city university of hong kong - lbms03.cityu.edu.hk
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CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG 香港城市大學
A Phonetic Study of the Sounds and Tones in Xiangxiang Chinese
漢語湘鄉方言的語音與聲調研究
Submitted to
Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics
中文、翻譯及語言學系
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
哲學博士學位
by
Zeng Ting
曾婷
December 2011
二零一一年十二月
i
Abstract
This dissertation is a comprehensive phonetic study of the consonants, vowels and tones
in Xiangxiang Chinese, which is one of the representatives of the old Xiang dialects of
Chinese. Xiangxiang Chinese is among the poorly understood dialects of Chinese
because of the lack of articulatory, aerodynamic and acoustic experiments investigating
its sound system.
For the consonants, three experiments were conducted. First, a palatographic and
linguographic experiment was conducted to determine for each consonant which part of
the palate makes contact with the tongue (place of articulation), which part of tongue
makes contact with the palate (location of constriction), and the manner of articulation.
Second, the acoustic properties associated with the voicing distinction in obstruents were
studied. Specifically, several acoustic parameters identified in past studies as acoustic
correlates of the voicing distinction in stops, fricatives and affricates were analysed.
Third, an aerodynamic experiment was conducted on the prevocalic consonants that
correspond to the Middle Chinese initial consonants /*n-/ and /*l-/, with the aim of
determining whether this historical distinction in Middle Chinese has been lost or
retained in modern Xiangxiang Chinese. To accomplish this, the Middle Chinese
distinction between /*n-/ and /*l-/ was first defined by examining the aerodynamic
characteristics of [n] and [l] in those Chinese dialects where these two segments are still
contrastive as phonemes. The hypothesis was that these dialects may have preserved the
phonetic details of this distinction and that these details cannot be recovered in any other
way.
For the vowels, an acoustic experiment was first conducted to study the formant
patterns and temporal organisation of the monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs.
Then an aerodynamic experiment was conducted to investigate the aerodynamic
characteristics of vowel nasalisation. Specifically, the correlations between the degree of
vowel nasalisation and factors like vowel height, vowel backness and type of nasal
environment were examined.
For the tones, an acoustic experiment was conducted on both citation tones and tone
sandhi for bi-syllabic and poly-syllabic words.
ii
To have a better understanding of the nature of sounds in Xiangxiang Chinese,
comparisons were made between the findings of the present study and i) the
impressionistic descriptions of the phonetic characteristics of the sounds in Xiangxiang
Chinese in past studies and ii) past findings on similar sounds in other (major) Chinese
dialects or languages. Moreover, the results in this study that have implications for recent
phonetic theories and models were highlighted and discussed in detail.
iv
Table of Contents
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………i
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………..iii
Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………iv
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………...x
List of Figures……………………………………...…………………………………….xx
Chapter 1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 1
1.1 The Xiang dialects of Chinese........................................................................... 1
1.1.1 Definition ............................................................................................ 2
1.1.2 Additional Features ............................................................................. 4
1.1.3 Subdivision ......................................................................................... 5
1.2 Xiangxiang Chinese......................................................................................... 10
1.2.1 Consonants ........................................................................................ 11
1.2.2 Vowels .............................................................................................. 13
1.2.3 Tones and tone sandhis ..................................................................... 16
1.2.4 Phonotactics and Syllable structures................................................. 18
1.3 Middle Chinese................................................................................................ 19
1.3.1 Definition .......................................................................................... 19
1.3.2 Reconstructed Phonetic System........................................................ 20
1.4 Aim and Scope of the Present Study ............................................................... 21
Chapter 2 An Articulatory Study of the Consonants .................................................... 25
2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 25
2.2 Methodology.................................................................................................... 26
v
2.2.1 Test Materials.................................................................................... 26
2.2.2 Subjects and Data Collecting ............................................................ 28
2.2.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................... 29
2.3 Results ............................................................................................................. 33
2.3.1 Stops.................................................................................................. 33
2.3.2 Sibilants............................................................................................. 39
2.3.3 Sonorants........................................................................................... 54
2.4 Conclusion and Discussion.............................................................................. 64
2.4.1 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 64
2.4.2 Discussion ......................................................................................... 67
Chapter 3 An Acoustic Study of Voicing in Obstruents .............................................. 78
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 78
3.2 Theoretical Background .................................................................................. 79
3.2.1 Presence/Absence of Glottal Vibration during Closure.................... 80
3.2.2 Voice Onset Time ............................................................................. 82
3.2.3 Articulatory Force ............................................................................. 83
3.2.4 Pitch Patterns of the Adjoining Vowel ............................................. 84
3.2.5 First Formant Transition of the Adjoining Vowel ............................ 85
3.2.6 Phonation Type of the Adjoining Vowel .......................................... 86
3.2.7 Duration of Fricative Noise .............................................................. 87
3.3 Methodology.................................................................................................... 87
3.3.1 Test Materials.................................................................................... 87
3.3.2 Subjects and Data Recording ............................................................ 90
vi
3.3.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................... 91
3.4 Results ........................................................................................................... 100
3.4.1 Stops................................................................................................ 100
3.4.2 Fricatives......................................................................................... 106
3.4.3 Affricates......................................................................................... 120
3.5 Conclusion and Discussion............................................................................ 134
3.5.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 134
3.5.2 Discussion ....................................................................................... 137
Chapter 4 An Airflow Study of the Prevocalic [n] and [l] ......................................... 145
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 145
4.2 Methodology.................................................................................................. 146
4.2.1 Test Materials.................................................................................. 146
4.2.2 Subjects and Data Collecting .......................................................... 149
4.2.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................. 150
4.3 Results ........................................................................................................... 154
4.3.1 Classification of the Test Consonants as [n-] or [l-] ....................... 154
4.3.2 Distribution of [n-] and [l-] ............................................................. 157
4.4 Conclusion and Discussion............................................................................ 161
4.4.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 162
4.4.2 Discussion ....................................................................................... 165
Chapter 5 An Acoustic Study of the Vowels.............................................................. 168
5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 168
5.2 Methodology.................................................................................................. 171
vii
5.2.1 Test Materials.................................................................................. 171
5.2.2 Subjects and Data Recording .......................................................... 173
5.2.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................. 174
5.3 Results ........................................................................................................... 174
5.3.1 Formant Patterns ............................................................................. 174
5.3.2 Temporal Organisation ................................................................... 241
5.4 Conclusion and Discussion............................................................................ 272
5.4.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 272
5.4.2 Discussion ....................................................................................... 280
Chapter 6 An Airflow Study of Vowel Nasalisation .................................................. 304
6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 304
6.2 Theoretical Background ................................................................................ 305
6.2.1 Nasalisation and Vowel Height ...................................................... 305
6.2.2 Nasalisation and Vowel Backness .................................................. 306
6.2.3 Nasalisation and Type of Nasal Environment ................................ 307
6.3 Methodology.................................................................................................. 307
6.3.1 Test Materials.................................................................................. 307
6.3.2 Subjects and Data Collecting .......................................................... 309
6.3.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................. 309
6.4 Results ........................................................................................................... 312
6.4.1 Oral vs. Nasal Vowels..................................................................... 312
6.4.2 Vowel Nasalisation and Vowel Height/Backness........................... 318
6.4.3 Vowel Nasalisation and Type of Nasal Environment..................... 320
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6.5 Conclusion and Discussion............................................................................ 322
6.5.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 322
6.5.2 Discussion ....................................................................................... 324
Chapter 7 Tone and Tone Sandhi ............................................................................... 334
7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 334
7.2 Review of Previous Studies........................................................................... 334
7.3 Methodology.................................................................................................. 337
7.3.1 Test Materials.................................................................................. 337
7.3.2 Subjects and Data Collection .......................................................... 340
7.3.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................. 340
7.4 Results ........................................................................................................... 342
7.4.1 Citation Tones ................................................................................. 342
7.4.2 Tone Sandhi .................................................................................... 345
7.5 Conclusion and Discussion............................................................................ 367
7.5.1 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 367
7.5.2 Discussion ....................................................................................... 370
Chapter 8 Conclusions and General Discussions ....................................................... 385
8.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 385
8.1.1 Main Findings about the XXC Consonants .................................... 385
8.1.2 Main Findings about the XXC Vowels........................................... 393
8.1.3 Main Findings about the XXC Tones ............................................. 402
8.2 General Discussions ...................................................................................... 403
8.2.1 The Characteristics of XXC............................................................ 403
ix
8.2.2 Suggestions for Future Study.......................................................... 406
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 407
Appendix I: Acoustic data of the stops ........................................................................... 425
Appendix II: Acoustic data of the fricatives ................................................................... 542
Appendix III: Acoustic data of the affricates.................................................................. 583
Appendix IV: Acoustic data of the vowels ..................................................................... 616
Appendix V: Airflow data of vowel nasalisation ........................................................... 702
x
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Descriptions of the consonants in XXC according to past studies ................... 11
Table 1.2 The description of the vowels in XXC in past studies...................................... 14
Table 1.3 The citation tones in XXC described in past studies ........................................ 16
Table 1.4 Middle Chinese initials reconstructed in Karlgren (1994: 239-436) ................ 20
Table 1.5 Middle Chinese finals reconstructed in Karlgren (1922: 451-536) .................. 21
Table 1.6 Middle Chinese tones reconstructed in Karlgren (1922: 437-550)................... 21
Table 1.7 A list of the major experiments that were conducted in Chapter two through
seven ................................................................................................................................. 23
Table 2.1 The XXC consonant system described in past studies ..................................... 25
Table 2.2 Test words for the articultaory experiment....................................................... 27
Table 2.3 A summary of the production data of the test stops for the six speakers.......... 38
Table 2.4 Palatographic and linguographic data of the sibilants for the six speakers ...... 50
Table 2.5 Articulatory data of the sonorants for the three speakers ................................. 64
Table 2.6 The traditional Chinese consonant chart........................................................... 70
Table 2.7 Fricatives that have the post-alveolar place of articulation .............................. 76
Table 2.8 Part of the consonant chart in the International Phonetic Alphabet.................. 77
Table 3.1 Description of XXC obstruents in past studies ................................................. 78
Table 3.2 Attributes identified in past studies that cue a voicing distinction in
stops/affricates and fricatives............................................................................................ 80
Table 3.3 Tones following voiced vs. voiceless consonants in some Chinese dialects.... 85
Table 3.4 Test words for the acoustic experiment on obstruent voicing .......................... 90
xi
Table 3.5 Attributes examined in this study that cue a voicing distinction in stops,
fricatives and affricates. .................................................................................................... 92
Table 3.6 Number of occurrences of the voiced fricatives and voiced affricates............. 95
Table 3.7 Mean VOT duration of each stop (SD: standard deviation) ........................... 101
Table 3.8 Percentage of prevoiced tokens and mean prevoicing duration for each place of
articulation ...................................................................................................................... 105
Table 3.9 Mean HNR for [a] following voiced vs. voiceless stops ................................ 106
Table 3.10 Results of paired data T-tests of HNR in syllables with initial voiced vs.
voiceless stops................................................................................................................. 106
Table 3.11 Voicing duration for the fricatives................................................................ 114
Table 3.12 Results of paired data T-tests of absolute and percentage voicing duration of
the fricatives.................................................................................................................... 114
Table 3.13 Number of occurrences for the five patterns of voicing ............................... 115
Table 3.14 Mean frication duration for the fricatives ..................................................... 115
Table 3.15 Results of paired data T-tests of frication duration of the fricatives............. 116
Table 3.16 Mean HNR (in dB) for the vowels that follow voiced vs. voiceless fricatives
......................................................................................................................................... 119
Table 3.17 Results of paired data T-tests of HNR in syllables with initial voiced vs.
voiceless fricatives .......................................................................................................... 119
Table 3.18 Voicing patterns of the voiced affricates ...................................................... 120
Table 3.19 Number of occurrences for each voicing pattern.......................................... 125
Table 3.20 VOT and voicing duration after release (absolute and percentage) for the
affricates.......................................................................................................................... 130
xii
Table 3.21 Mean segment and frication (release) duration for the affricates ................. 133
Table 3.22 Results of paired data T-tests of frication duration for the fricatives ........... 133
Table 3.23 Mean HNR (in dB) for the vowels that follow voiced vs. voiceless affricates
......................................................................................................................................... 134
Table 3.24 Results of paired data T-tests of HNR in syllables with initial voiced vs.
voiceless affricates .......................................................................................................... 134
Table 3.25 Mean VOT values of each stop consonant in XXC, Suzhou, English, Spanish,
Dutch, and, Polish ........................................................................................................... 140
Table 3.26 Percentage number of devoiced tokens for [z ] in XXC....................... 144
Table 4.1 Some words with prevocalic [n-] or [l-] ......................................................... 146
Table 4.2 Test words for the aerodynamic experiment on prevocalic [n-] and [l-] ........ 148
Table 4.3 Test words for the pilot aerodynamic experiment on prevocalic [n-] and [l-] in
Mandarin Chinese, Shanghai Chinese and Haerbin Chinese.......................................... 150
Table 4.4 Classification of the test consonants in XXC (based on the airflow patterns they
show)............................................................................................................................... 154
Table 4.5 Classification of the test consonants in XXC ................................................. 156
Table 4.6 The number of occurrences of [n-], [l-] and [ln-] for each syllable type......... 157
Table 4.7 The number of occurrences of [n-], [l-] and [ln-] in CV syllables for each of the
seven speakers................................................................................................................. 159
Table 5.1 The description of the vowels in XXC in past studies.................................... 168
Table 5.2 Test words based on the impressionistic descriptions during my fieldwork in
October, 2005.................................................................................................................. 173
xiii
Table 5.3 The means of F1, F2 and F3 of the eight oral monophthongs for 20 male and
female speakers ............................................................................................................... 175
Table 5.4 The mean difference in F1, F2 and F3 values between the 10 male and the 10
female speakers. .............................................................................................................. 180
Table 5.5 Fn female, Fn female (scaled), Diff. (%) before scaling and Diff. (%) after scaling
for each vowel................................................................................................................. 182
Table 5.6 Means and standard deviations of F1, F2 and F3 of the nine oral diphthongs for
10 male and 10 female speakers ..................................................................................... 184
Table 5.7 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[ia] and the corresponding citation monophthongs......................................................... 187
Table 5.8 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[io] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 188
Table 5.9 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[i] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 190
Table 5.10 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[ui] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 195
Table 5.11 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[yi] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 197
Table 5.12 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[ua] and the corresponding citation monophthongs........................................................ 198
Table 5.13 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[ya] and the corresponding citation monophthongs........................................................ 200
xiv
Table 5.14 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[ai] and the corresponding citation monophthongs......................................................... 201
Table 5.15 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[au] and the corresponding citation monophthongs........................................................ 203
Table 5.16 The means of F1, F2 and F3 of the three triphthongs................................... 203
Table 5.17 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the first and third
elements in [iei] and the corresponding citation monophthongs .................................... 205
Table 5.18 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the three elements
in [iau] and the corresponding citation monophthongs................................................... 207
Table 5.19 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the three elements
in [uai] and the corresponding citation monophthongs................................................... 209
Table 5.20 The means of F1, F2 and F3 of the two nasal monophthongs for 20 male and
female speakers ............................................................................................................... 209
Table 5.21 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the nasal
monophthongs and the corresponding monophthongs ................................................... 211
Table 5.22 The means of F1, F2 and F3 of the five nasal diphthongs for the 20 male and
female speakers ............................................................................................................... 212
Table 5.23 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[i a] and the corresponding elements in [ia] as well as citation [i] .................................. 214
Table 5.24 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[i o ] and the corresponding elements in [io] as well as the corresponding citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 218
xv
Table 5.25 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [i] in [u i],
monophthong [i], [i] in [ui] and citation [i] .................................................................... 222
Table 5.26 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[y i ], monophthong [u] and [a], the corresponding elements in [yi], and citation [i ] ...... 225
Table 5.27 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for the two elements in
[u a ] and the corresponding elements in [ua] as well as citation [u] and [a] ................... 228
Table 5.28 The means of F1, F2 and F3 of the two vowels that can occur in CMN
syllables for the 10 male and 10 female speakers........................................................... 228
Table 5.29 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [i] in [in], citation
[i], and [i] ........................................................................................................................ 229
Table 5.30 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [a] in [an], [a] in
[a], and citation [a] ........................................................................................................ 231
Table 5.31 The means of F1, F2 and F3 of the diphthongs in CDN syllables for the 10
male and 10 female speakers .......................................................................................... 231
Table 5.32 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [i] and [a] in [ian],
citation [i] and [a], and, [i] and [a] in [ia] ....................................................................... 233
Table 5.33 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [i] and [a] in [ia],
citation [i] and [a], and, [i] and [a] in [ia] ....................................................................... 235
Table 5.34 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [y] and [i] in [yin],
citation [y] and [i], and, [y] and [i] in [yi] ...................................................................... 237
Table 5.35 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [u] and [a] in [uan],
citation [u] and [a], and, [u] and [a] in [ua]..................................................................... 239
xvi
Table 5.36 Results of a statistical analysis of the F1 and F2 values for [u] and [a] in [ua],
citation [u] and [a], and, [u] and [a] in [ua]..................................................................... 241
Table 5.37 The temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open syllables
that have steady-state formants of both elements for the male speakers ........................ 244
Table 5.38 The temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open syllables
that have steady-state formants of both elements for the female speakers ..................... 244
Table 5.39 The temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open syllables
that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male speakers.................... 249
Table 5.40 The temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open syllables
that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the female speakers................. 250
Table 5.41 The temporal organisation of diphthongs in open syllables that lack steady-
state formants of the second elements for the male speakers ......................................... 253
Table 5.42 The temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open syllables
that lack steady-state formants of the second elements for the female speakers ............ 253
Table 5.43 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that have steady-state formants
of all three elements for the male speakers ..................................................................... 255
Table 5.44 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that have steady-state formants
of all three elements for the female speakers.................................................................. 255
Table 5.45 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of
the first elements for the male speakers .......................................................................... 257
Table 5.46 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of
the second elements for the male speakers ..................................................................... 258
xvii
Table 5.47 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of
the second elements for the female speakers .................................................................. 258
Table 5.48 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of
the third elements for the male speakers......................................................................... 260
Table 5.49 The temporal organisation of the triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of
the third elements for the female speakers...................................................................... 260
Table 5.50 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a monophthong and a nasal
ending for the male speakers........................................................................................... 263
Table 5.51 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a monophthong and a nasal
ending for the female speakers ....................................................................................... 264
Table 5.52 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending
that have steady-state formants of both vowel elements for the male speakers ............. 266
Table 5.53 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending
that have steady-state formants of both vowel elements for the female speakers .......... 267
Table 5.54 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending
that lack steady-state formants of the first vowel elements for the male speakers ......... 268
Table 5.55 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending
that lack steady-state formants of the first vowel elements for the female speakers ...... 269
Table 5.56 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending
that lack steady-state formants of the second vowel elements for the male speakers .... 270
Table 5.57 The temporal organisation of the rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending
that lack steady-state formants of the second vowel elements for the female speakers . 271
Table 5.58 The description of the vowels in XXC in past studies.................................. 280
xviii
Table 5.59 The vowels in XXC, Mandarin Chinese, Suzhou Chinese, Ningbo Chinese
and English...................................................................................................................... 287
Table 5.60 Results of a statistical analysis of F1, F2 and F3 values of [u] and [] in XXC
......................................................................................................................................... 292
Table 5.61 The first three formant frequencies and duration of [u] and [] in XXC,
English and German........................................................................................................ 293
Table 5.62 The normal-length (oral) diphthongs in XXC, Mandarin Chinese, Suzhou
Chinese, Ningbo Chinese, English, Spanish and Maithili .............................................. 295
Table 5.63 Results of a Post-Hoc One-way ANOVA on the vowels with F1 and F2 as the
dependent variables......................................................................................................... 301
Table 6.1 The test words for an airflow study of vowel nasalisation in XXC................ 308
Table 6.2 Means and standard deviations of seven measurements for the nasal vowels 313
Table 6.3 Hierarchy of nasal airflow baselines of the single vowels for each of the six
speakers........................................................................................................................... 318
Table 6.4 V, VNasalisation and PVNV vaues for the vowels in oral contexts............... 319
Table 6.5 V, VNasalisation and PVNV vaues for the vowels in pre-nasal contexts ...... 319
Table 6.6 Means and standard deviations of seven parameters for the vowels in pre-nasal
environments................................................................................................................... 320
Table 6.7 The results of the statistical analysis of a one-way ANOVA test................... 322
Table 6.8 Oral and/or nasal monophthongs in XXC, Suzhou Chinese, Hong Kong
Cantonese, English and French....................................................................................... 325
Table 7.1 Citation tones in XXC described in past studies............................................. 335
Table 7.2 Test words for citation tones........................................................................... 338
xix
Table 7.3 Test words for tone sandhi in bisyllables........................................................ 338
Table 7.4 Test words for trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic words ....................................... 340
Table 7.5 The 10 F0 values measured for each of the three syllables of ‘[da22 bu23 sa45] 大
菩萨 big Buddha’............................................................................................................ 341
Table 7.6 The 10 normalised F0 values for the three syllables of’[ia34 pai55 pau55] 黑背包
black backpack’ (F0n: normalised F0) ............................................................................. 341
Table 7.7 Pitch values of the citation tones for each speaker ......................................... 345
Table 7.8 Tone sandhi for bisyllabic words in XXC ...................................................... 347
Table 7.9 Tone sandhi for trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic words in XXC ....................... 366
Table 7.10 Tone sandhi for bisyllabic and polysyllabic words in XXC......................... 367
Table 7.11 A generalized description of the pitch values of the citation tones .............. 367
Table 7.12 Tone sandhi for bisyllabic, trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic words in XXC.... 368
Table 7.13 The relationship between Middle Chinese and present-day XXC................ 369
Table 7.14 A comparison of the descriptions of the citation tones in past studies and the
present study ................................................................................................................... 371
Table 7.15 The citation tones in six dialects................................................................... 373
Table 7.16 Pitch values of the citation tones and consonants with which they co-occur381
Table 8.1 A generalized description of the pitch values of the citation tones ................ 403
Table 8.2 Tone sandhi for bisyllabic, trisyllabic and quadrisyllabic words in XXC...... 403
xx
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Distribution of the Chinese Dialects in Hunan Province................................... 2
Figure 2.1 Subdivision of the upper and lower surface of the vocal tract ........................ 33
Figure 2.2 Palatograms and linguograms of the target stops for F01 ............................... 34
Figure 2.3 Palatograms and linguograms of the target stops for M01.............................. 36
Figure 2.4 Palatograms and linguograms of the target stops for M02.............................. 36
Figure 2.5 Palatograms and linguograms of the target stops for M03.............................. 37
Figure 2.6 Palatograms and linguograms of the target stops for F02 ............................... 37
Figure 2.7 Palatograms and linguograms of the target stops for F03 ............................... 38
Figure 2.8 Palatograms and linguograms of the target sibilants for F01 .......................... 40
Figure 2.9 Palatograms and linguograms of the target sibilants for M01......................... 43
Figure 2.10 Palatograms and linguograms of the target sibilants for M02....................... 44
Figure 2.11 Palatograms and linguograms of the target sibilants for M03....................... 46
Figure 2.12 Palatograms and linguograms of the target sibilants for F02 ........................ 47
Figure 2.13 Palatograms and linguograms of the target sibilants for F03 ........................ 49
Figure 2.14 Palatograms and linguograms of the voiced sibilants for the six speakers ... 54
Figure 2.15 Palatograms and linguograms of the sonorants for F01 ................................ 55
Figure 2.16 Palatograms and linguograms of the sonorants for M01............................... 59
Figure 2.17 Palatograms and linguograms of the sonorants for M02............................... 60
Figure 2.18 Palatograms and linguograms of the sonorants for M03............................... 61
Figure 2.19 Palatograms and linguograms of the sonorants for F02 ................................ 62
Figure 2.20 Palatograms and linguograms of the sonorants for F03 ................................ 63
Figure 2.21 the x-ray tracings of the two types of retroflex stops .................................... 71
xxi
Figure 2.22 The x-ray tracings of the two types of retroflex stops................................... 72
Figure 2.23 The x-rays and palatograms of the so-called retroflexes in Mandarin Chinese
........................................................................................................................................... 73
Figure 2.24 The x-ray tracing of the laminal-post-alveolar fricative in Tamil [s]............ 74
Figure 3.1 Examples of boundary placement for the initial stops .................................... 93
Figure 3.2 Examples of boundary placement for the initial fricatives.............................. 96
Figure 3.3 Some examples of boundary identification for the initial affricates ............... 98
Figure 3.4 Examples of boundary placement for the initial affricates.............................. 99
Figure 3.5 The distribution of VOT for the voiced and voiceless stops ......................... 102
Figure 3.6 Percentage of prevoiced tokens and mean prevoicing duration .................... 103
Figure 3.7 Percentage of prevoiced tokens and mean prevoicing duration .................... 104
Figure 3.8 [za23] ‘柴 firewood’, showing the pattern of voicing throughout .................. 107
Figure 3.9 [o23] ‘行 to walk’, showing the pattern of voicing throughout .................... 108
Figure 3.10 [u23] ‘湖 lake’, showing the pattern of voicing lag.................................... 108
Figure 3.11 [zo22] ‘茬 crop’, showing the pattern of voicing lead.................................. 109
Figure 3.12 [yin23] ‘纯 pure’, showing the pattern of intermittent voicing .................. 109
Figure 3.13 [ui23] ‘谁 who’, showing the pattern of intermittent voicing..................... 110
Figure 3.14 [za23] ‘柴 firewood’, showing the pattern of fully devoiced ....................... 110
Figure 3.15 [sa34] ‘杀 to kill’........................................................................................... 110
Figure 3.16 Distribution of voicing duration for the four pairs of fricatives .................. 113
Figure 3.17 Distribution of overall duration (fricative duration) for the four homorganic
pairs of fricatives............................................................................................................. 118
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Figure 3.18 [dzai23] ‘才 talent’, showing the pattern of fully voiced ............................. 120
Figure 3.19 [dzuai22] ‘罪 sin’, showing the pattern of voicing lead ............................... 121
Figure 3.20 [dzo23] ‘茶 tea’, showing the pattern of voicing lag .................................... 122
Figure 3.21 [dzo23] ‘茶 tea’, showing the pattern of fully devoiced............................... 122
Figure 3.22 Four CV syllables with the Cs showing each of the four sub-patterns of
intermittent voicing, respectively.................................................................................... 124
Figure 3.23 Distribution of VOT for the voiced and voiceless affricates....................... 127
Figure 3.24 Distribution of voicing duration after release for the voiced and voiceless
affricates.......................................................................................................................... 128
Figure 3.25 Distribution of frication duration for the three pairs of homorganic affricates
......................................................................................................................................... 132
Figure 4.1 Audio, oral airflow and nasal airflow of two repetitions of ‘[la22] 耐 patience’
(a-b) as well as three repetitions of ‘[ka55] 街 street’ (c-e)............................................. 149
Figure 4.2 Illustrations of the airflow traces of [n-] and [l-] in dialects which still preserve
the MC /*n-/ and /*l-/ distinction.................................................................................... 152
Figure 4.3 The airflow traces of six syllables illustrating the various degrees of vowel
nasalisation...................................................................................................................... 156
Figure 4.4 Airflow traces of ‘[n (< l) i22] 练 to practice’ (a) and ‘[n (< n) an34] 农
agriculture’ (b)................................................................................................................ 158
Figure 4.5 Airflow traces of six syllables with an oral vowel ........................................ 161
Figure 4.6 Oral and nasal airflow traces of “[*nu34] 奴 slave”....................................... 165
Figure 5.1 Vowel ellipses for the XXC oral vowels ....................................................... 176
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Figure 5.2 Vowel ellipses for [] and [] ......................................................................... 177
Figure 5.3 Vowel spaces for the 10 male and 10 female speakers ................................. 178
Figure 5.4 Results of regressional analyses .................................................................... 183
Figure 5.5 Vowel spaces for the 10 male and 10 female speakers ................................. 183
Figure 5.6 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [ia] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 185
Figure 5.7 Average positions for the component elements of [ia] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 186
Figure 5.8 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [io] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 188
Figure 5.9 Average positions for the component elements of [io] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 188
Figure 5.10 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [i] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 189
Figure 5.11 Average positions for the component elements of [i] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 190
Figure 5.12 Vowel ellipses of the monophthongs and the scatter of [u] in [ui] for each of
the 20 speakers ................................................................................................................ 194
Figure 5.13 Average positions for the component elements of [ui] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 195
Figure 5.14 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [yi] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 196
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Figure 5.15 Average positions for the component elements of [yi] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 196
Figure 5.16 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [ua] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 198
Figure 5.17 Average positions for the component elements of [ua] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 198
Figure 5.18 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [ya] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 199
Figure 5.19 Average positions for the component elements of [ya] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 200
Figure 5.20 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [ai] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 201
Figure 5.21 Average positions for the component elements of [ai] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 201
Figure 5.22 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [au] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 202
Figure 5.23 Average positions for the component elements of [au] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 202
Figure 5.24 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [iei] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 204
Figure 5.25 Average positions for the component elements of [iei] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 205
xxv
Figure 5.26 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [iau] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 206
Figure 5.27 Average positions for the component elements of [iau] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 207
Figure 5.28 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [uai] (solid) and the citation
monophthongs (dotted) ................................................................................................... 208
Figure 5.29 Average positions for the component elements of [uai] and the citation
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 208
Figure 5.30 Vowel ellipses for the nasal and oral monophthongs .................................. 210
Figure 5.31 Vowel ellipses for the nasal and oral monophthongs .................................. 211
Figure 5.32 The vowel ellipses of the component elements of [i a] (solid) against those of
i) the oral monophthongs (a and d); ii) [i] and [a] in [ia] (b and e); and iii) [i ] (c and f) 213
Figure 5.33 Average positions for [i a] (solid arrow), [ia] (dotted arrow), the oral
monophthongs and nasal monophthong [i]..................................................................... 214
Figure 5.34 Vowel ellipses for the component elements in [io ] (solid), the corresponding
oral monophthongs, oral diphthong [io] and nasal monophthongs (dotted) ................... 216
Figure 5.35 Average positions for [i o] (solid arrow), [io] (dotted arrow), citation [i] and
[o ], and the oral monophthongs ...................................................................................... 217
Figure 5.36 Vowel ellipses of the monophthongs and the scatter of [u ] in [ui ] for each of
the 20 speakers ................................................................................................................ 221
xxvi
Figure 5.37 Average positions for [u i] (solid arrow), [ui] (dotted arrow), citation [i], and
the oral monophthongs.................................................................................................... 222
Figure 5.38 Vowel ellipses for the component elements in [y i ] (solid), the corresponding
oral monophthongs, oral diphthong [yi] and nasal monophthong [i] (dotted)................ 224
Figure 5.39 Average positions for [y i] (solid arrow), [yi] (dotted arrow), citation [i], and
the oral monophthongs.................................................................................................... 225
Figure 5.40 Vowel ellipses for the component elements in [ua] (solid), the corresponding
oral monophthongs, and oral diphthong [ua] (dotted) .................................................... 226
Figure 5.41 Average positions for [u a] (solid arrow), [ua] (dotted arrow), and the oral
monophthongs................................................................................................................. 227
Figure 5.42 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [i] in [in], and, [i] ...... 229
Figure 5.43 Average positions of the oral monophthongs, [i] in [in] (symbolized by [in]),
and, [i] ............................................................................................................................. 229
Figure 5.44 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [a] in [an], and, [a] in [a]
......................................................................................................................................... 230
Figure 5.45 Average positions of the oral monophthongs, [a] in [an], and, [a] in [a] .. 230
Figure 5.46 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [i] and [a] in [ia] (dashed),
and, [i] and [a] in [ian] (solid)......................................................................................... 232
Figure 5.47 Average positions for the oral monophthongs, [i] and [a] in [ia] (dotted), and,
[i] and [a] in [ian] (solid) ................................................................................................ 233
xxvii
Figure 5.48 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [i] and [a] in [ia] (dashed),
and, [i] and [a] in [ia] (solid)......................................................................................... 234
Figure 5.49 Average positions for the oral monophthongs, [i] and [a] in [ia] (dotted), and,
[i] and [a] in [ia] (solid) ................................................................................................ 235
Figure 5.50 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [y] and [i] in [yi]
(dashed), and, [y] and [i] in [yin] (solid)......................................................................... 236
Figure 5.51 Average positions for the oral monophthongs, [y] and [i] in [yi] (dotted), and,
[y] and [i] in [yin] (solid) ................................................................................................ 236
Figure 5.52 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [u] and [a] in [ua]
(dashed), and, [u] and [a] in [uan] (solid) ....................................................................... 238
Figure 5.53 Average positions for the oral monophthongs, [u] and [a] in [ua] (dotted), and,
[u] and [a] in [uan] (solid)............................................................................................... 238
Figure 5.54 Vowel ellipses for the oral monophthongs (dotted), [u] and [a] in [ua]
(dashed), and, [u] and [a] in [ua] (solid) ....................................................................... 240
Figure 5.55 Average positions for the oral monophthongs, [u] and [a] in [ua] (dotted), and,
[u] and [a] in [ua] (solid)............................................................................................... 240
Figure 5.56 The absolute temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open
syllables that have steady-state formants of both elements for the male speakers ......... 245
Figure 5.57 The percentage temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in
open syllables that have steady-state formants of both elements for the male speakers 246
Figure 5.58 The absolute temporal organization of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open
syllables that have steady-state formants of both elements for the female speakers ...... 247
xxviii
Figure 5.59 The percentage temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in
open syllables that have steady-state formants of both elements for the female speakers
......................................................................................................................................... 248
Figure 5.60 The absolute temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open
syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male speakers..... 250
Figure 5.61 The percentage temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in
open syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male speakers
......................................................................................................................................... 251
Figure 5.62 The absolute temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in open
syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the female speakers.. 252
Figure 5.63 The percentage temporal organisation of the oral and nasal diphthongs in
open syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the female speakers
......................................................................................................................................... 252
Figure 5.64 The only one diphthong in an open syllable that lacks a steady-state formant
of the second element for the male speakers, i.e., [ai] .................................................... 253
Figure 5.65 Diphthongs in open syllables that lack steady-state formants of the second
elements for the female speakers .................................................................................... 254
Figure 5.66 Triphthongs that have steady-state formants of all three elements for the male
speakers........................................................................................................................... 256
Figure 5.67 Triphthongs that have steady-state formants of all three elements for the
female speakers ............................................................................................................... 257
Figure 5.68 Triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male
speakers........................................................................................................................... 258
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Figure 5.69 Triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of the second elements for the
male speakers .................................................................................................................. 259
Figure 5.70 Triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of the second elements for the
female speakers ............................................................................................................... 260
Figure 5.71 Triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of the third elements for the male
speakers........................................................................................................................... 261
Figure 5.72 Triphthongs that lack steady-state formants of the third elements for the
female speakers ............................................................................................................... 262
Figure 5.73 The waveforms and wide-band spectrograms of one token of [ui] and one
token of [uai]................................................................................................................... 263
Figure 5.74 Rhymes with a monophthong and a nasal ending for the male speakers .... 264
Figure 5.75 Rhymes with a monophthong and a nasal ending for the female speakers . 265
Figure 5.76 Rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending that have steady-state formants
of both vowel elements for the male speakers ................................................................ 267
Figure 5.77 Rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending that have steady-state formants
of both vowel elements for the female speakers ............................................................. 268
Figure 5.78 Rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending that lack steady-state formants
of the first vowel elements for the male speakers........................................................... 269
Figure 5.79 Rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending that lack steady-state formants
of the first vowel elements for the female speakers........................................................ 270
Figure 5.80 Rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending that lack steady-state formants
of the second vowel elements for the male speakers ...................................................... 271
xxx
Figure 5.81 Rhymes with a diphthong and a nasal ending that lack steady-state formants
of the second vowel elements for the female speakers ................................................... 272
Figure 5.82 Formant history of [i] for M01 and M02..................................................... 282
Figure 5.83 The formant history of [ui] (from M01: the left panel) and [yi] (from M02:
the right panel) ................................................................................................................ 283
Figure 5.84 Vowel spaces of XXC (small font) and Suzhou Chinese (large font)......... 287
Figure 5.85 Vowel spaces of XXC and Ningbo Chinese................................................ 289
Figure 5.86 Vowel spaces of XXC and Mandarin Chinese ............................................ 290
Figure 5.87 Vowel spaces of XXC and English ............................................................. 291
Figure 5.88 The IPA vowel chart (1996) ........................................................................ 292
Figure 5.89 [u] and [] in XXC, English and German in a F1/F2 plane ........................ 294
Figure 5.90 The vowel system in XXC (including both peripheral and interior vowels).
......................................................................................................................................... 299
Figure 5.91 Dispersion of the vowels in XXC................................................................ 303
Figure 6.1 Audio signal, oral flow and nasal flow of ‘[tan55] 真 real’ ........................... 311
Figure 6.2 Audio signal, oral flow and nasal flow of ‘[tia55] 爹 father’ and ‘[ian34] 人
human’ ............................................................................................................................ 312
Figure 6.3 Audio, oral and nasal airflow of [ko], [tio ] and [i] for M03.......................... 315
Figure 6.4 Percentage of occurrences of the test tokens of the nasal vowels that have their
PVNN values less than 100% for each of the six speakers............................................. 316
Figure 6.5 Audio, oral and nasal airflow of [ni] (a and b), [o] (c) and [mio ] (d) for M03
......................................................................................................................................... 317
xxxi
Figure 6.6 Absolute duration of the vowel, nasal and rhyme for each syllable that has a
VN rhyme........................................................................................................................ 321
Figure 6.7 Percentage duration of the vowel, nasal and rhyme for each syllable that has a
VN rhyme........................................................................................................................ 321
Figure 6.8 Audio, oral and nasal airflow of [tan] (a), [ta] (b) for M01......................... 332
Figure 6.9 Audio, oral and nasal airflow of [ni] for M02 (a and b) and [i] for M05 (c and
d) ..................................................................................................................................... 333
Figure 7.1 The normalised F0 patterns of a trisyllabic word ‘[ia34 pai55 pau55] 黑背包
black backpack’ .............................................................................................................. 341
Figure 7.2 Pitch curves in Chao’s 5-point scale for Speaker M01 ................................. 342
Figure 7.3 Pitch curves in Chao’s 5-point scale for Speaker M02 ................................. 342
Figure 7.4 Pitch curves in Chao’s 5-point scale for Speaker F01................................... 343
Figure 7.5 Tone sandhi data of bisyllabic words for Speaker F01 ................................. 349
Figure 7.6 Tone sandhi data of bisyllabic words for Speaker M01 ................................ 351
Figure 7.7 Tone sandhi data of bisyllabic words for Speaker M02. ............................... 353
Figure 7.8 Tone sandhi data of polysyllabic words for Speaker M01. ........................... 357
Figure 7.9 Tone sandhi data of polysyllabic words for Speaker M02. ........................... 361
Figure 7.10 Tone sandhi data of polysyllabic words for Speaker F01. .......................... 364
Figure 7.11 Pitch contours of the seven citation tones in XXC from the three speakers 372
Figure 7.12 Pitch contours of the seven citation tones in XXC from the three speakers 376
Figure 7.13 Pitch contours of the four citation tones in Mandarin Chinese .................. 376
Figure 7.14 Pitch contours of the four citation tones in Tianjin Chinese ...................... 377
Figure 7.15 Pitch contours of the five citation tones in Shanghai Chinese ................... 377