10357232391111CDP

The N|uu dictionary that I was a major contributor to, and which was funded by my Collaborative NSF grant with Bonny Sands, has now been published along with an interactive website where Ouma Katrina Geelmeid Esau’s recorded pronunciation’s of each word can be heard:


Web Portal: https://dictionary.sadilar.org/

Ouma Geelmeid was awarded an honorary doctorate for her work in teaching the heritage community about N|uu language and culture. The footage of the ceremony at the University of Cape Town can be viewed here:

UCT eremony

 

I am curently in Tech, residing in the South San Francisco Bay Area (San Jose, CA). See my LinkedIn Profile for more information.

My academic research focused on the phonetics and phonology interface, especially with regard to African languages containing contrastive phonation types on vowels, and non-pulmonic consonants (clicks, ejectives and labial-velars with non-pulmonic airstream mechanisms).

Specific Research Projects

Phonotactics of African click langauges

I have described and proposed theoretical analyses of a number of phonotactic constraints in Ju|’hoansi, N|uu and Mangetti Dune !Xung. Most notable, is a Guttural OCP constraint in these languages, which rule out the co-occurrence of guttural consonants and vowels within a root.

Another important constraint that I have worked on extensively is “The Back Vowel Constraint.” This constraint captures the C-V Co-occurrence restriction that holds between clicks and uvular consonants and front vowels, and results in an [əi] allophone of [i] after alveolar and lateral clicks, uvular fricatives and uvularized consonants.

My student, Johanna Brugman, investigated the distribution of segments and tones in the Namibian language Khoekhoe in her Cornell dissertation.

Guttural Vowels and Guttural Coarticulation: Phonetic Bases of the Guttural OCP

I have investigated “Guttural coarticulation” by looking at voice quality cues associated with consonants with distinct guttural (pharyngeal, uvular and laryngeal) release properties.

By comparing the timing of guttural coarticulation to voice quality cues associated with guttural vowels in Ju|’hoansi, I was able to show that the timing of the two sets of VQ cues on the vowel of CVV syllables is similar.

Based on this, I have proposed that the acoustic (and thus likely perceptual) basis of the Guttural OCP in the language is the similar time-course of VQ cues associated with partially guttural vowels and vowels following guttural consonants, via guttural coarticulation.

Ultrasound Investigations of Consonant Dynamics

I have developed an ultrasound method called CHAUSA (Corrected High Frame Rate Anchored Ultrasound with Software Alignment) that allows me to collect high spatial quality images of the entire tongue at frame rates over 100 fps synchronized with the acoustic signal that has less than 1 mm of error, and can be used in both the laboratory and the field, to investigate the dynamics of consonants The CHAUSA page provides more information about this method, and the kinds of speech studies that can be done using this method.

Description of the Production of New Click Types

I am in the process of describing two new click types that occur in the Kx’a family (formerly known as the Northern Khoisan branch of the Khoisan family). The first is a post-alveolar laminal click in Ekoka !Xung, which was originally described as a retroflex click by Christa Koenig and Bernd Heine.  The second is a true retroflex click that occurs in Grootfontein !Xung. I am using HFR ultrasound (114 fps) and acoustic measures to fully describe these consonants, and their dynamics. Ultrasound traces of the retroflex click can be seen in Bonny Sand’s article in the Handbook of clicks, which cites research completed by myself and Abigail Scott.

Dynamics of Coronal Click Consonants

I have described the posterior gestures in the four coronal click types in Mangetti Dune !Xung, and am also working on the dynamics of the tongue body lowering gestures that contribute to rarefaction (decrease in pressure in the lingual cavity).

Dynamics of Pulmonic Obstruents

I am investigating the dynamics of the velar plosive and the uvular fricative before [i] and [a] in Mangetti Dune !Xung, and I supervised an undergraduate thesis by Vicki Lynn Krebs – an ultrasound investigation of the sibilant fricatives in that language.

Estimating Cavity Volume in Click Consonants

In some consonants, the volume of the cavity in front of the constriction seems to be as important as the place of the constriction in determining the acoustic properties of these sounds. For example, in the sibilant post-alveolar fricative, a sublingual cavity enlarges the front cavity, as does concomittant lip rounding for some speakers.

In click consonats, it is the volume of the lingual cavity between the anterior and posterior constrictions that determines the properties of the click bursts (e.g. the anterior release bursts).

I have modeled the 3D cavity volume in clicks by combining palatographic data (to estimate the width and side margins of the cavity), mid-sagittal ultrasound data (to estimate the floor of the cavity) and scans of 3D palate casts (to estimate the roof of the cavity). This model can estimate changes in cavity volume over the course of production of the different click types. The change in cavity volume is expected to correlate with loudness, while the volume of the cavity just prior to the release of the anterior constriction is expected to correlate with the center of gravity or other measures of the spectral properties of the click bursts.

Teaching

Linguistics 2000, 2000(H). Introduction to Linguistics

Linguistics 2051. Analyzing the Sounds of a Language

Linguistics 4100. Introduction to Phonetics

Linguistics 4300. Introduction to Phonology

Linguistics 5101. Phonetics: Phonetic Theory

Linuistics 5551. Field Methods I

Publications

Sands, Bonny & Kerry Jones (chief editors) in collaboration with Antjie Kassie, Griet Seekoei, Hannie Koerant, Andries Olyn, Hanna Koper, Kheis Brou, Vytjie ǀAbaka Koper, ǀUna Rooi, Simon Sauls, Elsie Vaalbooi, Katrina Esau, Claudia Snyman, David van Wyk, Mietjie Sussie Bok, Izak Kruiper, Lydia (Sakkas) Kruiper, Leonard Gewersk, Lys (Oulet) Kruiper Pietersen, Fritz Jagers, Magdalena James, Hannetjie van der Westhuizen, Chris Collins, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Sylvanus Job, Francoise (Betta) Steyn, Dietloff van der Berg, Dotty Mantzel, Willem Damarah, Menno van Zaanen, Amanda Miller, Levi Namaseb, Johanna Brugman & Mats Exter. (2022). Nǀuuki Namagowab Afrikaans English ǂXoakiǂxanisi/Mîdi di ǂKhanis/Woordeboek/Dictionary. http://Webhttps://dictionary.sadilar.org/Stellenbosch: African Sun Media for African Tongue. ISBN: 978-0-6397-1245-1 (print) ISBN: 978-0-6397-1245-1 (e-book)

Syed-Amad Hussain, Micha Elsner, and Amanda Miller. (2018). Lexical Networks in !Xung. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Workshop on                            Computational Research in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology. pp. 11-20.

Miller, Amanda and Micha Elsner. (2017). Click reduction in fluent speech: a semi-automated analysis of Mangetti Dune !XungProceedings                  of the 2nd Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages. pp. 107-115.

Miller, Amanda. L. (2017). Palatal Click Allophony in Mangetti Dune !Xung: Implications for Sound ChangeJournal of the International                     Phonetic Association, 49(2), pp. 153-181.

Miller, Amanda L. (2016). Posterior lingual gestures and tongue shape in Mangetti Dune !Xung clicks. Journal of

             Phonetics 55, 119-148.

Miller, Amanda. L. (2012). Northern Khoesan Phonetics and Phonology. In Vossen, Rainer, Ed. The Khoesan languages, pp. 45-50.

Miller, Amanda L. (2012). Northern Khoesan Tonology. In Vossen, Rainer, Ed. The Khoesan languages, pp. 92-96.

Miller, Amanda L. (2012). Southern Khoesan Tonology. In Vossen, Rainer, Ed. The Khoesan languages, pp.

Miller, Amanda L. (2012). Namibian Ju|’hoansi in contact with Afrikaans. In Vossen, Rainer, Ed. The Khoesan languages, pp. 460-461.

Miller, Amanda and Kenneth B. Finch. (2011). Corrected High Frame Rate Anchored Ultrasound with Software Alignment. Journal of                            Speech,  Language and Hearing Research 54, 2, 471-486.

Miller, A. (2011). The Representation of Clicks. In van Oostendorp, M., Ewen, C. Hume, E. and Rice, K. (Eds.) The Blackwell Companion to               Phonology,Vol. 1.1. Blackwell Reference Online. 24 October 2012.

Miller, A. (2010) Tongue Body and Tongue Root Shape Differences in N|uu clicks Correlate with Phonotactic Patterns, In Fuchs, S., Toda,                   M. and Zygis, M. (eds.),Turbulent sounds: An Interdisciplinary Guide, Interfaces in Linguistics Series, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter,              245-280.

Miller, A. (2010) A Prosodic Account of Ju|’hoansi consonant distribution patterns, In Brenzinger, M. and König, C., (eds.), Khoisan                           Languages and Linguistics: Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium, January 4-8, 2003, Riezlern / Kleinwalsertal. Research                 in Khoisan Studies 24, Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 40-73.

Miller, A., Brugman, J., Sands, B., Namaseb, L., Exter, M. and Collins, C. (2009). Differences in Airstream and Posterior Place of                                       Articulation   among N|uu clicks. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 39, 2, 129-161. LISTEN TO SOUNDS

Miller, A. (2008). Click Cavity Formation and Dissolution in IsiXhosa: Viewing Clicks with High-Speed Ultrasound. In Sock, R., Fuchs, S. &                     Y. Laprie, (eds.), Proceedings of the 8th International Seminar on Speech Production, December 2008, Pp. 137-140.

Miller, Amanda, Johanna Brugman, Bonny Sands, Levi Namaseb, Mats Exter, and Chris Collins. (2007). The sounds of Nǀuu: Place and                           airstream contrasts. Working Papers of the Cornell Phonetics Laboratory, 16:101-160.

Sands, Bonny, Johanna Brugman, Mats Exter, Levi Namaseb, and Amanda Miller. (2007). Articulatory characteristics of anterior click                        closures in  Nǀuu. In Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Jürgen Trouvain and William J. Barry (Eds.). (pp.401-404).

Miller, Amanda, Johanna Brugman and Bonny Sands. (2007). Acoustic and auditory analysis of Nǀuu lingual and linguo-pulmonic stop                         bursts. In Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Jürgen Trouvain and William J. Barry (Eds.).                             (pp.769-772).

Miller, A. L. Namaseb and K. Iskarous (2007). Posterior Tongue Body Constriction Locations in Clicks. In Cole,
J. and Hualde, J., Eds. Laboratory Phonology 9. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 643-656.

Sands, Bonny, Amanda Miller and Johanna Brugman. (2007). The lexicon in language attrition: The case of Nǀuu. In Selected Proceedings of               the 37th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Doris Payne and Jaime Peña (Eds.). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings                      Project. (pp. 55-65).

Miller-Ockhuizen, A. (2003). The Phonetics and Phonology of Gutturals: A Case Study from Ju|’hoansi.Outstanding Dissertations in                           Linguistics Series  (Laurence Horn, Ed.). New York: Routledge.

Miller-Ockhuizen, A. and Zec, D. (2003). Acoustics of Serbian palatal affricates predict phonological patterning. Proceedings of the                              International Congress of Phonetic Sciences., (Sole, M-J., Recasens, D. and Romero, J. Eds.)  Rundle Mall: Causal Publications, Pp.                 3101-3104.

Miller-Ockhuizen, A. and Zec, D. (2003). Phonetics and Phonology of Contrastive Palatal affricates. Working Papers of the Cornell Phonetics            Laboratory 2003, v.15, pp.130-193

Miller-Ockhuizen, A. and Sands, B. (1999). !Kung as a Linguistic Çonstruct. Language and Communication 19/4, June 1999, 401-413.

Miller-Ockhuizen, A. (1999) Reduplication in Ju|’hoansi: Tone determines Weight, In Proceedings of NELS 29
(Hirotani, M. Ed.), Amherst: University of Massachussetts Occasional Papers, Pp. 261-276.

Miller-Ockhuizen, A. (1998) Towards a unified decompositional analysis of Khoisan Lexical Tone, In Schladt, M., (ed.) Language, Identity,                 and Conceptualization among the Khoisan, Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 217-243.

Student Theses

Krebs, Vicki Lynn (2014).An Articulatory and Acoustic Description of Word Initial and Word Medial

Fricatives and Approximants in Mangetti Dune !Xung. BA Thesis. The Ohio State University.

Brugman, Johanna. (2009). Segments, tones and Distribution in Khoekhoe prosody. Ph.D. Dissertation. Cornell University.

 

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