From pitch contour variation to tone change

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-307
Author(s):  
Karen Huang
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
Tonal Structure ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Taiwan Mandarin

Abstract This study illustrates how three level tones might have developed diachronically by comparing two synchronic Mandarin dialects. In Standard Mandarin (SM), the four lexical tones are denoted as /H, LH, L, HL/ or /H, R, L, F/ phonologically. However, based on evidence from two acoustic experiments, this study proposes that the four lexical tones in Taiwan Mandarin (TM) should be analyzed as /H, M, L, HM/, with /H, HM/ in a high register and /M, L/ in a low register. The proposed tonal structure can account for all the tone sandhi in TM using the framework of Optimality theory, and the register difference plays an important role in the analyses. Also, the new TM tonal representation has an advantage in explaining the absence of the SM Tone 2 Sandhi. The new tonal representations illuminate how pitch contour differences might have developed into structural tone changes.

RECOGNITION OF LEXICAL TONES FOR ISOLATED SYLLABLES AND DISYLLABLES IN MANDARIN SPEECH

1988 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 49-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
WU-JI YANG ◽  
JYH-CHYANG LEE ◽  
YUEH-CHIN CHANG ◽  
HSIAO-CHUAN WANG
Keyword(s):  
Vector Quantization ◽  
Markov Models ◽  
Hidden Markov ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Pitch Height ◽  
Accuracy Rate ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Feature Vectors ◽  
Speaker Independent ◽  
Accuracy Rates

This study purposes a method for recognizing the lexical tones in Mandarin speech. The method is based on Vector Quantization (VQ) and Hidden Markov Models (HMM). The pitch periods are extracted to derive the feature vectors which represent pitch height and pitch contour slope. One HMM is trained by the feature vectors of monosyllables for each tone. Then the HMMs are used to recognize the tone of monosyllables and disyllables. For the monosyllables, the accuracy rate can be 93.75% for speaker-independent cases. For the disyllables, the accuracy rates are 93% for the first syllables and 90% for the second syllables. It shows that the tone of the second syllable may be affected by the preceding syllable. This degradation also reveals the fact of tone variation in Mandarin speech.

The Acquisition of Mandarin Tonal Processes by Children With Cochlear Implants

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1309-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Tang ◽  
Ivan Yuen ◽  
Nan Xu Rattanasone ◽  
Liqun Gao ◽  
Katherine Demuth
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Pitch Information ◽  
Neutral Tone ◽  
Mandarin Tones ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Naming Tasks

Purpose Children with cochlear implants (CIs) face challenges in acquiring tonal languages, as CIs do not efficiently code pitch information. Mandarin is a tonal language with lexical tones and tonal processes such as neutral tone and tone sandhi, exhibiting contextually conditioned tonal realizations. Previous studies suggest that early implantation and long CI experience facilitate the acquisition of lexical tones by children with CIs. However, there is lack of acoustic evidence on children's tonal productions demonstrating that this is the case, and it is unclear whether and how children with CIs are able to acquire contextual tones. This study therefore examined the acoustic realization of both lexical tones and contextual tones as produced by children fitted with CIs, exploring the potential effects of age at implantation and length of CI experience on their acquisition of the Mandarin tonal system. Method Seventy-two Mandarin-learning preschoolers with CIs, varying in age at implantation (13–42 months) and length of CI experience (2–49 months), and 44 normal hearing 3-year-old controls were recruited. Tonal productions were elicited from both groups using picture-naming tasks and acoustically compared. Results Only the early implanted group (i.e., implanted before the age of 2 years) produced normal-like lexical tones and generally had contextual tones approximating those of the normal-hearing children. The other children, including those with longer CI experience, did not have typical tonal productions; their pitch patterns for lexical tones tended to be flatter, and contextual tone productions were unchanged across tonal contexts. Conclusion Children with CIs face challenges in acquiring Mandarin tones, but early implantation may help them to develop normal-like lexical tone categories, which further facilitates their implementation of contextual tones. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8038889

ERP correlates of pre-attentive processing of Cantonese lexical tones: The effects of pitch contour and pitch height

2011 ◽  
Vol 487 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiu-Kei Tsang ◽  
Shiwei Jia ◽  
Jian Huang ◽  
Hsuan-Chih Chen
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Pitch Height ◽  
Lexical Tones

Tones and intonation in Prinmi – a first survey

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Greif
Keyword(s):  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
Surface Phenomena ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Discourse Particles

AbstractThe present paper provides a concise survey of the tonal inventory of Prinmi as well as some discussion of intonation proper. The approach is largely based on observable surface phenomena found in a corpus of several semi-controlled production studies. Unlike in earlier frameworks, three tonal classes are assumed: H, L (with the lexical tones H, L, L+H, H+L) and a Toneless category. The use of Toneless lexemes, which mainly comprise discourse particles, seems to be strongly intertwined with certain pragmatic functions presumably licensing emphasis and the boundary tone L%. Finally, a strong intonational downtrend and possible tone sandhi effects may trigger tonal alternations. These alternations as well as the complex interaction between intonation, pragmatics and the Toneless particles require further research.

scholarly journals PF Merger would Do, too: A Reply to Zhang (1997)

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-24
Author(s):  
David Ta-Chun SHEN
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Prepositional Phrase ◽  
Synthetic Approach ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
New Device ◽  
The Third ◽  
Syntactic Feature ◽  
Strength Constraints ◽  
Developing Knowledge

The analysis for the phenomenon that prepositions may or may not undergo the third tone sandhi in Mandarin in Zhang (1997) is reviewed. She considers that this phenomenon is short of sound coverage and couches her analysis in the framework of Optimality Theory (OT). However, upon scrutiny, Zhang’s analysis invites unnecessary questions. The postulation of two “constituent strength” constraints is with no foundation. It is difficult to grab the idea behind the constituent-strength concept even till now. Related to the concept, the non-specification of a prepositional phrase is not clear. Instead, the syntactic feature manifestation could mark a preposition’s uniqueness. In addition, the misuse of the Generalized Alignment and stipulations toward the evaluations in OT are spotted, too. My synthetic approach, based on the extant and developing knowledge about constituency, PF merger, and Shih’s (1997) foot formation, shows that for this phenomenon, no new device is needed.

Testing the applicability of third tone sandhi at the intonation boundary

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-651
Author(s):  
Chin-Ting Liu ◽  
Li-mei Chen
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Taiwan Mandarin ◽  
Boundary Issues ◽  
Phonological Phrase

Abstract The purpose of this study is to test the applicability of Tone Three Sandhi (T3S) when the critical syllable is a monosyllabic topic preceding a topic boundary. A recitation task from 37 native speakers of Taiwan Mandarin was employed. The results from human judgements indicated that the participants predominantly produced the critical syllables with Tone 3 (T3). Additionally, the fundamental frequency of the critical syllables demonstrated a falling contour, showing that T3S was not applied. Intonation break-ups and the prolongation of the critical syllables lent strong support to the view that the topic syllable was at an intonation/phonological phrase-final position. The findings can be elegantly accommodated by constraint-based analyses, which propose that T3S must be avoided when two T3 syllables are separated by an intonation/phonological phrase boundary. Issues relating to pauses, speech rates and word frequency effects are also discussed.

Tone 3 in Pekinese

1967 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S-Y. Wang ◽  
Kung-Pu Li
Keyword(s):  
Test Item ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Tone Sequence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Semantic Plausibility

This article treats the problem of tone sandhi in Pekinese phonology in terms of a perception experiment. The various shapes of tone 3 in different environments are illustrated by the use of spectrograms. The issue is whether the tone sequence 3–3 is homophonous with the sequence 2–3. There were 130 pairs of test items. The two members of each pair share the same phonological features except that of pitch contour. In other words, one member carries the tone sequence 2–3 while the other carries 3–3. Each test item was given twice, thus yielding a total of 520 items arranged in random order on a reading list from which tape recordings were made. Upon hearing an item on the tape, a subject is required to identify from each pair of 2–3 and 3–3 test items the member he hears. Should there be a phonemic distinction between the two types of tone sequences, a native speaker should have no difficulty in perceiving them as distinct. Then, it would be expected that the subjects could identify correctly in most cases, and that their responses should be reinforced by other phonetic properties and unbiased by semantic plausibility. However, the results of this experiment led to the opposite conclusion.

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