On Rhythm, Prosodic Grouping, and Declination Pattern of Taiwan Mandarin Learners of English

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Chen ◽  
Janice Fon
Keyword(s):  
Taiwan Mandarin

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.

Articulatory Evidence for the Syllable-final Nasal Merging in Taiwan Mandarin

2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092094808
Author(s):  
Chenhao Chiu ◽  
Yu-An Lu
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
3D Model ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Taiwan Mandarin ◽  
Merging Process

Syllable-final nasals /n/ and /ŋ/ in Taiwan Mandarin have been reported to be undergoing merging. Perceptual studies have reported that the alleged merging is context-sensitive and the merging directions are vowel-dependent. These findings have been mostly attributed to dialectal and social factors. The current study uses ultrasonography to capture postures of the entire tongue during the production of syllable-final nasals. The results, though confirming previous findings that the merging directions of syllable-final nasals are vowel-dependent, are best accounted for by the biomechanics of the tongue, as supported by computational 3D model simulations. Furthermore, for some speakers, although nasals were merged in terms of tongue posture, the degrees of nasalization of the preceding vowel were contrastive, suggesting that the merging process may be incomplete.

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