I am a linguist. I work as an Assistant Professor at The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India. I did my PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and completed my post doctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, US under the auspices of Nehru Fulbright fellowship in 2015. Phone: 9515131271 Address: Department of Linguistics and Contemporary English School of Language Sciences The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
Hemanga Dutta, Michael Kenstowicz (2018). The phonology and phonetics of laryngeal stop contrasts... more Hemanga Dutta, Michael Kenstowicz (2018). The phonology and phonetics of laryngeal stop contrasts in Assamese. In Roberto Petrosino, Pietro Cerrone, Harry van der Hulst (Eds.), From Sounds to Structures: Beyond the Veil of Maya (pp. 30–64). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506734-002
There are a number of studies about the relationship between language and culture. Saussure in hi... more There are a number of studies about the relationship between language and culture. Saussure in his book Course of General Linguistics analyses language as an organized thought coupled with sounds because without language thought will be an unchartered nebula. There are no pre-existing ideas and nothing is distinct before the appearance of language. However, Sapir has offered an alternative approach to this debate and he claims that language constitutes a sort of logic, a form of reference which is instrumental in molding the thought process of its habitual users. One of the most important theories about the relationship between language and culture is contributed by Sapir and Whorf. This is known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Brown (1976:128) said, Whorf appeared to put forward two hypotheses: I) Structural differences between languages systems will, in general, be paralleled by nonlinguistic cognitive differences, of an unspecified sort, in the native speakers of the two languages. II) The structure of anyone's native language strongly influences or fully determines the world-view he will acquire as he learns the language. Wardhaugh defines a language as " knowledge of rules and principle of the ways of saying and doing things with sounds, words, and sentences rather than just knowledge of specific sounds, words, and sentences " (2). David Elmes claims that according to Sapir, language cannot be dissociated from culture, that is, from the socially inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determine the texture of our lives. In other words, it is a key to the cultural past of a society and a guide to social reality. Thus a question arises what is the relationship between language and culture? In the theory of Sapir-Whorf, they argue that language and culture have a close relationship. It is not possible to understand or appreciate one without the knowledge of the other. One of the most important factors to identify a community is language. It has formed and developed continuously through time. Therefore, to each generation, language reflexes our time, our culture. Language sticks to individuals when they start to talk and become aware of the world. A human normally learns it from his or her own specific speech community and uses it to communicate in daily life. A member of the community learns everything through his or her language and so it can be seen Language, Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies (LLIDS)
Hindi is known to have a general process of schwa deletion, whereby unstressed schwas in open syl... more Hindi is known to have a general process of schwa deletion, whereby unstressed schwas in open syllables are dropped when preceded by stressed syllables, as in /ʧa:həte:/ >[ʧa:hte:] " like-OBL " , /kəhəna:/ >[keɦna:] " say-INF " , but not in /ʃəhər/ [ˈʃəhər] " city " (closed syllable), and /bəhəttər/ > [bəˈhəttər] " seventy-two " (stressed). It has been found by the present authors that although the schwa following a /h/ may be " heard " to be deleted, in speech synthesis based on trained data, the deletion of the schwa leads to problems. Along with the schwa, /h/ too gets dropped. The acoustic features of /h/ in relation to the presence of flanking vowels and a following consonant after the deletion of the following schwa need examining. In the present study a total number of 22 words including content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and grammatical words (pronouns, auxiliary verbs) were recorded in the speech of 8 speakers-four female and 4 male. Thus, the total number of tokens analyzed for the data were 22x8 =176. An attempt is made in the paper to account for the merger of /h/ with schwa in intervocalic unstressed contexts. It is shown that speech synthesis programmes must treat these contexts of schwa deletion as exceptions.
This paper addresses the issue of segmental distribution and patterns with reference to the gemin... more This paper addresses the issue of segmental distribution and patterns with reference to the gemination processes in Sanskrit and Assamese within an Optimality theoretic model (Prince and Smolensky, 1993). Segmental properties inherent in a segment and cross-linguistic well formedness conditions play a significant role in triggering gemination. The underlying liquids and approximants /j/, /r/, /l/, and /w/ trigger gemination of the preceding obstruents in Assamese. However, what has been conspicuously observed in synchronic Assamese grammar is that, in the surface forms, /j/ gets dropped in gemination and a process of metathesis occurs in the form of an insertion of a vowel before the geminates. The process is analyzed in an Optimality theoretic model and I have proposed the ranking *CCG>>MAX C>> Linearity to represent the phenomenon. However, we need one more markedness constraint *V[back, round]glides to address the issue of obstruent geminates followed by approximant 'w'. In such cases 'w' gets dropped in the surface form, and we do not get any process of metathesis operating here. Actually, what happens is a consequence of the fact that metathesis is not possible because Assamese does not allow / ɔw / or /Vu/ diphthongs. Hence, I propose that the constraints *V[back, round]glides, *Cw are higher ranked over [Max Round>>Max W] and Linearity.
This paper addresses the notion of phonological strength asymmetries and patterns that the segmen... more This paper addresses the notion of phonological strength asymmetries and patterns that the segments display with reference to gemination processes in Pali. Segmental properties inherent in a segment and cross linguistic well formedness conditions play a significant role in triggering gemination. Pali data on gemination derived as a process of assimilation from its source language Sanskrit brings to the fore that whenever there are two adjacent obstruent clusters, one in the coda position and another in the onset position, the segment in the coda position assimilates to the following consonant in the onset position and thereby strengthens the claim of positional privilege theory and onset coda asymmetry in segmental distribution. The same phonological process applied when a flap /r/ occupies the coda position followed by an obstruent in the onset position. However, what is interesting to observe is that whenever the segment in the onset position is either a liquid or a nasal being preceded by an obstruent in the coda position of the previous syllable the onset segment assimilates to the preceding coda segment. It can be argued in the framework of Complexity Condition (Kaye et al. 1990, Rice 1992) which claims that a more complex segment is a better candidate to be assimilated whereas the less complex segment is susceptible to alternation. Hence I propose the constraints here Agree CC>> *GG>>*LL>>*NN in an Optimality Theory model (Prince and Smolensky 1993).
An attempt is made in this paper to identify students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning of... more An attempt is made in this paper to identify students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning of English of two different schools, one is a Telugu medium school and one is an English medium school in Hyderabad and to identify the realities involved in teaching methodologies adopted by the English teachers of these respecter schools. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was delivered to forty-one students of seventh class from a Telugu medium school and forty-four students of the same level from one English medium school and an informal interview was conducted with six teachers at these two schools. Keeping in consonance proficiency level of the learners, linguistic skills required for teaching, classroom techniques, error analysis, curriculum and syllabus designing. The results of the survey show that the students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning English at these two schools are quite contradictory to each other. Although English is considered to be a compulsory com...
Is language related to culture? Do rituals performed in a community provide a window to the verba... more Is language related to culture? Do rituals performed in a community provide a window to the verbal repertoire of that community? To what extent do proverbs and folk songs available in a particular language illustrate the behavioural patterns and mode of living of a particular society? Do linguistic structures constrain the flow of our thought process or is our mental cognition of perception instrumental in the emergence of new vocabulary items in a language? These issues can be addressed in the wider spectrum of Assamese language and the sociocultural ethos of Assamese life style as reflected in rituals, proverbs, folk songs etc. They are generally the manifestation of sociocultural reality which provides a glimpse into the cultural mode and behavioural patterns of a particular group of people. In Assamese language there are many proverbs which mirror the unique values as well as assumptions that constitute the colourful tapestry of Assamese culture. Assamese folk songs, ranging fro...
… An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, Jan 1, 2011
This paper aims at exploring the issue of whether it is possible to treat translation simply as a... more This paper aims at exploring the issue of whether it is possible to treat translation simply as a strategy in which semantic equivalence between the source language and the target language is established, especially in the context of literary translation which involves socio cultural ...
Hemanga Dutta, Michael Kenstowicz (2018). The phonology and phonetics of laryngeal stop contrasts... more Hemanga Dutta, Michael Kenstowicz (2018). The phonology and phonetics of laryngeal stop contrasts in Assamese. In Roberto Petrosino, Pietro Cerrone, Harry van der Hulst (Eds.), From Sounds to Structures: Beyond the Veil of Maya (pp. 30–64). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506734-002
There are a number of studies about the relationship between language and culture. Saussure in hi... more There are a number of studies about the relationship between language and culture. Saussure in his book Course of General Linguistics analyses language as an organized thought coupled with sounds because without language thought will be an unchartered nebula. There are no pre-existing ideas and nothing is distinct before the appearance of language. However, Sapir has offered an alternative approach to this debate and he claims that language constitutes a sort of logic, a form of reference which is instrumental in molding the thought process of its habitual users. One of the most important theories about the relationship between language and culture is contributed by Sapir and Whorf. This is known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Brown (1976:128) said, Whorf appeared to put forward two hypotheses: I) Structural differences between languages systems will, in general, be paralleled by nonlinguistic cognitive differences, of an unspecified sort, in the native speakers of the two languages. II) The structure of anyone's native language strongly influences or fully determines the world-view he will acquire as he learns the language. Wardhaugh defines a language as " knowledge of rules and principle of the ways of saying and doing things with sounds, words, and sentences rather than just knowledge of specific sounds, words, and sentences " (2). David Elmes claims that according to Sapir, language cannot be dissociated from culture, that is, from the socially inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determine the texture of our lives. In other words, it is a key to the cultural past of a society and a guide to social reality. Thus a question arises what is the relationship between language and culture? In the theory of Sapir-Whorf, they argue that language and culture have a close relationship. It is not possible to understand or appreciate one without the knowledge of the other. One of the most important factors to identify a community is language. It has formed and developed continuously through time. Therefore, to each generation, language reflexes our time, our culture. Language sticks to individuals when they start to talk and become aware of the world. A human normally learns it from his or her own specific speech community and uses it to communicate in daily life. A member of the community learns everything through his or her language and so it can be seen Language, Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies (LLIDS)
Hindi is known to have a general process of schwa deletion, whereby unstressed schwas in open syl... more Hindi is known to have a general process of schwa deletion, whereby unstressed schwas in open syllables are dropped when preceded by stressed syllables, as in /ʧa:həte:/ >[ʧa:hte:] " like-OBL " , /kəhəna:/ >[keɦna:] " say-INF " , but not in /ʃəhər/ [ˈʃəhər] " city " (closed syllable), and /bəhəttər/ > [bəˈhəttər] " seventy-two " (stressed). It has been found by the present authors that although the schwa following a /h/ may be " heard " to be deleted, in speech synthesis based on trained data, the deletion of the schwa leads to problems. Along with the schwa, /h/ too gets dropped. The acoustic features of /h/ in relation to the presence of flanking vowels and a following consonant after the deletion of the following schwa need examining. In the present study a total number of 22 words including content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and grammatical words (pronouns, auxiliary verbs) were recorded in the speech of 8 speakers-four female and 4 male. Thus, the total number of tokens analyzed for the data were 22x8 =176. An attempt is made in the paper to account for the merger of /h/ with schwa in intervocalic unstressed contexts. It is shown that speech synthesis programmes must treat these contexts of schwa deletion as exceptions.
This paper addresses the issue of segmental distribution and patterns with reference to the gemin... more This paper addresses the issue of segmental distribution and patterns with reference to the gemination processes in Sanskrit and Assamese within an Optimality theoretic model (Prince and Smolensky, 1993). Segmental properties inherent in a segment and cross-linguistic well formedness conditions play a significant role in triggering gemination. The underlying liquids and approximants /j/, /r/, /l/, and /w/ trigger gemination of the preceding obstruents in Assamese. However, what has been conspicuously observed in synchronic Assamese grammar is that, in the surface forms, /j/ gets dropped in gemination and a process of metathesis occurs in the form of an insertion of a vowel before the geminates. The process is analyzed in an Optimality theoretic model and I have proposed the ranking *CCG>>MAX C>> Linearity to represent the phenomenon. However, we need one more markedness constraint *V[back, round]glides to address the issue of obstruent geminates followed by approximant 'w'. In such cases 'w' gets dropped in the surface form, and we do not get any process of metathesis operating here. Actually, what happens is a consequence of the fact that metathesis is not possible because Assamese does not allow / ɔw / or /Vu/ diphthongs. Hence, I propose that the constraints *V[back, round]glides, *Cw are higher ranked over [Max Round>>Max W] and Linearity.
This paper addresses the notion of phonological strength asymmetries and patterns that the segmen... more This paper addresses the notion of phonological strength asymmetries and patterns that the segments display with reference to gemination processes in Pali. Segmental properties inherent in a segment and cross linguistic well formedness conditions play a significant role in triggering gemination. Pali data on gemination derived as a process of assimilation from its source language Sanskrit brings to the fore that whenever there are two adjacent obstruent clusters, one in the coda position and another in the onset position, the segment in the coda position assimilates to the following consonant in the onset position and thereby strengthens the claim of positional privilege theory and onset coda asymmetry in segmental distribution. The same phonological process applied when a flap /r/ occupies the coda position followed by an obstruent in the onset position. However, what is interesting to observe is that whenever the segment in the onset position is either a liquid or a nasal being preceded by an obstruent in the coda position of the previous syllable the onset segment assimilates to the preceding coda segment. It can be argued in the framework of Complexity Condition (Kaye et al. 1990, Rice 1992) which claims that a more complex segment is a better candidate to be assimilated whereas the less complex segment is susceptible to alternation. Hence I propose the constraints here Agree CC>> *GG>>*LL>>*NN in an Optimality Theory model (Prince and Smolensky 1993).
An attempt is made in this paper to identify students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning of... more An attempt is made in this paper to identify students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning of English of two different schools, one is a Telugu medium school and one is an English medium school in Hyderabad and to identify the realities involved in teaching methodologies adopted by the English teachers of these respecter schools. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was delivered to forty-one students of seventh class from a Telugu medium school and forty-four students of the same level from one English medium school and an informal interview was conducted with six teachers at these two schools. Keeping in consonance proficiency level of the learners, linguistic skills required for teaching, classroom techniques, error analysis, curriculum and syllabus designing. The results of the survey show that the students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning English at these two schools are quite contradictory to each other. Although English is considered to be a compulsory com...
Is language related to culture? Do rituals performed in a community provide a window to the verba... more Is language related to culture? Do rituals performed in a community provide a window to the verbal repertoire of that community? To what extent do proverbs and folk songs available in a particular language illustrate the behavioural patterns and mode of living of a particular society? Do linguistic structures constrain the flow of our thought process or is our mental cognition of perception instrumental in the emergence of new vocabulary items in a language? These issues can be addressed in the wider spectrum of Assamese language and the sociocultural ethos of Assamese life style as reflected in rituals, proverbs, folk songs etc. They are generally the manifestation of sociocultural reality which provides a glimpse into the cultural mode and behavioural patterns of a particular group of people. In Assamese language there are many proverbs which mirror the unique values as well as assumptions that constitute the colourful tapestry of Assamese culture. Assamese folk songs, ranging fro...
… An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, Jan 1, 2011
This paper aims at exploring the issue of whether it is possible to treat translation simply as a... more This paper aims at exploring the issue of whether it is possible to treat translation simply as a strategy in which semantic equivalence between the source language and the target language is established, especially in the context of literary translation which involves socio cultural ...
This paper deals with the attitudes of the educated Telugu and English bilinguals of Hyderabad to... more This paper deals with the attitudes of the educated Telugu and English bilinguals of Hyderabad towards their mother tongue Telugu, global lingua franca English and the code mixed variety emerged out of the usage of the languages, popularly known as 'Tenglish' with reference to sixty one informants. A method of questionnaire incorporating the demographic profile of the informants and their usage of language has been adopted to find out a correlation between social variables such as age, gender, medium of instruction at primary and secondary level, the informants' language preference, language usage and attitudes towards these two languages under consideration. The statistical package used for this study is R console. Individual t-tests are conducted to obtain the probability values (p-values). In addition, Optimality theoretic constraints (Prince and Smolensky 1993) are adopted to discuss the data related to sound change across generations.
Mein Konto Anmelden welcome to the LINCOM webshop-bienvenue sur LINCOM boutique en ligne-willkomm... more Mein Konto Anmelden welcome to the LINCOM webshop-bienvenue sur LINCOM boutique en ligne-willkommen zum LINCOM webshop-bienvenido a la tienda The present study is based on the assumption that there lies a positive correlation between the upward mobility of Dalits in Telangana in the ladder of social hierarchy and the knowledge of English as a language of global emancipation and empowerment. The questions such as whether English should be the medium of instruction for the Dalit community and whether the possession of the knowledge system associated with English can free the Dalit community from caste based oppressions constitute the very basis of this book. It is seen that Dalits are constantly fighting for the causes of English education pertaining to the needs of their young learners. Thus, majority of the Dalits in India want to embrace English not only for the sake of emancipation and empowerment but also for achieving a global identity. The overall findings of this research work show that Dalits support English as a medium of instruction. English does ensure not only a better life style for the Dalits but also ample avenues to fight against the caste based atrocities. Although it is true that many Dalits of the Telangana state still aspire to have an access to quality English education, the role played by English as a language of emancipation and as a potent instrument of social change in the lives of Dalit communities can never be relegated to the background. ISBN 9783862888610. LINCOM Studies in Sociolinguistics 15. 265pp. 2018.
This study drives home the point that the notion of phonological strength is instrumental in the ... more This study drives home the point that the notion of phonological strength is instrumental in the phonological patterning of segmental asymmetry in addition to the hierarchical representation of phonological features. Phonological strength relation has been interpreted in this study from various perspectives such as dependency phonology and government phonology, positional faithfulness and licensing by cue model, constraint rankings within OT model etc.The findings of this thesis with reference to the data drawn from Assamese and Hindi can be subsumed under two headings: phonological and phonetic. Positional asymmetry is not only phonologically patterned in a dynamic and distributional way but also phonetically authenticated. In other words, the onset coda asymmetry this study shows has some phonetic underpinnings too. In this study various phonological processes are taken in to account in order to deal with the issue of phonological strength. These processes include assimilation, spirantization, consonant cluster, aspiration and gemination. Prosodically stronger positions such as onsets and initial positions attest the process of fortition such as aspiration which is subject to loss in weaker positions. The process of lenition such as spirantization targets mostly the prosodically weaker positions such as word final and coda position. Here the auhtor has shown that whenever there are two adjacent segments of same sonority value, mostly obstruents, coda segment assimilates to the following obstruent in the onset position. But when the adjacent segments are of asymmetric sonority value, that is, liquids or nasals on the onset position and obstruents in the coda position, the former assimilates to the latter and thereby violates the dictum of positional privilege. A more complex segment is a better candidate to be assimilated whereas the less complex segment is susceptible to alternation.
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Book DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506734
Online ISBN: 9781501506734
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston
Book DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506734
Online ISBN: 9781501506734
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston