Open Access

Akustische Messungen subphonemischer Verschluss- und Aspirationsdauern in apparent-time-Daten belegen die Neugewichtung akustischer Reize zur Signalisierung der intervokalischen Fortis/Lenis-Opposition in jüngeren Generationen einzelner DACH-Varietäten, die auf Kontakt mit in Deutschland gesprochenen Standardvarietäten zurückgeführt wird. Jüngere Gewährspersonen des Westmittelbairischen nutzen etwa vermehrt Aspiration bei schwindender Bedeutung des Verschlussdauerreizes. Die diachrone Kürzung langer Fortisplosive in der Zürcher Standardvarietät wurde zudem in einer agentenbasierten Computersimulation als Folge zufälligen Kontakts mit einer in Deutschland gesprochenen Standardvarietät rekonstruiert. Die Ergebnisse dieser sowohl kontaktinduzierten als auch graduellen Lautwandelprozesse werden im Rahmen eines interaktiv-phonetischen Lautwandelmodells diskutiert.

Rhyme occurs when two or more words are phonologically identical from the final stressed vowel onward. However, there are several types of so-called imperfect rhymes in which vocalic and/or consonantal segments are allowed to differ. Some of these types frequently replace perfect rhymes in verse-final positions in the German poetic tradition, which suggests that they are licensed by genre conventions. Thus far, however, there is little empirical investigation into whether or not specific subtypes of imperfect rhymes are actually perceived as rhyming. Using a speeded rhyme judgment task, this study examines (a) how imperfect rhymes are perceived by comparing them to perfect rhymes and nonrhymes and (b) systematic differences between subtypes of imperfect rhyme. Specifically, we studied three subtypes in which the relevant segments differed in terms of vowel roundedness, voicing, and vowel quantity. If participants did not answer the speeded rhyme judgment task within 750 ms, the trial timed out and the next one appeared. We analyzed both rhyme judgments (yes/no) and time-outs (valid/timed-out), the former indexing rhyme acceptability, the latter indexing uncertainty. Our results indicate that imperfect rhymes are less acceptable than perfect rhymes and elicit greater uncertainty in the rhyme judgment task than both perfect rhymes and nonrhymes. Metered verse context increases the acceptability of imperfect rhymes, whereas perfect and nonrhymes were equally acceptable in word pairs and couplets. Furthermore, our results corroborate the notion that the degree of phonological similarity plays a crucial role in the perception of words as rhyming. However, our study does not lend support to the idea that frequent occurrence of specific imperfect rhymes in the poetic canon makes them more acceptable as rhymes.

This conversation analytic study compares the use of negation particles in spoken German and Persian, namely nein/nee and na. While these particles have a range of functions in both languages (Ghaderi 2022; Imo 2017), their use in response to news remains understudied. We focus on nein/nee and na in two sequential contexts: (i) after prior disconfirmations (Extract (a)) and (ii) in response to either solicited or unsolicited informings (see Extracts (b) and (c), respectively). In both contexts, nein/nee and na mark unexpectedness and open up an opportunity space for more, but they do so in different ways and with different outcomes. Nein/nee- and na-turns after disconfirming, often minimal responses to first-position confirmable turns mark the prior as unexpected (or even contrasting with the nein/nee/na-speaker’s expectations) and thus as expandable/accountable (cf. Ford 2001; Gubina/Betz 2021). Nein/nee/na-turns after informings (e.g., announcements that display a story teller’s negative emotional stance) differ not only in sequential position but also in prosodic realization. They can be either falling or rising, but all are characterized by marked prosody, i.e., lengthening, very low onset, smiling or breathy voice, or high overall pitch. Through position and turn design features, such nein/nee- and na-turns not only mark a prior turn as counter to (normative) expectations, but may also display the speaker’s affective stance and affiliate with the affective stance of the prior interactant. By comparing the use of nein/nee and na in German and Persian in the two functions illustrated in Extracts (a) and (b/c), we will show (i) how nein/nee- and na-turns shape interactional trajectories after responsive actions and (ii) what role the particles play in managing news and stance-taking as well as epistemic and affective positioning. Apart from revealing similarities in the use of German and Persian negation particles, the results of our crosslinguistic comparison will demonstrate that even if different languages have similar practices for specific actions, the use of these practices is language- and culture-specific. This means that even similar practices in different languages have their own “collateral effects” (Sidnell/Enfield 2012), linguistic and prosodic characteristic features, and, at least sometimes, consequences for social actions accomplished in the specific language (e.g., Dingemanse/Blythe/Dirksmeyer 2014; Evans/Levinson 2009; Floyd/Rossi/Enfield (eds.) 2020; Fox et al. 2009). Our study uses the method of Conversation Analysis (Sidnell/Stivers (eds.) 2013) and draws on more than 80 hours of audio and video recordings of spontaneous interactions (co-present, via video link, and on the telephone) in everyday and institutional contexts.

Die erfolgreiche Wiederverwendung gesprochener Korpora muss fachspezifischen Evaluationskritierien genügen und erfordert daher eine flexible Korpusarchitektur, die durch multirepräsentationale (Verfügbarkeit eines akustischen Signals und einer Transliteration) und multisituationale Daten (Variabilität von Situationen bzw. Aufgaben) gekennzeichnet ist. Diese Kriterien werden in einer Fallstudie zur /eː/-Diphthongisierung polnischer Deutschlerner/-innen angewendet und diskutiert. Die Fallstudie repliziert die Ergebnisse der /eː/-Diphthongisierung bei Bildbenennungen von Nimz (2016). Vor der Wiederverwendung werden weitere fachspezifische Evaluationskriterien überprüft, wie Multisituationalität, Aufnahmequalitäten, Erweiterbarkeit, vorhandene Metadaten und vorhandene Dokumentation. Nach der Replikationsstudie werden die Herausforderungen für eine Umsetzung der Wiederverwendung bezüglich Datenmanagement, Workflows und Data Literacy in Forschungs- und Lehrkontexten diskutiert.

Identity effects in phonology are deviations from regular phonological form (i.e. canonical patterns) which are due to the relatedness between words. More specifically, identity effects are those deviations which have the function to enhance similarity in the surface phonological form of morphologically related words. In rule-based generative phonology the effects in question are described by means of the cycle. For example, the stress on the second syllable in cond[ɛ]nsation as opposed to the stresslessness of the second syllable in comp[ǝ]nsation is described by applying the stress rules initially to the sterns thereby yielding condénse and cómpensàte. Subsequently the stress rules are reapplied to the affixed words with the initial stress assignment (i.e. stress on the second syllable in condense, but not in compensate) leaving its mark in the output form (cf. Chomsky and Halle 1968). A second example are words like lie[p]los 'unloving' in German, which shows the effects of neutralization in coda position (i.e. only voiceless obstruents may occur in coda position) even though the obstruent should 'regularly' be syllabified in head position (i.e. bl is a wellformed syllable head in German). Here the stern is syllabified on an initial cycle, obstruent devoicing applies (i.e. lie[p]) and this structure is left intact when affixation applies (i.e. lie[p ]Ios ) (cf. Hall 1992). As a result the stern of lie[p]los is identical to the base lie[p].