CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG - lbms03.cityu.edu.hk

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


4.4.1 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


5.4.1 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

viii


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


7.5.1 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


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

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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


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


[io] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 188


[i] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 190


[ui] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 195


[yi] and the corresponding citation monophthongs ........................................................ 197


[ua] and the corresponding citation monophthongs........................................................ 198


[ya] and the corresponding citation monophthongs........................................................ 200

xiv


[ai] and the corresponding citation monophthongs......................................................... 201


[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


[i a] and the corresponding elements in [ia] as well as citation [i] .................................. 214


[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


[y i ], monophthong [u] and [a], the corresponding elements in [yi], and citation [i ] ...... 225


[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


that have steady-state formants of both elements for the female speakers ..................... 244


that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male speakers.................... 249


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


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


the second elements for the male speakers ..................................................................... 258

xvii


the second elements for the female speakers .................................................................. 258


the third elements for the male speakers......................................................................... 260


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


that have steady-state formants of both vowel elements for the female speakers .......... 267


that lack steady-state formants of the first vowel elements for the male speakers ......... 268


that lack steady-state formants of the first vowel elements for the female speakers ...... 269


that lack steady-state formants of the second vowel elements for the male speakers .... 270


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 2.8 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 2.21 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

xxii

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


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


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


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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


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


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


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


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


Figure 5.25 Average positions for the component elements of [iei] and the citation

monophthongs................................................................................................................. 205

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Figure 5.26 Vowel ellipses for the component elements of [iau] (solid) and the citation


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


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

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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

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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

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open syllables that have steady-state formants of both elements for the female speakers

......................................................................................................................................... 248


syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male speakers..... 250


open syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the male speakers

......................................................................................................................................... 251


syllables that lack steady-state formants of the first elements for the female speakers.. 252


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


of the first vowel elements for the female speakers........................................................ 270


of the second vowel elements for the male speakers ...................................................... 271

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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

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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

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Figure 7.16 Pitch contours of the seven citation tones in Suzhou Chinese (data for ten

speakers) ......................................................................................................................... 378

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