Preliminary to preliminary: Speech rhythm in Akan (Twi)
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Abstract
The following report concerns itself with the notion of rhythm in Akan/Twi. In light of the findings concerning rhythm in speech using the Speech Cycling Task by Cummins & Port (1998), Port (2003, 2007), and Tajima & Port (2003), this study attempts to understand what kind of rhythmic timing patterns pertain to Akan/Twi. This paper is an attempt to discover the foundation on which to design more rigorous experiments. As of yet, it is not understood what rhythmic patterning appears in languages that do not have stress, or accents. That is, rhythm is not well defined in purely tonal languages. The main report in this paper is to simply understand which syllables are considered prominent in Akan. The current experiment uses the Speech Cycling Task to a minimal extent. By using the Speech Cycling task, rhythmic patterns emerge that will allow for the researcher to model the timing of a language. The paper will begin with a brief background on rhythm and some methodologies for experimentation, and a background on the Speech Cycling task itself. The hypotheses and preliminary designs of future experiments will be outlined.
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