Chapter 1 Introduction
1.2 The Principles of the Transcription
in the substitutions. Chapter 4 contains an OT analysis that focuses mainly on substitutes that are dominant or systematic. Chapter 5 concludes this thesis.
1.2. The Principles of the Transcription
The phonetic transcription system adopted in this corpus in transcribing Japanese sources is based on Tsujimura (2007), as in (2) and (4), and that in transcribing
Taiwanese loans is based on Hung (2005), as in (3) and (5).
There are five vowels in Japanese, and the symbol [ɯ] represents an unrounded high back vowel. Nasalized vowels are not phonemes in Japanese. However, they will appear in some phonological environments in real pronunciation.
(2) Japanese vowels i ɯ
e
.o
aTaiwanese has six vowels, as illustrated in (3a)1. Nasalized vowels are phonemes in Taiwanese. Each vowel except for [ə] has its nasalized counterpart, as in (3b). The diacritic [˜] is placed on the top of a vowel to show its nasality.
(3) (a) Taiwanese oral vowels i
. u .. e .. ə
o.a
(b) Taiwanese nasal vowels ĩ
. ũ
…. ẽ .. ..
õ ãNormally, nasalized vowels contrast with the oral ones. However, Chung (1996) viewed [nasal] as a floating feature in Taiwanese. He suggested that segments will link to the [nasal] node through phonological rule interactions. Under his analysis,
1 The vowel system of Taiwanese varies from dialect to dialect. The system adopted here is basically a combination of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou accents, with omission and modification of some segments.
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only the oral vowels are considered as phonemes in Taiwanese, but the nasalized would be as allophones of their oral counterparts.
The table of the Japanese consonant system is shown in (4). Tsujimura (2007) used a symbol [y] to represent the palatal glide. However, the symbol [j] instead of [y]
is adopted in the present study.
(4) Japanese consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Alveo-palatal Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Stop -vd p t k
Taiwanese consonants are given in (5). Taiwanese has fewer consonants than Japanese; hence segmental substitution is bound to happen.
(5) Taiwanese consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop -vd p t k ʔ
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Hung (2005) included both [d] and [l] to represent the same sound. He claimed that [l]
occurs before low vowels, and [d] occurs in the remaining situations. However, he also pointed out that [d] and [l] do not contrast in Taiwanese, and that the degree of airstream utilized in the blocking of [d] in Taiwanese is not as heavy as the one in English. Since scholars generally agree on the absence of [d] in Taiwanese, we exclude the sound in table (5) as well.
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Chapter 2
Literature Review
2.1. Optimality Theory
This section gives a brief introduction of Optimality Theory as well as Cophonology, a version of OT.
2.1.1. Basic Concept
Optimality Theory (henceforth “OT”) was first introduced by Prince and Smolensky around 1990. As an alternative model in generative phonology, OT assumes that there is a Universal Grammar among languages of the world. The universal grammar contains a set of violable constraints that exists in all languages, and the systematic differences between languages are accounted for by the different rankings of such a set of universal constraints.
OT assumes that constraints are violable (Violability), and that the candidate that has the minimal violations of constraints will be the optimal output. Based on this assumption of constraints, if the constraint A is ranked higher than the constraint B, a candidate that violates the constraint A but satisfies the constraint B will not be chosen as the optimal output. On the contrary, a candidate may be chosen as the optimal output if it violates the constraint B but satisfies the constraint A.
In OT, the evaluation of the input and output mapping is done with the parallel application of constraints (Parallelism) rather than with the step-by-step application of rewrite rules. All possible outputs are generated by GEN at the same time and are
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evaluated by the constraints simultaneously. There are no intermediate levels.
There are two major constraint types in OT: markedness constraints and
faithfulness constraints. The former require an output to conform to the phonological restrictions in the language, and the latter confine the identity between an input and its correspondent output. The two kinds of constraints will interact and compete, forming a ranked constraint set to choose the optimal output of an input.
The operation of OT is presented schematically in (1).
(1) Input
GENERATOR
Candidate A, Candidate B, Candidate C …
EVALUATION
{Constraint 1 >> Constraint 2 >> Constraint 3 …}
Optimal Candidate
In OT, the outputs are not derived by applying phonological rules step by step. Rather, all possible outputs (named as candidates in OT) for an input are produced by GEN (Generator). All candidates will be evaluated by EVAL (Evaluator). EVAL contains a set of universal constraints, and the constraints are ranked with one another. The evaluation of candidates is done in a parallel way, and the one with the minimal numbers of violations will be chosen as the optimal output.
In OT, the interaction of constraints and the violations that are incurred by candidates are displayed in tableaux, as shown in (2).
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In the tableau, constraints are placed on the top of the row, candidates are put in the right side of the tableau, and the symbol ☞ next to the candidate indicates that it is the winner, that is, the optimal output in this tableau with such constraint ranking. The dotted line means that constraint 2 and constraint 3 are mutually unranked in the ranking hierarchy. The four listed constraints are ranked as follow: Cons1 >> Cons 2, Cons 3 >> Cons 4. Violations are presented with an asterisk mark ‘*’, and a crucial violation is indicated by ‘!’. In addition, shading appears in the column under a constraint if it is not crucial in determining the optimal output. As shown in tableau (2), candidates (a), (c), and (d) violate Cons3, Cons2, and Cons1, respectively. Since these constraints are ranked higher than Cons4, these candidates are ruled out.
Candidate (b) is chosen as the optimal output, although it violates Cons4. This conforms to the premise of OT that constraints are violable.
2.1.2. Feature Assimilation Constraint
Assimilation is often discussed under theories of autosegmental phonology.
McCarthy (2008b), on the other hand, developed an OT analysis, and proposed a constraint named as SHARE(F).
(3) SHARE(F): Assign one violation mark for every pair of adjacent segments that are not linked to the same token of [F].
Regarding the locution of ‘not linked to the same token of [F]’ in (3), McCarthy
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generalized the situations where violations occur, which are summarized below. Here
‘S’ stands for some arbitrary segments.
(4) SHARE(F) is violated in condition
if [F] is equipollent if [F] is privative
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
[αF1] [-αF1] [αF1] [αF2] [F] [F1] [F2]
S S S S S S S S S S
Any candidate that, depending on whether [F] is equipollent or privative,
conforming to one of the situations above will violate SHARE(F). For features that are equipollent, take the [ATR] feature as an example. The adjacent segments violates SHARE(F) if one is a [+ATR] segment and the other is [-ATR] one, as in (4a), or if one is a [+ATR] segment and the other is a [+round] segment, as in (4b).
As for features that are privative, take the [nasal] feature as an example. The adjacent segments violates SHARE(F) if one is linked to a [nasal] autosegment but the other is not, as in (4c), or if none of the two adjacent segments is linked to any [nasal]
autosegment, as in (4d), or if one is linked to a [nasal] autosegment and the other is linked to a [voice] autosegment, as in (4e).
This constraint is employed to account for the substitution of coda nasals in this thesis, and the shared feature is [back]. According to McCarthy, the [back] feature is one of ‘the best cases against privativity’. However, he also assumed that features involved in the harmony phenomenon are privative. We will follow this assumption and viewed the [back] feature as privative when evaluating candidates.
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As a version of OT, Cophonology was proposed by scholars to account for the nature of the diversity, such as registers, dialects, and free variations, within a
language. Orgun (1996), Anttila (1997), and Inkelas and Zoll (2007), etc. claimed that there are different phonological systems that co-exist in a language, and the difference lies in the different rankings of a single set of constraints.
The innovation of cophonology is better represented by a grammar lattice, as in (5). In the grammar lattice, the core grammar of a language L is placed in the
superordinate node, that is, ‘Master Ranking’. Constraints in the core grammar are partially ranked. That is, Cons1 dominates Cons2 and Cons3, but the ranking of Cons2 and Cons3 are not specified. Such specification is determined in the two subgrammars in language L, they are, Corphonlogy A and Corphonology B. In
Corphonlogy A, Cons2 dominates Cons3, while in Corphonology B, Cons3 dominates Cons2. Variations in language L are accounted for by these different rankings.
(5) A grammar lattice of language L (based on Inkelas and Zoll 2007) Master Ranking
Cons1 >> {Cons2, Cons3}
Cophonology A Cophonology B
Cons1 >> Cons2 >> Cons3 Cons1 >> Cons3 >> Cons2
The concept of cophonology is employed in analyzing Japanese loanwords in Taiwanese in this thesis. Variations are found in some of the segmental substitutions.
For example, [as.sa.ɾi] ‘frankly’ can become [a.sa.liʔ] as well as [at.sa.liʔ] in
Taiwanese. The two substitutes are in free variation, and they are properly accounted for by two different rankings of a single constraint set.
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2.2. Bases of Taiwanese and Japanese Phonology
This section introduces some phonological bases in Taiwanese and Japanese that relate to the present study.
2.2.1. Taiwanese
In Taiwanese, a word-medial nasal will become phonetically similar with its following consonant in the place of articulation, as in (6).
(6) Coda nasal assimilation (Lu 2003, Lin 2001) a. king-tsio → kin-tsio ‘banana’
b. sin-khu → sing khu ‘body’
c. sin-pu → sim-pu ‘daughter-in-law’
The velar nasal [ŋ] changes to the alveolar [n] when it is followed by an alveolar [ʦ], as in (6a). The alveolar nasal [n] changes to the velar [ŋ] when it is followed by a velar [k], as in (6b). The alveolar nasal [n] changes to the labial [m] when it is followed by a labial [p], as in (6c).
Likewise, the place of articulation of a word-medial coda stop usually becomes similar to its following consonant.
(7) Coda stop assimilation (Lin 2001) a. /pak-to/ → [pat-to] ‘belly’
b. /sat-bu/ → [sap-bu] ‘flea’
As shown in (7), the velar stop [k] changes to the alveolar [t] when it is followed by an alveolar [t]. Besides, the alveolar stop [t] changes to the labial [p] when it is followed by a labial [b].
There are certain restrictions that are imposed on a syllable in Taiwanese.
First, if a voiced consonant is followed by a nasalized vowel in a CV syllable, it
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has to become a nasal consonant in the surface. Hung (2005) named this as ‘CV nasal harmony’. For example, /bã/ shall be realized as [mã]. Moreover, this restriction does not apply to voiceless obstruents. For example, *[sã] does not exist in Taiwanese.
Second, the onset and the coda or the nucleus and the coda of the same syllable cannot both be [+nasal] (Chung 1996). Therefore, the form *[mãn], although
conforming to CV nasal harmony, does not exist in Taiwanese. This co-occurrence restriction is shown schematically in (8).
(8) Co-occurrence restriction of nasals (Chung 1996)
*[ C
.V C ]
σ *[ C V C ]σ or[nasal] [nasal] [nasal] [nasal]
The problematic NVN structure is fixed by changing the onset consonant to a
non-nasal consonant, and the problematic CṽN structure is fixed by deleting the nasal feature of the vowel.
Finally, the nuclear vowel and its following coda consonant cannot both be [+high] (Chung 1996), which is presented in (9).
(9) Rime restriction (Chung 1996)
* Rime V C [+high] [+high]
This restriction accounts for the lack of forms like *[uŋ] and *[iŋ]. However, Chung also pointed out that this restriction ‘is now on a wane’, for some speakers of different Taiwanese dialects use [iŋ] instead of [eŋ] in real pronunciation.
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Japanese vowels, especially high vowels, are devoiced in a particular
environment (Toda and Huang 2005, Tsujimura 2007). A high vowel will become voiceless when it appears between voiceless consonants, or when it is in the word-final position and is preceded by a voiceless consonant, as in (10).
(10) Devoicing of high vowels2 (Tsujimura 2007) V → V / C ___ C
[+high] [-voice] [-voice]
#
There are two kinds of codas in Japanese, nasal codas and obstruent codas. A coda nasal is placeless underlyingly in Japanese, which is represented by a capital ‘N’.
A word-medial coda nasal will acquire its place feature from the following onset consonant. A nasal sound is pronounced as the labial nasal [m] when it is followed by the labial consonants [p], [b], and [m]. It is pronounced as the alveolar nasal [n] when preceding the alveolar sounds [t], [d], [ʦ], [dz], [ʧ], [ʤ], [ɾ], and [n]. It is pronounced as the velar [ŋ] when it is followed by the velar sounds [k], [g], and [ŋ]. This
assimilation phenomenon is generalized in (11).
(11) Nasal assimilation3 (Tsujimura 2007) N → nasal / ___ C
[α place] [α place]
As for a coda nasal that is in the word-final position, it will be realized as a
uvular [ɴ]. In addition, a vowel that precedes the uvular [ɴ] is nasalized (Vance 2008).
A coda obstruent occurs only in the word-medial position in Japanese. Such kind of coda obstruent is the initial part of an extra-long obstruent (or a geminate
2 The circle under the capital V indicates that it is devoiced.
3 Tsujimura uses ‘n’ to represent the nasal underlyingly.
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obstruent). According to Vance (2008), a geminate obstruent is treated as “a syllable-final obstruent followed by a syllable-initial obstruent” in syllabification.
Segments including [ʧ], [ʤ], [ʃ], and [ç] are classified as palatal sounds in Japanese (e.g., Akamatsu 1997, Ito and Mester 2003, Tsujimura 2007, Yamaguchi 2007). A palatal sound is considered as [+high].Discussion of the [+high] property of these segments is found in Yoshida (1996, 2001), who conducted the analyses under the framework of element theory. Generally, the [+high] property of [ʧ], [ʤ], [ʃ], and [ç] results from feature spreading. Since [ʧ], [ʤ], [ʃ], and [ç] normally occur before the vowel [i], Yoshida suggested that “the spreading property of [i] must be [+high]”.
Moreover, Yoshida (2001) presented the liner representations of Japanese consonants in terms of elements. Certain of them that are related to the present study are listed in (12).
(12) Linear representation (Yoshida 2001) ɸ (h.U) ç (h.I)
ʧ (ʔ._); (h.I._) ʤ (L.ʔ._); (L.h.I._)
ʃ (h.I._)
Vowels are constructed from the elements I, U, and A, which are independently manifested as /i/, /u/, and /a/ in the nucleus, respectively. As shown in (12), [ɸ]
contains a U element in its representation and the other four segments all contain a I element in their representation. Based on the discussion, [ɸ] shall be [+labial] (the vowel [u] is a labial sound), and [ʧ], [ʃ], [ç], and [ʤ] are all [+high] in Japanese.
2.3. Previous Studies on Japanese Loanwords in Taiwanese
There is some research concerning segmental substitution of Japanese loanwords in Taiwanese.
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Chang (1993) in his paper examined segmental substitution of Japanese
loanwords. However, he did not analyze the substitution of every Japanese segment.
For example, there are five oral vowels in Japanese, but only the vowel [o] was analyzed. Moreover, a descriptive approach was utilized in his paper. For example, when discussing the substitution of the Japanese coda [s], he merely gave the
statement that “a Japanese syllabic non-nasal may not be realized in Taiwanese.” The motivation of such segment deletion was not provided in the study.
Certain of Chang’s analyses of loanword adjustments are based on step by step rule applications. He suggested that like Japanese, a coda consonant will assimilate with its following onset in the place of articulation in Taiwanese. After assimilation rule, the phonotatic rules (which were not explained in the paper) will be applied to the forms that meet the requirements, as in (13). Here we consider only the
substitution of the nasal coda.
(13) Input: /bok.sĩŋ.ɡu/
/bok.siŋ.ɡu/
Output: /bok.sin.ɡu/
In the present corpus, the [kãm.p,o:] to [k*an.pjə] ‘dried gourd’ change is observed, which contradicts Chang’s analysis. Based on the rule application in (13), the assimilation rule applies to [kãm.p,o:], resulting in the wrong output [k*am.pjə].
The phonotatic rule is inactive since [am] is a legitimate rime in Taiwanese. As will be discussed in chapter 4, the change of [am] to [an] can be properly accounted for by adopting other universal constraints.
assimilation rule
phonotatic rule
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2.3.2. Tsao’s (2000) Analysis
Tsao (2000) proposed a rule for glottal insertion when discussing the assignment of tones to Japanese loanwords in Taiwanese. He classified syllables into short and long ones. Syllables with structures such as VC, V:, and VV are considered as heavy syllables. The first part of these structures is assigned a letter N, and the second part is assigned a letter A. Accordingly, a long syllable can be represented as having an NA structure, while a short syllable can be represented as N. Regarding glottal insertion, it will not occur when the penultimate syllable has an NA structure. Compare two loanwords in (14).
(14) Glottal insertion
(a) su pa na ‘spanner’ (b) bok sin ku ‘boxing’
N N N NA NA N
M H Lh M HH LL
As shown in (14), the glottal h is added to the loanword supana ‘spanner’ when both the final and the penultimate syllables are open syllables. In contrast, glottal insertion will not take place when the penultimate syllable contains an NA structure, even though the final syllable is an open one.
This generalization of the role of glottal insertion may be too rigid in that counter-examples are likely to be found. For example, loanwords like tsiok.kih
‘scissors’ and ji.sia.khuh ‘magnet’ are observed in the present corpus. Therefore, when examining the phenomenon of glide insertion, we have to distinguish the VC syllable from the V: syllable and the VV syllable, rather than grouping them together.
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Hung (2002) gave a short discussion of the modification of the onset nasal in an NVN syllable in Japanese loanwords in Taiwanese when examining the phenomenon of the nasal spreading. His analysis was conducted under the framework of Optimality Theory. Constraints that relate to the modification of such nasal are presented below.
(15) *-ṽC: No nasalized nucleus in a close syllable.
(16) SURVIVENAS: The underlying nasal has to be presented in surface.
Variations in the modification of a NVN syllable can be explained by different rankings of the same constraint set, as in tableaux (17) and (18).
(17) mãŋ31ga11 is obtained with the opposite ranking hierarchy. The different results of the output choice are accounted for by the deployment of constraints and ranking.
The grammar in (17) obeys the phonological restrictions that are imposed by Taiwanese. However, the grammar in (18) takes the similarity between sources and loans as the primary concern. Moreover, Hung suggested that generations who do not receive education under Japanese rule will adopt the ranking in (17). On the contrary, those who received education under Japanese rule will adopt the ranking in (18).
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However, he also pointed out that Taiwanese speakers who can not speak Japanese may also adopt the ranking in (18) when pronouncing Japanese loanwords.
There are some problems in Hung’s analysis. First, other than the adjustment of the nasal feature, place assimilation also occurs in substituting the Japanese word
man-ga ‘cartoon’. The coda consonant will assimilate with its following onset in both
Japanese and Taiwanese. The candidates in (17) and (18) show the phenomenon of such assimilation, but it was not discussed at all.
Second, only the -VN syllable is allowed in Taiwanese in terms of the constraint
*-ṽC given in (15). It prohibits the possibility of *[sãp] (-ṽC) and *[sĩãŋ] (-ṽN)
correctly. However, the constraint *-ṽC will wrongly excludes the possibility of forms like [mãʔ]. Therefore, the constraint is better defined as *-ṽN. The lack of the nasality of a vowel mainly results from the existence of the following nasal coda, but not the obstruent coda.
As for the absence of forms like *[sãp], it can be excluded by the constraint C-V N.H, which was also provided in Hung’s paper, and is represented in (19).
(19) C-V N.H.: Assign one violation mark for every output that its onset and nucleus do not agree in [nasal].
This constraint concerns the nasality of an onset consonant and its following nucleus.
However, it wrongly excludes the forms like [tã] ‘carry things (on shoulder)’ in Taiwanese. As can be observed, the onset segment in [tã] is a voiceless obstruent [t].
Hung also noticed this situation, and he proposed a constraint *c̃-, saying that the [nasal] feature will not spread to a voiceless onset obstruent. By ranking *c̃- higher than C-V N.H, forms like [tã] can be correctly predicted.
Finally, the constraint SURVIVENAS can be replaced by IDENT[nasal], since they both require the input and the output to be the same in nasality.
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Studies of loanwords from a phonological aspect in other languages have been made by several researchers.
Cheng (2001) in his thesis examined English loans in Japanese under the framework of Optimality Theory. His analysis was based on a comparison of the similarity of the features of a segment in the donor language and the recipient one.
The constraint IDENT[F] is adopted to account for the process of segmental
substitutions. He concluded that segmental substitutions can be seen as a result of the interaction between markedness constraints concerning segmental substitutions and faithfulness constraints. These constraints are part of Universal Grammar, and they form a specific ranking that belongs to Japanese.
Kenstowicz (2003) used the term ‘Reconfiguration’ to describe the phenomenon of segmental substitution when reviewing Flavien Gbéto’s study of the loanword phonology of Fon. The process of reconfiguration refers to the argument is that segments will be split off when they enter other languages. For example, the French /R/ is realized as [ʁl] in Fon. Since [ʁ] is an obstruent but /R/ is [+sonorant], [l] is added to fulfill the feature identity of [+sonorant]. Japanese loanwords also reveal similar phenomenon of reconfiguration when they are borrowed into Taiwanese, which will be discussed in the following chapters.
Some scholars suggested that both perception and grammar play roles in the word-loaning process (Steriade 2001, Yip 2006, Kim 2008). People first perceive non-native segments from speakers of the donor language. They then find similar segments that correspond to the one that they heard within their native sound inventory. After excluding or modifying the patterns that do not comply with phonological constraints in the recipient language, the adapted loanwords appear (Kenstowicz 2005). Such intermediate view stands between a purely perceptual modal
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and a purely grammatical modal. This intermediate view of loanword adjustments is adopted in this thesis.
2.5. Previous Studies with Loanword Corpus
Much research has been analyzed loanword adjustments based on loanword
Much research has been analyzed loanword adjustments based on loanword