In phonology, a register, or pitch register, is a prosodic feature of syllables in certain languages in which tone, vowel phonation, glottalization or similar features depend upon one another.
In Burmese, differences in tone correlate with vowel phonation and so neither exists independently. There are three registers in Burmese, which have traditionally been considered three of the four "tones". (The fourth is not actually a register but is a closed syllable, and is similar to the so-called "entering tone" in Middle Chinese phonetics.) Jones (1986) views the differences as "resulting from the intersection of both pitch registers and voice registers.... Clearly Burmese is not tonal in the same sense as such other languages and therefore requires a different concept, namely that of pitch register."[1]
In Vietnamese, which has six tones, two tones are largely distinguished by phonation instead of pitch. Specifically, the ngã and sắc tones are both high rising but ngã is distinguished by the presence of a glottal stop in the middle of the vowel. The nặng and huyền tones are both pronounced as low falling, but distinguished primarily by nặng being short and pronounced with creaky voice, and huyền being noticeably longer and pronounced with breathy voice.
KhmerEdit
Khmer is sometimes considered to be a register language. It has also been called a "restructured register language" because both its pitch and phonation can be considered allophonic. If they are ignored, the phonemic distinctions that they carry remain as differences in diphthongs and vowel length.
LatvianEdit
An example of a non-Asian language with register distinctions is Latvian, at least in the central dialects. Long vowels in stressed syllables are often said to take one of three pitch accents that are conventionally called "rising", falling", and "broken". However, the "broken tone" is distinguished not by pitch but by glottalization, and is similar to the ngã register of Northern Vietnamese.
ReferencesEdit
^Jones, Robert B. (1986). McCoy, John; Light, Timothy (eds.). Contributions to Sino-Tibetan studies. Leiden: E.J. Brill. ISBN9789004078505.
^James Matisoff, 2001. Prosodic Diffusibility in South-East Asia, pp. 309-310. In Aleksandra Aikhenvald and Robert Dixon, Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance, OUP.
October 20, 2023
register, phonology, also, register, complex, sociolinguistic, term, register, sociolinguistics, this, article, contains, phonetic, transcriptions, international, phonetic, alphabet, introductory, guide, symbols, help, distinction, between, brackets, transcrip. See also Register complex For the sociolinguistic term see Register sociolinguistics This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters In phonology a register or pitch register is a prosodic feature of syllables in certain languages in which tone vowel phonation glottalization or similar features depend upon one another It occurs in Burmese Vietnamese Wu Chinese and Zulu Contents 1 Burmese 2 Vietnamese 3 Khmer 4 Latvian 5 ReferencesBurmese EditIn Burmese differences in tone correlate with vowel phonation and so neither exists independently There are three registers in Burmese which have traditionally been considered three of the four tones The fourth is not actually a register but is a closed syllable and is similar to the so called entering tone in Middle Chinese phonetics Jones 1986 views the differences as resulting from the intersection of both pitch registers and voice registers Clearly Burmese is not tonal in the same sense as such other languages and therefore requires a different concept namely that of pitch register 1 Burmese pitch phonation registers 2 Register Phonation Length Pitch Example GlossLow Modal voice long low လ laː come High Breathy voice long high falling when final လ la ː la ː mule Creaky Creaky voice medium high လ la ˀ moon Checked Final glottal stop short high လတ lăʔ fresh Vietnamese EditIn Vietnamese which has six tones two tones are largely distinguished by phonation instead of pitch Specifically the nga and sắc tones are both high rising but nga is distinguished by the presence of a glottal stop in the middle of the vowel The nặng and huyền tones are both pronounced as low falling but distinguished primarily by nặng being short and pronounced with creaky voice and huyền being noticeably longer and pronounced with breathy voice Khmer EditKhmer is sometimes considered to be a register language It has also been called a restructured register language because both its pitch and phonation can be considered allophonic If they are ignored the phonemic distinctions that they carry remain as differences in diphthongs and vowel length Latvian EditAn example of a non Asian language with register distinctions is Latvian at least in the central dialects Long vowels in stressed syllables are often said to take one of three pitch accents that are conventionally called rising falling and broken However the broken tone is distinguished not by pitch but by glottalization and is similar to the nga register of Northern Vietnamese References Edit Jones Robert B 1986 McCoy John Light Timothy eds Contributions to Sino Tibetan studies Leiden E J Brill ISBN 9789004078505 James Matisoff 2001 Prosodic Diffusibility in South East Asia pp 309 310 In Aleksandra Aikhenvald and Robert Dixon Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance OUP Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Register phonology amp oldid 1179668015, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
