Chapter 3 Language-to-Music Mapping: Onset Cluster
3.3 Language-to-Music Mapping
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立 政 治 大 學
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Chapter 3
Language-to-Music Mapping: Onset Cluster
3.1 Introduction
This chapter compares the linguistic mapping and the language-to-music mapping in onset clusters. Segmental changes are observed from Mandarin-accented English in reading and singing. I posit the mapping schema in (33).
(33) Language-to-music mapping: segment Linguistic input
Production grammar Linguistic output
Perception grammar
Musical inputProduction grammar
Musical outputAs proposed in (33), the linguistic output is the English word pronounced by Mandarin speakers. This linguistic output is then perceived as the musical segmental inputs. The perceived musical input is then produced as the musical output, which is sung by the speakers. Segmental changes are observed from the linguistic mapping and language-to-music mapping.
There are two linguistic output variants of monosyllabic syllables with onset clusters. Linguistic output1 preserves the onset cluster and the syllable number
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立 政 治 大 學
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remains one. Linguistic output2 involves vowel insertion so that the syllable number becomes two. These linguistic outputs are respectively assigned to one and two musical beats. This chapter investigates how musical beat assignment affects segmental changes and how the prosodic word conditions musical beat assignment in the musical input.
3.2 Data Design
The database is designed to compare segmental changes of onset clusters in the linguistic mapping and the language-to-music mapping. The Mandarin informants include two males and three females, aged between 59 and 72, and are of senior secondary to higher education in Taiwan. All of them have learnt English for at least six years. In order to examine segmental changes between the linguistic output and the musical output, the informants are asked to read and sing the assigned target words. The procedures of reading in step1 and singing in step 2 are introduced in 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 respectively.
3.2.1 Step 1: Reading
The informants read the target words on a piece of paper in step 1. They can see and read the words to ensure that their linguistic output comes from their own input instead of from other peoples’ linguistic output.
The target words include onset clusters with different combination of consonants on the sonority scale.1 The sonority sequencing principle (SSP) is introduced by Sievers (1881) and Jespersen (1904). They propose that in the onset cluster a more
1 The collected onset clusters do not reveal clear correlation to the SSP, which, however, effective on coda clusters, as will be discussed in Chapter 4.
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sonorous consonant stands closer to the syllable peak than one that is less sonorous.
Carr (1993), and Broselow and Finer (1991) list stop and fricative as separate classes.
As in (34), stop is the least sonorous, while glide is the most sonorous.
(34) Sonority scale
The data in (35) are examples of target words with onset clusters. The onsets in (35) conform to SSP. In other words, the sonority of the first consonant in the onset cluster should be lower than that of the second consonant, which is closer to the syllable peak. For instance, the onset cluster [bl] is the combination of a less sonorous stop followed by a more sonorous liquid.
(35) Target words with onset clusters
SSP Example target words
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立 政 治 大 學
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In step 1, the informants read the target words, such as in (36-39).
(36) Target word: blue Output: [blu], [bulu]
(37) Target word: play Output: [phleɪ], [phuleɪ]
(38) Target word: green Output: [grin], [gurin]
(39) Target word: class Output: [klæs], [kəlæs]
There are two kinds of linguistic outputs. One is without vowel insertion and the other is with vowel insertion. The variation in pronouncing the onset clusters is schematized as (40).
(40) Linguistic input Linguistic output
(blu) Linguistic output1 (σ) /blu/ ‘blue’
(bulu) Linguistic output2 (σσ)
As in (40), the prosodic words are formed in the output. For example, the linguistic input /blu/ yields either (blu) or (bulu) in the output. Linguistic output1 preserves the onset cluster and remains monosyllabic, whereas linguistic output2 inserts a vowel into the cluster and becomes disyllabic.
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立 政 治 大 學
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(41) Statistics of the linguistic outputs
Table (41) shows the linguistic input to linguistic output mapping. There are totally 59 syllables with onset clusters. Fifty-one, or 86%, of them surface as one syllable; eight, or 14%, of them insert a vowel, changing the syllable number to two. The percentage shows that the informants tend to correctly pronounce syllables with onset clusters.
3.2.2 Step 2: Singing
In step 2, the informants sing the linguistic outputs they produce in step 1. As mentioned in 3.2.1, there are two kinds of linguistic outputs, namely, linguistic output1 and linguistic output2. Each of the linguistic outputs is respectively assigned with one and two beats in the language-to-music mapping. Take (blu) for example.
(42) Linguistic output1 (σ) to singing mapping Linguistic output1:(blu)
As shown in (42), whether linguistic output1, (blu), is assigned with one musical beat, as in (42a), or with two musical beats, as in (42b), the singing outputs surface as [blu], where no vowel insertion occurs. The prosodic word structure is removed in the singing output.
2 Some of the target words are with coda, for example, green. However, since coda is not the focus in this chapter, only onsets and nuclei are listed.
Linguistic input Linguistic output1 Linguistic output2 Total CCV2 (CCV) (51/86%) (CVCV) (8/14%) 59 (100%)
a. Singing output b. Singing output blu
∣
q
blu ╱╲
q q
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(43) Statistics of the linguistic output1 (σ) to singing mapping
Linguistic output1 Singing output (q) Singing output (q q)
(CCV)
The table in (43) shows that there are totally 51 onset clusters that are produced as linguistic output1. These onset clusters are respectively assigned with one and two musical beats. When they are associated with one beat, 50, or 98%, of them are sung as monosyllabic CCV. When they are associated with two beats, still 100% of them are sung as monosyllabic syllables.
Consider the output2 mapping, as in (44).
(44) Linguistic output2 (σσ) to singing mapping Linguistic output2: (bulu)
When (bulu) is assigned with one musical beat, as in (44a), the singing output is truncated as [blu]. When the same linguistic outputis assigned with two musical beats, as in (44b), the singing output is still (blu). The structure of the prosodic word is
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(45) Statistics of the linguistic output2 (σσ) to singing mapping
Linguistic output2 Singing output (q) Singing output (q q)
(CVCV)
There are totally eight onset clusters that are produced as linguistic output2 in the database. Each of them is assigned with one and two musical beats respectively. As in table (45), when they are associated with one beat, seven, or 87.5%, of them are sung as CCV. Only one, or 12.5%, of them is sung as CV. None of them are sung as disyllabic syllables. When they are associated with two beats, still seven, or 87.5% of them are sung are sung as monosyllabic syllables.
In brief, two patterns are in order. First, whether the monosyllabic output1 is associated with one or two musical beats, there is no vowel inserted to resolve the onset cluster. Second, whether the disyllabic linguistic output2 is assigned with one or two musical beats, the inserted vowel in reading is deleted in singing.
3.3 Language-to-Music Mapping
I propose a model for the language-to-music mapping, as illustrated in (46).
Production and perception grammars are shown in the linguistic mapping and language-to-music mapping.
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(46) Segmental Model for the Language-to-Music Mapping:
Linguistic input I
Linguistic output O1 O2
Musical input I1 I2 I 3 I4
♩ ♩♩ ♩ ♩♩
Musical output O1 O2 O3 O4
The input on the top is a monosyllable with an onset cluster. The production grammar is shown in the linguistic input to output mapping. There are two linguistics outputs, namely, linguistic output1 and linguistic output2. Linguistic output1 is with monosyllable where no vowel is inserted. Linguistic output2 is pronounced with two syllables where a vowel is inserted to prevent complex consonants. Both of the linguistic outputs are parsed into prosodic words.
The mapping from the linguistic output to the musical input demonstrates a need for the perception grammar. The linguistic outputs are perceived as the musical inputs, and each of them are assigned with one and two musical beats respectively. The prosodic word structure, which may affect beat assignment, is formed in the musical input. Whether linguistic output1 is assigned with one or two beats, the musical segmental input remains monosyllabic. As for linguistic output2,itsinserted vowels are deleted whether they are assigned with one two beats.