The measurement of rhythm: a comparison of Singapore and British English

Deterding, David

doi:10.1006/jpho.2001.0138

Cited by 147 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…To sample a few of these, Deterding [30], applying the PVI to Singapore English at the level of the syllable (as opposed to the more common vocalic intervals), noted that the purely pairwise normalization of the formula above would be sensitive to errors in the exact location of syllable boundaries and suggested normalization with respect to the mean syllable duration of the whole utterance. This remedy, however, would not answer the different objection of Gibbon [31] that 'alternating sequences may receive the same PVI as exponentially increasing or decreasing series PVI(2,4,2,4,2,4) ¼ PVI (2,4,8,16,32,64)'.…”

Section: Coordinative Rhythm and Responses To The Lack Of Isochronymentioning

confidence: 99%

Speech rhythm: a metaphor?

Nolan

Jeon

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Is speech rhythmic? In the absence of evidence for a traditional view that languages strive to coordinate either syllables or stress-feet with regular time intervals, we consider the alternative that languages exhibit contrastive rhythm subsisting merely in the alternation of stronger and weaker elements. This is initially plausible, particularly for languages with a steep 'prominence gradient', i.e. a large disparity between stronger and weaker elements; but we point out that alternation is poorly achieved even by a 'stress-timed' language such as English, and, historically, languages have conspicuously failed to adopt simple phonological remedies that would ensure alternation. Languages seem more concerned to allow 'syntagmatic contrast' between successive units and to use durational effects to support linguistic functions than to facilitate rhythm. Furthermore, some languages (e.g. Tamil, Korean) lack the lexical prominence which would most straightforwardly underpin prominence of alternation. We conclude that speech is not incontestibly rhythmic, and may even be antirhythmic. However, its linguistic structure and patterning allow the metaphorical extension of rhythm in varying degrees and in different ways depending on the language, and it is this analogical process which allows speech to be matched to external rhythms.

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Section: Coordinative Rhythm and Responses To The Lack Of Isochronymentioning

confidence: 99%

Speech rhythm: a metaphor?

Nolan

Jeon

2014

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Brown (1988) describes it has having a staccato eff ect. Deterding's (2001) 1998: 125). The role of the auxiliary HAVE might be taken up by already.…”

Section: Rpmentioning

confidence: 98%

English in Singapore

Lim

Pakir²,

Wee³

2012

IJLTIC

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This article discusses the various ways in which it is possible to theorise about the varieties of English in the world, in particular Kachru’s (1982) concentric circle model and Schneider’s (2007) phases of development in post-colonial varieties of English and I try to fi t Singapore English into these models, although in both cases there are some difficulties. I then provide the historical background to how English was spread to South-East Asia and note that English is moving towards first-language status. The key phonological, grammatical, lexical and discourse are outlined. I end by discussing some of the key elements to remember when considering non-Anglo Englishes like Singapore English.

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“…As for the domain of (usually migration-induced) linguistic contact, rhythmic transfer has been attested for several Asian varieties of English in contact with syllable-timed languages, among them Mandarin Chinese (Low et al 2000, Deterding 2001, Jian 2004, Setter 2006 and Hindi (Krivokapić 2013), for the varieties of French spoken in the Parisian banlieues ('suburban spaces'), which interact with migration languages such as Arabic (Fagyal 2010), and for Argentinean Spanish in contact with Italian (Benet et al 2012, Gabriel & Kireva 2014.…”

Section: Speech Rhythm In Fll Bilingualism and Contact Varietiesmentioning

confidence: 99%