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13 - Tonal Processes Defined as Articulatory-based Contextual Tonal Variation

from Part Three - Phonetic-phonological Issues in Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2022

By
Yi Xu  and
Albert Lee
Edited by
Chu-Ren Huang ,
Yen-Hwei Lin ,
I-Hsuan Chen  and
Yu-Yin Hsu
Chu-Ren Huang
Affiliation:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Yen-Hwei Lin
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
I-Hsuan Chen
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Yu-Yin Hsu
Affiliation:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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Summary

This chapter reviews studies on contextual tonal variation in Chinese languages, often referred to as ‘tonal coarticulation’ in the literature. We start by explaining why the term ‘contextual variation’ is preferred to ‘coarticulation’ for tones, before introducing different types of contextual variation observed in Chinese languages. The following processes are covered: assimilatory vs. dissimilatory carryover effects, anticipatory effects, microprosodic effects, and pre-planning effects. Next, three debated issues in Chinese linguistics related to contextual variation are discussed. First, are dynamic tones (e.g., rise, fall) underlyingly dynamic or made up of sequences of static tones (e.g., Low-High)? Second, are tones hosted in the rhyme or across an entire syllable? Third, does the Mandarin neutral tone have an underlying target or is it unspecified? Different views on these issues are presented with suggestions on how some of them may be tested and falsified.

Keywords

tonecontextual tonal variationcarryover effectsanticipatory effects
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Chinese Linguistics , pp. 275 - 290
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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