Note: The page numbers following the section titles refer to the page numbers of the printed version of the dissertation, not this html version, and are left here for cross-referencing purposes only.

Preliminary Pages - top

Title Page - Copyright Statement - Abstract

Lists - top

List Of Figures vi - List Of Tables xii - List Of Abbreviations xiii

Chapter 1: Introduction - top

• §1.1 Organization of Chapter 1 1
• §1.2 Goals of the Thesis 1
• §1.3 Organization of the Thesis 2
• §1.4 Theoretical Assumptions 3
  • §1.4.1 Front Vowels are Coronal 3
  • §1.4.2 [Consonantal] is a Daughter of the Root Node 4
  • §1.4.3 Japanese Voiceless Obstruents are Underlyingly [+Spread Glottis] 5
  • §1.4.4 Segmental Representations are Shaped by Linguistic Experience 7
• §1.5 The Segmental Inventory of Standard Modern Japanese 7
• §1.6 Allophony in the Standard Modern Japanese Inventory 10
• Chapter 1 notes

Chapter 2: Loss of Vowel Voicing in Japanese - top

• §2.1 Introduction To Chapter 2 15
• §2.2 High Vowel Devoicing 16
  • §2.2.1 Factors Affecting the Application of HVD 16
    • §2.2.1.1 Speech Rate 16
    • §2.2.1.2 Pitch Accent Placement 17
    • §2.2.1.3 Sociological Factors 18
    • §2.2.1.4 Moraic Position of the Vowel 19
    • §2.2.1.5 Consonantal Environment 19
  • §2.2.2 HVD as a Feature-Changing Rule 19
  • §2.2.3 An Alternative Account: Gestural Overlap 22
  • §2.2.4 HVD as Both Phonetic and Phonological 28
  • §2.2.5 Summary of Arguments For Both Processes 40
• §2.3 HVD and Fricativization 41
  • §2.3.1 Other Attestations of Fricativized Vowels 41
  • §2.3.2 Mode of Production of Japanese Fricativized Vowels 43
• §2.4 Clarification of Terminology 52
• §2.5 Geometric Representations of Vowel Types 55
  • §2.5.1 Voiced Vowels 55
  • §2.5.2 Whispered Vowels 57
  • §2.5.3 Fricativized Vowels 58
  • §2.5.4 Devoiced Vowels 60
  • §2.5.5 Deleted Vowels 62
• §2.6 Summary of Chapter 2 64
• Ch. 2 notes

Chapter 3: Pitch Accent - top

• §3.1 Introduction to Chapter 3 67
• §3.2 Pitch Accent in Standard Modern Japanese 68
  • §3.2.1 Intonation Contour Characteristics 68
  • §3.2.2 Example Productions from the Current Study 69
• §3.3 Interaction of Pitch Assignment and Devoicing 78
  • §3.3.1 Devoicing of Accented Vowels 78
  • §3.3.2 Shift of Lexical Accent 80
• §3.4 Summary of Chapter 3 83

Chapter 4: Experimental Design - top

• §4.1 Introduction to Chapter 4 84
• §4.2 Motivation for Testing SR Effects 84
• §4.3 Influences Affecting the Application of HVD 85
• §4.4 Dependent Variables of the Study 87
• §4.5 Independent Variables of the Study 88
• §4.6 Methods & Procedures 89
  • §4.6.1 Participants 89
  • §4.6.2 Materials 90
    • §4.6.2.1 Stimuli 90
    • §4.6.2.2 Presentation Program 91
    • §4.6.2.3 Recording 94
  • §4.6.3 Measurements 95
    • §4.6.3.1 Token Duration 95
    • §4.6.3.2 Voicing Durations 96
    • §4.6.3.3 Formant Frequency Measurements 99
  • §4.6.4 Statistical Analysis 99

Chapter 5: Token Duration - top

• §5.1 Introduction to Chapter 5 101
• §5.2 Descriptive Statistics of the Data 102
  • §5.2.1 Normalcy of the Data 103
  • §5.2.2 Homogeneity of Variance of the Data Groups 107
• §5.3 Design of the ANCOVA Models for Token Durations 115
• §5.4 Results of the ANCOVA Models for Token Durations 117
  • §5.4.1 Effects on MTDs Involving SR 119
    • §5.4.1.1 Effects of SR on MTDs 119
    • §5.4.1.2 Effects of the 3-Way Interaction SR * Token * #Dev 121
    • §5.4.1.3 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Between Token and #Dev 126
  • §5.4.2 Effects on MTDs Involving Gender and Participant 129
    • §5.4.2.1 Effects on MTD Involving Gender 129
    • §5.4.2.2 Effects on MTD Involving Participant 130
• §5.5 Summary of Chapter 5 133

Chapter 6: Frequency Of Devoicing - top

• §6.1 Introduction To Chapter 6 135
  • §6.2 Further Evidence for Two Devoicing Processes 135
  • §6.2.1 Statistical Evidence for Two Devoicing Processes 138
    • §6.2.1.1 Distribution of Data Points 143
    • §6.2.1.2 Location of the Fitted Regression Line 145
    • §6.2.1.3 Pearson Correlation Coefficient 148
    • §6.2.1.4 Summary of Regression Statistics 150
  • §6.2.2 Summary of Arguments for Both Phonological and Phonetic Loss of Voicing 151
• §6.3 Design of the ANOVA Models for Vowel Devoicing Rate 152
• §6.4 Results of the ANOVA Models for Vowel Devoicing Rate 154
  • §6.4.1 Effects on Devoicing Involving Mora 156
    • §6.4.1.1 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Mora * Token 156
    • §6.4.1.2 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction SR * Mora 161
  • §6.4.2 Effects on Voicing Involving Gender and Participant 163
    • §6.4.2.1 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Gender * Block 163
    • §6.4.2.2 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Participant * Block 164
• §6.5 Summary of Chapter 6 167
  • §6.5.1 Support for Both Phonological and Phonetic Devoicing 167
  • §6.5.2 Results of Statistical Checks for Effects on Frequency of Devoicing 168

Chapter 7: Mean Voicing Duration - top

• §7.1 Introduction To Chapter 7 170
• §7.2 Descriptive Statistics of the Data Sets 170
  • §7.2.1 Normalcy of the Data Sets (Cf. §5.2.1) 171
  • §7.2.2 Homogeneity of Variance of the Data Sets (Cf. §5.2.2) 172
• §7.3 Design of the ANOVA Models for Testing Effects on MVDs 174
• §7.4 Results of the ANOVA Models for Effects on MVDs 175
  • §7.4.1 Effects on Voicing Involving Mora 176
    • §7.4.1.1 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Mora * Token 176
    • §7.4.1.2 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Mora * SR 182
  • §7.4.2 Effects on Voicing Involving Gender and Participant 183
    • §7.4.2.1 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Gender * Block 183
    • §7.4.2.2 Effects of the 2-Way Interaction Participant * Block 184
• §7.5 Summary of Chapter 7 186

Chapter 8: Conclusion - top

• §8.1 Introduction to Chapter 8 189
• §8.2 High Vowel Devoicing 189
• §8.3 Interaction Between Pitch Accent Assignment and Devoicing 192
• §8.4 Experimental Setup 193
• §8.5 Variables Affecting Mean Token Durations 193
• §8.6 Factors Affecting Frequency of Devoicing 194
• §8.7 Factors Affecting Vowel Voicing Durations 196
• §8.8 Indications for Further Research 196

Bibliography 199 - top

Appendix: Participant And Stimuli Information - top

• A.1 Bibliographic Data For Study Participants 212
• A.2 Stimuli Used In The Study 212
  • A.2.1 Tokens 212
  • A.2.2 Carrier Sentences 213
  • A.2.3 Presentation Order Of Carrier Sentences. 214

Vita - top