Bolivian/Peru Quechua (Quechuan)

Quechua is the discussed in the paper, and the one that most clearly highlights the problem of the nature of the learning data. As described in the paper, the simulations on word corpora fail in various ways to arrive at the posited (uncontroversial) inventory of affricates. The reason is that the phonotactics and morphology of Quechua conspire to inflate the frequencies of certain clusters, diluting the frequencies of affricates. Reasonable-looking results arrive only when the learner is trained on more abstract data: roots or a morpheme list. Quechua is also a case where we tried to decompose aspirated and ejective plosives into more primitive parts. The learner does not find these segments when trained on words.
In addition to various kinds of "one-word-per-line" datasets, we trained the learner on a corpus of connected, child-directed speech. This is for a different dialect, Peruvian Quechua, but it is sufficiently close to Bolivian Quechua to draw some conclusions. The learner does not over-unify insane clusters in this simulation, but it also does not find the aspirated affricate--its inseparability value trails clusters that are frequent in common affixes, so the learner is unlikely to find it in such data.

Simulation data at a glance

Click on simulation name to view additional simulation details.

Simulation name	Initial state Learning Data	Initial state features
Words Narrow	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Roots	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Morphemes Broad	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Morphemes Narrow	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Words_With_Mb	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Words Glot_Feats_As_Segs	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Words Broad	LearningData.txt	Features.txt
Childes_Cds	LearningData.txt	Features.txt

Simulation details for Quechua words narrow

Input:

This is the same word list as "words broad", but with uvular retraction transcribed on sonorants.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ, jk, ŋk, ɴq, r̞q	None
2	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ', sq, nt, ɲtʃ, ŋk', r̞qʰ, ʎ̞q, j̠̠q	ʃ', ʎ̞
3	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃʰ, xt, mp, jt, ɴqʰ, r̞q', j̠̠q'	ʃʰ, r̞, j̠̠
4	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sp, rp, ʎp'	None
5	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	rl	None
6	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
6	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q p' t' ʃ' k' q' pʰ tʰ ʃʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ x h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ r̞ l̞ ʎ̞ j̠̠ w̞
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/words/narrow/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua roots

Input:

This list of roots was prepared by Gillian Gallagher from the Laime Ajacopa (2007) dictionary of Quechua. See Gouskova and Gallagher 2019 for details and references.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ', tʃʰ, tʃ	ʃ', ʃʰ, ɲ, ŋ, ɴ
2	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
2	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q p' t' ʃ' k' q' pʰ tʰ ʃʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ x h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/roots/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua morphemes broad

Input:

This morpheme list is tokenized from the morpheme-segmented word list. Nasal place assimilation is not transcribed.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ', tʃʰ, tʃ	ʃ', ʃʰ
2	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
2	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q p' t' ʃ' k' q' pʰ tʰ ʃʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ x h m n r l ʎ j w
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/morphemes/broad/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua morphemes narrow

Input:

This version was created by tokenizing the morpheme-segmented wordlist. Nasal place assimilation is transcribed.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ', tʃʰ, tʃ, ŋk, ɴq	ʃ', ʃʰ, r̞, l̞, ʎ̞, j̠̠, w̞
2	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	ʃk, nt, ɲtʃ, ŋk'	None
3	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
3	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q p' t' ʃ' k' q' pʰ tʰ ʃʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ x h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ r̞ l̞ ʎ̞ j̠̠ w̞
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/morphemes/narrow/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua words_with_mb

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ, sq, jk, ŋk, ɴq	None
2	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ', tʃʰ, nt, ɲtʃ, rq, ʎp', ŋk'	ʃ', ʃʰ
3	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sp, xt, rp, rl, ɴqʰ	None
4	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sk', xs, mp, nt', rqʰ, ʎq, jk'	None
5	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sk, sq', xʎ, jt, jw	None
6	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	ʃk, mp', rk', rm, lt, ʎp, jʎ, wp, ws	None
7	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	st', ʃkʰ, xr, xtʃ, ɲtʃ', ʎtʃ', jq, jn	None
8	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	xt', xtʃ', rk, rq', lw, jm, jtʃ'	None
9	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sp', xj, mpʰ, rkʰ, lm, jq', jr	None
10	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	ʃw, xp, xw, rw, js	None
11	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	nr, rt, ʎm	None
12	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	st, xn, ms, ʎk, jtʃ	None
13	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sm, xm	None
14	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	ns	None
15	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
15	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q p' t' k' q' pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ ʃ' ʃʰ x h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/words_with_mb/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua words glot_feats_as_segs

This simulation demonstrates that not only does it not help to break down aspirated and ejective plosives into sequences in this case--it actually makes things worse. Certain laryngeally marked stops [kʰ, t'] are so infrequent that they fail to be unified, whereas clusters common in morphologically complex words do get unified.

Input:

This version of the Quechua word list transcribes ejectives and aspirates as sequences with glottal stops and [h] respectively.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	t˗ʃ, ŋk, ɴq	t˗, ŋ, ɴ
2	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sq, ɲt˗ʃ, jk	None
3	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	qh, nt	None
4	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	rq	None
5	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
5	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q t˗ s ʃ x ʔ h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/words/glot_feats_as_segs/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua words broad

Input:

This word list was compiled from an online Quechua newspaper. See Gouskova and Gallagher 2019 for further details.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ	ŋ, ɴ
2	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ', sq, ɲtʃ, jk	ʃ'
3	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	nk	None
4	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃʰ, nt, rq	ʃʰ
5	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	nq	None
6	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	xt, mp, jt	None
7	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	sp, ʎp'	None
8	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	rp	None
9	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	rl	None
10	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
10	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q p' t' ʃ' k' q' pʰ tʰ ʃʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ x h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/words/broad/simulation/insep_plots.png

Simulation details for Quechua childes_cds

This simulation comes close to finding the target inventory [tʃ, tʃ', tʃʰ]--the learner finds the plain and ejective affricates, but not the aspirated one. It is clear from the inseparability measures that this dataset raises the same issues as the morphologically complex word corpus; once the two affricates are unified, the runner-up clusters are those that are frequent in common suffixes, and [tʃʰ] is not a candidate for unification. It trails [s q], [j p], [j tʃ], [n t], and others. So, unless this particular example of child-directed speech is atypical of Quechua, it really looks as though roots and morphemes are the right source of distributions for finding affricates.

Input:

This corpus is 10633 utterances from the CHILDES database for Peruvian Quechua experiments described in Gelman et al. 2015. We took all the utterances produced by mothers in the experiments, transcribed them from orthography, and removed punctuation and spaces between words.
Note that there are differences between this dialect and the one described in our paper. This one appears to allow stops in coda position, and the data also have not been cleaned of various loanword segments such as /b, d, g, f/. The dataset is also thematically limited, since the mothers and children were discussing picture books. The overall size of the dataset is not large, although it represents 47 different conversations (46 distinct speakers).

Gelman, Susan A., Bruce Mannheim, Carmen Escalante, and Ingrid Sanchez Tapia. "Teleological talk in parent–child conversations in Quechua." First Language 35, no. 4-5 (2015): 359-376.

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Iteration	Learning Data produced	Features produced	Inseparability	New Segments added	Segments removed
1	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ	ɲ, ŋ, ɴ
2	LearningData.txt	Features.txt	[download] [view]	tʃ'	ʃ'
3	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None
3	No new learning data	No new features	[download] [view]	None	None

Summary of inventory changes

Stage	Consonant set
Input	p t k q b d g f p' t' ʃ' k' q' pʰ tʰ ʃʰ kʰ qʰ s ʃ x h m n ɲ r l ʎ j w ŋ ɴ
Output	None

Simulation Plots

/media/quechua/childes_cds/simulation/insep_plots.png

Complex Segment Learner

Bolivian/Peru Quechua (Quechuan)

Simulation data at a glance

Simulation details for Quechua words narrow

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua roots

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua morphemes broad

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua morphemes narrow

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua words_with_mb

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua words glot_feats_as_segs

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua words broad

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots

Simulation details for Quechua childes_cds

Input:

LearningData.txt | Features.txt

Summary of iterations:

Summary of inventory changes

Simulation Plots