwritten locally, but is expressed at a distance by determining or at least influencing the overlay on the final.In the neighboring isolate Bangime, a structurally similar scan-classify-overlay system is at work in definite and possessed NPs.In Bozo and Bangime, an overlaid tone pattern may differ from or even invert the (lexical) melody. However, because overlays are associated with melodic superclasses, they allow partial recovery of melodies by listeners. The scan-classify-overlay model is distinct both from ordinary tonal morphophonology (which directly operates on lexical tones) and from true replacive tonal ablaut (which irrecoverably erases melodies). 

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4. Luyia Tone Melodies

   Ebarb, Kristopher J.; Green, Christopher R.; Marlo, Michael R. (January 2014, Africana Linguistica)

   This paper offers an overview of verbal tone melodies within Luyia, a cluster of Bantu languages spoken in Kenya and Uganda. Luyia tone is diverse, possessing three types of verbal tonal systems: 'conservative', 'predictable', and 'reversive'. We illustrate the general tonal characteristics of each type of system with an exemplar language variety, describing the complex interactions of lexical and melodic tones. 

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5. Complexity, Naturalness, and Explanatory Power: The Case of Seenku Argument-Head Tone Sandhi

   McPherson, Laura (January 2019, Proceedings of the 36th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics)

   When faced with complex phrasal phonological patterns, linguists are faced with a dilemma: since complex phenomena rarely lend themselves to simple analyses, where is the analytical complexity best justified? This talk explores the question using the test case of argument-head tone sandhi in Seenku (Western Mande, Burkina Faso), arguing that a morphological approach with a hierarchical lexicon offers a fuller account of the data than a complex phonological one. In Seenku, internal arguments trigger sandhi on their following heads. Like Taiwanese, tone changes are largely paradigmatic, but unlike most Sinitic sandhi systems, each base tone has more than one sandhi tone, depending on the argument's tone and whether it is pronominal or non-pronominal. A phonological account would necessitate mechanisms like anti-faithfulness or contrast preservation, but just a single underlying form could be maintained. A morphological account treats the alternations as allomorph selection, which requires a hierarchical lexicon with paradigms of subcategorization frames. Both approaches introduce complexity, but the phonological approach fails to account for several data patterns, including differences between pronominal and non-pronominal arguments, the immutability of multi-tonal heads, and lexical exceptions. Further, the single underlying form would be necessarily abstract, since certain heads appear obligatorily with an argument and hence always undergo sandhi. The allomorph selection approach addresses each of these complications and more naturally characterizes the linguistic competence of Seenku speakers. This result suggests that the lexicon may play a more powerful role than is often assumed, especially in cases where sound change has obscured once transparent phonological motivations. 

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