Language Research

Syllable Structure in Central Kurdish Language Revisited

Azad Mohammadi; Mahmood Bijankhan

Volume 11, Issue 2 , February 2021, , Pages 173-198

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2021.303522.666606

Abstract

In this study, the syllable structure in Central Kurdish (Sorani) language has been phonologically investigated. In this investigation, the syllable structure has been compared with ... Read More In this study, the syllable structure in Central Kurdish (Sorani) language has been phonologically investigated. In this investigation, the syllable structure has been compared with the views which are based on orthography believe in CGVCC, CCVC and CCVCCC syllable structures (based on the frequency of occurrence in previous studies). This study examines the presence of a high front lax vowel /I/ in underlying representation or its epenthesis in surface representation during derivational stages. For this purpose, both internal and external linguistic evidences are employed. An audio corpus of the speakers of Mariwan and Sulaimani, along with a questionnaire for determining the native speakers’ intuition in counting the word syllables have been employed as the research data. Evidences from vowel changes in cognate and borrowed words, diachronic data, the application of phonological rules in the syllable domain, sonority sequencing principle and selection of the most sonorous element as syllable nucleus and consonants as onset and coda, along with acoustic cues for the presence of this vowel in phonetic representation explain the phonological syllable structure in Central Kurdish. Basic tenets of generative phonology like referring to two levels of representation, and the phonotactic rules on the distribution of building blocks of syllable form the theoretical framework of this study. The results show that from two opponent hypotheses regarding vowel /I/ existence in phonetic form: 1) existence in UR and faithfulness mapping to SR; 2) lacking in UR and emergence in SR as result of vowel epenthesis rule, regarding above-mentioned phonological arguments, the former is confirmed. By accepting the presence of vowel /I/ in underlying representation and the similarities between glides and other consonants as the second member of the onset, the syllable structure in Central Kurdish, like standard Persian, is CV(C)(C). In phonetic representation onset clusters of consonant-glide is the result of vowel deletion due to the shared place of articulation with the following glide.

Perception of a Synthetic Vowel Space by Persian Listeners

Hamed Rahmani; mahmmud bejan khan; Sajjad Peyvasteh

Volume 8, Issue 2 , January 2018, , Pages 39-58

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2018.65514

Abstract

Vowels of a language can be characterized within an acoustically defined space according to native listeners’ perceptual intuition. This study investigated Persian listeners’ ... Read More

Orthographic depth of Persian

Mahmoud Bijankhan; Elham Alaee Abouzar

Volume 4, Issue 1 , April 2013, , Pages 1-19

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2013.35921

Abstract

The present study clarifies the difference between orthographic words and their phonological correspondents in Persian writing system via computing orthographic depth of Persian writing ... Read More

Conspiracy in Azarbaijani Turkish

Seyyed Mohammad Razinejad; Mahmoud Bijankhan

Volume 3, Issue 2 , January 2013, , Pages 43-56

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2013.35360

Abstract

In this article, conspiracy which has been introduced by Kisseberth (1970) is studied in Azarbaijani Turkish. Sometimes, in a language or some languages, certain rules are used to avoid ... Read More

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Author = Bijankhan,%20Mahmood%20

Syllable Structure in Central Kurdish Language Revisited

Abstract

Perception of a Synthetic Vowel Space by Persian Listeners

Abstract

Orthographic depth of Persian

Abstract

Conspiracy in Azarbaijani Turkish

Abstract