Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia
The present study employs a quantitative method to investigate phonological profiles of languages spoken across the coastline of East Asia, ranging from the Chukotka Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula. The sampling includes 264 linguistic varieties from 17 different genealogical units. 20 typological...
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Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University
2024
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/569479 2024-06-23T07:52:07+00:00 Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia Yurayong, Chingduang Szeto, Pui Yiu Department of Languages Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) General Linguistics 2024-01-09T08:45:03Z 37 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/569479 eng eng Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University Yurayong , C & Szeto , P Y 2023 , ' Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia ' , Journal of Language and Culture , vol. 42 , no. 2 , pp. 78-114 . ORCID: /0000-0002-0676-981X/work/150730389 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/569479 a62a55de-0778-4355-87df-153cf6ab00e2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess openAccess Languages phonology linguistic typology areal linguistics East Asia Suvarṇabhūmi Article acceptedVersion 2024 ftunivhelsihelda 2024-06-11T14:22:15Z The present study employs a quantitative method to investigate phonological profiles of languages spoken across the coastline of East Asia, ranging from the Chukotka Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula. The sampling includes 264 linguistic varieties from 17 different genealogical units. 20 typological features related to various domains of phonology, including qualities and contrasts in vowels and consonants, as well as components in the syllable structure and tones are considered. Attention is paid to three points of focus: areal distribution, diachronic change, and learnability. Across Coastal East Asia, there is a north-south divide running across the boundary between Northeast and Southeast Asia. Within these zones, numerable groups of languages share similar phonological features and thereby form Sprachbünde, the formation of which can be traced back to the existence of (pre)historical political entities, population movements and subsequent encounters among speakers of different language families. Under areal diffusion, languages in contact have acquired similar tendencies of retention and innovation for individual phonological features, resulting in deviation across cognate languages spoken in different Sprachbünde. In several cases, a statistical method reveals an obvious signal of particular language families being the source of areal patterns. Among the phonological features under investigation, several features have a lower degree of learnability, especially among L2 speakers in the scenario of language shift, and this is largely due to typological differences from their L1. Cross-cutting between areality and learnability, those features with a higher degree of complexity, such as consonant clusters, tend to reveal more clearly the area-specific tendencies. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Chukotka Chukotka Peninsula HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
Languages phonology linguistic typology areal linguistics East Asia Suvarṇabhūmi |
spellingShingle |
Languages phonology linguistic typology areal linguistics East Asia Suvarṇabhūmi Yurayong, Chingduang Szeto, Pui Yiu Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia |
topic_facet |
Languages phonology linguistic typology areal linguistics East Asia Suvarṇabhūmi |
description |
The present study employs a quantitative method to investigate phonological profiles of languages spoken across the coastline of East Asia, ranging from the Chukotka Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula. The sampling includes 264 linguistic varieties from 17 different genealogical units. 20 typological features related to various domains of phonology, including qualities and contrasts in vowels and consonants, as well as components in the syllable structure and tones are considered. Attention is paid to three points of focus: areal distribution, diachronic change, and learnability. Across Coastal East Asia, there is a north-south divide running across the boundary between Northeast and Southeast Asia. Within these zones, numerable groups of languages share similar phonological features and thereby form Sprachbünde, the formation of which can be traced back to the existence of (pre)historical political entities, population movements and subsequent encounters among speakers of different language families. Under areal diffusion, languages in contact have acquired similar tendencies of retention and innovation for individual phonological features, resulting in deviation across cognate languages spoken in different Sprachbünde. In several cases, a statistical method reveals an obvious signal of particular language families being the source of areal patterns. Among the phonological features under investigation, several features have a lower degree of learnability, especially among L2 speakers in the scenario of language shift, and this is largely due to typological differences from their L1. Cross-cutting between areality and learnability, those features with a higher degree of complexity, such as consonant clusters, tend to reveal more clearly the area-specific tendencies. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Department of Languages Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) General Linguistics |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yurayong, Chingduang Szeto, Pui Yiu |
author_facet |
Yurayong, Chingduang Szeto, Pui Yiu |
author_sort |
Yurayong, Chingduang |
title |
Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia |
title_short |
Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia |
title_full |
Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia |
title_fullStr |
Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia |
title_sort |
clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in coastal east asia |
publisher |
Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/569479 |
genre |
Chukotka Chukotka Peninsula |
genre_facet |
Chukotka Chukotka Peninsula |
op_relation |
Yurayong , C & Szeto , P Y 2023 , ' Clustering and evolution of phonological systems across languages in Coastal East Asia ' , Journal of Language and Culture , vol. 42 , no. 2 , pp. 78-114 . ORCID: /0000-0002-0676-981X/work/150730389 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/569479 a62a55de-0778-4355-87df-153cf6ab00e2 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess openAccess |
_version_ |
1802643330166685696 |