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Brett Baker

University of Melbourne, School of languages and linguistics, Faculty Member

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I'm a linguist with over 25 years experience of working with Aboriginal people in the 'Top End' of northern Australia, documenting and analyzing their incredibly complex and interesting languages and cultures, and teaching about them to students at Melbourne University.
Address: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

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Papers by Brett Baker

Native phonotactic interference in L2 vowel processing: Mouse-tracking reveals cognitive conflicts during identification

Interspeech 2022

Incorporation in Wubuy

Perception of voicing in the absence of native voicing experience

Interspeech 2015, 2015

50 years of speech perception research provide a rich literature on crossand second language (L2)... more 50 years of speech perception research provide a rich literature on crossand second language (L2) perception of stop consonant contrasts such as /p b/, /t d/, and /k g/ which differ systematically in the relative timing of oral stop release and the onset of vocal fold vibration (voice onset time: VOT). This research has focused primarily on two observations: 1) that nonnative listeners automatically use their native VOT contrast boundary in an unfamiliar language, irrespective of whether this language shares the boundary or not, and 2) that even highly proficient L2 language users often perceive L2 VOT-based contrasts in a way that is consistent with their L1, even after decades of L2 acquisition. No work has, hitherto, examined VOT-based contrast discrimination by L1 speakers of languages without any VOT-based stop contrast. In the following, we present two studies of speakers in such a scenario, showing that even extensive L2 experience is insufficient for L2 learners without native (L1) voicing experience to acquire such a distinction.

Japanese Perceptual Epenthesis is Modulated by Transitional Probability

Language and Speech, 2020

Perceptual epenthesis is the perception of illusory vowels in consonantal sequences that violate ... more Perceptual epenthesis is the perception of illusory vowels in consonantal sequences that violate native phonotactics. The consensus has been that each language has a single, predictable candidate for perceptual epenthesis, that vowel which is most minimal (i.e., shortest and/or quietest). However, recent studies have shown that alternate epenthetic vowels can be perceived when the perceptual epenthesis of the minimal vowel would violate native co-occurrence restrictions. We propose a potential explanation for these observed patterns: speech perception, and thus also vowel perceptual epenthesis, is modulated by transitional probability whereby epenthetic vowels must conform to the language specific expectations of the listener. To test this explanation, we present two experiments examining perceptual epenthesis of two Japanese vowels—/u/ and /i/—against their transitional probability in CV sequences. In Experiment 1, Japanese listeners assigned VCCV tokens to VCuCV and VCiCV categori...

How Pitch Moves: Production of Cantonese Tones by Speakers with Different Tonal Experiences

5th International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2016), 2016

This study investigates how native prosodic systems as well as L2 learning experience shape non-n... more This study investigates how native prosodic systems as well as L2 learning experience shape non-native tone production in terms of tone movement, a primary cue to tone identity. In an imitation task, the six Cantonese tones were produced by four speaker groups: native Mandarin speakers (tonal), native English speakers (non-tonal), native English speakers with Mandarin learning experience (L2 tonal) and native Cantonese speakers (control group). The results indicate that native prosodic systems influence non-native tone production: Mandarin speakers are more accurate on pitch contour than pitch height while English speakers perform better on level tones than contour ones. Furthermore, L2 tonal experience assists L3 tone production, as English-speaking Mandarin learners produce Cantonese tones in the most native-like shape, outperforming both Mandarin and English speakers.

Native prosodic systems and learning experience shape production of non-native tones

Speech Prosody 2016, 2016

This study investigates how native prosodic systems and second language (L2) learning experience ... more This study investigates how native prosodic systems and second language (L2) learning experience shape non-native tone production. Speakers from tone language backgrounds (native Cantonese and Mandarin speakers [CS & MS]) and non-tone language backgrounds (English monolinguals [ES] and English speakers with Mandarin learning experience [EM]) produced the six Cantonese tones in an imitation task. The results suggest systematic effects of native prosodic systems on L2 tone production, regardless of tone or non-tone language backgrounds. MS have more problems with pitch height whereas ES tend to produce every tone in a level shape, which echoes the findings from previous perception studies. Further, MS's ability to integrate their native sensitivity to pitch height, along with their Mandarin training in pitch contour, contributes to their exceptional performance in producing the new tone language. Importantly, EM speakers performed better than MS speakers, suggesting that L1 experience with tone may be less helpful to learners than L2 tone acquisition experience, even when this L2 experience is with a different tone language (here Mandarin).

6. Fact or furphy? The continuum in Kriol

Loss and Renewal, 2016

2 Complex predicate formation

Complex predicate formation

Complex Predicates

' Coverb constructions ue found in many languages of northern Australia, including Warlpiri {wher... more ' Coverb constructions ue found in many languages of northern Australia, including Warlpiri {where they arc commonly called 'preverb' constructions), as well as many languages of the Ethic-Semitic family (e.g. Amharic: Amberbcr: this volume), Kurdish, Persian (Megerdoomian 2001, Folli et al. :wo5), and many languages of Papua New Guinea and South America. ' It is unclear whether there are languages which permit only coindexation. The well-known serialising languages of West Africa such as Twi may be of this type, but we lack sufficient information to be certain. Com p lex p redicate formation (10) jag=nga-0-bayngarli chew.briefly= r SG.S-3sG.0-BITE.PC 'I chewed it briefl y.' (rr) buny=nga-0-bayngarli suck= ISG.S-3SG.0-BJTE.PC 'I was sucking on something.' (12) gil=nga-lini crawl= r SG. S-GO.PC 'I was crawling along.' (13) jarlarla = nga-lini walk.around= I SG.S-GO.PC 'I went for a walk.' ' 3 The 'be' verb has two meanings in Wagiman. One is to signal stativity, the other to signal atelicity (section 2.7). In (54), it signals atelicity. '• Wilson translates this sentence as 'They broke its wing by spearing', but 'spear' is a separ ate verb r,, while the verb used here, du-, centrally refers to cuttin g , not speuin g .

A kinematic analysis of temporal differentiation of the four-way coronal stop contrast in Wubuy (Australia)

assta.org

Coronal stop contrast series are rare in the world's languages, and are often reported to be... more

Wubuy coronal stop perception by speakers of three dialects of bangla

Interspeech 2015, 2015

We tested native speakers from three major dialect groups of Bangla, on their discrimination of a... more We tested native speakers from three major dialect groups of Bangla, on their discrimination of a four-way coronal stop contrast from the Australian Indigenous language Wubuy. Bangla is generally assumed to have a two-way contrast in coronal stops, with an additional place distinction in affricates. The results show that Bangla speakers are able to discriminate the Wubuy contrasts, but also that certain contrasts are more difficult to discriminate than others. We discuss these results with respect to the Bangla coronal inventory, and importantly, with respect to the variation in the phonetic realisation of coronals between the dialects of Bangla. We argue that the phonetic realisation of what is regarded to be the 'same' phonemic inventory can have implications for the perceptual behaviour of speakers.

Complex Predicates

Complex predicates are multipredicational, but monoclausal structures. They have proven problemat... more Complex predicates are multipredicational, but monoclausal structures. They have proven problematic for linguistic theory, particularly for proposed distinctions between the lexicon, morphology, and syntax. This volume focuses on the mapping from morphosyntactic structures to event structure, and in particular the constraints on possible mappings. The volume showcases the 'coverb construction', a complex predicate construction which, though widespread, has received little attention in the literature. The coverb construction contrasts with more familiar serial verb constructions. The coverb construction generally maps only to event structures like those of monomorphemic verbs, whereas serial verb constructions map to a range of event structures differing from those of monomorphemic verbs. The volume coverage is truly cross-linguistic, including languages from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, East Africa and North America. The volume establ...

Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan

Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 2004

Pause acceptability indicates word-internal structure in Wubuy

Cognition, 2020

Words in polysynthetic languages, such as the Australian language Wubuy, can be semantically comp... more Words in polysynthetic languages, such as the Australian language Wubuy, can be semantically complex and translate into whole phrases in analytic languages such as English. This raises questions about whether such words are like words in English, or whether they are more like phrases. In the following, we examine Wubuy speakers' knowledge of word-internal morphological complexity in a word-preference task, in which we test the acceptability of complex words into which artificial pauses have been embedded at a range of morphological junctures. The results show that participants prefer unmodified words and words with pauses inserted at semantically transparent morphological junctures over words with pauses at other junctures. There is no preference for unmodified words over words with pauses at transparent junctures. These results suggest that speakers have access to some word-internal morphological information, and that complex words may share characteristics of both words and phrases in, for instance, English.

Consonantal timing and release burst acoustics distinguish multiple coronal stop place distinctions in Wubuy (Australia)

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Oct 1, 2016

Substantial research has established that place of articulation of stop consonants (labial, alveo... more Substantial research has established that place of articulation of stop consonants (labial, alveolar, velar) are reliably differentiated using a number of acoustic measures such as closure duration, voice onset time (VOT), and spectral measures such as centre of gravity and the relative energy distribution in the mid-to-high spectral range of the burst. It is unclear, however, whether such measurable acoustic differences are present in multiple place of articulation contrasts among coronal stops. This article presents evidence from the highly endangered indigenous Australian language Wubuy, which maintains a 4-way coronal stop place contrast series in all word positions. The authors examine the temporal and burst characteristics of / t̪ t ʈ/ in three prosodic positions (utterance-initial, word-initial but phrase medial, and word-medial). The results indicate that VOT, closure duration, and the spectral quality of the burst may indeed differentiate multiple coronal place contrasts, i...

RECENT PUBLICATIONS This list acknowledges recent works (except offprints of single articles) that appear to bear on the scientific study of language. The receipt of individual books cannot be sep- arately acknowledged and no book can be returned to the publisher. Note especially that by acceptin...

The Obstruent Inventory of Roper Kriol

Australian Journal of Linguistics, 2014

ABSTRACT Roper Kriol is a major variety of the largest Indigenous Australian language, Kriol, yet... more ABSTRACT Roper Kriol is a major variety of the largest Indigenous Australian language, Kriol, yet its phonology remains under-described and it has never been examined instrumentally. Reports suggest high variability. We present a lexical survey with native Kriol speakers followed by two acoustic studies of the obstruent inventory with literate speakers, and finally an acoustic analysis of naturally occurring speech. We conclude that the obstruent inventory has inherited features from the substrate languages and English. It has contrastive stop voicing using Voice Onset Time differences in an English-like manner. It also has contrastive fricatives, but no voicing distinction in these phonemes. Like some of the substrate languages, stops also contrast in constriction duration to a much greater degree than English. There is no evidence that voicing is a variable phenomenon, and we suggest that the reported variability is due to language shift over several generations from a situation where it was primarily an L2 used by speakers of the substrate languages to the stabilized L1 form of Kriol described here. We argue that the creole continuum is unlikely to apply to true phonemic inventory differences, as opposed to surface phonetic forms and other aspects of grammar such as lexical choice.

Vowel acoustics reliably differentiate three coronal stops of Wubuy across prosodic contexts

Laboratory Phonology, 2012

The present study investigates the acoustic differentiation of three coronal stops in the indigen... more The present study investigates the acoustic differentiation of three coronal stops in the indigenous Australian language Wubuy. We test independent claims that only VC (vowel-into-consonant) transitions provide robust acoustic cues for retroflex as compared to alveolar and dental coronal stops, with no differentiating cues among these three coronal stops evident in CV (consonant-into-vowel) transitions. The four-way stop distinction /t, t̪, ʈ, c/ in Wubuy is contrastive word-initially (Heath 1984) and by implication utterance-initially, i.e., in CV-only contexts, which suggests that acoustic differentiation should be expected to occur in the CV transitions of this language, including in initial positions. Therefore, we examined both VC and CV formant transition information in the three target coronal stops across VCV (word-internal), V#CV (word-initial but utterance-medial) and ##CV (word- and utterance-initial), for /а/ vowel contexts, which provide the optimal environment for inve...

Australia and New Guinea

<p>The languages of Australia constitute a single genetic group. They are non-tonal, in tha... more <p>The languages of Australia constitute a single genetic group. They are non-tonal, in that tone is not lexically contrastive in any Australian language, and they tend to have stress systems where the location of stress is largely determined by the edges of morphemes. Their intonation systems are not unlike those of some European languages, though with phonetic rather than phonological effects of post-focal compression for the most part. The large number of languages of New Guinea are remarkable for their word-prosodic diversity and for that reason of great typological significance. While the entire area is under-investigated, the intonation systems in New Guinea are particularly poorly documented.</p>

Japanese Vowel Deletion Occurs in Words in Citation Form

Japanese vowels have allophonic reduced variants, including shortened, devoiced and deleted insta... more Japanese vowels have allophonic reduced variants, including shortened, devoiced and deleted instances. This kind of linguistic behaviour is commonly associated with rapid or casual speech. However, the present report demonstrates that vowel deletion also occurs when Japanese speakers produce Japanese words in citation form, and not just in rapid or casual speech. We propose that deletion is more likely to occur in highfrequency lexical items, specifically in three regularly occurring suffixes.

Native phonotactic interference in L2 vowel processing: Mouse-tracking reveals cognitive conflicts during identification

Interspeech 2022

Incorporation in Wubuy

Perception of voicing in the absence of native voicing experience

Interspeech 2015, 2015

50 years of speech perception research provide a rich literature on crossand second language (L2)... more 50 years of speech perception research provide a rich literature on crossand second language (L2) perception of stop consonant contrasts such as /p b/, /t d/, and /k g/ which differ systematically in the relative timing of oral stop release and the onset of vocal fold vibration (voice onset time: VOT). This research has focused primarily on two observations: 1) that nonnative listeners automatically use their native VOT contrast boundary in an unfamiliar language, irrespective of whether this language shares the boundary or not, and 2) that even highly proficient L2 language users often perceive L2 VOT-based contrasts in a way that is consistent with their L1, even after decades of L2 acquisition. No work has, hitherto, examined VOT-based contrast discrimination by L1 speakers of languages without any VOT-based stop contrast. In the following, we present two studies of speakers in such a scenario, showing that even extensive L2 experience is insufficient for L2 learners without native (L1) voicing experience to acquire such a distinction.

Japanese Perceptual Epenthesis is Modulated by Transitional Probability

Language and Speech, 2020

Perceptual epenthesis is the perception of illusory vowels in consonantal sequences that violate ... more Perceptual epenthesis is the perception of illusory vowels in consonantal sequences that violate native phonotactics. The consensus has been that each language has a single, predictable candidate for perceptual epenthesis, that vowel which is most minimal (i.e., shortest and/or quietest). However, recent studies have shown that alternate epenthetic vowels can be perceived when the perceptual epenthesis of the minimal vowel would violate native co-occurrence restrictions. We propose a potential explanation for these observed patterns: speech perception, and thus also vowel perceptual epenthesis, is modulated by transitional probability whereby epenthetic vowels must conform to the language specific expectations of the listener. To test this explanation, we present two experiments examining perceptual epenthesis of two Japanese vowels—/u/ and /i/—against their transitional probability in CV sequences. In Experiment 1, Japanese listeners assigned VCCV tokens to VCuCV and VCiCV categori...

How Pitch Moves: Production of Cantonese Tones by Speakers with Different Tonal Experiences

5th International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2016), 2016

This study investigates how native prosodic systems as well as L2 learning experience shape non-n... more This study investigates how native prosodic systems as well as L2 learning experience shape non-native tone production in terms of tone movement, a primary cue to tone identity. In an imitation task, the six Cantonese tones were produced by four speaker groups: native Mandarin speakers (tonal), native English speakers (non-tonal), native English speakers with Mandarin learning experience (L2 tonal) and native Cantonese speakers (control group). The results indicate that native prosodic systems influence non-native tone production: Mandarin speakers are more accurate on pitch contour than pitch height while English speakers perform better on level tones than contour ones. Furthermore, L2 tonal experience assists L3 tone production, as English-speaking Mandarin learners produce Cantonese tones in the most native-like shape, outperforming both Mandarin and English speakers.

Native prosodic systems and learning experience shape production of non-native tones

Speech Prosody 2016, 2016

This study investigates how native prosodic systems and second language (L2) learning experience ... more This study investigates how native prosodic systems and second language (L2) learning experience shape non-native tone production. Speakers from tone language backgrounds (native Cantonese and Mandarin speakers [CS & MS]) and non-tone language backgrounds (English monolinguals [ES] and English speakers with Mandarin learning experience [EM]) produced the six Cantonese tones in an imitation task. The results suggest systematic effects of native prosodic systems on L2 tone production, regardless of tone or non-tone language backgrounds. MS have more problems with pitch height whereas ES tend to produce every tone in a level shape, which echoes the findings from previous perception studies. Further, MS's ability to integrate their native sensitivity to pitch height, along with their Mandarin training in pitch contour, contributes to their exceptional performance in producing the new tone language. Importantly, EM speakers performed better than MS speakers, suggesting that L1 experience with tone may be less helpful to learners than L2 tone acquisition experience, even when this L2 experience is with a different tone language (here Mandarin).

6. Fact or furphy? The continuum in Kriol

Loss and Renewal, 2016

2 Complex predicate formation

Complex predicate formation

Complex Predicates

' Coverb constructions ue found in many languages of northern Australia, including Warlpiri {wher... more ' Coverb constructions ue found in many languages of northern Australia, including Warlpiri {where they arc commonly called 'preverb' constructions), as well as many languages of the Ethic-Semitic family (e.g. Amharic: Amberbcr: this volume), Kurdish, Persian (Megerdoomian 2001, Folli et al. :wo5), and many languages of Papua New Guinea and South America. ' It is unclear whether there are languages which permit only coindexation. The well-known serialising languages of West Africa such as Twi may be of this type, but we lack sufficient information to be certain. Com p lex p redicate formation (10) jag=nga-0-bayngarli chew.briefly= r SG.S-3sG.0-BITE.PC 'I chewed it briefl y.' (rr) buny=nga-0-bayngarli suck= ISG.S-3SG.0-BJTE.PC 'I was sucking on something.' (12) gil=nga-lini crawl= r SG. S-GO.PC 'I was crawling along.' (13) jarlarla = nga-lini walk.around= I SG.S-GO.PC 'I went for a walk.' ' 3 The 'be' verb has two meanings in Wagiman. One is to signal stativity, the other to signal atelicity (section 2.7). In (54), it signals atelicity. '• Wilson translates this sentence as 'They broke its wing by spearing', but 'spear' is a separ ate verb r,, while the verb used here, du-, centrally refers to cuttin g , not speuin g .

A kinematic analysis of temporal differentiation of the four-way coronal stop contrast in Wubuy (Australia)

assta.org

Coronal stop contrast series are rare in the world's languages, and are often reported to be... more

Wubuy coronal stop perception by speakers of three dialects of bangla

Interspeech 2015, 2015

We tested native speakers from three major dialect groups of Bangla, on their discrimination of a... more We tested native speakers from three major dialect groups of Bangla, on their discrimination of a four-way coronal stop contrast from the Australian Indigenous language Wubuy. Bangla is generally assumed to have a two-way contrast in coronal stops, with an additional place distinction in affricates. The results show that Bangla speakers are able to discriminate the Wubuy contrasts, but also that certain contrasts are more difficult to discriminate than others. We discuss these results with respect to the Bangla coronal inventory, and importantly, with respect to the variation in the phonetic realisation of coronals between the dialects of Bangla. We argue that the phonetic realisation of what is regarded to be the 'same' phonemic inventory can have implications for the perceptual behaviour of speakers.

Complex Predicates

Complex predicates are multipredicational, but monoclausal structures. They have proven problemat... more Complex predicates are multipredicational, but monoclausal structures. They have proven problematic for linguistic theory, particularly for proposed distinctions between the lexicon, morphology, and syntax. This volume focuses on the mapping from morphosyntactic structures to event structure, and in particular the constraints on possible mappings. The volume showcases the 'coverb construction', a complex predicate construction which, though widespread, has received little attention in the literature. The coverb construction contrasts with more familiar serial verb constructions. The coverb construction generally maps only to event structures like those of monomorphemic verbs, whereas serial verb constructions map to a range of event structures differing from those of monomorphemic verbs. The volume coverage is truly cross-linguistic, including languages from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, East Africa and North America. The volume establ...

Stem forms and paradigm reshaping in Gunwinyguan

Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 2004

Pause acceptability indicates word-internal structure in Wubuy

Cognition, 2020

Words in polysynthetic languages, such as the Australian language Wubuy, can be semantically comp... more Words in polysynthetic languages, such as the Australian language Wubuy, can be semantically complex and translate into whole phrases in analytic languages such as English. This raises questions about whether such words are like words in English, or whether they are more like phrases. In the following, we examine Wubuy speakers' knowledge of word-internal morphological complexity in a word-preference task, in which we test the acceptability of complex words into which artificial pauses have been embedded at a range of morphological junctures. The results show that participants prefer unmodified words and words with pauses inserted at semantically transparent morphological junctures over words with pauses at other junctures. There is no preference for unmodified words over words with pauses at transparent junctures. These results suggest that speakers have access to some word-internal morphological information, and that complex words may share characteristics of both words and phrases in, for instance, English.

Consonantal timing and release burst acoustics distinguish multiple coronal stop place distinctions in Wubuy (Australia)

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Oct 1, 2016

Substantial research has established that place of articulation of stop consonants (labial, alveo... more Substantial research has established that place of articulation of stop consonants (labial, alveolar, velar) are reliably differentiated using a number of acoustic measures such as closure duration, voice onset time (VOT), and spectral measures such as centre of gravity and the relative energy distribution in the mid-to-high spectral range of the burst. It is unclear, however, whether such measurable acoustic differences are present in multiple place of articulation contrasts among coronal stops. This article presents evidence from the highly endangered indigenous Australian language Wubuy, which maintains a 4-way coronal stop place contrast series in all word positions. The authors examine the temporal and burst characteristics of / t̪ t ʈ/ in three prosodic positions (utterance-initial, word-initial but phrase medial, and word-medial). The results indicate that VOT, closure duration, and the spectral quality of the burst may indeed differentiate multiple coronal place contrasts, i...

RECENT PUBLICATIONS This list acknowledges recent works (except offprints of single articles) that appear to bear on the scientific study of language. The receipt of individual books cannot be sep- arately acknowledged and no book can be returned to the publisher. Note especially that by acceptin...

The Obstruent Inventory of Roper Kriol

Australian Journal of Linguistics, 2014

ABSTRACT Roper Kriol is a major variety of the largest Indigenous Australian language, Kriol, yet... more ABSTRACT Roper Kriol is a major variety of the largest Indigenous Australian language, Kriol, yet its phonology remains under-described and it has never been examined instrumentally. Reports suggest high variability. We present a lexical survey with native Kriol speakers followed by two acoustic studies of the obstruent inventory with literate speakers, and finally an acoustic analysis of naturally occurring speech. We conclude that the obstruent inventory has inherited features from the substrate languages and English. It has contrastive stop voicing using Voice Onset Time differences in an English-like manner. It also has contrastive fricatives, but no voicing distinction in these phonemes. Like some of the substrate languages, stops also contrast in constriction duration to a much greater degree than English. There is no evidence that voicing is a variable phenomenon, and we suggest that the reported variability is due to language shift over several generations from a situation where it was primarily an L2 used by speakers of the substrate languages to the stabilized L1 form of Kriol described here. We argue that the creole continuum is unlikely to apply to true phonemic inventory differences, as opposed to surface phonetic forms and other aspects of grammar such as lexical choice.

Vowel acoustics reliably differentiate three coronal stops of Wubuy across prosodic contexts

Laboratory Phonology, 2012

The present study investigates the acoustic differentiation of three coronal stops in the indigen... more The present study investigates the acoustic differentiation of three coronal stops in the indigenous Australian language Wubuy. We test independent claims that only VC (vowel-into-consonant) transitions provide robust acoustic cues for retroflex as compared to alveolar and dental coronal stops, with no differentiating cues among these three coronal stops evident in CV (consonant-into-vowel) transitions. The four-way stop distinction /t, t̪, ʈ, c/ in Wubuy is contrastive word-initially (Heath 1984) and by implication utterance-initially, i.e., in CV-only contexts, which suggests that acoustic differentiation should be expected to occur in the CV transitions of this language, including in initial positions. Therefore, we examined both VC and CV formant transition information in the three target coronal stops across VCV (word-internal), V#CV (word-initial but utterance-medial) and ##CV (word- and utterance-initial), for /а/ vowel contexts, which provide the optimal environment for inve...

Australia and New Guinea

<p>The languages of Australia constitute a single genetic group. They are non-tonal, in tha... more <p>The languages of Australia constitute a single genetic group. They are non-tonal, in that tone is not lexically contrastive in any Australian language, and they tend to have stress systems where the location of stress is largely determined by the edges of morphemes. Their intonation systems are not unlike those of some European languages, though with phonetic rather than phonological effects of post-focal compression for the most part. The large number of languages of New Guinea are remarkable for their word-prosodic diversity and for that reason of great typological significance. While the entire area is under-investigated, the intonation systems in New Guinea are particularly poorly documented.</p>

Japanese Vowel Deletion Occurs in Words in Citation Form

Japanese vowels have allophonic reduced variants, including shortened, devoiced and deleted insta... more Japanese vowels have allophonic reduced variants, including shortened, devoiced and deleted instances. This kind of linguistic behaviour is commonly associated with rapid or casual speech. However, the present report demonstrates that vowel deletion also occurs when Japanese speakers produce Japanese words in citation form, and not just in rapid or casual speech. We propose that deletion is more likely to occur in highfrequency lexical items, specifically in three regularly occurring suffixes.