Testing the Productivity of Chinese Tone Sandhi

世界上大多数语言都是声调语言。例如，在普通话中，高音调的“妈”音节与从高到低的降音（“妈妈”与“骂”）说的同一个音节具有完全不同的含义。音节的声调有时会根据其所处的语言环境而变化；这个过程被称为“变调”。在普通话中，当一个中低高的沉声放在另一个沉声之前时，它会变成中高的上声。语言中的变调模式可能极其复杂，并且关于说话者如何内化这些模式的许多谜团仍未解开。该项目调查了各种汉语方言的母语者在多大程度上可以将连读变调模式应用于新词。研究结果将揭示语音知识的本质，特别是发音限制、感知独特性和变调模式的词汇频率是否构成说话者关于其语言的声调系统的知识的一部分。由于该研究的国际性质，该项目还促进了美国和中国机构之间的合作关系。

The majority of the world's languages are tone languages. In Mandarin, for example, the syllable "ma" said with a high level pitch has a completely different meaning from the same syllable said with a high-to-low falling pitch ("mother" vs. "to scold"). The tone on a syllable sometimes changes according to the linguistic context in which it is found; this process is known as "tone sandhi." In Mandarin a mid-low-high dipping tone will change to a mid-high rising tone when it is placed immediately before another dipping tone. The patterns of tone sandhi in a language can be extremely intricate, and many mysteries remain unsolved as to how speakers internalize these patterns. This project investigates the extent to which native speakers of various Chinese dialects can apply tone sandhi patterns to novel words. The results will shed light on the nature of phonological knowledge, in particular, whether articulatory constraints, perceptual distinctiveness, and the lexical frequencies of tone sandhi patterns constitute part of the knowledge that speakers have about the tone system of their language. Due to the international nature of the research, the project also fosters collaborative relations between U.S. and Chinese institutions.