This chapter gives a sketch of phonological studies in three East Asian languages—Chinese, Japane... more This chapter gives a sketch of phonological studies in three East Asian languages—Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The first section covers Chinese from ancient times to the present day. Historical issues of interest include annotation of pronunciation for a non-alphabetical orthography, compilation of riming tables, and reconstruction of Old Chinese phonology. Modern issues of interest include tone features, tone sandhi, syllable structure, morphophonemic alternations, language games, stress, poetic rhythm, and word length preferences. The second section focuses on Japanese and illustrates how phonological notions such as ‘mora’, ‘pitch accent’, and ‘Lyman’s Law’ developed in the phonological studies of the language. The third section deals with Korean with primary focus on its writing system (Hangul), pitch accent, and the three-way contrast in consonants.
Every regular Chinese syllable has a syllable tone (the tone we get when the syllable is read in ... more Every regular Chinese syllable has a syllable tone (the tone we get when the syllable is read in isolation). In some Chinese languages, the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression is basically a concatenation of the syllable tones. In other Chinese languages, the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression is determined solely by the initial syllable. I call the former M-languages (represented by Mandarin) and the latter S-languages (represented by Shanghai). I argue that there is an additional difference in rime structures between the two language groups. In S-languages, all rimes are simple, i.e., there are no underlying diphthongs or codas. In M-languages, all regular times are heavy. I further argue that a syllable keeps its underlying tones only if it has stress. Independent metrical evidence tells us that heavy rimes may carry inherent stress. Thus, in M-languages, all regular syllables are stressed and retain their underlying tones (which may or may not undergo further changes). In contrast, in S-languages, regular rimes do not carry inherent stress; instead, only those syllables that are assigned stress by rule can keep their underlying tones and hence head a multisyllabic tonal domain. The present analysis has theoretical implications for the analysis of contour tones, the tone beating unit, and the interplay between stress and tone. (1) a. si 51 + bei 55-, 5155 'fourcups' b. si 51 + pan 35 ~ 5135 'four plates' C. si 51-{-wan 214-* 51214 'four bowls' d. si sl + pian sl-~ 5151 'four slices' (2) a. sz 34 + pe 53-" 33 44 'four cups' b. $z 34-~ wo 34 ~ 33 44 'four bowls' c. sz 34 + bo 23 ~ 3344 'four plates' d. sz 34 + ko? 55-' 3344 'four dimes' e. sz 34-t-flal a23-'* 33 44 'four boxes'
1. Introduction 2. Features, Sounds, Complex Sounds, and the No Contour Principle 3. Theories of ... more 1. Introduction 2. Features, Sounds, Complex Sounds, and the No Contour Principle 3. Theories of Syllable Structure 4. Syllable Structure in Chinese 5. Standard Chinese 6. Shanghai Chinese 7. Syllable and Tone 8. English I: The Maximal Syllable Size 9. English II: Syllable Inventory and Related Issues 10. German 11. Jiarong (rGyalrong) 12. Theoretical Implications References Author Index Language Index Subject Index
<p>This chapter provides a summary of the prosodic systems of varieties of Chinese spoken i... more <p>This chapter provides a summary of the prosodic systems of varieties of Chinese spoken in mainland China and Taiwan as well as languages in Siberia, in particular Ket. What the Chinese languages and Ket share is their tonal nature. This chapter highlights three unique aspects of the prosody of these languages. First, it surveys the typologically complex patterns of tonal alternation known as 'tone sandhi' and provides a summary of current experimental findings on the productivity of these patterns. Second, it discusses the patterns of lexical and phrasal stress and their interaction with tone, with a focus on the similar metrical principles that underlie tone languages and other languages. Third, it surveys the different types of interaction between lexical tone and the intonational use of pitch, in particular focus and interrogativity. These issues are first discussed in the context of Chinese languages, then echoed in a brief summary of Ket prosody.</p>
Phonemic analysis has been thought to be the 'greatest achievement' in phonology; in contrast, pr... more Phonemic analysis has been thought to be the 'greatest achievement' in phonology; in contrast, progress at other levels, such as the feature level below and the syllable level above, has been limited. We argue that not only are features and syllables important, but phonemic analysis is inadequate without reference to them. In other words, features and syllables are not separate areas of inquiry, but solve fundamental problems in phonemic analysis. We demonstrate the point with an in-depth analysis of Lanzhou Chinese. We show that, without reference to features and syllables, phonemic analysis is ambiguous in that it is open to alternative solutions, a problem noted by Yuen Ren Chao. In addition, there is no explanation for the patterns of occurring and nonoccurring syllables. In contrast, if we take features and syllables into consideration, not only can we account for occurring and non-occurring syllables, but the phonemic analysis itself becomes simpler and less ambiguous.
This is a rejoinder to F. Dell's review of the analysis of stress proposed in Duanmu (2000), ... more This is a rejoinder to F. Dell's review of the analysis of stress proposed in Duanmu (2000), see pp. 33-63 in this issue. In his book, Duanmu proposes that Standard Chinese has left-headed feet. In addition, in compounds and phrases, stress is assigned to the syntactic non-head. F. Dell raises a number of questions for Duanmu's analysis. In the present article, Duanmu explains how the questions can be addressed. He also offers some new evidence and argues that the analysis with left-headed feet remains the simplest theory.
A fundamental consideration in metrical analysis is the Weight-Stress Principle (WSP), whose idea... more A fundamental consideration in metrical analysis is the Weight-Stress Principle (WSP), whose ideal version is given in (1). But the WSP has many apparent exceptions, as illustrated in (2), where we see a lot of stressed light syllables, violating (1b), and a significant number of unstressed heavy syllables, violating (1a). I argue that the source of the problem lies in a popular view that syllabification and stress assignment are two separate processes, a view that originates from a derivational perspective. If instead we treat syllabification and stress assignment as one and the same process, we can achieve a better WSP and improve syllabification. Kahn (1976) proposes that syllabification is based on the Onset First rule, but he added a condition to ensure that a stress syllable is heavy. Specifically, CVCV is syllabified as CV.CV first but adjusted to CVCV if the first V has stress, where the C is ‘ambisyllabic ’ to ensure that the first syllable is heavy. Selkirk (1982) adopts t...
A well-known problem in Chinese phonology is that in some dialects most regular syllables keep th... more A well-known problem in Chinese phonology is that in some dialects most regular syllables keep their underlying tones but in others the initial syllable determines the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic domain. Mandarin and Shanghai, two of the most studied dialects, best represent the contrast. Duanmu (1993) proposes that the two dialects differ in syllable structure but otherwise obey the same phonological constraints, including moraic trochee. However, a number of problems remain, such as the metrical counting units, the predicted weight of a syllable and its phonetic duration, the economy of underlying tones, the mechanism of tone deletion, and the relation between weight and stress. This article offers a solution to the problems. The main proposal is that Chinese is both mora-counting and syllable-counting, in that a heavy syllable forms a bimoraic trochee, which I call M-foot, yet a minimal word must be a disyllabic trochee, which I call S-foot. In addition, both Mandarin and Shanghai are subject to tonal polarity, which is independently found in African languages. I also discuss the implication of the S-foot for metrical theory and other consequences of the present analysis. 1. The problem There is a well-known phenomenon in Chinese phonology: in some dialects most regular syllables keep their underlying tones, 1 whereas in other dialects the initial syllable determines the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression. The contrast can be illustrated with Standard Mandarin (hereafter Mandarin) and Mainstream Shanghai. Mainstream Shanghai (also called New Shanghai by Xu et al (1981)) is the variety spoken by the majority of people in Shanghai City (Xu et al (1988)). It differs from Old Shanghai, spoken by a small number of old people, to be discussed in section 5.2. (1) shows data from Mandarin, transcribed in Pinyin, and (2) shows data from Mainstream Shanghai (hereafter Shanghai), transcribed in phonetic symbols. Tones are 'Wuxi' 'Shanghai' 'Sha (Sha City)' (12) Country names Riben Helan *Fa (Fa Guo) 'Japan' 'Holland' 'France (France Country)'
Duanmu (2000) proposes that Standard Chinese has left-headed feet. In addition, in compounds and ... more Duanmu (2000) proposes that Standard Chinese has left-headed feet. In addition, in compounds and phrases stress is assigned to the syntactic non-head. Dell (2004) raises a number of questions for Duanmu’s analysis. I explain how the questions can be addressed. I also offer some new evidence and argue that the analysis with left-headed feet remains the simplest theory.
2. Some typographical errors in the original handout have been corrected. 3. This handout does no... more 2. Some typographical errors in the original handout have been corrected. 3. This handout does not contain all the ideas presented at the talk, nor has it incorporated responses from the audience. Contact the author for an updated draft. Alignment and the Cycle Are Different
1. Introduction 2. The Sound Inventory 3. Combinations and Variation 4. The Syllable 5. Words and... more 1. Introduction 2. The Sound Inventory 3. Combinations and Variation 4. The Syllable 5. Words and Compounds 6. Stress 7. The Word length Problem 8. The Word Order Problem 9. The [r] Suffix 10. Tone: Basic Properties 11. Tone 3 Sandhi (T3S) 12. Rhythm in Poetry 13. Connected Speech and Other Dialects 14. Theoretical Implications Appendix: Full Syllables in SC References Index
How many vowels (or consonants) are there in the world's languages? Can we identify segments ... more How many vowels (or consonants) are there in the world's languages? Can we identify segments in different languages as being the same, even if they are not exactly so phonetically? Should we determine the features of segments (a) in terms of contrast or (b) in terms of natural classes? Would methods (a) and (b) yield different results? This talk addresses these questions through the analysis of two large segment corpora, UPSID (Maddieson & Precoda 1990) and P-base (Mielke 2004-2007). It is well known that segments represented by the same IPA symbols can differ from language to language. For example, [i, y, e, ø] in Norwegian are quite different from those in German (Disner 1983). The German vowels generally have a higher tongue position than their Norwegian counter parts. In order to capture such fine differences between languages, some scholars (e. argue that it is insufficient to assume a set of binary, abstract, and universal features (e.g. Jakobson et al. 1952 and Chomsky & ...
It is widely assumed that syllabification is governed by the requirement that syllables should ha... more It is widely assumed that syllabification is governed by the requirement that syllables should have an onset (see, for example, Hooper 1972, Kahn 1976, Cairns & Feinstein 1982, Selkirk 1982, Steriade 1982, Clements & Keyser 1983, Gussenhoven 1986, Halle & Vergnaud 1987, Ito 1989, Prince & Smolensky 1993, Kenstowicz 1994, Blevins 1995, 2004, Hammond 1999, and Hayes 2009). Following Prince & Smolensky (1993), let us call it Onset and state it in (1). (1)Onset A syllable must have an onset. The requirement has been referred to by other names, such as Onset First or Maximal Onset, or defined in slightly different ways, which need not concern us. Those who assume Onset also assume another requirement, which Vennemann (1988) calls the Law of Initials (LOI), rephrased here in (2). (2)The Law of Initials (LOI) Word-medial onsets should resemble word-initial onsets. Example Analysis Reason atlas [æt][lәs], not [æ][tlәs] No word-initial [tl] after [æf][tɚ], not [æ][ftɚ] No word-initial [ft] s...
This chapter gives a sketch of phonological studies in three East Asian languages—Chinese, Japane... more This chapter gives a sketch of phonological studies in three East Asian languages—Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The first section covers Chinese from ancient times to the present day. Historical issues of interest include annotation of pronunciation for a non-alphabetical orthography, compilation of riming tables, and reconstruction of Old Chinese phonology. Modern issues of interest include tone features, tone sandhi, syllable structure, morphophonemic alternations, language games, stress, poetic rhythm, and word length preferences. The second section focuses on Japanese and illustrates how phonological notions such as ‘mora’, ‘pitch accent’, and ‘Lyman’s Law’ developed in the phonological studies of the language. The third section deals with Korean with primary focus on its writing system (Hangul), pitch accent, and the three-way contrast in consonants.
Every regular Chinese syllable has a syllable tone (the tone we get when the syllable is read in ... more Every regular Chinese syllable has a syllable tone (the tone we get when the syllable is read in isolation). In some Chinese languages, the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression is basically a concatenation of the syllable tones. In other Chinese languages, the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression is determined solely by the initial syllable. I call the former M-languages (represented by Mandarin) and the latter S-languages (represented by Shanghai). I argue that there is an additional difference in rime structures between the two language groups. In S-languages, all rimes are simple, i.e., there are no underlying diphthongs or codas. In M-languages, all regular times are heavy. I further argue that a syllable keeps its underlying tones only if it has stress. Independent metrical evidence tells us that heavy rimes may carry inherent stress. Thus, in M-languages, all regular syllables are stressed and retain their underlying tones (which may or may not undergo further changes). In contrast, in S-languages, regular rimes do not carry inherent stress; instead, only those syllables that are assigned stress by rule can keep their underlying tones and hence head a multisyllabic tonal domain. The present analysis has theoretical implications for the analysis of contour tones, the tone beating unit, and the interplay between stress and tone. (1) a. si 51 + bei 55-, 5155 'fourcups' b. si 51 + pan 35 ~ 5135 'four plates' C. si 51-{-wan 214-* 51214 'four bowls' d. si sl + pian sl-~ 5151 'four slices' (2) a. sz 34 + pe 53-" 33 44 'four cups' b. $z 34-~ wo 34 ~ 33 44 'four bowls' c. sz 34 + bo 23 ~ 3344 'four plates' d. sz 34 + ko? 55-' 3344 'four dimes' e. sz 34-t-flal a23-'* 33 44 'four boxes'
1. Introduction 2. Features, Sounds, Complex Sounds, and the No Contour Principle 3. Theories of ... more 1. Introduction 2. Features, Sounds, Complex Sounds, and the No Contour Principle 3. Theories of Syllable Structure 4. Syllable Structure in Chinese 5. Standard Chinese 6. Shanghai Chinese 7. Syllable and Tone 8. English I: The Maximal Syllable Size 9. English II: Syllable Inventory and Related Issues 10. German 11. Jiarong (rGyalrong) 12. Theoretical Implications References Author Index Language Index Subject Index
<p>This chapter provides a summary of the prosodic systems of varieties of Chinese spoken i... more <p>This chapter provides a summary of the prosodic systems of varieties of Chinese spoken in mainland China and Taiwan as well as languages in Siberia, in particular Ket. What the Chinese languages and Ket share is their tonal nature. This chapter highlights three unique aspects of the prosody of these languages. First, it surveys the typologically complex patterns of tonal alternation known as 'tone sandhi' and provides a summary of current experimental findings on the productivity of these patterns. Second, it discusses the patterns of lexical and phrasal stress and their interaction with tone, with a focus on the similar metrical principles that underlie tone languages and other languages. Third, it surveys the different types of interaction between lexical tone and the intonational use of pitch, in particular focus and interrogativity. These issues are first discussed in the context of Chinese languages, then echoed in a brief summary of Ket prosody.</p>
Phonemic analysis has been thought to be the 'greatest achievement' in phonology; in contrast, pr... more Phonemic analysis has been thought to be the 'greatest achievement' in phonology; in contrast, progress at other levels, such as the feature level below and the syllable level above, has been limited. We argue that not only are features and syllables important, but phonemic analysis is inadequate without reference to them. In other words, features and syllables are not separate areas of inquiry, but solve fundamental problems in phonemic analysis. We demonstrate the point with an in-depth analysis of Lanzhou Chinese. We show that, without reference to features and syllables, phonemic analysis is ambiguous in that it is open to alternative solutions, a problem noted by Yuen Ren Chao. In addition, there is no explanation for the patterns of occurring and nonoccurring syllables. In contrast, if we take features and syllables into consideration, not only can we account for occurring and non-occurring syllables, but the phonemic analysis itself becomes simpler and less ambiguous.
This is a rejoinder to F. Dell's review of the analysis of stress proposed in Duanmu (2000), ... more This is a rejoinder to F. Dell's review of the analysis of stress proposed in Duanmu (2000), see pp. 33-63 in this issue. In his book, Duanmu proposes that Standard Chinese has left-headed feet. In addition, in compounds and phrases, stress is assigned to the syntactic non-head. F. Dell raises a number of questions for Duanmu's analysis. In the present article, Duanmu explains how the questions can be addressed. He also offers some new evidence and argues that the analysis with left-headed feet remains the simplest theory.
A fundamental consideration in metrical analysis is the Weight-Stress Principle (WSP), whose idea... more A fundamental consideration in metrical analysis is the Weight-Stress Principle (WSP), whose ideal version is given in (1). But the WSP has many apparent exceptions, as illustrated in (2), where we see a lot of stressed light syllables, violating (1b), and a significant number of unstressed heavy syllables, violating (1a). I argue that the source of the problem lies in a popular view that syllabification and stress assignment are two separate processes, a view that originates from a derivational perspective. If instead we treat syllabification and stress assignment as one and the same process, we can achieve a better WSP and improve syllabification. Kahn (1976) proposes that syllabification is based on the Onset First rule, but he added a condition to ensure that a stress syllable is heavy. Specifically, CVCV is syllabified as CV.CV first but adjusted to CVCV if the first V has stress, where the C is ‘ambisyllabic ’ to ensure that the first syllable is heavy. Selkirk (1982) adopts t...
A well-known problem in Chinese phonology is that in some dialects most regular syllables keep th... more A well-known problem in Chinese phonology is that in some dialects most regular syllables keep their underlying tones but in others the initial syllable determines the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic domain. Mandarin and Shanghai, two of the most studied dialects, best represent the contrast. Duanmu (1993) proposes that the two dialects differ in syllable structure but otherwise obey the same phonological constraints, including moraic trochee. However, a number of problems remain, such as the metrical counting units, the predicted weight of a syllable and its phonetic duration, the economy of underlying tones, the mechanism of tone deletion, and the relation between weight and stress. This article offers a solution to the problems. The main proposal is that Chinese is both mora-counting and syllable-counting, in that a heavy syllable forms a bimoraic trochee, which I call M-foot, yet a minimal word must be a disyllabic trochee, which I call S-foot. In addition, both Mandarin and Shanghai are subject to tonal polarity, which is independently found in African languages. I also discuss the implication of the S-foot for metrical theory and other consequences of the present analysis. 1. The problem There is a well-known phenomenon in Chinese phonology: in some dialects most regular syllables keep their underlying tones, 1 whereas in other dialects the initial syllable determines the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression. The contrast can be illustrated with Standard Mandarin (hereafter Mandarin) and Mainstream Shanghai. Mainstream Shanghai (also called New Shanghai by Xu et al (1981)) is the variety spoken by the majority of people in Shanghai City (Xu et al (1988)). It differs from Old Shanghai, spoken by a small number of old people, to be discussed in section 5.2. (1) shows data from Mandarin, transcribed in Pinyin, and (2) shows data from Mainstream Shanghai (hereafter Shanghai), transcribed in phonetic symbols. Tones are 'Wuxi' 'Shanghai' 'Sha (Sha City)' (12) Country names Riben Helan *Fa (Fa Guo) 'Japan' 'Holland' 'France (France Country)'
Duanmu (2000) proposes that Standard Chinese has left-headed feet. In addition, in compounds and ... more Duanmu (2000) proposes that Standard Chinese has left-headed feet. In addition, in compounds and phrases stress is assigned to the syntactic non-head. Dell (2004) raises a number of questions for Duanmu’s analysis. I explain how the questions can be addressed. I also offer some new evidence and argue that the analysis with left-headed feet remains the simplest theory.
2. Some typographical errors in the original handout have been corrected. 3. This handout does no... more 2. Some typographical errors in the original handout have been corrected. 3. This handout does not contain all the ideas presented at the talk, nor has it incorporated responses from the audience. Contact the author for an updated draft. Alignment and the Cycle Are Different
1. Introduction 2. The Sound Inventory 3. Combinations and Variation 4. The Syllable 5. Words and... more 1. Introduction 2. The Sound Inventory 3. Combinations and Variation 4. The Syllable 5. Words and Compounds 6. Stress 7. The Word length Problem 8. The Word Order Problem 9. The [r] Suffix 10. Tone: Basic Properties 11. Tone 3 Sandhi (T3S) 12. Rhythm in Poetry 13. Connected Speech and Other Dialects 14. Theoretical Implications Appendix: Full Syllables in SC References Index
How many vowels (or consonants) are there in the world's languages? Can we identify segments ... more How many vowels (or consonants) are there in the world's languages? Can we identify segments in different languages as being the same, even if they are not exactly so phonetically? Should we determine the features of segments (a) in terms of contrast or (b) in terms of natural classes? Would methods (a) and (b) yield different results? This talk addresses these questions through the analysis of two large segment corpora, UPSID (Maddieson & Precoda 1990) and P-base (Mielke 2004-2007). It is well known that segments represented by the same IPA symbols can differ from language to language. For example, [i, y, e, ø] in Norwegian are quite different from those in German (Disner 1983). The German vowels generally have a higher tongue position than their Norwegian counter parts. In order to capture such fine differences between languages, some scholars (e. argue that it is insufficient to assume a set of binary, abstract, and universal features (e.g. Jakobson et al. 1952 and Chomsky & ...
It is widely assumed that syllabification is governed by the requirement that syllables should ha... more It is widely assumed that syllabification is governed by the requirement that syllables should have an onset (see, for example, Hooper 1972, Kahn 1976, Cairns & Feinstein 1982, Selkirk 1982, Steriade 1982, Clements & Keyser 1983, Gussenhoven 1986, Halle & Vergnaud 1987, Ito 1989, Prince & Smolensky 1993, Kenstowicz 1994, Blevins 1995, 2004, Hammond 1999, and Hayes 2009). Following Prince & Smolensky (1993), let us call it Onset and state it in (1). (1)Onset A syllable must have an onset. The requirement has been referred to by other names, such as Onset First or Maximal Onset, or defined in slightly different ways, which need not concern us. Those who assume Onset also assume another requirement, which Vennemann (1988) calls the Law of Initials (LOI), rephrased here in (2). (2)The Law of Initials (LOI) Word-medial onsets should resemble word-initial onsets. Example Analysis Reason atlas [æt][lәs], not [æ][tlәs] No word-initial [tl] after [æf][tɚ], not [æ][ftɚ] No word-initial [ft] s...
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