This Mende dictionary is based on the eastern (up-country) dialect and uses the standard spelling of the Sierra Leone Provincial Literature Bureau. Each entry consists of the Mende word, an indication of its tone and part of speech, the English gloss, and examples of usage in short phrases or sentences. A short Introduction provides notes on the…

This paper investigates the relationship between the phonological features of tone and tone perception in Thai. Specifically, it tests the hypothesis (proposed by Moren & Zsiga, 2006) that the principle perceptual cues to the five-way tonal contrast in Thai are high and low pitch targets aligned to moras. Results of four perception studies, one…

Two studies explored the nature of phonological awareness (PA) in Chinese. In Study 1, involving 146 children, awareness of phoneme onset did not differ from chance levels at ages 3-5 years in preschool but increased to 70% correct in first grade, when children first received phonological coding (Pinyin) instruction. Similarly, tone awareness was…

Using Mandarin Chinese, a "tone language" in which the pitch contours of syllables differentiate words, the authors examined the acoustic modifications of infant-directed speech (IDS) at the syllable level to test 2 hypotheses: (a) the overall increase in pitch and intonation contour that occurs in IDS at the phrase level would not distort…

Describes the phonological history of modern Cantonese. Part one includes phonotactic conditions, tonal developments, and initial changes. (EKN)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intensive voice therapy on Cantonese speakers with Parkinson's disease. The effect of the treatment on lexical tone was of particular interest. Four Cantonese speakers with idiopathic Parkinson's disease received treatment based on the principles of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT).…

An acoustic-phonetic study of six Vietnamese tones was carried out on approximately 3000 sound spectrograms of four native speakers of the Hanoi dialect. Three temporal segments, four pitch levels, and glottalization were identified as important cues for tone recognition. (Author/FWB)

Analysis of Taiwanese tone sandhi, i.e., the various changes in tonemes as a result of their mutual influence on each other when used in conjunction. (RS)

The author discusses his concept of "tonal spelling" for Chinese. This system spells out the patterns for the tone classes without marking their tone values; the same spelling formation spells out the same tone class and makes tonal orthography a "regular, striking, neat and clean-shaven script." Following a discussion of the…

The ability of native English (NE) and native Chinese (NC) speakers to identify and discriminate the mid-versus the lowtone contrast in Thai was investigated before and after auditory training. The variables under investigation were first language background and the interstimulus interval (ISI) of the presentation (500 ms vs. 1500 ms). The NC…

We examined the effects of a tutoring package (verbal modeling, prompts, and contingent praise/Chinese conversations with the tutor) on the performance of a college student's Mandarin Chinese pronunciation. The effects of the tutoring package were analyzed using a multiple baseline design across two sets of 50 Chinese characters. The tutoring…

The article discusses the tonal system of Lamnsok, a language spoken in the North-West province of the United Republic of Cameroun with specific reference to verbs. The tone pattern for a given clause is dependent on various factors handled at length. Charts and extensive examples accompany the text. (CLK)

An examination is made of the f o, or "pitch," contours which underly the five tones of Thai in an effort to describe their shapes and compare these descriptions with those of earlier phonetic accounts of the tones. (Author/RM)

THE SCOPE OF THIS DISCUSSION IS LIMITED TO THE BASIC PATTERNS OF TONE AND INTONATION IN JAPANESE, (THE FIRST HAVING PRIORITY OVER THE SECOND). THE AUTHOR DISAGREES WITH PIKE ("TONE LANGUAGE"), WHO TENTATIVELY LIMITS SIGNIFICANT PITCH CONTRASTS TO STRESSED SYLLABLES OR TO LONG VOWELS. HE AGREES WITH PIKE, HOWEVER, IN SAYING THAT JAPANESE…

THIS COURSE IS BASED ON A SERIES OF BRIEF MONOLOGUES RECORDED BY A WESTERN-EDUCATED NATIVE SPEAKER OF YORUBA FROM THE OYO AREA. THE TAPES CONSTITUTE THE CENTRAL PART OF THE COURSE, WITH THE TEXT INTENDED AS SUPPLEMENTARY AND AUXILIARY MATERIAL. THE TEXT TOPICS WERE CHOSEN FOR THEIR SPECIAL RELEVANCE TO PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS WHO EXPECT TO USE…