An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics

Francis D. M. D ow

Faculty of Asian Studies in association w ith the Australian National University Press

Canberra 1972

This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991.

This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press.

This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to

a global audience under its open-access policy.

An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics

Oriental Monograph Series No. 10

PLEA&g RETiJkfti TO

EDrroRIAL DEPARTMENTj M I M M H ü T l O y i i m i M i l l

olS -(f 0 2-

■ f r u - ' 1 0

Faculty of Asian Studies:Oriental Monograph Series

These monographs are a continuing series, on the languages, cultures, and history of China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and continental Southeast Asia.1. A.H. Johns : The Gift Addressed to the Spirit o f the Prophet

(1965)

2. H.H. Dubs (compiled by Rafe de Crespigny) : Official Titles o fthe Former Han Dynasty (1967)

3. H.H.E. Loofs : Elements o f the Megalithic Complex in South­east Asia : An annotated bibliography (1967)

4 . A.L. Basham (ed.) : The Papers on the Date o f Kaniska (1969)

5 . A. Yuyama : A bibliography o f the Sanskrit Texts o f theSaddharmapundarikasutra (1970)

6. I. de Rachewiltz and M. Nakano : Index to Biographical Materialin Chin and Yuan Literary \Yorks (1970)

7. Miyoko Nakano : A Phonological Study in the Phags-pa Scriptand the Meng-ku Tzu-yün (1971)

8. K.H.J. Gardiner : The Early History o f Korea (1969)

9. R. de Crespigny : The Last o f the Han (1969)

10. Frances D. M. Dow : Mandarin Phonetics. 2nd Edition(forthcoming)

11. D.N. Lorenzen : The Kdpdlikas and Kälämukhas : Two LostSaivite Sects (forthcoming)

An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics

Francis D. M. D o w

Faculty of Asian Studies in association with the Australian National University Press

Canberra 1972

First published 1970

Second edition 197'-

c Francis D.M. Dow

This book is copyright. Apart From any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, or review,

as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher.

Printed in Australia by Southwood Press

Registered at the General Post Office, Sydney, for transmission by post as a book

National Library of Australia card and ISBN

0 7081 0168 2

Library of Congress Catalog card no. ^ ^ - 1 ^ 2 2 ^ 6

P R E F A C E

It is a commonplace in modern linguistics that the spoken language is primary and that the written language is derived, the former being not only an important means to proficiency in reading, but a respectable end in itself. An understanding of the spoken language is more immediately useful than a knowledge of the written language.

Phonetics is an essential subject in the study of spoken language, and phonetic transcription serves as a basic tool in speech analysis both for those who investigate their native languages and for those who wish to learn a foreign language. This book is written to meet these purposes.

On the basis of the knowledge of general phonetics and English phonetics learnt in Europe, I wrote this book after I had started teaching Chinese at the Australian National University in 1967* I should like to thank Messrs. C. Court and J. Harris of the Department of Linguistics, School of General Studies, for their inspiration and help in many ways at the earlier stage. I am grateful to my English teacher,Mr D. Morgan, for reading through my manuscript.My sincere thanks are particularly due to Professor Y.R. Chao of the University of California for his teaching and advice by correspondence. Although he was extremely busy with his own work, he went through the final draft of my manuscript, kindly and patiently correcting errors and furnishing me with a number of valuable points.

As I have been mostly teaching English-speaking people, some sounds in this book are only compared with those in Received English; they are occasionally compared with those in some Mandarin dialects, Chinese dialects and Peking opera. Words which have sounds difficult for both foreign learners and non-Mandarin speaking Chinese are particularly selected for practice. For the purpose of the accurate comparison of different sounds in different languages and dialects, the articulatory system is rather detailed in descript­ion. Due to the lack of phonetic symbols, some easily

v

typed marks are used in appendix I and II. No tone marks of alternation are used except for those over yi (one).

I am grateful to Professor S.A. Wurm of the Department of Linguistics, Institute of Advanced Studies, for lending me his typit elements and his valuable suggestions about the arrangement of appendix I and II. I would like finally to express my thanks to Miss J. Wildash and Mrs R. Speight who typed the manuscript and helped with the checking.

Australian National University July 1970

Francis D.M. Dow

vi

Preface vSpelling Guide xvi1. Speech Organs and the Production of

Speech-sounds 11.1 Respiratory System 11.2 Phonetory System 31.3 Articulatory System 51.4 Articulators in Connection with the

Production of Speech-sounds 61.5 1*5 A Brief Statement of the Process of

Sound-production 122. Secondary Features 13

2.1 Aspiration 132.2 V-o ice 1 42.3 Nasalization 14

3. Consonants 163.1 General Survey 163.2 Consonants Classified in Terms of

Manner of Articulation 173»2a Non-continuants 18

Stops3•2b Continuants 193.2b.1 Nasal 193•2b.2 Oral 21

Fricatives 21Resonants 22Flaps and Trills 23Affricates

vii

4. Consonants (initials) in Mandarin Chinese classified According to Place of Articul-at ion 24

4.1 General Survey 244 .2 Labials 25

[b ] and [ph] 25M 27[f] 28

4 . 3 Dental Sibilants 29[dz] and [tsh] 29[ s ] 31

4 .4 Alveolars 32[d ] and [th] 33[n] 34

[ 1 ] 3 64 . 5 Retroflexes 37

[dz] and [tsh] 37[s ] and [z ] 4o

A Comparison between these Two Sounds and some English Sounds 42

4 .6 Prepalatals 44[d z ] and [tch] 45[ c ] 48

4 .7 Sharper and Flatter Sounds 49

00-3- Velars 50[ g ] and [ kh ] 50[ ] 52

[ ] 534 .9 Summary 54

viii

5. Zero Initials 565.1 General Survey 565.2 Zero before Open Finals 565- 3 Zero before Spread Finals 575.4 Zero before Rounded Finals 475.5 Zero before Inner-rounded Finals 57

6. Semi-vowels 586.1 General Survey 586.2 [j] 596- 3 [w/ ] 606.4 [ ] 61

7. Vowels 627.1 General Survey 627.2 Vowels in Mandarin Chinese 647.2a Vowels 647.2b Neutral Vowels 65

8. Compound Vowels 668.1 General Survey 668.2 Diphthongs 668.2a Falling (Descending) Dipthongs 67

[ ] 67t ] 68[ e ] 68[ o ] 68

8.2b Rising (Ascending) Dipthongs 69[ ] 69[i e ] 69[ ] 70

- ix -

[ ] 70[y e ] 72

8.3 Triphthongs 72Finals 739.1 Open Finals 749.1a / /- Group 74

[ ] 74[ ] 75(see 67)[an] 75[ ] 75[ ] 75(see 68)

9.1b / /- Group 75[ ] 75[e ] 76(see 68)[ n] 76[ ] 77[o ] 77(s ee 6 8 -69)

9.2 Spread Finals 779.2a / z/z/ 77

[*] 77[»] 78

9.2b /i/ and /i/ + / /- Group 78[i] 78[ ] 78(see 69)[ ] 79[ ] 79[ ] 79(see 72 )

X

9 .2c /i/ + / /- Group 79[IE] 79 (see 69-70)[in] and [i ] 79[ o ] 7 9 (see 72)

9-3 Rounded Finals 809.3a /u/ and /u/ + / /- Group 80

[u] 80[ ] 80(see 7 0 )[ ] 80(see 7 2 )[ an ] and [ ] 80

9.3b /u/ + / /- Group 80[ ] 8 1 (see 7 0 )[ ] 8 1 (see 72)[ n] 81[ ] 81

9.4 Inner-rounded Finals 829«4a /y/ and /y/ + / /- Group 82

[y] 82[Van] 82

9.4b /y/ + / /- Group 82[y e ] 8 2 (see 72)[yn] 83[Y ] 83

Retroflexed Finals (Retroflexed Vowels and Diminutive Suffixes) 8410.1 General Survey 8410.2 Rules of Retroflexed Finals Derived

from Ordinary Finals 87The Formation of Syllables 98

xi

12. Tones 1 0212.1 General Survey 10212.2 Tones Uttered in Succession 1 0412.3 Special Tone Change 10512.4 Difficulties for English-

speaking Learners 107

13* Neutral Tones 10913*1 General Survey 10913*2 Grammatical and Lexical

Neutral Tones 11313*2a Grammatical Neutral Tones 114

1 . Parti cles 1 142. Pronouns after Verbs 1 143. Complements 1 14

3.1 Directional Complements 1 143.2 Resultative Complements 117

4. Some Localizers 1 185* Reduplicated Words 119

13•2b Lexical Neutral Tones (see App.il) 14214. Stress 121

14.1 General Survey 12114.2 Word Stress 12214.3 Sentence Stress 123

Appendix I 125Words with Terminal -r

Appendix II 142Trochees

Select Bibliography 1 76Index 180

- xii -

Illustrations,Tables and Lists

1. The three systems (respiratory, phonetoryand articulatory) 1

2. The speech organs in the phonetory andarticulatory systems 2

3» The structure of the larynx and theactivities of the vocal cords 4

4. Diagrams showing aspirations 135. Diagrams showing the three stages (initial,

hold and release) of alveolar stops inMandarin Chinese 17

6. Table of stops 187. Table of nasal consonants 208. Table of fricatives 229. The position for bilabial stops 2510. The position for bilabial continuant 2711. The position for voiceless labio-dental

slit fricative 2812. The position for apico-dental affricates 2913« The position for apico-dental voiceless

fricative 31

14. The position for apico-alveolar nasaloontinuant 34

15* The position for apico-alveolar lateralresonant 36

xiii

16. The position for apico-prepalatal affricates 3717* The position for apico-prepalatal fricatives 4018. Table of sounds used in place of [3 ] by

various dialect-speakers 41

19• The position for fronto-prepalatal affricates 4620. The position for fronto-prepalatal fricatives 4821. A list of sharper and flatter sounds 49-5022. The position for dorso-velar stops 5023* The position for nasal dorso-velar

continuant 5224. The position for uvular fricative 5325* A list of Mandarin consonants 5526. A list of Mandarin semi-vowels occurring

in various environments 5927* The vowel diagram 6328. A list of neutral vowels in Mandarin

Chinese 6529* Table of the variants of [tf] in Mandarin

Chinese 7130. Table of finals 7331 • The position for [a J 8432. Table of terminals with -r added 8633* A list of initials and finals 9834. Table of the formation of syllables 9935* Table of syllables 10036. Diagram illustrating the four lexical

tones in Mandarin Chinese 10437* Table of the unstable tone patterns of a

few morphemes 106xiv

38. A list of disyllabic words possessing different meanings when spoken withdifferent stresses 109-110

3 9 . The shapes and pitches of neutral tones 112-113

4 0 . Table of directional complement s 11541 . Table of resultative complements 1 17

xv

1. Consonants (initials)

IPA Wade Pinyin (New ChinesePhonetic Symbols

1.1 Labials /b ph m f/ /p p' m f/ /b p m f/

1.2 Dental Sibilants /dz tsh s/ /t s ts' s/ /z c s/

1.3 Alveolars /d th n 1/ /t t' n 1/ /d t n 1/

l .4 Retroflexes /dz tsh s z/ /ch ch' sh j/ /zh ch sh r/

1.5 Prepalatals /dz t h / /ch ch' hs/ /j q x/

1.6 Velars/g kh n x/ /k k' ng h/ /g k ng h/

2. Vowels (Finals)

2.1 Opena. / / - Group

an n/a/ - Group a ai an ang ao

/a/ - Group a ai an ang ao

b. / / - Group e n n °

/e/ - Group e (o ) ei en eng ou

/e/ - Group e ei en eng ou

2.2 Spread ([j ] after zero & prepalatal initials)

([y] after zero initials)

(/i/ after /l. 2-/l. 4-1.5y after zero initials)

a. /z/z / /u/ih/b. /i/ & /i/ + / /

n/i/ & /i/ + /a/ ia ien iang iao

/i/ & /i/ + /a/ ia ian iang iao

c. A / + / /IE in in

/i/ + /e/ieh in ing iu

A / + /e/ie in ing iu

2.3 Rounded ([w/u] after zero initials & [-w-] after velars)

( [w] after zero initials)

([w] after zero initials)

a . /u/ & /u/ + / / an n

/u/ & /u/ + /a/ ua uai uan uang

/u/ & /u/ + /a/ua uai uan uang

b. /u/ + / /e n n

/u/ + /e/uo ui un ung

/u/ + /e/ uo ui un ong

2.4 Inner-rounded ([ ]after zero and pre­palatal initials)

([yü] after zero initials)

([yu] after zero initials [ii] after /l-/)

a . /y/ & /y/ + / /Yan

/ti/ & /ü/ + /a/ uan

/(y)u/ + /a/-uan (after /l.5-/)

b. /y/ + / /YE yn Y n

/u/ + /e/ üeh ün üng

/(y )u/ + /e/ue un (after /l.5-/ long(after /l.5-/)

xvi

1

1. Speech Organs and the Production of Spe ech-sounds

There are three systems of the speaking apparatus in three parts of the human body used for the production of speech sounds. The three parts are trunk, throat and head. The three systems are the respiratory system, the phonetory system and the articulatory system. They are illustrated as follows:

Articulatory,Phonetorysystemsystem

Respiratorysystem

1.1. Respiratory SystemWithin this system, the lungs provide air.

The outward moving column of air known as the egressive pulmonic airstream is the most common source of air used in normal speech in the great majority of languages.

When a person is breathing, the air passes

2

out through the throat and the nose, or through the mouth, and it can be used for speech. On its way out, the air coming from the lungs meets with various obstructions and is modified in various ways. As a result different sounds may be produced.

The process of speech production is fund­amentally the same as that of sound production in a flute, a horn or any other wind instrument.In either case there is initiation of an air- stream and modification of it in the cavities through which it has to pass before it finds its way into the outer air.

Before further discussion, the speech organs in the phonetory system and articulatory system are illustrated below. The abbreviations repre­senting the names of the speech organs are alphabetically arranged.

Fig. 2.

a apex (tongue tip) al = alveolar ridge

3

a.p. = alveolar-palate b =bl = tongue blade e =es = esophagus (oesophagus)f = g = gum 1 =

1. & g. = larynx, glottis l.j. m = tongue middle n =o = oral cavity p =r = tongue root t =

tr = trachea (windpipe) u =v = velum (soft palate) v.c.v.p. = velo -palate (the middle of the hard palate)

tongue back epiglo 11is tongue front lips (upper & lower)= lower jaw

nasal cavity pharynx upper & lower front teeth uvula- vocal cords

1.2. Phonetory System

This system consists of the speech organs in the pharyngeal passage. While producing the speech-sounds, the airstream must pass through the trachea (the windpipe leading to the lungs) and the larynx. The larynx is situated between the pharynx and the trachea; it forms a part of the air-passage and opens into the lower part of the throat and is protected by the epiglottis.

The epiglottis, a thin cartilage, is fastened in the upper part of the larynx below the root of the tongue; it does not appear to participate in the function of any speech-sounds. When breathing and talking, it opens so that air can pass through the trachea, but when eating and drinking, it closes to cover the trachea so that food goes through to the esophagus (food-pipe) which is right behind the larynx.

The vocal cords, a pair of fleshy membranes resembling two lips, are situated in the larynx. They can be opened and shut, or relaxed and tensed at will. When they are brought together

4

and air is forced between them, they vibrate, producing musical sounds - vowels and voiced consonants. The space between the two cords is the glottis which is the organ of voice. Since the structure of the larynx and the activities of the vocal cords are described in many books, they are not repeated here, ^but illustrated with the following figures.

Crieo-Thyrcfcl W ot

Back Vtew

Tongu.Epiglottis

Ligamentous Glottis Fahe Vocal Chord

Vocal Chord

Cartilaginous Glottis Pharynx Cavity

Thyroid Cartilage

Ligamentous Glottis Vocal M iuda Vocal Process Cartilaginous Glottis

AryUnoid Cartilage

Fig. 3- Laryngeal cartilages & hyoid bone

Fig. 4. Larynx as reflected in a laryngoscope mirror with horizontal sec tion

Hyoid Bone

Fhtas Vocal Chord

-Vocal Chord

Median Section

Falsa Vocal Chon)

.Ventricle of Morgagni

A nterior-Posterior Section

Fig. 3. Vertical sections of the larynx

i T. Chiba and M. Kanyama, The Vowel, its Nature and Structure, p p . 2-3«

5

Speech-sounds are resonances excited by the airstream coming through the larynx; they never reach our ears unmodified. They must pass through resonance chambers which impart their character­istics to the sounds. The resonators are:

1. The upper larynx space above the vocal cords.

2. The pharynx - from top of larynx to the oral entrance and the entrance of the nasal cavity. Forward in the anterior middle pharynx is the opening of the velar door; below it is bounded by the tongue root and above by the velum.

3« The oral cavity.

4. The nasal cavity.

All larynx sounds must pass through 1. and 2. and either 3« or 4. or both.

1.3 Articulatory SystemIn this system, besides the nasal cavity

which is used as an air-passage when nasal sounds are produced, the most important cavity is the mouth. The mouth consists of two parts: theroof and the floor - each having a hard and a soft portion. The upper jaw with the palate for the upper hard portion, the horse-shoe shaped jaw for the lower part. The rear of the oral cavity is closed by the velum above, and tongue- back below, and the front of the oral cavity is closed by the lips.

For the production of vowels, there are three doors in the oral cavity - lip door, middle

6

door and velar door. The mouth works to strengthen and brighten the voiced airstream for the majority of vowels. In the production of vowels, the lower the harmonics are, the more open the oral cavity is. The lowest harmonics require deep dropping of the back of the tongue to enlarge the oral cavity.

The mouth has many shapes made, in the main, by the movements of the tongue and lips. All oral a r t ­iculators function by raising all or part of the lower portion against the upper portion. Speech- sounds are generally produced by combining the active articulators (movable) and the passive articulators (stationary). The active articulators are the tongue, buccal walls, velum and uvula inside the buccal cavity, the lower jaw and lips outside the mouth, and the vocal cords in the phonetory system. The passive articulators are the teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate and the back wall of the pharynx.

1.4. Articulators in Connection with the Production of Speech-sounds

A) The passive articulatorsA . 1 ) The upper front teeth

If the active articulators are placed against various points of the upper teeth, many different speech-sounds may be pro­duced. They are labio-denta l s , interdentals, dentals (Spanish [t,d] and dental sibilants, etc . ) .

A.2) The upper gumThe upper gum is situated between the back of the upper teeth and the alveolar ridge.

7

Speech-sounds made with the tip of the tongue and the upper gum are generally called "alveolars, gingivals, postdentals or dentals".

A.3) The alveolar ridge (or alveolus, alveoli, honeycomb •)The alveolar ridge is situated between the upper gum and the hard palate. Alveolar sounds are generally produced by placing the tip or blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge.

A.4) The hard palate

The hard palate is the middle passive articulator of the upper portion of the mouth; it divides the roof of the mouth into 2 parts - the stationary passive art­iculators described on page 6 and the movable velum (soft palate). In return, the hard palate is divided into two parts - the anterior palate (alveo-palate) and the cen­tral palate (velo-palate). Various palatal sounds are produced by placing the tip, blade, front or middle of the tongue against the anterior part or central part of the hard palate.

A . 5) The velum (the soft palate)The division between the hard palate and the velum can be felt with the tip of the tongue when it is curled back as far as possible. The contour of the velum follows that of the roof of the nasal passage, b ow­ing down from the horizontal to the vert­ical, opposite the spinal column.

The airstream coming up through the throat is usually divided at the velum,

8

part going through the mouth and part through the nose. Like a valve, the velum opens and shuts the passage from the throat into the nose. When breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, the velum opens and shuts alternatively. The velum closes off the back of the mouth by touching the back of the tongue and also closes off the nasal passage by touching the back wall of the throat.

A.6) The upper and lower throat spacesThe relatively large space between the back side of the velum and the back wall of the throat forms the upper throat space; the considerably smaller space between the tongue root and the back throat wall is the lower throat space.

A .7) UvulaThe uvula is a fleshy, hanging protuberance in the centre of the posterior part of the soft palate. A sound produced by contact between the back of the tongue (or the area between the back and the root of the tongue) and the uvula is uvular, while a sound produced with the uvula pressed back against the wall of the mouth so as to prevent an escape of air by way of the nose is called a buccal sound.

B) The active articulators

The most active of the speech organs is ,of course,the tongue. The word for ’language1in a number of languages is the word for 'tongue', in fact the w o r d ’lan­guage ’itself means something like 'tongue- s tuff . So far as the production of the speech-sounds is concerned, the tongue is

y

generally divided into the following parts:

B.l) Tongue edges (tongue rims) (at rest opposite the teeth)

B.2) Apex (tip) (at rest opposite the upper gums and the post upper teeth)

Sounds like dentals, alveolars and alveo-palatals are generally produced by placing the apex of the tongue against the various points of articulation ranging from the cutting edge of the upper front teeth to the anterior part of the hard palate.

B.3 ) Blade (at rest opposite the alveolar ridge)

The blade of the tongue is just past the apex and up to the front; it is the flat part of the upper front surface of the tongue. In the production of various speech-sounds, it coincides with the upper gums, the arch of the roots of the teeth, the alveolar ridge and even the anterior part of the hard palate.

B.4) Front (at rest opposite the anterior part of the hard palate)

The front of the tongue means the front surface of the tongue. In the production of alveo-palatal sounds, it coincides with the anterior part of the hard palate.

B.5) Middle (at rest opposite the velo-palate)

In the production of speech-sounds, it coincides with the velo-palate.

B.6) Back (at rest opposite the velum)

The back of the tongue is the back dorsum

10

or surface of the tongue. If the back of the tongue is lowered, the uvula is free. The vowels [o] and | u] are produced with the back of the tongue arched towards the velum, while velar consonants are formed by raising the back of the tongue against the velum.

B .7) Root

The tongue root is the front wall of the pharyngeal cavity. A pharyngeal sound which is produced at the pharynx is formed with the root of the tongue near the back of the pharynx.

Since consonants are generally produced by moving the active articulators in contact with o^ close to l x passive articulators, h ^ a sides should be named. Of the sides of the tongue, the apico-, fronto- and dorso- represent the tip, front and back of the tongue respectively (dorso- is used to represent both front and back surfaces of the tongue by some writers), while the word 'linguo-' is employed to represent all parts of the tongue. The latter is just as ambiguous as those named only by the places of articulation (passive articulators).

So far as the pitch of the harmonics is concerned, the tongue is the determinant. The more the tongue is retracted, the larger the resonance chamber becomes, and the lower the pitch; the more it moves forward, the smaller the chamber becomes, and the higher the pitch.The tongue movement in connection with the pro­duction of the vowels are briefly described as follows:

1) The height of the tongue

1a) A high vowel is produced by raising the tongue towards the mouth roof.

lb) A mid vowel is produced when the tongue is at the middle position in the mouth, i.e. at the point between the highest and the lowest elevation.

lc) A low vowel is produced with the tongue in the lower half of the mouth, which is relatively wide open.

2) Front-back position

2a) A front vowel is produced with the mass of the tongue pushed towards the front of the mouth and the front of the tongue arched towards the palate.

2b) A back vowel is produced with the back of the tongue arched towards the velum.

C) Speech organs outside the oral cavity

C .1) Lips

In forming speech-sounds, the general significance of the lower lip is greater than the upper lip. The upper lip only acts in smiling and laughing. Both lips join in blowing and whistling in addition to producing bilabial and rounded sounds.

In the [f-v] series, the lower lip lies gently against the cutting edge of the upper front teeth, leaving a narrow slit for the air- stream. For the [p-b] series and the [m] series, it is pressed against the upper lip.

In the production of vowels, the lip position is one of the three dimensions. The formation of the rising resonance series [a] [ ae] [e] [i],accordingly, is aided by spreading the lips, just

12

as in the de sc ending series [ u ] |_ o ] [ o ] [ d ] itis helped to drop by less and less lip rounding.

C .2) Lower j aw

The lower jaw can be raised or lowered, thrust forward or down backward. Forward motion seems greater than backward motion. The oral cavity is enlarged by dropping the jaw; reduced by raising the jaw.

1.5 A Brief Statement of the Process of Sound-production

The pulmonic egressive airstream coming from the lungs, rises and forces the vocal cords open and closed when the vocal cords return into position and continue opening and closing so rapidly that the puffs of air sent up are heard as voice. Voice serves as the foundation of speech-sounds in the resonance chamber; it comes up through the velar door into the wide open mouth and gives [aj - sound; but if the lips are sharply rounded [u] results. if the tongue lies like an upturned leaf, leaving spaces at its sides, [i] results. If the tongue back and the velum are close together and the air goes through the nose, the sound [b] is made. When it passes through both nose and mouth chambers nasalized vowels are produced. If it goes through the oral cavity only, and the tongue or lip is raised to form a narrow passage, oral noise results, depending on where it occurs. If a closure is made while the vocal cords vibrate, [b, d, g] are formed. More detailed description of the sound production is given in the following chapt ers.

2. Secondary Features

A feature which is added to ordinary articulation is said to be a secondary feature. Before the discussion of speech-sounds, some secondary features such as aspiration, voice and nasalization in Mandarin Chinese are briefly introduc ed.

Aspiration is the addition to a plosive consonant of a perceptible puff of breath. The puff of breath which follows the first consonant of the English words "pea, tea, key" can be tested by holding a small slip of very light­weight paper before the lips as the words are spoken. The paper will flutter slightly just as the first consonant ends (see Fig. 6)

When the Chinese words formed with the same initials are spoken in the same way, however, the paper will flutter considerably more. To determine whether or not a sound is strongly aspirated, use a slip of paper which is not too thin and observe the fluttering of the paper as the words are pronounced.

2.1 Aspiration

Fig. 6

14

A recorded word like ’tea' will not reverse into 'eat’ as expected, but into something like ’east’ because of the aspirated nature of [t] which is regarded as a complex sound. In Mandarin Chinese, there are six aspirated consonants - three stops and three affricates. There are two types of aspiration-indicators - [h] and [*] with parallel use in Chinese phonetics. In this book, [h] and [1] are used to indicate strong aspiration of a sound in a stressed syllable and weak aspiration of a sound in an unstressed (atonic) syllable respectively.

2.2 Voice

Sounds produced with the vocal cords brought together, so that they are made to vibrate by the outpushing air and to produce a musical tone, are called ’voiced' . Conversely, sounds produced with the vocal cords held apart, so that the airstream moves between them with a minimum of local friction, are called 'voiceless’ or 'breathless'

Among the 22 consonants in Mandarin Chinese, there are five voiced consonants and only a pair of consonants distinguished from each other by means of presence and absence of voice. Three unaspirated, voiceless stops and affricates occurring in atonic syllables (or in intervocalic position) become voiced, while vowels |_-z,-i, -u, -y] occurring in atonic syllablesparticularly preceded by tone-4, become voiceless.

2.3 NasalizationNasalized sounds are produced with both the

nasal and oral cavities opened. The air passes

15

through both the nose and mouth. The velum is in its neutral position. In general, the airstream through the narrow nasal passage sounds damped and muffled; through the wide open mouth it is bright and open; with both nasal and oral passages open it has a quality between the two.

Experimentally, this can be determined by the breath striking on a cold polished surface, by having the person stand in front of it, with a ruler horizontal between nose and mouth, and tight against the surface. Then the vowel in question is spoken and held a short time. If there is no evidence of steamed surface above the ruler, it is oral only. The degree of moisture above the ruler shows the relative nasality present.

Nasalized vowels are very common in French.A vowel preceding a nasal consonant is generally nasalized in a north-west Mandarin dialect spoken in Shan-hsi province. In standard Mandarin Chinese, when a terminal [-r] is added to a word ending in[-q], then there is no longer any complete closure between the tongue back and the velum, although the back of the tongue rises towards that position. The nasal passage is open, and the curling back of the tongue tip for the [-r] is actually done at the same time as these other motions, so that a strongly nasalized [-r] at the end of the word results.

16

3* Consonants

3.1 General Survey

The word ’consonant’ is a generic term indicating the speech-sounds made with an obstruction (restriction or closure), complete or partial, of the airstream at various places and in various degrees and ways. Although classifications of consonants are many and varied, two dimensions are usually employed. They are manner of articulation and place of articulation.

Consonants arranged vertically under manner are introduced in general, while in Chapter 4, the Chinese consonants arranged horizontally (place of articulation) are described in particular. This would enable us to acquire the knowledge for proceeding to the comparison of different speech-sounds with other dialects and languages.

In the articulation of consonants, there are normally 3 stages: initial, hold and release.

1) The initial stage is the movement of the speech organs from a state of rest to the position necessary for the articulation of a given sound; it is also called catch or implosion and its partial synonyms are initial glide and on-glide.

2) The hold (occlusion or compression stage) involves the problem of a controlled opening which may be of rather brief duration of complete obstruction of the breath passage in the buccal cavity between the initial stage and the release of the breath stream; it is the stage which is absolutely necessary for the utterance of a consonant.

17

3) The release, the final stage of a con sonant, is the movement of the speech organs from a position of articulation to a state of rest; it lets the air out when the hold is broken. The following three figures show the three stages of the articulation of [d, th] in Mandarin Chinese.

3.2 Consonants classified in terms of manner of articulation

The manner of articulation is also called the mode of articulation; it refers to the type of sound-producing or sound-modifying mechanism in the mouth or larynx.

In terms of manner of articulation, a fundamental division of all sounds can be made into continuants and non-continuants. Continuants, as the term itself implies, are those sounds in which there is no blockage of the airstream, and the flow of breath is channelled but not interrupted. In other words, continuants are consonants that may be continued or prolonged without alteration for the duration of an emission of breath. Strictly speaking, non-continuants mainly consist of stops (in some

18

classifications,trills also belong to non­continuants), while continuants include frica­tives, flaps and resonants, oral and nasal.All these consonants, non-continuants as well as continuants, are subdivided and generally described below.

3«2a Non-continuants

Stops

A stop is a consonant that momentarily halts the flow of breath and is produced by completely closing the oral and nasal air passages (implosion), resulting in a retention of air (holding period, pause of silence), then abruptly opening the closure and releasing the breath (explosion); the final phase may not invariably occur and it may or may not be accompanied by various second­ary features discussed in chapter 2.

There are various kinds of stops because they can be produced by different parts of the articulator against different places of articu­lation. They are tabulated as follows:

Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

b d d 4 4- S

P tr—»

t t P k ?

The manner of articulation of these sounds can be described as this: a bilabial stop ismade by both lips; a dental stop is made by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth; an alveolar stop is made by the tip of the tongue

19

against the alveolar ridge; a palatal stop is made by the surface of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate; a velar stop is made by the back of the tongue against the velum; a glottal stop is formed by closing the glottis and suddenly releasing air with an explosive effect-

3*2b Continuants

3*2b. 1 Nasal

Nasal sounds are generally produced and characterized by an open velic cavity, the space between velum and the back wall of the pharynx. A complete occlusion is formed at some point in the oral cavity and the uvula and velum are lowered, allowing the air to escape through the nose so that the nose cavity acts as a primary resonator, and the oral cavity as a secondary resonator. In other words, nasal consonants are continuants produced in the combination of closed oral and open nasal cavities. When a nasal sound is said in combination with a non-nasal sound, the opening or closing of the nasal part may be made abruptly or gradually. Nasal emission is the defining feature of nasal consonants, thus, different nasal sounds have in

20

common the fact that air cannoi escape through the mouth. On the contrary, if the nose passage is blocked, nasal sounds like j_m,n,C] will be pronounced as [b,d,g]. Although the airstream is forced to flow through the naso-pharynx and the nasal cavities to escape at the nose rather than at the lips, nasal consonants have a resonance chamber in the mouth. The various points at which the oral passage is stopped off provide the characteristic distinctions among the various nasal consonants. For example, [m] is made by the closure of the lower lip against the upper, [n] by the tongue tip against the gum of the upper teeth, [ 13 ] by the back of the tongue against the velum. They are classified according to observable peculiarities of other oral articulators» The major accoustic differences among them are due to differences in the character of the oral resonator, which has the lowest range of frequencies for [m], the intermediate for [n],and the highest for [13].

Nasal consonants articulated at various points are tabulated as follows:

Bila­bial

Labio- dental

Alveo- lar

Retro - flex

Pre - pala - t al

Pal­atal

V e ­lar

U v u ­lar

m n T N

[m], [n] and [p] exist in Chinese andEnglish. These three nasal sounds have been classified as a part of the larger unit of vowel­like sounds. They are, of course, produced with the vibration of the vocal cords and are syllabic in English and some Chinese dialects. [#.] is an allophone of /n/ when preceding [i] in a type of English but very common in Mandarin Chinese excepting Peking dialect.

21

3•2b.2 Oral

Fricatives

In general, in producing the fricatives, the airstream is emitted through the restricted narrow passage between different parts of the articulators and the place of articulation.Like other consonants, fricative has many synonyms by which readers, particularly beginners, are often confused. The synonyms of fricative are ’spirant1, ’constrictive’ or ’static consonant', etc. The term ’sibilant’ seems to be a partial synonym of fricative consonant because it is often restricted to [s] [z] and affricates»

Due to the different shape of the sus­tained narrow passage in which fricative con­sonants are produced, central fricatives are generally divided into two types known as grooved fricative and slit fricative. Grooved fricatives such as [s] [z] [/] [3] are pro­duced with the passage much narrower from side to side and deeper from top to bottom and the tongue grooved by raising the edge, while slit fricatives such as [f, v, 0, b] are articulated with the passage relatively wide from side to side but very narrow from top to bottom. The shape of the passage is like the slit^ which is relatively wide horizontally and shallow vert­ically, while the tongue is relatively flat.

Fricative consonants,classified according to the place of articulation, may be tabulated as follows

B = Bilabial L = Labio-dentalI = Interdental A = AlveolarR = Retroflex V = Velar

H.A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguis tics, p. 22.

22PI. of B L I A R P a 1 a t a 1 V Glottal^ a r t . T y p ^ v

1 2 3

Grooves*zs

++t3

*t:*cJ ß

*+J<5

Slits 3$

*V *• + f$*0

£

Xk*h

Note* Sounds in English+ Sounds in Mandarin Chinese (Peking

dialect)* + Sounds in both languages

All the grooved and slit sounds tabulated above are central fricatives in contrast with lateral fricatives (which only exist in a few languages).

Resonant s’Resonant’ is a general term indicating a

semi-vowel (or even a vowel), vocalic consonant (or sonorant) produced by shaping, but not obstructing the sound, and using the mouth and throat as a resonance chamber; the sole acoustic effect is the product of the vibration of the vocal cords and its resonance. Semi-vowels and nasals belong to central resonants, while [l] belongs to the lateral consonant. All resonant consonants, central and partial, are articulated with only partial closure, that is frictionless, and capable of being prolonged like a vowel; they can, on occasion, be syllabic. Apart from nasals discussed on pp. 19-2 0 , [l] and semi-vowels are dealtwith, individually, in the following chapers.

23Flaps and Trills

Flaps such as [r] in Russian and [r ] in French are generally considered to be n on­continuants. Trills like Lr] as in "very" and [;p] as in "sorry" are occasially heard in a type of English.

According to the classification of the various sounds described above, consonants are tabulated as follows:

W-pÖcüÖoCOÖoo

Stops

-<

Non-continuants -

Nasal

•TrillsLateral

Continuant s*

Oral-

Fricatives - grooved

I Resonants -<|"

•Central Lateral Slit

Flaps Central

Affricates

Among the basic divisions of the consonants tabulated above, affricates are not included. Affricates are produced primarily by a combin­ation of stop and frictional modulation. Like stops, they are made at approximately the same point of articulation from the stop position and the air passage is momentarily closed.Unlike the stops, the release of air is less sudden than in the case of a plosive and is immediately followed by the corresponding fricative. Thus, affricates may be called more accurately stop-frictional sounds. Due to their plosive nature, affricates are sometimes called semi-plosives; they are also called assibilant because of their fricative nature.

24

4. Consonants (initials) in Mandarin Chinese Classified According to Place of

Articulation

4.1 General Survey-

In traditional Chinese phonetic terms, con­sonants, excepting [C] which occurs only as a terminal, are called initials. There are twenty- one consonantal initials in Mandarin Chinese.Of the twenty-one initials, [n] is the only one which can be used as an initial as well as a terminal. In other words, there are only two terminals [CJ and [n] in the formation or syllables in modern Mandarin Chinese. So far as their different positions and manner of pro­nunciation are concerned, they can be classified into six categories. They are 1) labials, 2) dental sibilants, 3) alveolars, 4) retroflexes, 3) prepalatals, 6) velars. Labial refers to interactiol both lips, labial dental to lower lip and upper teeth. Dental, alveolar, prepalatal (including retroflex) and velar indicate characteristic locations which the tongue touches or approaches. They are classified and arranged according to the place of articulation (in the order of the vert­ical listing of rows) for the following reasons:1) The consonants of each category have their

homorganic nature in articulation.

2) In the constitution of syllables, certain sets of initials occur before certain sets of finals.

3) It is more convenient to compare the con­sonants of each category with those in other Chinese dialects.

25

4.2 Labials

In traditional Chinese phonetics, labial consonants include 'heavy' labial sounds and 'light' labial sound, the former being bilabials and the latter labio-dental. The bilabial con­sonants include three sounds [b], [p h ] and [m]while the labio-dental is represented only byLI

[b] and [ph] L !> -1

[b] and [p h ] are gener­ally produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2) pressing the lips together to block the air passage at the initial stage;

Initial Final[b] & [ph] Fig. 8

3) building up voiceless breath pressure in the closed oral cavity and holding it for a moment;

4) exploding the voiceless breath by quickly moving the lips at the release stage.

The articulators are in almost the same position for the [b] and [ph], but the [ph] is made with the strong tension of the muscles and a vigorous aspiration, and [b] is pronounced

26

with weaker articulation without aspiration and voicing; the former is fortis the latter a lenis. In addition to the presence or absence of aspiration, the different strength of art­iculation is a distinctive feature determining the two homorganic stops as a minimal pair of two phonemes. Thus, ban (to disguise) is in contrast with phan (to rebel). The formation of [b] and [ph] may be expressed concisely by defining as a voiceless, unaspirated bilabial stop»and a voiceless, aspirated bilabial stop» respectively.

The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [b] from [ph]. The following words are useful for practice in making this dis­tinction.

bae IB

(to worship) phael (to s end )be i

0(the back) phe I (to match)

bo n 0 (to run away) phan (to spurt)

Voiced [b] existed in old Chinese; itstill survives in the dialects of Wu and Amoy, [b-] in intervocalic position has full voice at its second stage. Examples are:

bobr (father) ifläubiD (blemish)

Intervocalic [-b-] has full voice in both Mandarin Chinese and English, but initial [b-] is voiceless in Mandarin Chinese and partially

27

devoiced in English .[ph-] occurring in the atonic syllable is

less aspirated. For example, a m p '31 (to arrange).

[m]m] is produced by

1) lowering the velum so that the velic opening is made;

2) maintaining a closure at the lips as at the initial stage of [b ] ;

3) emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the nasal passage.

In the production of [m], the articulators take positions resembling those that they assume for the preliminary voicing of [b], with the exception of the velum. Since the nasal part is opened by lowering the velum, the voiced breath for [m] is resonated in both the closed oral cavity and the open nasal cavity in addition to the other cavities of the vocal tract. There­fore, [mj is characterised by a combination of vocal cord, closed cavity and open cavity modulation. [m] is briefly described as a bilabial continuant.

Words with [-m] terminal in old Chinese still vive in some southern Chinese dialects such as Cantonese, Hakka and Amoy. Syllabic [m] is very common in Cantonese and Wu dialect.

^A.C. Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p . 147.

sur-

28

[f][f] is produced by

1 ) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2) forming a restricted slit (not completely obstructed) between the lower lip and the cutting edges of the upper front teeth;

3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the restricted lip-teeth slit with friction.

[f] is made with the frictional modulation (the articulators are in similar position for the voiced [v]). The airstream moving over the tongue passes through the restricted lip-teeth slit and is thrown upperward against the upper lip when it rebounds and then passes out between both lips. [f] is described as a voiceless, labial-dental slit fricative.

In syllable formation, final or central- back vowel [-Y ] following this set of consonants is pronounced with slightly rounded lips, while -u preceded by [f-] becomes [-v]. [-v] in-fv occurring in the atonic syllable is devoiced or dropped. For example, doufv or doUf (bean curd). Among the four labial initials, only [f-] does not occur before [-i], but [fi] in place of [fei] is used in Peking opera.

Of the non-Mandarin speakers, the Japanese and the Min-dialect speakers tend to pronounce [fv] as [hu].

29

4.3 Dental SibilantsSibilants are fricative consonants pro­

duced by emitting a continuous airstream which passes with friction through the very narrow channel formed by the tongue in contact with the place of articulation. Dental sibilants are, of course, generally articulated by emitting a continuous airstream and letting it rub through the narrow channel formed by the tongue tip in contact with the back of the upper front teeth.

A set of Chinese dental sibilants, known as acute consonants, includes two affricates and a voiceless grooved fricative. They are:

[dz ] and [t sh ]These two sounds are produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2) placing the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth at the initial stage;

[dz] & [tsh]Fig. 11

3) emitting the voiceless air­stream through the narrow channel formed by the tongue tip and the upper side teeth at the release stage.

In the pronunciation of these two sounds, the air passage is completely blocked by pressing the articulator tightly against the place of art­iculation at the initial and hold stages. The

30

narrow channel is opened slowly by removing the articulator from the place of articulation. In the production of [dz], the vocal cords begin to trill after the release of the obstruction. In the production of [tsh], there is a strong aspiration when the release stage is made.These two sounds are generally described as voiceless, apico-dental affricates.^

Atonic [dz-] and [tsh-] tend to become voiced and less aspirated respectively. Examples are :

jidz(z) (a chair)nuts’31 ( a bondsman; a slave)

The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [dz-] from [tsh-]. The following words are use­ful for practice in making this distinction.

dzz (a character) d zü (to rent)o

tshz (a thorn) tshü (coarse)

These two sounds in the initial position are uncommon in English. Thus, English-speaking people often confuse [dz-] with [tsh-]. The Japanese tend to pronounce the words formed with this set of initials and the consonantal vowel

They are considered by some writers (see Mandarin Chinese Reader) to be articulated by placing the tip of the tongue against the gum. They are thus described as apico-alveolar affricates. In fact, the position of the tongue tip varies from speaker to speaker.

31

[-z ] with lip action.

[s][s] is produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2 ) raising the tip of the tongue in contact with the back of the upper front teeth;

3 ) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the middle of the extremely narrow blade-alveolar groove by means of which friction is caused.

In the articulation of [si, the position of the tongue tip varies from speaker to speaker. The tongue tip may be raised to make a light contact with the alveolar ridge, and the side rims of the tongue are close to the upper side teeth. The tongue tip may be lowered in contact with the back of the lower front teeth, so that friction is made between the blade of the tongue and the anterior alveolar ridge.The first type of [s] is described as an apico- dental voiceless fricative, the second as a blade-alveolar voiceless fricative. Audibly, neither type is very different.

This set of sounds is generally used to replace the retroflexes used by southerners and the speakers of a southern Mandarin

[«]Fig. 12

32

dialect spoken in Hsii-chou and the adjacent areas between Kiangsu and Shantung. Thus,sz(poetry) is pronounced as sz (silk). On the other hand, speakers of a northern Mandarin dialect spoken in some regions in north-east China usually replace this set of sounds with the retroflexes just mentioned. Thus sz (silk)is nounced as pift (poetry). Conversing with the speakers of the two Mandarin dialects, a Peking dialect-speaker will certainly be confused.

In standard Mandarin Chinese, in contrast with the set of these three sounds known as acute or sharper consonants, the set of retro- flexes and the set of prepalatals are regarded as flatter. The quality of the sound among the three sets of sounds depends upon the diff­erent points or channels formed by moving the tip or front of the tongue forward or backward along the anterior portion of the mouth roof.

b.k Alveolars

As the sounds themselves imply, alveolars are generally articulated by placing the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge (except for those occurring in individual environments, such as dental [t-J and backward [t-] in English [tö] and [tr- ] ). Alveolars consist of stops, apico-nasal and laterals. When these sounds are produced, the airstream is obstructed by raising the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge. In Mandarin Chinese, there are four alveolar sounds - fd, th, n, 1 "I .

pro-

33

[d] and [th]

These two sounds are produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2) raising the tip of the tongue against the anterior alveolar ridge and placingthe edge of the tongue against the side teeth to block the airstream at the initial s t a ge;

3) building up voiceless breath pressure in the closed oral cavity at the hold stage;

4) exploding the voiceless breath by quickly moving the tongue tip away from the place of articulation at the release stage (see Fig. 7)

Cognates [d] and [th] are produced from similar articulatory positions; both are voiceless, but at the release stage, a strong aspiration accompanies [th]. Apart from the presence or absence of aspiration between the two sounds, [d], a lenis, is pronounced with weaker articulation, while [th ] > a fortis, is produced with the strong tension of the muscles. These two sounds are described as voiceless, apico-alveolar stops.

The intervocalic Chinese [-d-] , particularly when occurring in the atonic syllable, has full voice, while the aspirated Chinese [th] occurring in the atonic syllable is less aspirated.Examples are:

didi (younger brother) tsh°ut'i (a drawer)

34

[ d] and [th i in both Mandarin Chinese and English have very similar articulatory positions. Intervocalic [-d-] is fully voiced in both languages, but initial d-] is voiceless in Chinese and partially devoiced in English.^

[n]

[n] is produced by

1) lowering the velum so that the velic opening is made ;

2) placing the tip of the ton­gue against the alveolar ridge at the initial stage;

3) maintaining a closure in the oral cavity as at the initial stage of [d] ;

4) emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the nasal passage.

[n]

Fig. 13

The articulatory positions for [d] and [n] are somewhat similar. If the nasal passage is blocked, then [n] sounds like [dj.

Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p. 157*

35

[nj is characterized by a combination of vocal cord, closed cavity and open cavity modulation. It is described as an apico- alveolar nasal continuant.

In syllable formation, [n] is the only consonant which can be used as both initial and final in Mandarin Chinese. As an initial,[n-] followed by [—i ] and [-y] becomes pre­palatal [n-] in many Mandarin dialects and the Wu dialects. It sounds like [-ni-] as in * onion'used by some English speakers.Although it is rare in the Peking dialect, it is very common in Peking opera. As a final, [-n] is sometimes called a vowel-following consonant. In connected speech, [-n 1 frequently assimilates to the articulation of a following word initial [-m] before bilabial stops, [-C ] before velar stops and [-nj ] before labio­dental. It is more weakly articulated when occurring after [a-] than after other vowels.^That is, it is articulated with the tongue not quite reaching the alveolar ridge. Thus, it is pronounced as [a11] in Peking dialect. [ -n ] is replaced by [- c] in some southern Mandarin dialects spoken in some areas in north Chiang- su and south Shantung, while [-n] in vowel-n syllables is dropped and the preceding vowel is nasalized in some north-west Mandarin dialects.

Linking [-n-] as in 'in America' is very common in English speech. This does not occur in Chinese (except for a few atonic particles) The phenomenon that [-n] does not link to the vowel initial of the following word in the connected Chinese speech can be explained by quoting Professor Y.R. Chao's statements.^1Chao Yuen-ren, Mandarin Primer, p. 24.2Chao Yuen-ren, 'The Voiced Velar Fricative as an Initial in Mandarin', Le maitre phonetique 3rd ser., 89 (1948), pp. 2-3.

36

"...The presence of the initial [V -][?-] or [ q- ] before the syllables of k'ai K'ou group explains the great aversion to linking a final [-n] to a vowel. In d^0n 0 (very hungry) for example, the final [-n] is not only weakened to an imperfect closure, but is usually articulated with the root of the tongue, forming an imperfect closed [13]. Consequently, no no-like effect, as a result of the juncture, can be heard".

The presence or absence of the occurrence of [y-] [9-] or [13-] before the syllables of k ’ai K ’ou group varies from speaker to speaker. As a matter of fact, linking [-n-] does not occur in the connected Chinese speech even if there are no such sounds before the following syllable beginning with zero initial of k ’ai k ’ou groups (see page 56).

[1][l] is produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2 ) making a medial occlusion by raising the tongue tip against the centre of the alveolar ridge at the initial stage;

[1]Fig. 14

opening both sides of the tongue sothat the lateral voiced breath stream is emitted

3)

37

between the teeth near the first pre­molars .[l] is described as an apico-alveolar

lateral resonant. Among the non-Mandarin speakers, the people in all of the Yangtze valley (including the Wu region) and Canton often confuse [l-] with [n-J

4.5 RetroflexesIn general, by raising the tip of the

tongue against or close to the anterior part of the mouth roof and moving it from the upper front teeth to the anterior part of the hard palate, dental, alveolar and retroflexed sounds are produced. Retroflexed sounds (also called 'cacuminal* , 'cerebral' or 'inverted' sound) are, of course, those produced with the tongue tip curled upwards towards the hard palate. There are various retroflexed sounds such as stops, fricatives, affricates, nasal, lateral and flap. In Mandarin Chinese, there is a set of four retroflexed sounds - two affricates and two fricatives.

[dzj and [tph]

These two sounds are produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2) curling the tip of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate behind the alveolar [dz] & [tsh]

Fig. 15

38

ridge at the initial stage;

3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the narrow aperture formed by the tongue tip and the anterior part of the hard palate at the release stage.

[dz] is formed by a voiceless, unaspirated, retroflexed [d-] and a voiceless, retroflexed fricative [-z]. [tsh] is formed by a voiceless, aspirated, retroflexed [th-] and a voiceless, retroflexed fricative [-s]. For convenience, they are transcribed as [dz] and [tsh] re­spectively. In the pronunciation of these two sounds, the air passage is completely obstructed at the initial and hold stages, then the narrow aperture is opened slowly by removing the tongue tip from the place of articulation.The air is emitted by rubbing through the aper­ture. Like other Chinese affricates, its obstruction and the friction come close together. In addition to a vigorous aspiration when released, [tph] is pronounced with a strong tension of the muscles* After the aspiration of [tsh] has vanished, a prolonged [-2 ] is heard as in tshz^ (to eat). These two sounds are described as voiceless, apico- prepalatal affricates. Due to their retroflexed nature, they are generally called retroflexes.

lessAtonic [dz] is voiced and atonic [t^h] is aspirated. Examples are:

\d jEdzj (3)U )1

(a ring)(to support)

These two sounds should be accurately distinguished from each other. The following are some useful words with the two initial

This trochaic word has now recovered its tone on its second syllable.

39

sounds in contrast.d^an (to stand) tshandzu (to dwell) tshu

V vdzuan (accurate) tshu3n

Distinguish [dzj from [dz]dz:3Sl (a debt) dzaslc * o

dzan (to stand) dzandzu (a pig) dzu

Distinguish [t^h] from [tsh]

t^hasl (fuel) tshaeit^hsD ( a city) tshactshu ( a place) tshu

(a prophecy)( a place)(stupid)

(to be at-, in) (to praise) (to rent)

(talent)( stratum) (vinegar)

Among the foreign learners, some English- speaking people tend to use their own [dr-] and [tr-j in place of these two Chinese sounds. The difference in the articulatory positions between the two pairs of sounds in the two languages should be made very clear. In pro­nouncing the English [dr-] [tr-] , the centreof the tongue is less hollowed and retroflexed than that for the two Chinese sounds, the obstacle to the airstream is formed by a closure made between the tip and rims of the tongue and the rear edge of the upper side teeth.1 In articulating the two Chinese sounds, the lips must be natural or slightly spread unless they are followed by [-u] or [-ou]. Conversely,

Gimson, op.cit., p. 172.

4o

in producing the English [dr-] [tr-] , somespeakers will always use a certain amount of lip protrusion typical of [r], though the lip position is conditioned mainly by that of the following vowelJ

[s] and [z]These two sounds are produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2) curling the tip of the tongue close to the hard palate just behind the alveolar ridge;

3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath for [p] and voiced breath for [ zjj throughthe narrow aperture formed by the tongue tip and the anterior part of the hard palate.In Mandarin Chinese, [p] and [ 2jJ are the

only pair of sounds characterized by the absence and presence of voice respectively. These two sounds are briefly described as apico-prepalatal fricatives. Due to their retroflexed nature, they are generally called retroflexes.

The absence or presence of voice is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [p] from [ zjj • The following words are useful for practice in making this distinction.

[p] & [z]Fig. 16

Ibid.1

4l

sanL

(to flash) zani (to dye)SQQ (to ascend) (to yield)fQU (little-f ew) (to disturb)

nguish [s] from [p]

szi

(four) Pi (yes;verb to be)san (three) pan (a mountain)su (plain; simple) iu (a tree)

Different sounds used in place of [ ]in some Chinese dialects

[ z-] is said to be derived from [r>-] or [ it is rare in many Chinese dialects. Thedifferent sounds used in place of [^-] by various dialect-speakers are tabulated as follows:

Sounds Words Dialect regions

V zj an (man) Peking and most Mandarin­speaking regions

j - jin(man) 1. large area of north-east China

2. Chiao-tung, Shantung

1- 18n(man) 1. Han-k'ou (Central China)2. Some districts of

north Kiangsu

p,- i>in ( man) 1. Wu dialect-speaking areas

2. Nan-ch’ang, provincial capital of Kiangsi

42

zft (the sun;day) is the only morpheme in Mandarin Chinese. Among the total number of the commonly used words, up to six hundred have the initials of this set of sounds.

A Comparison between these Two Sounds and some English Sounds

Daniel Jones used [/] in place of [p] in the phonetic transcription of Pekingese; he stated, "we are not sure that much is gained by using the more accurate zj (the symbols for retroflex s z ) in place of f^ . After all p z are only varieties of f^ , and the symbols may be used in any language which doesn’t contain normal/3 as separate phonemes beside s z/ .1 Strictly speaking, [pJ [z] are different in many articulatory points from [/] [3] whichare common in English. These two English sounds are articulated by the tip and blade of the tongue making a light contact with the alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue being raised at the same time in the direction of the hard palate and the side rims of the tongue being in contact with the upper side teeth. The Chinese [p] [z] can never be articulated inthis way, and the two English sounds are not produced with the tip of the tongue retracted and the centre of the tongue hollowed. Con­versely, in producing [/] [3] the body of thetongue is arched towards the hard palate and alveolar ridge to form a fissure.

Daniel Jones, ’The Transcription of Pekingese’,Le ma^tre phon^tique 3rd s^r., 21 (1928), p p . 2-3.

2Daniel Jones, An Outline of English Phonetics, p. 190; Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p. 284.

43

Sounds in different languages might be similar but cannot be identical. The Englishfrictionless consonant similar to the Chinese

a -zi ~

is said to be very In fact, English-

speaking people often replace the Chinese [3 -] with the English [a-]. The similarities and differences between the two sounds can be briefly described as follows:^A) SimilaritiesA . 1) Both are voiced oral sounds.A.2) Both share the similar place of articulation.

A. 3) Both are articulated with the tonguehollowed and the tongue tip retracted towards the hard palate.

B) DifferencesB . l) The English [a-] is produced with slight

rounding of a certain protrusion of the lips, while the Chinese [^-] is pronounced without lip action except when it is followed by a vowel requiring rounding,

1With regard to the production of the English see the following sources:la. Jones, An Outline of English Phonetics, p. 205;lb. Gimson, op. cit., p. 201;lc. Ralph K. Potter, George A. Kopp and Harriett C. Green, Visible Speech, pp. 218-19.

44

such as zju (entering).B.2) [^-] is shorter and has more friction

than [a-], the former being pronounced with more tension of muscle.

B.3) Phonetically [3 -] is described as a pre­palatal fricative, but [j -] a post- alveolar frictionless consonant. The channel formed by the articulator and the place of articulation for [ 2 -] is narrower than for [u -].

B . 4) In pronouncing [a-], there are two commonly used positions in American English.

B.4a) Articulatory [a-] with tongue tip down.B.4b) Articulatory [a-] with tongue tip up.

If the two initials are followed by a rounded vowel, they are hardly distinguished from each other. Examples are:

z u (entering)j u (:) (rue)When the two initials are followed by an

unrounded vowel, they are clearly distinguished. If ^an (to dye) is spoken as asen (ran) , then it will be understood as ^uän (soft) in Chinese.

4.6 Prepalatals

Palatal sounds are generally produced by placing various parts of the front section of the

45

tongue, ranging from the tip to the middle of the tongue, against the front part or centre of the hard palate. Palatal sounds are named according to the place of articulation, the front part of the mouth roof, while frontal sounds are named according to the front part of the articulator, the tongue. If speech- sounds are named only according to the place of articulation, then both sets of [dz, tgh, and [d ,, tqh, c.] in Mandarin Chinese are pre­palatal sounds. With the various parts of the front part of the tongue placed against the different portions of the hard palate, the following sounds are made:

1. Retroflexed and post-alveolar sounds (seeP-37)-

2. Prepalatal (alveo-palatal) sounds (see the description of the three sounds below).

3. Palatal sounds (such as [j] [c h] [~ c ] , whichare used in place of [ dz, J [tch] [ Q ] , are very common in a type of Mandarin dialect spoken in Chiao-tung, Shantung province) are produced by raising the middle ofthe tongue against the centre of the hard palate.

[ dz,] and [ tqh ]

These two sounds are produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

46

2) elevating the front of the tongue against the anterior p o r t i o n of the hard palate so that the air passage is completely obstructed at the initial stage;

3) emitting a continuous s tream of voiceless br e a t h through the n a r r o w channel made by the front of the tongueand the a l veo-palate at the release stage.

[ ds^] & I tQh ]

Fig. 17

Whe n the front of the tongue is elevated towardsthe anterior p o r t i o n of the hard palate, s i m u l taneously the tip of the tongue is placed behind the bac k of the lower front teeth. When the obstructed air pass a g e is slowly opened and the air is allowed through by r u b b i n g the n a r r o w channel, the obstru c t i o n and the friction come close together.

[dz<] is formed by a p r e p alatal [_ d J and a prepalatal [zj. |_ t^hj is formed by a prepalatal [ thJ and a p r e p alatal [_ c J . Fo r convenience, they are transcribed as [ dz?J and [tjGh] respectively.B o t h are p roduced from the similar articulatory positions, but [t/jh] is accompanied by a strong aspiration at the release stage. P h o n e t i c a l l y they are d e s cribed as a voiceless, unaspi r a t e d f r o n to-prepalatal affricate, and a v o i c e l e s s aspirated fronto- p r e p a l a t a l affricate respectively.

Atonic [d^J is vo i c e d and atonic [ t>chj is less aspirated. E x a m p l e s are:

47

jind^iiQ (eyes)kh*t9 '(i) (polite)The presence or absence of aspiration is

the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [d >] from [t^h]. The following words are useful for practice in making this dis tine tion.

\ Vdz,iÖ (to post) t<f hi (air)d -in (gold) t qhin (intimate)d?,y (to saw) tQhy (to go)In syllable constitution, these two sounds

occur only before [-i] and [-y], while [dz-] [tsh-] and [dzj_-] [tgh-] are never followed bythe two vowels. This enables us to distinguish them easily from one another, and, phonemically, these two consonants are considered to beallophones of those of [g-]

dz -- okh-

[tsh-] by some writers or by others according to the

principle of complementary distribution.Phonetically, the difference between these

two sounds and the post-alveolar affricates, which are common in English, needs to be dis­tinguished. The lip position for both pairs of sounds are conditioned by the following vowel. Lip rounding of these two pairs of sounds isj of course,required if a rounded vowel follows, but special care should be taken in distinguishing the lip position between the two pairs followed by unrounded vowels. The lip position of the Chinese [d ,-] [t^h-]followed by j-i] is free, while that of the English [d3~J [tf - ] followed by unroundedvowels is slightly rounded and with some speakers a certain amount of lip protrusion is always

48

present. Besides this, the two Chinese sounds are articulated with the tip of the tongue held down behind the lower front teeth, while the two English sounds are produced by raising the tip and blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge.

<?]

[9 ] is produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2 ) raising the front of the tongue close to the anterior portion of the hard palate so that the narrow groove is formed between

3) placing the tip of the tongue behind the lower front teeth;

4) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the narrow groove so that friction is caused.[$] is the second element of the Chinese

[ t<§ h ] ; it only occurs before [ -i] and [ -y ] . When followed by [-i], [ 9] is made with lipsfree. Phonemically, [ q -] is considered to be an allophone of [s-] by some writers, but that of [ X- ] by others according to the principle

Gimson, op.cit., p. 170.1

[9]Fig. 18

them;

49

of complementary distribution. Phonetically, [9-] is described as a voiceless, fronto- prepalatal fricative.

[y-] is often used in place of [g -] by English-speaking people. With regard to the difference of the articulatory points of these two sounds, compare [c-] with [/-] described on page 42.

4.7 Sharper and Flatter SoundsHistorically, the set of prepalatal

sounds are partly derived from the set of dental sibilants and partly from the set of velar sounds. In syllable constitution, dental sibilants followed by [-i] and [-y] are gen­erally regarded as sharper (chien), while pre­palatals (in addition to retroflexes) followed by the same vowels are regarded as flatter (t'uan)1 (see page J2)- The sharper sounds, though no longer existing in Peking dialect, are still common in many Mandarin dialects as well as in Peking opera. Well-trained Peking Opera singers are required to differentiate strictly these two categories of sounds. Some examples of the characters formed by the two types of sounds followed by [-i] and [-y] are as follows:

Sharper dzi (

tshi ( ^ /all inreadiness)

/to re­lieve )

Flatter

d^i ( /toremember)

t^hi ( Ä / a flag)

Professor Chao has been using the translations ’sharp’ and 'rounded*.

50

s i ( m /fine) <5-1 ( /a play)dzyL>

( & /an ulcer) d^y ( ® /to dwell;to live)

t shy ( ming)

/ int ere s t- t9.ll/y ( (1l / a dis­trict)

sy ( m /must) 9V ( Jg /empty;hypocritic)

4.8 Velars

Velar sounds are generally formed by rais­ing the back of the tongue (dorsum) against the velum. A velar sound is also called a dorsal or a guttural. Velar sounds include stops [g,k], nasal [ ft], fricatives [V,x ] and semi­vowel [w]. In Mandarin Chinese, there are four velar consonants - two stops, a nasal and a uvular fricative.

[g] and [kh]

These sounds are produced by

1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;

2 ) raising the back of thetongue in contact with the velum so Initial Finalthat the airstream is blocked at theinitial stage; Fig. 19

3 ) building up voiceless breath pressure in

[£] & [kh]

51

the closed oral cavity;

4) exploding the voiceless breath by quickly moving the back of the tongue away from the velum.

Cognates [g] and [kh] in Mandarin Chinese are produced from similar articulatory positions; both are voiceless, but a strong aspiration accompanies [k h ] at the release stage. In addition to the presence or absence of aspir­ation between the two sounds, [g], a lenis velar stop, is pronounced with weaker art­iculation, while [k h ], a fortis velar stop, is pronounced with a strong tension of the muscles. These two sounds are described as voiceless, dorso-velar stops.

Intervocalic Chinese [-g-] is fully voiced, while atonic [k h ] is less aspirated. Examples are :

Wugo (five) dak 13 i (to open)Q

The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [g] from [kh]. The following words are useful for practice in making this dis­tinction.

gas i (ought to) khasi ( to open)gan (the trunk) skhan (to see )£u (to employ) khu (trous ers)

This set of velar initials does not occurbefore [-i] and [-y] in standard Mandarin Chinese,

52

but palatalized [g-, kh-, x - ] are very common in some Mandarin dialects spoken in Nanking and Chiao-tung, Shantung province. jkx-] in place of [kh-] is used in some north-west Mandarin dialects.

Intervocalic [-g-] is fully voiced in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

[d[13] is produced by

lowering the velum to make a velic opening between the nasal and pharyngeal cavities at the initial stage;

raising the back of the tongue in contact with the posterior hard palate and part of the velum to form a for [g] [kj;

emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the nasal cavity at the release stage.

[r] ] may be produced from a number of slightly different points of dorso-velar contact depending upon the sound with which it is com­bined. Usually it is produced towards the front with the front vowels, towards the back with the back vowels. It is described as a nasal dorso-velar continuant.

Initial [r] - ] does not exist in standard

1 )

2)

3)

[dFig. 20

closure as

53

Mandarin Chinese, but it is very common in Peking opera as well as in many Mandarin dialects, southern and northern, in addition to Cantonese.T is used by a small minority of the Peking- dialect speakers. Occasionally, it is either heard as a linking [-13-] as in tshdlQ an (pro­vincial capital of Shensi) or before syllables beginning with zero initials of k ’ai k 'ou groups (see page 56)*

[-0] is used in place of [-n] in some southern Mandarin dialects; conversely, [-n] in some words used in Peking opera is replaced by [-£)] in Peking dialect. Examples are:

Peking dialect

diO (the top)d d-t] (the national

capital)dec (a lamp)gäC (to change)

Peking opera

din (the top)d^in (the national

capital)dan (a lamp)gan (to change)

[x][X ] is produced by

1 ) raising the velumto make a velic closure;

2) raising up the back of the tongue close to the velum to form a very narrow air passage below the uvula;

[ x]Fig. 21

54

emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the passage so that friction is caused.

Apart from the three items of the principal articulatory activities, the forward part of the tongue back is more or less close to the velum in front of the uvula. Thus the air- stream driven through the narrow passage of the velum door and over the top of the tongue strikes on the velum and on the back edge of the hard palate and produces this sound. The front of the tongue is pressed down in the lower jaw with the tongue tip slightly retracted so that it does not touch the back of the lower teeth. [x] is briefly described as a voiceless uvular fricative.

Mandarin-speaking children, Cantonese, the Japanese and the English-speaking people all tend to use [h—] in place of Mandarin Chinese [x-]» while the speakers of a type of southern Mandarin dialect (Kan dialect) spoken in Kiangsi province generally replace [X— ] (when it is followed by [—u] or [—w—]), with [f—]. Thus xwei (meeting) is pronounced as fei (expenditure)

h .9 SummaryThe seven places of articulation of the

consonants in Mandarin Chinese introduced in this chapter are summarized as follows:

55

Places of Articulation Consonants

1. Upper & lower lips2 . Lower lip & upper

front teeth3» Tongue tip & the back

of the upper front teeth

4. Tongue tip & alveolar ridge

5* Tongue tip & anterior part of the hard palat e

6. Tongue front & anterior part of the hard palate

7. Tongue back & velum

Bilabials [b, ph, m] Labio—dental [f]

Dental sibilants [dz, tsh, s JApico—alveolars [d, th, n, 1,]Retroflexes [ dz , t^h, p, zl]

Prepalatals [dz-, tph, /»]

-j

Velars [g, kh, 13, x]

-| Except for the uvular fricative

565. Zero Initials

5.1 General Survey

Besides the twenty-one initials described in chap ter there is a zero initial in the formation of syllables in Chinese. That is, syllables are formed without preceding consonants. Zero initial syllables can be formed merely by single vowels, or by compound vowels, or by vowels followed by [ -n ] and [-!)]• Syllables without consonantal initials (sheng) are finals (yiin) . All the finals can be used as independent syllables. The production of the starting vowels of the zero-initial syllables is briefly described as follows(semi-vowels [j] [w] [q] are fullydescribed in Chapter 6):

5.2 Zero before Open Finals

5*2a /a/ group[ a ] » [ sei J * [ a n ]> [ a f l ] > [ a u ]

5.2b /a/ group[V], [ e i ] , [an], [a 13], [ou ]

When /a/ and /a/ finals are used as independ­ent syllables, the starting vowels (with exception of [a] and [or]) are pronounced with considerably individual variation. The greatest majority of the standard Mandarin speakers pronounce them with a preceding velar continuant ["#-], while a small minority of the speakers use [9 - ] or [13-].Thus, the starting vowels of these two groups can be linked with the terminal [~c] rather than [-n] of the preceding syllable (see p p . 36 and53).

57

5.3 Zero before Spread Finals(/!/ + /a/ & / 0/ Groups)

When /i/ is used at the beginning of a syllable, it is pronounced with friction. Thus, it is phonetically transcribed as [j — ] - /i/has two functions - principal vowel and non- syllabic semi-vowel ([j-], [-J-], [ - I - ] & [ - I ] ) *

5*4 Zero before Rounded Finals (/u/ + /a / & /a/ Groups)

When /u/ is used as an independent syllable, it is pronounced with friction. Thus, it is phonetically transcribed as [wu]. But, when /u/ is used in the beginning of a syllable followed by unrounded vowels (except for [-"& ] as in ’WJT’)» speakers of the Peking dialect pronounce it as frictionless labio—dental continuant [ V - ] . /u/ has two functions -principal vowel and non-syllabic semi-vowel([w-/u-], [-W-], [-U-] & [-»]).

5.5 Zero before Inner-rounded Finals(/y/ + /a / & /©/ Groups)

When /y/ is used at the beginning of a syllable, it is pronounced with friction. Thus, it is phonetically transcribed as [h]. /y/ hastwo functions - principal vowel and non-syllabic semi-vowel ([q- ] , [~q-] & [-Y-]).

Professor Chao points out that [ - ] is more commonin Tientsin; it is a minority type in Peking.

586o Semi-vowels

6 o 1 General Survey

A semi-vowel is a sound which is intermediate between a vowel and a consonant, partaking of the nature of both; it is a vocoid accompanying another vowel, and without a peak of sonority Like a vowel, a semi-vowel is produced by vocal cords and cavity modulation, but unlike a vowel, the oral channel used in producing a semi-vowel is more constricted than is used in producing most vowelso

The articulation of the semi-vowel is characterized by transition, rising or falling from one point to the other, with swift frequency change,. In the production of semi-vowels, the passage tnrougxx cue mouth is open c o LLe midlinso They are, therefore, called median resonantsl. Semi-vowels, which are high vowels made consonantal by narrowing the passage so as to have noticeable obstruction, are not produced except during the interval in which the articulators move from the steady state position and without remaining there any appreciable time proceed very quickly to the position for the combined sound; they are called glides. The characteristics of semi-vowels are:

1o rapid in articulation2. shorter in duration and less stressed

than vowels3o non-syllabic or unprominent in a syllable

_Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics,p. 21.

59

4. articulated with very slight friction^. This is the most important factor to render them consonantal0

According to the occurrence in different environments, the following phonetic symbols are employed to denote the high vowels and semi-vowels in Mandarin Chinese.

1 o [-i], [-u], [-y] - normal,vowels

as syllabic

2 o [j-]» [w-/p-],[p-] - whennon-syliable

initial and

3° [-j-], [-p-] - preceded byinitials

prepalata1

4 o [-W-] - preceded by velar initials5. [~l], [-u] - second elements of falling

diphthongs6 o [-I-], [-Y-] - preceded by

sonants than prepalatalso ther con -

7° [-U-] - preceded by other velars

consonants than

[-I-], [-U-] & [-Y-] are frictionless, non-syllabic medials (see 8 02b) and | -l] & [-UJ are non-syllabic, final elements of compound vowels (see 8 0 2a) o [j], [ "W ] & [p ] are described, inparticular, below.

6.2 [j]

[j] is produced by placing the lips in approximately the same position as for [i], starting with the other articulators held almost in the [i] position, except that the elevated position of the tongue is higher and not so far forward in the mouth. The opening between the

Except for the second elements of falling diphthongs and the medials not preceded by prepalatals and velars.

6 0

pharyngeal and nasal cavities is closed. A continuous stream of voiced breath is emitted while the articulators are moving towards their position for the combined sounds of gr eater proniinenc e .

The front of the tongue is raised rather high in the direction of the hard palate; the lips are spread; the velum is in its raised position;and the vocal cords are made to vibrate,so that the voice is heard.

The major portion of the [j], like the [wj glide, is produced while the articulators move from starting position to the position for the sound which follows. The next position of the articulators from which the |~ j ] glide starts depends somewhat on the sound with which it is combined. In other words, the actual sound used in particular words depends, to some extent, on the nature of the following vowel.

[j], like other glides, cannot be produced in isolation; it is a transitional sound characterized by continually varying vocal cord-modulation between the position of origin and its transition to the next sound.

As ij ] is produced with slight friction, it occurs at the beginning of a syllable, and as a medial between prepa.latal initials and vowels in Mandarin Chinese. The medial [j] is [i] or [e] when occurring between alveolars and [a] and [a] (see 6. p. 59).

6.3 [w/p ]

Iw j is produced by rounding the lips without too much tension, raising the back of the tongue

61

towards the velum to a position similar to [u] and moving away immediately to the position of the following sound. The opening between the pharyngeal and nasal cavities is closed, the continuous stream of voiced breath is emitted and the articulators are moving towards their positions for the combined adjacent sound. As a glide, it cannot be produced in isolation.

[y] is produced by forming a restricted slit (not fully obstructed) between the lower lip and the cutting edges of the upper front teeth; emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the restricted lip-teeth slit without friction. The velum is in its raised position so that the velic closure is made.[y] differs from [v] in having no friction; it is, therefore, described as a frictionless labio—dental continuant.

In Peking dialect, [w—] only occurs before [—u] and [-#']. [ y— ] never occurs beforerounded vowels. [y—] rather than [w— ] is only used in some Mandarin dialects spoken in north­east Kiangsu, Port Arthur, Darien and some other areas of north-east China.

6.4 [h ]The articulatory manner of [p] is the same

as that of [j] except that the lips are rounded. The shape of the lips for [p] is the same as that for [w].

With the occurrence of different environments frictionless [—Y—] occurs after [n-] and [l— ], while [ t— ] and [-1!-] occur after the zero initial and prepalatal initials respectively.

6 2

7. Vowels

7.1 General Survey

The vowels are much less definite, less comprehensible, and finer in articulation as well as in acoustics, than the consonants.Vowels are produced with the vibration of the vocal cords and with relatively little obstruct­ion as the air passes from the lungs through the articulatory organs. The individual vowels result from the modulation of the vocal breath stream by different sizes and shapes of the vocal cavities above the vibrating vocal cords. The positions of the tongue and the lips have more influence on vowel quality than any other factor. In the production of vowels, tongue—height (high or low, the higher the tongue is the closer the oral cavity becomes, and the vice versa), tongue—advancement (front or back) and lip-position (spread or rounded) are regarded as three principal articulatory dimensions (see p. 11).

Daniel Jones devised a system of eight vowels, four front and four back, known as primary cardinal vowels (Nos. 1 — 8 as shown in the following diagram). These vowels are said to have approximately equal acoustic intervals between them with characteristic tongue and lip positions and well-defined acoustic qualities. The cardinal vowel chart is as follows:

63Front

Spread/roundedC entral 17/18

Back16/8

Close(High)

(Mid—high)

Mid

Half-open(Mid-low)

Open

[i-u] - line is longer than [a—a] — line because the front and back position makes a greater difference for high than for low vowels, and the distances between [i] and [a] is greater than between [a] and [u] because there is more room for variation in tongue height in front.The triangle in the middle of the diagram marks off the central vowels from the front and back vowels.

From Nos. 9 to 19 are secondary vowels (abnormal vowels); they are formed with the same tongue positions as the eight primary cardinal vowels, but they have different lip positions. For example, [y] has the tongue position of [i] but is pronounced with rounded lips.

Sk

To complete the inventory of the IPA symbols for vowels, there are [i] between

[e], [ae] between [a] and and [o], [e ] between [ebetween [a] and [a].~

anduA

[i]a J , [ u J betweenand [e], and

High vowels with open variety [i, U, Y] are also called half high vowels, while low vowels with close variety [ae] and [r ] are called half low vowels. The half high vowels with several synonyms such as wide, loose or lax vowels are generally produced with lesser muscular tension in the speech organs, weaker breath pressure, and correspondingly lesser concentration of energy in the spectrum and in time. They are used in this book as first elements of ascending diphthongs, second elements of descending diphthongs, and both preceding and succeeding elements of triphthongs.

7.2 Vowels in Mandarin Chinese 7.2a Vowels

Vowels marked with * in the vowel chart shown on page 63 exist in Mandarin Chinese (Peking dialect). Apart from these, there are two apico vowels, [ —z] and [-z ]. Besides the neutral vowels briefly discussed below, vowels in Mandarin Chinese used in this book are partly described in the compound vowels and partly in the finals of the following chapters.

1See p . 70 > n . 1 .^See p. 74, n .1.

65

7.2b Neutral VowelsNeutral vowels are indistinct; they are

principally employed to represent vowels in atonic syllables.

1) [0 ] is articulated in the absolute center of the mouth; it is used in two ways in this book:la) As the vowel element in [on] and [at)]

in tonic (stressed) syllables.

lb) As the weak form of [e - 1 in fell and [o-] in [ou].

2) [3 ]» a more open variety of [a], representsthe atonic [a] in [aei], [uaei], [an], [ i asn] ,[ uan] and [Yan] .

3 ) [e], a more open variety of [3 ], represents the atonic medium f~a] in open syllables andthe back [aj in [q d ], [iau], [at)], [iat)] and [uai^j (see pp.lll & 113).

66

8. Compound Vowels

8.1 General Survey

A compound vowel is a combination of two or three vowel sounds functioning as a single unit. In the single unit the speaker glides continually from one vowel to another with only one tension of the laryngeal muscles. According to the sound pressure measurements which have thrown fresh light on a cardinal point in the theory of compound vowel, the compound vowel is a monosyllabic connection of two or three vowels.^

Compound vowels in Mandarin Chinese com­prise of diphthongs and triphthongs. They are separately described below.

8.2 DiphthongsA diphthong is a sequence of two vowels

occupying only one syllable, one element only has a stress of syllabic value, while the other plays an inferior part, it is only a semi-vowel or a glide (see p.59 )• During the course of the pronunciation of a diphthong, there is appreciable change of quality. Hence in the production of diphthongs there must be changes in the position of the tongue, the opening of the mouth and the shape of the lips.

1L. Hegediis, 'Experimental Phonetics in the Service of the L ingu istic Atlas ( 1 ) * , Acta Li.ngn i s t i c a V( I 9 r>">), r>-

67

According to the various formations of diphthongs, it is customary to separate them into falling, rising and level types. The first two types are very common in many languages, the third one, according to L. Hegedus, exists in some Hungarian dialects.

8.2a Falling (Descending) Diphthongs

A falling diphthong is formed by a syllabic (stressed) element preceding a non- syllabic glide (off-glide); it has a gradual diminution of inherent sonority. In the pro­duction of a falling diphthong, the change is, of course)accompanied by progressive reduction of intensity. All the off-glides entail decreasing mouth opening and rising tongue position, or movement towards closure.. The second element of these diphthongs, high vowels j -i] and [-u] only indicate the directions of movement, but are rarely reached. Thus j -I] and [-UJ are used as indicators of fading off- glide changes. There are four falling diphthongs in Mandarin Chinese.

[«,]The production of this diphthong is

generally described as starting from [as-], 1

[fpx] rather than | aT J is found, for .instance, inla. Chao Yuen-ren, 'Specimen', Le mai'lro pi i one L i g no 3rd ser . , 1 7 (1927)> P • r) ;lb. Mandarin Chinese Reader.

68

towards the direction of [—i ] • This diphthong is pronounced as [e] in some Mandarin dialects spoken in Shantung and north-west China; it differs from the Received English [ai] which generally begins at a point slightly behind the front open position.^

[ au ]The production of this diphthong is

generally described as starting from [a-], the cardinal vowel No. 5> towards the direction of [—■u ] . This diphthong is pronounced as [° ] in a Mandarin dialect spoken in Chi-nan, pro­vincial capital of Shantung.

[e.]The production of this diphthong is generally

described as beginning from [e-],the cardinal vowel No. 2, towards the direction of [-i].[e-] in this diphthong is not stable; it is more open in the syllables of tone-3 and tone-4 than that in the syllables of tone-1 and tone-2. Thus, it is transcribed as [e i] (t-1 & t-2) and [ei] (t-3 & t-4).

[on]The production of this diphthong is generally

Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p~! 1 34 .

69

described as beginning from (o-J the cardinal vowel No. 7) towards the direction of [—u]*[o-] in this diphthong is not stable; it is more open in the syllables of tone-3 and tone-4 than that in the syllables of tone-1 and tone-2. It is, therefore, transcribed as [ou] (t-3 & t-4) and [°u] (t-1 & t-2). In many Mandarin dialects, however, the first element of this diphthong is pronounced with the lips spread.

8.2b Rising (Ascending) Diphthongs

A rising diphthong is formed by a non- syllabic vowel and a syllabic vowel; it has a gradual enlargement of inherent sonority.In the production of a rising diphthong, the change is, of course,accompanied by progressive increase of intensity. In Mandarin Chinese, there are five rising diphthongs.

[ r a ]This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic

[i-J and a normal syllabic [-a] (medium Chinese[A])-

[IE]This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic

[I—] and a syllabic [-E]. [e ] seems to beunfamiliar to the users of the IPA symbols.As the sound value of this vowel is between [ e] and [e], Professor Y.R. Chao proposed to

70

add this symbol to the IPA system in 1931*^"A glottal stop is heard at the end of this

diphthong in some southern Mandarin dialects.I i as IJ 7 a rare alternate in Peking dialect, is commonly used in place of [I E ] in Peking opera as well as in some southern Mandarin dialects.

tua]This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic

U-] and a normal syllabic [ - a ] (medium Chinese >]).

hdThis diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic

[U-] and a normal syllabic [ ] . Phonetically, it is transcribed in many different ways such as [uo], [u o a ] and [ü q a J etc. In fact, this diphthong is produced by rounding the lips for a non-syllabic [u-] and immediately moving to a syllabic [y ]. In other words, it is -r produced with a non-syllabic preceding U- (with regard to the sound value of [ ?f ] , see pp. 75-7Ö* [ u * ’ ] rhymes with [ Jr ] . Examples are:

1 » wj (to lie down) 2. dzuy (yesterday)* (hungry) dztf (a rule )

Le maitre phone3;ique 3rd ser. , 3 ( 1 9 3 1 ) * PP • 23-^Chao Yuen-ren, Language and Symbolic Systems, p. 30

71

du * (to snatch) 4. U "dsU (a table; ad* (virtue) desk)

dz,V (to break open)

g w r (a saucepan)k * (songs)

Furthermore, with the occurrence of different environments,the two finals have several variants and some of their variants are identical e.g.

" '\^^Finals Initials

- U « I1 . Zero w-r y2. Labials - -V3- Dental sibilants

4. Alveolars -u* -y5. Re tro f1exes -V -y6. Velars -w<r

[ — UÄ ] after [3-» 4-, 3-] = [-fr ] after [2-].

[-2f ] occurring after velars is pronounced as [ -wjf ] in Peking opera as well as in many Chinese dialects.

72

[ y e ]

This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic [Y-] and a syllabic [-E]; it rhymes with jIE] but is produced with the lips rounded for the first element.

8.3 Triphthongs

A triphthong is a sequence of three vowels occupying only one syllable. The middle element is syllabic (principal vowel), while the rest are non-syllabic (semi-vowels). In Mandarin Chinese, there are four triphthongs - [ i a u ] , [ i o u ] , [ uaei ] and [ u e i ] .

Of the four triphthongs, [ -o-] in [ iou] and [ -e-] in [~ Ue I ] are more open in the syllables of tone-3 and tone-4 than those in the syllables o f tone-1 and tone-2.

[- u-] in f-uei] preceded by alveolars and dental sibilants are dropped in some Mandarin dialects spoken in north-east Kiangsu pro­vince and some regions of north-east China.

73

9 . Finals

A final is the second part of a syllable in Chinese, but it can be used as an independent syllable, a syllable preceded by a zero initial (see chapter 5)> it can be formed merely by a simple vowel, or by a compound vowel, or by a vowel or a compound vowel followed by [-n] or [ 13]. They may be tabulated as follows:

GroupsFinals'

I ae n iniI ou

uau a e iuanuac

ue iu©nU01Q

H O Yan

74

9.1 Open Finals

9.1a /a/ - Group

[a][a] has a medium quality between front [a]

and back [o ]; it is Otto Jespersen’s [a ] which is not officially part of IPA. In Mandarin Chinese, this vowel oc ,urs only as a final in open syllables and a word, particle. As a particle spoken in word-stream, it is often fused with the ending sound of the preceding syllable. In this book,[e] and [ar] are used to represent atonic [a] and r-coloured [a] respectively.^-j Otto Jespersen, Lehrbuch der Phonetik, p. 157;Chao Yuen-ren, Language and Symbolic Systems, p. 30.2Different symbols used to represent r-coloured [a]

are :2a. [eu] was used in 1927 by Professor Chao in Le maitre phonetique 3rd ser. , 17 (1927)» PP* 45-6;2b. [au] was used in 1928 by Jones in Le maitre phonetique 3rd ser., 21 (1928), p p . 2-4;2c. [ ar] is considered to be homophonous with [ar]by, for example, Wang Fu-shih in Chung-kuo yii-wen 123 (1963), PP* 115-24;2d. [Qr ] has been used by Sung Yüan-chia in Chung-kuoyii-wen 136 (1965)» p. 174.

75

[ aei ] (see P- 67)

[an][an]

it rhymesis formed by front [a-] and [-n]; with [-iaen], [-uan] and [ -Yan] .

[ a ro JThis final is formed by [ a - ] , the cardinal

No. 5, and f —13] ; it rhymes with [ 1 ciIq] and[ ucsid ].

[qu] (see p. 68)

9.1b /e/ - Group

[ r ]

This vowel is located between [0] and [*]* Phoneticians have great disagreement in employing

76

symbols to represent it. [y] rhymes with [ U and is pronounced like [u 5f] when it occurs after labial consonants (see pp. 70-71 )•

Some words with this final are pronounced as those with [-el] in a southern Mandarin dialect spoken in a region between Kiangsu and Shantung.

[el] (see p . 68)

[en]This final is formed by schwa and [-n];

it rhymes wirh [in], [nan], and [yn].

"*[s] and [y ] were used in 1927 & 1928 by Professor Chao (Le maltre phonetique 3rd s6r., 21 (1928),p p . 2 -3 );[y] (after prepalatals) and [a] were used in 1928 by Jones (Le maltre phonetique 3rd s e r . , 21 (1928),pp* 3-4);[0a] was used in 1955 by A. Dragunov (translated in Chung-kuo yii-wen 77 (1958), p p . 513-25);[ y J or [y a J was used in 1 9 5 6 and 1 9 5 8 by Tung Shao- wen (Yii-y in ch’ang-shih, p. 63) and in Mandarin Chinese Reader;[y aJ was used in 1957 by Wang Li (Han-yii shih-kao ,p p . 146-7)•

77

[ ar ]

This final is formed by schwa and [- fl] ; it rhymes with [iq], [ ufl] > and [Y0tD].

In Peking opera, this final occurring after labials is pronounced as [ uid] , after other initials as [©n].

[ou] (see pp. 68-69 )

9.2 Spread Finals

9.2a /z/ft/

[?][z] is pronounced by keeping the tongue

tip almost exactly in the position it is in for the preceding dental sibilants. In other words, in the production of [-z ] , articulate dental sibilants and widen the passage between the tongue tip and the gums just enough to stop the friction. It sounds like the voiced pro­longation and weakening of the fricative element of the preceding hissing consonant. There is no lip action.

In a southern Mandarin dialect spoken in Ho-fei,Anhivei province, [-z ] not only occurs

L t -Jafter dental sibilants, but also after bilabials and palatals.

78

wAs [-2jJ only occurs after retroflexed

initials, it is produced by retracting the tip of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate and then slightly widening the passage between the active and passive art­iculators just enough to stop the friction. It sounds like the prolongation and weakening of the fricative element of the preceding element. There is no lip action.

In southern Mandarin dialects as well as other southern dialects, [-2 ] is not so common as [-z ] . [ zjj is replaced by [i] in Peking opera.

9.2b /i/ and /i/ + /a/ - Group

[i][i] is produced by raising the front of

the tongue towards the anterior part of the hard palate. The tongue tip touches the lower front teeth. The teeth are nearly closed. The oral cavity is divided into two parts by the tongue, the smaller before the larger behind the tongue, with a third small cavity lying between the teeth and the lips. The lips are flat and their corners are slightly drawn sideways.

If the restriction of [i] is high enough the voice stream takes the character of [j].

[I a ] (see p. 6 9 )

79

[ I sen]This final is formed by a non-syllabic

I-] and final [-an]. [-a-] in this final is-as-] due to the influence of [i-].

[ i at]]This final is formed by a non-syllabic

[i-] and final [-afl].

[lau] (see p . 72)

9 .2c /i/ 4- /a/ - Group

[IE] (see pp. 69-7O )

[in] & [ifl][_0_] in these two finals is lost. Thus

the vowel element of these two finals is normal syllabic [ i - ] .

[ iou] (see p. 72 )

or[-£-] is used by some Chinese speakers.

80

9-3 Rounded Finals

9.3a /u/ and /u/ + /a/ - Group

[u]In the production of [u], the jaw remains

raised and the teeth nearly closed, the tongue humps backwards towards, the posterior velum, and the lips are rounded and phckered. The oral cavity is bisected, the larger portion being before and the smaller behind the tongue, while the third cavity between the teeth and the lips has been considerably enlarged, thus giving the mouth a lengthened somewhat funnel-shaped profile.

If the restriction of [u] is high enough the voice stream takes the character of [w].

[ua] (see p. 70.)

[ U03I ] ( see p . 72 )

[uan] & [uafl]

These two finals are formed by a non-rsyllabic [u-] and [-an] and [-at)] respectively.

9«3b /u/ + / 0/ - Group

81

[ u*] ( see p. 70 )

[ueIJ (see p . 72)

L U 0 i iThis final is formed by a non-syllabic

[ u - ] and final [-8n]. The middle obscure element is very unstable. With the occurrence of different environments,variants of this final are as follows:

1 . [ - u n ] (t - 1 & t -2 ) -consonant s

after apico

2 . [ - u sn] (t-3 & t-4) consonants

- after apico

3 . i—i

i s: <D i __j

- after velar consonants

4. [ U0n] - after zero initial

[us!] ]

Thisand

finalfinal

is formed by [ 13] * [ "0 - ] 1

a non-syllabic in this final is

very unstable; it appears only when this final follows a zero initial. With the occurrence of different environments, variants of this final are as follows:

It is transcribed as [-a - ] or |_ — 2T— ] by some writers.

82

1. [-UId] - after consonantal initials

2. [ Ü8ID] - after zero initial

9.4 Inner-rounded Finals

9.4a /y/ and /y/ + /a/ - Group

[y][y] is a simultaneous pronunciation of

[i] and [u]; it is produced by keeping the tongue in the same position as for [i] and the lips in the same shape as for [u].

Speakers of Min dialect as well as the English-speaking people and the Japanese tend to replace [y] with [i], To make this sound properly, pronounce [i], and , without changing the position of the tongue, simultaneously round the lips to the [u] position.

[Ian ]

This final is formed by a non-syllabic [Y-] and final [-an].

9.4b /y/ + /a/ - Group

[y e ](see P.72)

83[yn]

This final is formed by |_y] and final I-an]. The middle obscure element is very un­stable; it has a slight [-i-] quality. With the occurrence of different environments, variants of this final are as follows:

1. [qln] - after zero initial

2. [-yn] - after consonantal initials

[fan]This final is formed by a non-syllabic

[Y-] and final [-Qfl]. The middle obscure element of this final has a slight [-u-] quality.

84

10. Retroflexed Finals (Retroflexed Vowels and Diminutive Suffix)

10.1 General Survey

All vowel sounds may be characterized by retroflexion, the slight upward turning of the tongue tip towards the hard palate. In other words, in the production of retroflexed vowels, the tongue is held as for an ordinary vowel, but the tongue tip is simultaneously curled up towards the hard palate with lateral contraction; the edges of the hinder part of the tongue are pressed against the upper molars, so as to bend the middle and the blade of the tongue into spoon-form, without touching the hard palate, preventing the emitted breath from trilling the tip of the tongue (see fig. 22). The resulting sound has a peculiar hollow quality; it is a mixed sound of vowel and consonant.

[ r ] ( aOFig. 22

Retroflexed vowels may be transcribed in many different ways. For convenience, [-r] added at the end of a vowel is used to represent a retroflexed vowel in this book.

85

In Chinese, there are two kinds of words with retroflex endings. One is a very small number of primary words, of which the only common root morphemes ending in [-r] are 9r (child), ar (ears) and ar (two). The other class consists of a great number of monosyllabic words which are morphologically complex in that each is derived from a primary word plus a diminutive suffix (mostly [-r]). The suffix forms no add­itional syllable, but gives an r-colouring to the preceding vowel. It is generally known as terminal [-r] or ending [-r] like that in 'better' in General American English. Mostly, its duration is short because it is an unstressed sound.The sound made during the glide approach to the short terminal part of the [r] constitutes a considerable portion of the entire r-sound.

Words with the common suffix of the terminal [-r] added is one of the characteristics of Mandarin Chinese, particularly in Peking dialect and south-west Mandarin. The r-forms have come from three different etymons.

1. The localizer -li (in) forming with demonstrative place words.

2. zfo (day) forming names of days with reference to the present.

3. 9r (child), which has become the dim­inutive suffix properJ

Some retroflexed vowels are formed by adding the terminal [-r] to the vowels, and some are formed by deleting the following elements of the compound vowels or vowel-nasal ([-n] and [-ft])

1 Chao, Mandarin Primer, p p . 30-2 and A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, pp* 228-99*

86finals, and then adding the terminal [-r] to the main vowels. The exact manner in which the pre­ceding sounds are affected is determined normally by the nature of the sounds combined with the [-r].

The following table illustrates the ordered rules of how ordinary finals become retroflexed finaIs.

0 CD a *H

-H

d W

d >3

U Sh CD

d d

87

With reference to the table shown on the previous page, some phonetic phenomena need to be noted. Firstly, when the terminal [-r] is added, there is a slight change of sound values of [a], [e _, [tfj and [u], while [z],[z ], [ei] and [on are all substituted by [or].In other words, they are homophonous with one another. Secondly, the high, front vowels [i] and [y], formed with a flattened tongue, are incompatible with retroflexion; therefore, they must be followed by a retroflexed central vowel, thus, pi (play) + -r — — - r ^jgr. The terminal [-I] and [-n] also incompatible with retroflexion,are simply dropped, thus .ein (letters) + -r ---^^jor, consequently homophcnous with pjor (play). Examples of these phenomena are:

[ar] is derived from [aei] and [an][or] is derived from [el] and [on][ior] is derived from [i] and [in][Yor] is derived from [y] and [yn]Thirdly, when [-r] is added to a syllable

ending in [ - r]] , then [ - 13] is dropped and the main vowel of the syllable becomes nasalized.

10.2Some rules of how the ordinary finals become

retroflexed finals and on what occasion a retroflexed vowel is used

10.2(l) Shortening

The final syllables or suffixes of some disyllabic (or polysyllabic) words are dropped when the terminal [-r] is added, e.g.

a) The atonic noun suffix -dz(z) is often

88

replaced by -r. For example,&ar c--- §aeidz(z) (a lid). In general, anatonic noun suffix can be replaced by [-r] without change of meaning exceptfor a few words inb8r = capital in

trademiaur = sprout

\mlar = surface

the following:b8r or b8ndz(z) =o C- . ' » 'an exercise bookmlaUdz(z) = the Miao peoplemiaendz(z) = ’face' pride

Some nouns can be spoken with atonic suffix -dz— (z^ or non-syllabic diminutive [-r] such as diaaidz(z) or d iar (a cushion), but when they are preceded by another noun with an atonic -dz(z),

^ / V V I 'they take the latter form as in jidz(z)dl'er (a chair cushion)

b) Syllables formed by retroflexed sounds of the following words are replaced by [-r]. e.g.

i [~r ]ds^in^z^ --- z* d »j ar (today)

ii -dz z---- r -r]O J / \ / vbu dzz. da u --- y- bur da u (do not know)o C * 1 Is o v

111 — r7” X_r 1 . , ,jau sz, bu ... — — ^ jaurbu ... (ifv I * Q>not ...)

Both ii and iii are very informal, particularlywhen they are spoken very quickly by the speakers of Peking dialect.

89

c) The atonic localizer -li (in)forming with demonstrative place words is often replaced by [-r] in the informal style- e.g.

noli --- ^ ncir (there)

d) Various atonic suffixes or final syllables of nouns are replaced by [-r]. e.g.

dzuV par --- ~7 dzuy r (a seat)tshu~jr t^'u -----?> tshuJ r (fault)ueideu ---- Ü8r (taste; flavour)m8ndeur --- ^ m8r (opportunity)

From the examples shown above, lexically or textually, syllables or suffixes replaced by [-r] are almost all atonic. In this case, it is clear that some disyllabic or polysyllabic words or sense-groups are shortened by replacing their atonic syllables with [-r]. [-r], however,still plays the role of a diminutive suffix of the following words with atonic final syllables, e.g.

bagyr (the mynah)mujnr (appearance)d^jEdz^sr (a ring)gudur (a bud)gw* gwjr (a large

green cricket)/

When -th°1often atonic;

in

mu t t 's r (a model) tshas ilmur (material) pif(v)ar (wife) gülur (a wheel) uan j or (toys )

U (head) is used as suffix, it is it is sometimes followed by [-r] as

niaent'sur (thoughts) phseit’9Ur (manner; an air)thiaait* 8Ur (a bait; a lure)

1 O v ^Tonic - th°yr occurs as in t9hith°ur (to start); lapth pr (an old man), etc.

9 0

The atonic localizer -bl3n (side) is often followed by [-r] such as joUbI3r (the right-hand side).

10.2(2) The Idea of SmallnessSemantically, the diminutive suffix [-r]

starts from the idea of smallness and shades off through the speaker's attitude of regarding the thing as small and thence to almost nothing but a change of grammatical function with or without change of meaning from that of the root morpheme.

The following words with terminal [-r] added indicate something small, tiny, minute, little, few, insignificant, petty, mean and trifling; the immaturity or inferiority of man or animal.e. g.

a) Nouns (inanimate) preceded by pj^U- (small; little)

allein jar (petty minds) pjaU^Qr (a trivial matter) pjaUdiQur (a tune)

b) Nouns (inanimate) without preceding ,pj C 5 U - « Those with atonic suffix - dz(z) which can be replaced by [-r] are excluded.

jblEdzsr (a pin)o o h

phut'-eugar (dried grape - raisin) dirDdz Qr (a thimble) lirQsU8r (fragments)

Chao, A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, p. 230.1

91

lirodgO ard^-jouw^r

\pir]2 6r/

j äbith0 Ur

(small pieces of (a dimple)

(apricot kernel)(a cigarette butt)

)

Suffix -j asn indicating ’a small hole or e y e ’, whether used figuratively or not, is often followed by [-rj. Examples are:

phlaenpinjar (partiality) thiaujar (to find fault)

' V ✓dzzjar (an expression; a word- phraseology )

da^gnjar (the eye of the needle)c) a few idiomatic compounds with preceding

ji- (one-). e.g.ji diar (a little; a dot) ji d^ar (a little while) ji Xwbr (a while) ji phiar (a slice)

A few such forms are adverbs; they do not indicate smallness or shortness. Examples are; ji khwar (together); jidzdur (from morning).

d) Nouns (animate) preceded by fcjaU-*

pjauxar (child; children) pjdugdur (puppies) jCjdud^ur (a piglet)

e) Nouns (animate) without preceding pjdU-. b ä g o ur (a small dog)

sunnY 9r (a grand-daughter) t^hoUr (a low-comedy player) d^dll igUr (a cicada) gdur (a lamb)

f) The second syllable of the reduplicated verbs, with or without ji (one) inserted, is not merely atonic but also retroflexed such as dsrQdgr (wait a minute). Reduplicated verbs with terminal [-r] added were very common in a colloquial novel - TheDream of the Red Chamber written in the Ch *ing dynasty (1644-19 11 ) but are less used in present-day Chinese.

10.3Some words with terminal [-r] added and those without it belong to the different parts of speech*

a) The following words with terminal [-r]added are nouns and those without it are verbs.e.g#

Verbsban (to accompany) bau (to wrap)

dzut (to sit) t^haft (to sing)

* (to say)

G.jdu (to laugh) jin (to print)

Nounsbar (companion)bdur (a parcel;

a bag)dzu # r (a seat)o ' 7Vt^har (a song)£a r (a mood ;

theory)pjdur (a laugh) j8r (a mark)

93

Verbsaei (to cover) Xwd (to paint) XwV (to live)

Nouns^ar (a lid)Xwclr (a painting)Xwyr (a work)

belgaU (to be accused) belgaUr (the defendant)

b) The following words with terminal [-r] added are nouns and those without it are adjectives* e- g%»

Adj ectives bssi (white) ban (half) fd£l (square) dzdiQ (dirty)O

tsh lT (wrong) dän (single)o

duel (right)o

lau (old) ly (happy) lialQ (cool)

! lldlQ (light)ji jaft (the same) XdU (good)X"walQ (yellow)Uän (bent)

Nounsbar (albumen) bar (a half) fdr (a prescription) dzar (dirt) t shu Yr (f aul t) dar (a bill)o

du'ar (a couple)0laUr (father)ltfr (happiness)

/liar (coolness) liar (light) ji jar (one thing)XaUr (applause)

/Xwdr (yolk)Uär (a corner)

94

c) The following adverbs with terminal [-r] plus suffix -d0 are formed by reduplicating monosyllabic adjectives.The syllable followed by [-r] is p r o ­nounced in tone-1 irrespective of the original tones. e.g.

man + man + -r + -dg ---- 7 mammarda (slowly)Xdu + xau + -da ----yauxaudg (properly)

d) Classifiers (except for units of measureor quasi-measures) for individual physical objects suffixed with [-r] become nouns, mostly with the class meaning of 'size, shape, or quality (of the t h i n g ) ^ e.g.

Classifiers fan (a copy of) duel (a pair o f ) thiau (a strip of)

Nounsfar (a copy; a share) duar (a couple) thlQUr (a brief note)

Textually, classifiers are rather unstressed, particularly the general individual classifier - g 0 * .

10.4The following words with and without terminal [-r] added are more or less different inmeaning; they shouldfrom each other. e.g.

a) baeimisen (flour)b) miasn (flour)c) fe I^oU (fat and

thin)

C h a o , A Grammar of Spoken

e properly distinguished

baeimikr (heroin)mlar (surface;powder)✓fe l^oUr (half-fat and

half-lean meat)

Chinese, p p . 232-3.

95

d) tshz (lyric metres; a genre of poetry)

tsh9r (word)

e) thiaen (sky) thlär (weather)f) th° u(head) th°ur (a leader)s) puel (water) V /^U0r \watery part;

juice)h) ,pin (a letter) Pj8r (message)i) jaen (smoke in gen.;

t obacco)jar (smoke in gen.)

j)/ji khw«l (a dollar;

a piece of)ji khwar (together)

h) Xw*j&ir3 (the planet Mars)

Xwir p j 0r ( sparks )

1 0 . 5Various types of compound and idiom with [r] inserted or added at the end.a) Component-r + compound-r

This rare type appears in plural form only used to classify people, e.g.nI arm 0r (womenfolk)gsrliar (the two brothers; the two fallows)

b) [-r-] is inserted in the following compounds

i Component-r + noun e.g.phiarthän) (soup with small dumplings) maUrpi (play with an all-women .cast) pctOjard^ilB (a well with two openings)

9 6

gäug©rpjE (high-heel shoes)Xäbnrgo u (a bull-dog)

11 Component-r + atonic -g0 indicating ’day' used more often before verbs of action than other verbs or nominal predicates. e.g.d^jOrg© (today)

iii Component-r + adjective e.g.bbrbalD (wonderful) darpjau (timid) järz s (envious)

iv Verb-r + particle-1©, sign of past tense, e.g.für 1 © (annoyed) diar 1© (ran away) \ w x r 1 © (angered)

c) Some polysyllabic idioms with terminal [-r]. e.g.

thud^^m1 f0r (to rouge and powder - toadore; to gloss)

^ould^our (hand-in-hand)wuXwabdm©r (too complicated)

10.6Some radicals of Chinese characters e.g.baugar (a radical indicating 'roof' )

(ji) phlEr (a stroke to the left)

97

dz^jaUsSr (a radical indicating ’silk* )(ji) när (a stroke to the right)dzoudz^Gr (a radical indicating 'walk* )(ji) pur (a vertical line)danz^Qr (a radical indicating 'a m a n ’ )pUalDz^Sr (a radical indicating ' two

men’ )/

t^ht[3enj0 Ur (a radical indicating 'a dog' ) p u p j är (a radical indicating heart')sandIffin^ U9r(a radical indicating 'water')(ji) (a horizontal line)(ji) g°ur (a hook)tshd'dcujr (a radical indicating 'a knife' )

10.7 [9r] and [a r ]As described on p.85,root morpheme 9r (child)

only occurs in tone-2, while ar (ear) and dr (two) occur in tone-3 and tone-4 respectively. These primary words are very small in number. A very few of them are atonic. Atonic 8r or ar, though weak in articulation, is different from non- syllabic diminutive suffix [-r], the latter being twisted into its preceding vowel, e.g.

a) ny sr (a daughter)b) sunnY8r (a grand-daughte r )

'-gr' in a) is an atonic syllable, but that in b) is a non-syllabic diminutive suffix.

98

11. The Formation of SyllablesEach sound which constitutes a peak of pro­

minence is said to be syllabic, and the word or phrase is said to contain as many syllables as there are peaks of prominence. A syllable in Mandarin Chinese is generally made up of an initial and a final. The initial is the sound with which a syllable starts; it may be a con­sonant or a zero. When a syllable is formed by a zero initial and a final, the syllable con­sists of only a final. According to the order of initials and finals, the distribution of their combinations may be tabulated as follows:

1. Initials 2. Finals

1.1 Zero1.2 Labials

[b-][ph-][m-][f-]1.3 Dental sibilants

[dz-][tsh-][s-]1.4 Alveolars

[d-][th-][n-][l-]1.5 Retroflexes

1.6 Prepalatals[d^-][t*»h-][s-]Velars[g-][kh-][x-]

2.1 Open2.1 a /a/ - group .-d][-ae i][-an][-an)] . -auJ

2.1b /©/ - group [-* ][-ei ][-0n][-0r]-o u

2.2 Spread2.2a /-z/ /-%/ and /i/+ /a/ - group

2.2b /i/ + /s/ - group2.3 Rounded2.3a A 1/ + /a/ “ group 2.3b /u/ + /a/ - group2.4 Inner-rounded 2.4a /y/ + /a/ - group 2.4b /y/ + /e/ - group

1.7

99

2.1 2 . 2 2 . 3 2 . 4

2 . 1 a 2 . 1 b z• 3 ' i

1.1 + + + + +

1.2 + + +•* +

1. 3 + + + +

1.4 + + + + + *

1 .5 + + + +

1.6 + +

1.7 + + +

Note” + M indicates that an initial can go

with final” * m /f_ /does not occur before /-i/;

/d- /and /th-/ do not occur beforey-y /

This table may be enlarged as follows:

100

0<rtP

V e l a r s ( p r e ) p a l a t a l s

R e t r o -f l e x e s

a l v e o l a r s

D e n ta ls i b i l - a n t s

rL a b i a l s Zero

' / sirX F

13*•o

CT

&■ a

crJSl r t f) r fß c CL

rrcNH 3 c+tfl

tr

dz

t sh

s

hj 3tr

o

00+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Q

o+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + $

VO+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + g

\0\

VO+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Q

<3

00+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Q

CotJ

VO+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + o< P

■p-+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + CD

<1+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ( D

P \

VO+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + C D

3

' p\

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Oc

-+ (D

4

VO + + +-N

-p- + + + +

H+ + + + + + + + + + + H-

\H-\

UT+ + + + +

D+

+ + + + + + + + + + + ft ~P i

\0\

inV

OV + + + + + + D -H1

pCDP11

—

+ + + + + + + + + + + Q «C 1

a

-+ + + + + + + + + + +

\

VO+ + + + + + + + +

£\

11 + + + + + + + + + + + H-3 \

oo + + + + + + + + O ->C 1

\

VO + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + p

\'vl + + + + + +

*+ c

Q

+ + + + + + + ft G +

VJT+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

+ P fP 10\ » I

o i+ + + + + + + Q C

<3 *§a

UT+ + + + + + + + + + H- + + +

+CON

\+

a

vo+ + +

+ + + + + + + + + + CD C_ 1

-P- + + + + + + + +* + + + + + + (D C

P '\p\

-P-+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + C D G

3 1O n + + + + + + X \

HP

-P- + + + +

Y-an *

\

ctCDP

OV + + + + + + MW

\X

1PO

-P- + + + + SY+\

PPa

-P- + + + +C D X3 1

\CDa

■P-OVO vo 00 VO -P- -P- -p-

-» — JOVo VO vo O

ro to fO-p-vo n -v j O V ^ i vo oo ov

VO-p-

■ Total

Note Syllables marked with * are less common

101

According to the table of syllable-formation shown on the previous page, a syllable can be formed by one to four sound-elements. There are 21 consonantal initials and 36 finals.^ In the formation of syllables, a certain set of finals symmetrically and systematically go with a certain set of initials. There are 3 non-syllabic medials - [-1-], [-U-], [-Y- and 4 auslauts(2 non-syllabic vowels - [-1 and [-u] and 2 nasal consonants - [-n] and [-rj). The character­istic of the Chinese syllable-formation is that there is no consonantal cluster.

Each syllable is a morpheme known as a character. Out of the whole vocabulary of the Chinese language, quite a number of words con­sist of two or more characters. Thus the Chinese language is in fact polysyllabic, though the Chinese characters are monosyllabic by them­selves. In present-day Chinese, disyllabic and polysyllabic words are ever increasing in number, in order to enrich the language, and to meet the growing demand of social development.

[ I asl ] ( fig /a cliff) is only a rare alternate in present-day Peking dialect.

102

12. Tones

12.1 General SurveyIn addition to the initial and final,

tone, one of the three prosodic features, is a constituent of syllable-formation in Chinese.As a segmental phoneme, it distinguishes lexical meaning. For example, Shan-hsi and Shan-hsi are two different provinces in China. With the aid of the lexical pitch patterns, the uncertainty and confusion caused by the existance in Chinese of homonyms is remedied. In keeping the artistic style, variation in tone plays an important role in Chinese versification as -well as in opera. Thus, tones are said to be musical.^

Tones before the Yüan dynasty (1280-1368) were: l) level, 2) rising, 3) falling, 4) enter­ing. For metrical purposes in versification, the first tone is regarded as level (p1ing) while the rest are regarded as deflected (tse). These tones did not come into being all at the same time, but were in a state of gradual and contin­ual evolution to meet changing needs. The original level tone has been divided into high level and high rising, while the entering tone has been incorporated into the four tones of modern Mandarin spoken in north China.

The tone in Chinese is carried by the vocalic part of the syllable. There are four lexical tones uttered in isolation in Mandarin Chinese. They have been described and shown in many different ways. A summary of points of agreement among the previous descriptions are

The other musical effects in Chinese versification are said to be alliteration (twin consonantal initials) and riming compound (double rhymes).

103

as follows:1. Tone-1 differs from tone-2 in the

beginning; both end high. Tone-1 differs from tone-3 in the beginning and in the middle; both end high.Tone-1 differs from tone-4 in the end; both begin high.

2. Tone-2 differs from tone-3 in the middle; both begin mid and both end high. Tone-2 differs from tone-4 in the beginning, middle, and the end.

3. Tone-3 differs from tone-4 in the beginning, middle, and the end.

Tone-1 is generally described as high level.It is started at a fairly elevated pitch and can be prolonged on the same scale, with no rise or fall of the voice.

Tone-4 is generally described as high falling; its vowel harmonics have a sharp decline at the beginning of the vowel pattern on spectrograms made with narrow-band filter. With regard to the relationship between tone-2 and tone-3» recent spectrographic evidence shows that both tone-2 and tone-3 have dips. The different points of the frequency feature of the two tones are :

1. Tone-2 dips less than tone-3 (vocalic start to low point).

1Yao Shen, ’Some Spectrographic Light on Mandarin Tone-2 and Tone-3’, Study of Sounds IX (1961), pp. 270-1.

2 .

io 4

Tone-2 rises less than tone-3 (low point to high point).

3. Tone-2 rises more than tone-3 (vocalic start to high point).

The total time-span relationship between the two tones is not a significant feature.The only time-wise distinction between them is that there is consistent earlier dipping in tone-2 and later dipping in tone-3. The four lexical tones may be shown as follows:

High

Mid

Low

» --------- T-1

NoteFor the convenience of graphic indication,

t-2 syllables are still marked with 1/1 over them.

12.2 Tones Uttered in Succeession

Tones of the syllables spoken in isolation (citation) more or less differ from those spoken in succession. Except for the trochaic (post­tonic) words or combinations (see appendix II), tones of the preceding syllables of all disyllabic words or combinations (iambic words or com­binations) are generally shorter in duration and

S e e p . 103, n .1.1

105

smaller in stress (intensity) than those of the following syllables,^ while those of the middle syllables of trisyllabic or polysyllabic words or combinations are the shortest and smallest. Thus, tone-3> a compound tone, before any other tone except another tone-3 is pro­nounced as a low tone without the final rise in pitch. If two tone-3 syllables occur in an uninterrupted succession, the first changes to tone-2. Thus, mas I (to buy) + horse)becomes m asim a (to bury a horse). The alter­nation of tones is called tone sandhi. If an adverb is formed by reduplicating an adjective, the final r-coloured syllable with optional addition of -d8 takes a high level tone ir­respective of its original tone.

12.3 Special Tone ChangeTone patterns of a few morphemes in present-

day Mandarin Chinese are unstable; they are

^This differs from the previous explanation of tone sandhi. Detailed explanation and illustrations are given in Chao’s Yu-yen wen-t’i, p. 63 and T. Zadoenko, »An Experimental Study of the Atonic Syllables of Chinese', Chung-kuo yil-wen 78 (1958) , p. 582.2 1 \\3.) An exception is:

Tone-3 + tone-3 --- 7 Tone-3 + tone-2.e. g.laUXu (PaPer“tiger)

(b) See p. 175.

determined by the preceding or succeedirg tones, or other phonetic factor. They may be tabulated as follows:

Morphemes Tones Determinents Words or sense-groups

bu (no)

T-2 Before T-4 buphd (not scared)T-4 When it stands

alone or before t-1 to t-3 & paus e

bu \f (no j)/bu.Xe i , bubaei, budzz (it is not black, not white, not purple)

T-0 In middleposition dabude ? (is it big?)

o

phlasn (a photo/a film)

T-4 Without -r G ja t phi asn (a photo) jxiQphi sen (a film)

T-1 With -r pjaqphiär (a photo) jiflphlar (a filnO

d^yn * (fungus)

T-1 After t-4 aid^yn (germs)T-4 After t-1 &

when it stands alone

jcjar3d^yn (a sort of mushroom)

ji (one)

T-1 When it standsalone & before paus e

ji (one)

T-2 Before t-4 jijE (one night)T-4 Before t-1 to

t-3jithiaen (one day); jxnisen (one year); jiuän (one evening)

T-0 Inserted in areduplicated verb

khan ji k 13n (to have a look)

* This morpheme was generally pronounced in Tone-3 before 1963

107

12.4 Difficulties for English- speaking Learners

English-speaking learners have great difficulty in distinguishing Chinese tones, particularly tone-3; they often bring their native linguistic habits into Chinese. In over­coming this difficulty, the different character­istics of the two languages should be noted.In Chinese (as a tone language as well as an intonation language), pitch patterns are used to distinguish both lexical meanings and the structures of sentences, while in English (as an intonation language), pitch patterns are only used to distinguish the structures of sentences. In the explanation of this phen­omenon, the ten Chinese numerals pronounced with the intonation patterns of English are exemplified in the following.1

Chinese segmental1 . high-high

(t one-1 ). -i t

’3 ’t y t

»8 '2. Mid-low-high

(tone-3)*5*' 9 *

English intonation

Mid-high (tone-2)1 To m o v e ' Non-occurrent in Chinese 'To ride *•To pull (out or up)

Mid-high (tone-2)'a family n a m e ’ Non-occurrent in Chinese

1Yao Shen, ’Some Pitch Pattern Correlations between Mandarin and English, Studies in Linguistics-xvii (1963).

10 8

3- High-low (tone-4)

Mid-high (tone-2)

1 2 ' * sons'’4' Non-occurrent in

Chinese* 6 * 'To flow'

4. Mid-high(tone-2)

High-low (tone-4)

MO' 'To be'

English speakers' production of the ten numerals in Chinese with English intonation sounds to the Chinese listeners as follows:

Numerals Heard as' 1 ' 'To m o v e '' 2 » 'sons'*3*'4'15 1 'A family'6 ' 'To flow'> » 'To r i d e ''8 ' 'To puli'*9'MO' 'To be'

13. Neutral Tones

10 9

13»1 General Survey

Apart from the four lexical tones described in chapter 12, there is a neutral tone in Mandarin Chinese. A syllable in the neutral tone is called an atonic syllable. An atonic syllable is completely unstressed; it lacks loudness, the full delivery duration, and the characteristic tone quality.

Lexically, there are two types of disyllabic words in present-day Mandarin Chinese - iambs^ and trochees. Some words formed by the same syllables of the two types are different in meaning though trochees are much less in numberthan i a m b s . Examples are:

Iambs Trochees

(Synopsis of (capability)a story)

(generous -daf a0 (a type of dafe C0 Chinese tea) m i n d e d )da j i (summary; da j i (carelessness)C

da j Eoutl i n e )(a powerful da j E (u n c l e )man V

(genuine; real)didaU (tube ; dide U0 o tunnel)

(thing)dUO-ei ( east & west) duro.G (i)O vl&udzz

O 1{founder of l a u d z (z ) (father)Taoism)

1See p. 122, n 1 .

110

lsfld^an ( ’The cold l9r3d^3n (to shiver)v war’)

£0 Ot phi (angry) g 0 rDtp’(i) (energy)In Peking dialect, the weakening and some

weakened initials and finals of the atonic syllables vary from speaker to speaker. The use of some weakened initials and finals is sometimes irregular. The following examples show these phenomena:

1. The loss of finalsla. -m 135n- --—*■ -m- as in jasmmtjahjar(For the time being)lb. - sd u---v -s or -r as in du s ... oru ~ \ od rr ... ? (How much. . . ?)

2. The following finals, whether deleted or not, depend on the speed of speech. e.g.

v v1a. -man or -m as in nirnan or nim. . .(you...)

2 b . -m 0 or -m as in name or nam...(thus...)

3* [-el] rather than [-3 1 ] and [-8u] ratherthan [--eu] are used. e.g.3a. nffiinei (grandmother)*

/

3b. me lmeu (eyebrow)*

4. [ -1 • - ] and [-d-] are alternatively used,e.g.4a. bant' ar or bandar (a stool)4b. Xut*u or Xudu (muddled; foolishj

Ill

5- ["P1*"] and [-b-] are alternatively used.e.g.

/ /phip’u or phitre (the guitar; loquat)

Further characteristics of the atonic syllables, particularly according to recent experimental work, are as follows:

1• The change of quantityla. Both syllables of trochees are shorter in duration than those of iambs.lb. Both initials and finals of atonic syllables are weakened, the latter being more weakened and obscure. The weakened finals, whether longer or shorter in duration, is determined by different speakers.

2. The change of quality2a. Unaspirated, voiceless stops and affricates (initials) of atonic syllables tend to become true voiced sounds.2b. Aspirated stops and affricates (initials) of atonic syllables are generally less aspirated.2c. [-z, -zjy -i, -u, - -y] tend to bewhispered, devoiced or completely deleted* 2d. [a] and [a] tend to be reduced toobscure, central vowels; they are thus represented by [*e] and [3](see p. &5)

3« The change of shape3 . and pitchesThe shape«' and pitches of neutral ton,©4» -aredetermined by the tone-3 of the preceding syllables

T.?Zadoenko, 1An Experimental Study of the AtonicSyllables Of Ghinese', Chung-kuo yü-wen 7fr (1958), pp. 581-7.

112

syllables.1 Examples are:

fchif(v) (To abuse)

ISO200

ISO100

50

Ol . . . ■ t/Gh

If V

b)

c)

/t^hulQf (v)(To repeat)

d) duelf(v) (*To deal w i t h )

The pitches of neutral tones are considered by Lin T'ao to be determined by the tones of the following syllables (see Pei-ching ta-hsüeh hsüeh-pao, Jen-wen k'o-hsüeh 2 ( 1957), P* 68.

113

Among the four pitch patterns of neutral tones shown on page 112, only the pitch pattern preceded by tone-3 is different from the rest. They may be illustrated as follows:

T-0 = neutral tone

. indicates a neutral tone

T - 1 + T-0 T-2 + T-0 T-3 + T-0 T-4 + T-0200 200

/ -It« f -Ü0' 1+0 ' -HO

120 -U0 «\eg #______ loo

In this book, [©] is used to represent some mid vowels in atonic syllables in addition to some fully toned mid-vowel finals, while [3 ] and [-e ] are employed to represent low vowels with close and open varieties respectively (see p. 6 3 ),

13*2 Grammatical and Lexical Neutral Tones

Neutral tones may be divided into two cases - grammatical and lexical, though the two often merge into each other.^ In this part, grammatical neutral tones are classified into several categories, while some common disyllabic words with the second syllables in neutral tone, known as trochees, are collected and arranged by following the vert­ical order of initials and horizontal order of finals in Appendix II.

Chao, Mandarin Primer, p. 2 7 .1

114

1 3•2a Grammatical Neutral TonesGrammatical neutral tones cannot be

discussed without dealing with their grammatical functions. They are briefly described and classified into the following categories:1. Particles

Particles such as fa'q , , * % , ,, 3 , show the relations of words or express

the emotion in one way or another, though their meaning is rather vague or general. They can be used after phrases as well as in the middle or at the end of sentences. When used after single words such as nlds (your/your s ) , mseils (bought), they are suffixes and belong to the scope of lexical case.2. Pronouns after Verbs

Pronouns used as objects are generally pro­nounced in neutral tone except that they occur twice and refer to different persons.3. Complements

A word (or words) following a verb or adject­ive to tell something more about the action of the verb or the quality of the adjective is called a complementary element. The following are the phenomena of the neutral tone in various types of complementary elements.

3.1 Directional ComplementsVerbs like Iasi (to come) and tehy (to go)

are not only used as predicates but also employed as complements to other verbs to indicate directions to actors. The directional complement ~lse I follows the verb of an action which proceeds

115

towards tie speaker. For example, thd d^in 13 I Is (He is coming ’into the room’). On the con­trary, if the action precedes away from the speaker, tjehy (to go) is used after the verb, as in thä d^in tje'y 10 (He is going 'into the room’). Both -13 I and -t;a’y used in this way are regarded as simple directional com­plements and they are toneless.

Verbs which can be used as atonic directional complements are classified into 3 types; they may be tabulated as follows:

> .(1) cy£

Predicates (Full tone)

Directional complement s (Neutral tone)

Words Meaning in gen. Meaning in gen.

1 * To come Hither

* To go Thither; away

2

± To ascend Up

T To descend Down

m To enter In

ta To exit Out

To rise Up

m To return Back

m To pass Over

m To open Apart; aside; away

3 2 + 1 Verb + type 2 (d .C.) + type 3 (D.C.) (Compound directional complement) . ---- i—

116

A directional complement of type 1 or 3 can be used after any verb that makes sense with it. Directional complements of type 2 are more re­stricted in scope of combination. All types make numerous idioms with verbs, especially in potential form. In sentence construction, directional complements have the following positions:

a) Verb + directional complement + nounna t^'u 131 jibon pü (To take out a book)

b) Verbs + noun + directional complement na jibon tjs'u 131 (To take out a

book)

c) Verb + directional complement (type 2)+ noun + directional complement (type 1) na tp'u jiben pü 131 (To take out a

book)

Directional complements tabulated on p.115 are generally in neutral tone, but in the following cases, they recover their tonest

a) A few of them are not followed by objects./

b) A negative word m e i ( ) precedesthe verb + directional complement form.

c) They are followed by a pause.d) Potential directional complements.

1 Examples in detail can be seen in Lin T'ao's article (title see bibliography) in Pei-cliing ta-hsUeh hsüeh-pao , Jen-wen k'o-heüehTl? ( 1957)» PP* 61-71 .

117

3.2 Resultative Complements

The resultative complement is used after a verb to indicate the result of an action. The resultative complements, except for a few words tabulated below/, do not have neutral tone. The first six resultative complements recover their tones when 'bu' or 'do* is inserted between them and their preceding verbs to form potential com­plement s .

N % .% x^

Words ^ X

Predicates (Full tone)

Resultative com­plement s (Neutral tone)

Meaning in gen. Meaning in gen.

ftTo live; to dwell

A state of holding fast

mTo hit the mark; touched the essential point

With; to

nj.----------------------To drop; to fall Away;... u p ; off

m To reach; to arrive at

To; toward s

m To die . . . to death (hyperbole)

J L

To perceive; to see

(complementary ele­ment of perceptive verbs)

ft

To be at a cer­tain place as a result of action

At; in; on

m To give ••0-p•••

118

In addition to the eight atonic resultative complements, t^helQ ( ) as in b I asnt =5 ’a 13 (toturn into) is an optional atonic resultative complement. Thus it is not tabulated.4. Some Localizers

Among the localizers, SCHQ (j-) , pja (~f) and li ( ^ ) are often used as atonic complements of nouns indicating locality.

4.1 Atonic -g'er] can be used as follows:4.1a Noun-complement in general e.g.

dzasi d^z^ pulQ (on the paper)

4.1b Lexical compound e.g. fv (your family)

4.1c In extended and abstract sense e.g. iiandzy (principally)

4.2 Atonic -pju is often pronounced as -pjE as in dipjE (on the floor; on the ground).

4.3 Atonic -li as in tphalQli (in the town/city) differs in meaning from the fully toned one as in tshoIDli (down town)

When used in extended sense, -li and -gntD can be employed interchangeably without change of meaning. For example, guli = gu -er] (in the book).

These three localizers can be suffixed by - t’au to form morpheme complexes; they can also be used as noun complements indicating time. Examples are: uanpr] (in the evening); niasnpju(at the end of the year); jEli (at night).

119

5. Reduplicated wordsWhen a single syllable is reduplicated, it

either takes the iambic form or the trochaic formJ Reduplicated nouns of trochaic form lexically include^1) terms of kinship or direct address such as didi (younger brother), pü^u (uncle), etc. 2) A few other nouns suchas Xwe I Xw 91 (a moslem) , eifljcif) (an ape),^wygwtf (a large green cricket).

Grammatically reduplicated words of trochaic form are reduplicated verbs. Any verb of action can be reduplicated. Reduplicated verbs of various types differ in function from the simple ones because they imply a continuous action, repetition, uncertainty, or easy, informal, light-hearted expression, while the expression of a short, quick action and tentative aspect are suggested by some grammarians. The following are some types of the reduplicated verbs with the succeeding syllables in neutral tone .

v = verb1 = la (verb-suffix indicating the completion

of an action)ji = one (an indefinite expression)0 = object

1 . Vv

1.1 A trochaic verb formed by reduplicating two synonyms. e.g.kharDk'3n (to have a look)

1.2 A verb-combination formed by reduplicating two trochaic verbs, e.g.zj 9np (zj) zj0np (z ) ( to become acquainted with)

Y.R. Chao, A grammar of spoken Chinese, Cambridge, 1968, p. 199

120

Vv form can be either inserted with -0 + ji- or followed by -0.

2. Vjiv = Vv’ji (one)' inserted in a reduplicated verb is not a verb measure but plays the role of an indefinite expression.

3. Vlv = VIjivThis form can either be inserted with or followed by 0.

121

14. Stress

14.1 General Survey

As a prosodic feature, stress is defined in laboratory phonetics as a result of a greater amplitude of sound-waves; it is regarded as a dynamic quality of the speech sound. From the linguistic point of view, ’stress’ , ’sound- energy’ , 'sound-force', ’dynamic accent', all mean the same. Physically it involves a strong force of exhalation so that accoustically the objective effect of loudness is produced. In disyllabic or polysyllabic words, one syllable is usually pronounced with greater energy of utter­ance, with a more vigorous articulation and a stronger breath force than the others. Such a syllable is said to be stressed, the others, pronounced less energetically and with weaker breath force, are said to be less stressed or uns tre s s e d .

Stressed sounds or syllables are generally longer and higher than the less stressed or unstressed ones. Since stress is defined in articulatory phonetics as the degree of force with which a sound or syllable is uttered, in order to change it, the speaker merely needs to increase or decrease the formative energy. In the phonetic realization, there exist at least four degrees of stress: Primary, secondary,tertiary and weakest. They can be indicated by the marks ( ’), (,) and (,,)> placed before theappropriate syllables, while the weakest is left unmarked^. Strictly speaking, these four degrees

Additional stress for emphasis may be shown by placing the (” ) before the appropriate syllable.

122of stress can all be used in Mandarin Chinese though, they need not be represented graphically in our phonetic transcription because they are predictable.

1 4.2 Word Stress1<4.2a Disyllabic Words (or Combinations)

Disyllabic Chinese words are generally classi­fied into two types - iambs1 and trochees (see p«109). As the words themselves of the two types suggest, the first syllable of an iambic word is generally less stressed than the second, but not completely unstressed (see 12.2) while the second syllable of a trochaic word, which is atonic (it does not bear tone) and,closely attached to the first syllable, is completely unstressed (it corresponds to the fourth degree of stress - the weakest* Words possessing atonic syllables are arranged in appendix II).

14.2b Polysyllabic Words (or Combinations)In the case of syntactic words of three or

more syllables, the primary stress falls on the final syllables, the secondary stress on the initial syllables and the tertiary stress on the medial syllables.

To sum up, except for the disyllabic words of trochaic form, each syllable of a Chinese word receives a slight,even stress. The final1 Strictly speaking, standard Mandarin has no true iambs, but only quasi-iambs with half stress in initial position and full stress in end position.

123

syllable of a word , whether of two, three or more syllables, has the primary stress, while the initial, the secondary, and the medial syllable or syllables, have the tertiary stress. It is clear that stress is a very important factor causing the change of tones more or less different from their original characteristics when a group of syllables is spoken in succession (see 12#2). Stress for prominence or contrast results in a widening of the pitch range, that is, the high points become higher and the low points lower^.

14.3 Sentence Stress

Good speech requires both stressing and unstressing of syllables and words, the rhythm of the spoken language. In sentences, all words that are felt to be important receive stress.This phenomenon seems to be common in all languages. The more important a word is, the stronger is its stress.

Roughly speaking, all the notional Chinese words which possess definite ideas and help build sentences are more important and they are, of course, more stressed than the form-words in connected speech. Strictly speaking, words usually stressed are: Nouns, principal verbs,adjectives, adverbs, demonstratives, etc. Pro­nouns, conjunctions, verb to be, numeral classi­fiers and words in phrase of parenthetical nature, in addition to particles and some atonic grammatical units described in chapter 13> are usually less stressed or unstressed, tonic or atonic. It is, however, impossible to lay down an absolute rule for Chinese usage in the matter

Chao, Mandarin Primer, p. 26.

124

of sentence stress» for the way in -which a sentence or utterance is stressed depends on the exact shade of meaning a speaker wants to convey, and different implications may be brought out by stressing different words. Thus, the degree of the stressed of the tonic unstressed syllables in connected speech varies from speaker to speaker, position to position or function to function. For instance, personal pronouns are generally less stressed (except for emphasis) when preceding verbs, but completely unstressed (atonic) when preceded by verbs; conjunctions are in optional neutral tone though mostly the second syllable of a disyllabic conjunction is atonic; numeral classifiers are generally less stressed, but -g8 (yp) is always completely un­stressed (atonic).

The use of stress is one of the most sig­nificant differences between speaking and writing since a speaker is enabled to say a word or sentence in many different ways with many different meanings. Examples are:

tthä pz ^"qEpQfl (He is a student)_ j /

, thG *pzt (He IS a student, not ateacher)

, tha j äq t<$ * i 131 1 0 (He has remembered)t thä *9 j ao tt^hi 13i 10 (He wants to get up)

t thä ,ba 1" o

pu d.8u(©) *111351 Is (He has sold every thing, even his books)

t tha .bä *• V* pu Md°u *masi I 0 (He has sold all his

books)

APPENDIX I125

Words with terminal -r

The following are some commonly used words ending in -r. Their final syllables are arranged according to the order of initials and that of finals (see p. 100). If there is absence of initials among those vertically arranged, there are no such words ending in -r. Words whose suffixes (such as -dz (z)) can be replaced by -r, those preceded by ejau- and those with optional terminal -r are excluded. Some used as examples in chapter 10 may not be listed below. For convenience, * » * is used to represent the r-coloured finals, while *u* is used to represent the final syllable of a word ending in -r. '-r' isused in place of the Chinese - 56 in the bracket. Examples are:

[-or] = [-a] + [-r]- •»L“b * ] = [-bar]

it

dau ” (.73j&/a handle of knife)[-m t ] = [-mar]it ^

- " 1 - 1 1 /numerals) as in mi ” ( ’’/codes); Xau M(- 3K ’’/number) .

1. Open Finals 1.1 /a/ - Group[-or] ([-a] + [-r])t-f]s

■ei « (-ÄÜfcr/juggling)

[-dz,]da m r/a jack of all trades)

:-thf]yan „ ( ff^J#r/a sweater)

[-1.]tha m (ft?, r/slippers)

[-tsh,]d^au m ( tt^ifer/to find fault)

[-ar] ([aej] + [-r])

126

[-ph* ]

h E f 0n 'I, ( ^ 1&Ji?r/a calendar)

[-ar] ([-an] + [-r])

[-bf]- 'ii ( - ff1 r/companion) as in lau ti ( ^ „/husband or wife);

Xwr ii ( ijfi it /companions ) .- m (~ r/petals; the quarters) as in Xwd n „/petals) ;

suan m (5. it/cloves of garlic).- ii ( - jj5[f£r/duty) as in lun iT ( ^ n/to take turn of duty);

gsn m ( jm„/a valet)- h (- ^ r/rhythm) as in man » (1^l„/a slow rhythm in Peking

opera)

[-Ph' ]- ii ( - Mr/si t e ) as in di m ( jfy n/a sphere of influence);

liaen h (j^„/the outline of the face).

[-<?,]. liaen r/face).

[-1 ,]phU „ ( r/ragged - as clothes)

[-e.]baei ii ( |±j r/a sort of wine) gwalD » ( ^"^r/a bachelor;

swindler).

127

It (-Sir/ -er) as in dänpan n ( ip.ji' n/a bachelor); dand9>ja m „/the head of the family)

[-ar] ([-an] + [-r])

[-*']tphin ~ (tftÄ r/a former secret, social group in China)

[-Ph,]ph I sen n ( iHf^r/right or left strokes of Chinese characters)

[-*,]d2^an u r/a cashier)

[-th, ]/

phau » (jj gr r/a waiter)

jaU — ( r/a prescriptionfor medicine)

gan H ( g ^ r / t o overtake)

bumaei n(^\ J|f i(*fjr/not compromise; not yield to)

[-#' ]- t'f (-jjLr/a cross-bar; a pole) as in dan » ( Ip. „/a single

line placed at the side of a row of characters to indicate names of places); thaei m (^p n/to carry pole - to wrangle; to quarrel).

on a

128

[-aur] ([au] + [-r])

[-Ph . ]• /t,chi „ ('Ä f t r/Chinese la d y ’s dress)

[-m, ] r/fashionable)

[-d,]- m (--Ü | r/way; road) as in ban n ( ^ M/half-way);

dzou v„ ( ^ n/to walk)*

[-n,]do Uf (v) tt r/soft bean curd)jigti m ( /altogether)

[<BT ]d^ä Ur ( r/a trick)- (- jJc r/a cover) as in z u n ( JL »/brassiere)

khoU » ( P u/a mask)

[-?,]^u Tt ( Ifift'r/ the top of the tree) khoU ( Qjl f r/a whistle)

[-S-]tshaU n r/rough manuscript)

[-X-]blE \

tt ( %m. r/alias )

129

1.2 /q / - Group

[_V r ] ([-*] + [-r])

[-b,]/

ue I » r/muffler)

[-Ph.]phUJr ( r/a slope)

[-1 .]döu I, ( üllj! r/to make a joke)

1dzu*r ( ^r/here)

[-P-]jdu (Rl&r/to bite the tongue -

to clip the words when talking)

[-g* 1gär ( S^r/a song) dzz »t ( [|j jg| r/oneself)

dd m (fi* Hr/hiccup)

[-kh, ]

- m (-^r/shell) as in bei T,' ( Ä »» /shell); dan ü ( ^ »»/an egg-shell)*

garr ( ^ r/individual)gur3dz(z) Ti 'Ä~f''^*r/a

young gentle­man)

130

[-8r ] ([-ei ] + [- r ])

[-X.]L<r n ( 0^ ^ r/to grasp in the dark)

[-9r] ( [ -8n ] + [-r])

[ — ]- ' (-f^r/a door) as in salQ „ ( ^ „ / t h r o a t - voice); gwr »

( „/short orchestral interlude); duel „ ( ^ n/the opposite door)

-mar (plural suffix) (see 10.5» a), p. 95)*

[-P,]- it (-*« r/body) as in m ( n/the upper part of the

body); .cja 7, ( ~ * »»/ the lower part of the body).

[-S.]d« ( Ä A r / p o p u l a r )ddu n (7J$k r/the edge of a knife)

[-4.]ja Ti ( ^ “/j^r/the root of a tooth; the first place; to start

wi th)

[-X,]~ m (- 0. r/a mark; a trace left) as in H E »1 (^„/ a crac k)

131

[-0r] ([-an] + [-r])

[-f'],Gin 1 ( r/envelopes)

]dz0r ( ^r/disease or ailment)

[-our] ([-ou] + [-r])

[-£* ]- m (-^r/hand) as in d -jE m ( n/to use the lavatory);

d^jou m ( „/at one’s convenience); b a n " (irla it/to give a hand.

[-kh,]

- u (- p r/an opening; an apperture) as in man „ ( ,,/door­way) ; d_3>jE u „/entrance to the street).

132Spread Finals

2.1 /z/z/

L-ar] ([-z] + [-r])

[-dz, ]- m (-~?~r/son; a small piece of) as in basid^ja n ( "/

spendthrift); ^zt' 9U n (/BUM. n/small stones); dzd „ (HÜ /eggs); phau ('jg „/bullets).

[tsh,]tshgr ( pj r/words) tshgr ( [j r/thorns)

[-Sr] ([-zj + [-r])

[*“d2j. ]- m (“ VH* r/ juice) as in dou ,7 ( _5L „/juice extracted from

beans); figuratively as ind^jaunau 7i (föOti n/to think or consider too much)

[-?« Jsan „ (30 r/the thirtieth of the month)da H ( r/to look for food - birds seek food for

their young)

2.2 /i/ and /i/ + /a/ - Group

[-I0r] (L-iJ + [-r])

[-d.]- m (- Är/base; foundation; bottom; origin) as in ban J

( „/basic personnel of a group); d^ja ( WL „ /family possessions); gsn n (^„/origin; background).

133[-1,]

bud a m ( r/nearly)

[-tpdit ]an ' ( i S Ä r/angel)

[-*.]lau 7i ( r/people of Sh.an-h.si province)

[-Iqr] ([-iq] + [-r])

L-zero I ]HE „ ( R r/the new moon)

]- »» (- fl r/price) as in da 'j, (fl* «/to make a price); Xwan

( }M„/to drive a bargain)

[-iar] ( [ - 1 asn] + [-r])

[ — b» ]v

Xw Ö ” ( I r/laces )[-mi ]

- if ("®r/surface; side; superficial) as in di „ (Jtfe n/on theground); dzz '»» ( tzg- „/literally; verbally).

- „ ( 'r/powder) as in baei „ ( £j n/heroin) ; yud^j au n ^(.n/pepper) .

[-di]O

- n (- ^ r / a dot; a small amount; sign of comparative) canbe suffix of the words of various parts of speech, e.g.1. Noun: ijy )f ( 1»/ rain drops).2. Verb: tshz, m ... ( M . . ./to eat some . . . ) .3. Adjective: män „ ( »»/slower).

134Atonic -ji- (-one-) can be inserted between this atonic suffix and its preceding syllables without change of meaning.

[-th, ]lidu Ü ( r/to chat)

[-1,]- u (-JjiK r/face) as in särj)(wä ,T ( ,,/a painted face - a

cunning character in a play); lou » „/to appear inpublic); gwädzz „/an oval face).

- ii (-^r/scroll) as in duel „ „/scrolls).[-d^, ]

d?.jar r/the tip of; the point of),d^jar ( r/cocoon)

- „ (-^ r/room) as in dan ~ (Ip. „/ a single room);dzjiJlQ m ( pja n/in the middle of).

[ -tph, ]

- iT (|f r/small pieces) as in gü » ( »/a. book mark)ja „ (yf* '»/tooth-pick)

[ - f i t ]

bug^ r/busy)

[-iar] ([—iaq] + [-r])

[-zero t]- ii (-^r/a model; a pattern) as in m V „ ( n/appearance) ;

dzou ], ( j^n/to deviate from the pattern); fijar] » ( f^n/respectable-looking).

[ - 1 aur] ( [ -iau] + [-r])135

[bt ]

biaur ( r /a form; a table)

[-ph,]

bar] r /to kidnap)

[-d^, ]- i i (- ^ r / a corner) as in san ,, (de) ( fl j) /triangular)

gwae I n (# „ /a corner).

[ - I t ]

mu Jr m (^"X r /a t the end),

[ - tph ,]

dz j a i i (Siii r /a sparrow)

[-*.]dou u r / to amuse)

2 . 3 / i / + / 0 / - G r o u p

[-IEr] ([-IE] + [-r])

[-dt ]O

liar u ( r/savouries; dishes before main meal)

[-th, ]

gwr Ü ( r /a type of fried pastry)

[ - d ^ i ]

gut1 0u m ( # 8f®ir/a joint)

136[-1sr] ([-in] + [-r])

[-d^ ]duel ( ^ 1 0 ■ r/well-matched)

[-tehi]

Xu " ( r/small violin-like instrument with twostrings, the bow passes between the strings).

[-I5r] ([-iq] + [-r])

[-d=5-i ]

jasn r/spectacles)

3. Rounded Finals 137

3.1 /u/ and /u/ + /a/ - Group

[-ur] ([—u] + [-r])

[—ph*]basi 11 (•fills' r/to show off; to put on airs)

v _

li n ( r/unreasonable; incorrect)[-m, ]

th°u n ( g r/a leader)

L-f. ]pi I! ( r/wife)

[-tsh,]lau 7i r/an illiterate fellow)

[-*.]da m ( r/to bet)o

[-!.]d^»jau „ (0j|4f r/to chew)

[-X.]khwf ,, ( JSfit r/a bracket)

[-uar] ([-ua] + [-r])

[-X* ]” n (“ 'fE r/flower; twist) as in ma „ ( jjjjc, M/ a twist of dough)

ywarD 7» ( „/yellow flower - a sort of vegetable)man \ ( ä Ä r/cartoon)

138[-uar] ([-uan] + [~-r~l)

[-zero I ]

yar ( play) gwae i « ( x 8 ^ ,r/to turn a

[-st ]

thi sen n (S8*@t r/sweets - sweet & sour)

[-*.]da m (fife r/casual work)o

L-nt ]

sasi " r/to get warm by sitting in the sun)

3.2 /u/ + / 0/ - Group

[-ulfrl ( f —u y 1 + [-r])

[-zero t]

nu& 7\ ( Ä r/to move)

[-&.]duel 5, ( r/opposite to)

[-X-]da it (7^7^ r/'all1 as in 'we all*)o

T-uar] (f-uer1 + \ -r 1)

[-tht]

Xüba m Bp’ESäf/short legs)

[-u 8r1 ([-u 9n] + 1 -r1)

[-<§.]da n ( fT^^Jr/to doze)

corner).

L-g» ]139

" (--■+&> r/a stick) as in gwaei »■ «/an old man* s staff);bir] M (>K ,,/ice-block) ; figuratively gwäq »» ( u/a bachelor).

[-u§r I (i-no 1 + | -rl)L - t h . ]

Xu it (zfi (J) r/a narrow lane)

L-kh.J

khwar (1U r/a small hole) khwsr ( r/leisure time)

l4o4. Inner-rounded finals (Ts*o-k*ou ytln)

4.1 /y/ and /y/ + /a/ - group

I -Yar1 ([-y I + 1 -rl)

[ -tjßht ]

dou^n ( £* r/to make a joke)

-Yar| + ( 1 -Yan 1 + | —r 1)

[-zero t Jbau if ( iL '-il r/to buy up remainder of the stock).^ 0n it (a ^ r/relationship ; popularity)^au h (jtL r/a long way round)

[ ]- it ( & r / a roll) as in t^hun » (^S"/a roll - a fried roll

with mixed meat and bean-sprouts); jaen n „/cigarettes);;cir] li •• (*T n/luggage).

4.2 /y/ + /a/ - group

i -YEr1 ( i -YE 1 ♦ i -r1)

L ]- I» (- ft) r/a role in a play) as in d^u n ( j t n/the

protagonist); mir] » ( ?, u/a well-known actor or actress).

f-Yar1 ([-yn 1 + ( - r 1)[-tphi]

v c I ii {<¥] %?0 r/an apron)

l4l

Words listed in this app. are generally spoken with terminal' r added.The most difficult thing, however, is that many words can be spoken with or without -r added, so that the meanings and parts of speech remain unchanged. This can be explainedas

1. Words spoken with -r added are mostly informal, such as xwQ or Xwar (flowers); sz or ß 9r (business; work)1.

2. Lightness of tone or style, that regarded by speakeras small or trivial as in lauban (the boss), but lö.ubar

’j

(the boss I- who cares ?)

1# ’-sz! in 'm i aendz( z) p ar (a matter of 'face') 1 must befollowed by -r.

142

APPENDIX II

Trochees

The following are some commonly used trochees. Their second syllables (or suffixes) are arranged according to the order of initials and that of finals (see p. 100). If there is absence of initials among those vertically arranged,there are no such trochaic words whose second syllables have the absent initials.Some disyllabic words were trochees, but have now recovered their tones on their second syllables. Reduplicated words, disyllabic words with optional neutral tones on their second syllables,2 words with atonic suffix -dz(z) and those not used in modern Chinese,3 and local administrative units^ are excluded. The atonic syllables or suffixes sharing the similar meanings are generally classified into categories. However, not all the trochaic words sharing the same atonic suffixes are included (such as -t’au on p. 152 and -tp'u on p. 166 ). For convenience, is used torepresent the atonic finals, while ’„' is used to represent the second syllables, related or unrelated, and the second Chinese morphemes which are identical with the root morphemes bracketed at the beginning of the trochaic words sharing the same morphemes as their second syllables or suffixes. Examples are:

[-•e] --- [-a]

[~b<] = [-brj (see p. 1 1 1 )

( - ga /attached; adhering; appended) as in ni „ ( n/mud) ; dzü m ( ^ „ /penis);d^jE " ( „/stammering) ; jaja „ ( “|* „/thelower jaw); ja „ ( |gji „/deaf mute); gv\TJ „( ^ „/remains of rice in the boiler); üei „ ( llä „/a tail). - |33 , which does not belong to this category, occurs in dz a „ ( „/toblink); »/a little dog).

An unrelated homophone of -ba is: ya C „ ( /a term of abuse)

| y .Such as dzj'ktgh^ (to support); thg=i Uan (Taiwan) ‘ Such as dz>jEgau or^dajE^eu (to introduce); dz srndzjZt or dziarndz^)

(politics); dziicdzd or dzit)dz.(i) (economy).O \

Such as dg-in ,s(z;) (a third degree graduate under the old system)4 . 'Some earlier established ones have neutral tones on their

second syllables.

1431. Open Finals

1.1 /a/ - Group

[-«] - [-a]

[ -b. ] (see p. 1 4 2 )

dzz „ ( /sesame) la „ ( /Tibetan priests)Xa " ( /a frog)

[-s,]phu " ( /idols)

[-f.]th°u m ( gljc /hair) da M ( fj® /to send)

[-d. ]

- m ( ^ /to add to; to hang over) as in g°u „( ,,)/tohook together - to form an illicit connection); phei m ( ,,/to add to; supplementary)

An unrelated homophone of -de is: m S^/to take a walk)

[ t \ ]dzau m (äH *3 3 /to waste)

[-1 ,]phu'' m ( /spiteful; dd m ( /hanging)

saucy)

[ ” 3 i ] ^ L — asi ]

[-b, ]

mir: m ( $ÜÖ /to understand) cj^n » ( /idle-talk)

144[ - P 1 t J

an „ ( /to arrange) dzau „ ( /a signboard)/scale - as

of living, building, etc . )

["m . ]mji „ ( K H /business)

[-ts',] (see p . 3 0 )m n „ ( /cloud) jau t! ( /drugs)

gwän „ ( /a coffin)

[ -d. ]- M ( - ^ /a bag) as in Khoii n ( P ,,/a bag); nou n ( !Ij

head).

[ -t ' , ]fv ,, ( iaISi /a well-to-do j agn n ( /an ink-slab)

look)

[-n,] (see p. 110)n 3 Q „ (iis®' /ability)

[—1! ] (see p. 115)you H ( /later)

[ -gt ]

- 11 (- ^ /to cover) as in phü „ ( /bedding); d^* »to cover)

r -x. ]li „ ( /severe)

( M «/

[ -3 n ] ^ — [-an]

145

[-b.]- it (- / to make up; to decorate) as in da » (ifdress gaily); d^uäfl .. n/ to disguise)

[ -f • ]ma f, (4- /troublesome)

[-d . ]b i ae n „ ( $0 >*• /a carry- mu «1 (,£l -Vy /peony)

pole )

t-f.]^u *» ( ^-/comfortable)

[*ni ]khwan *> ( if).ifa /difficulty)

[ ”1 ' ]X8 " ( if) /u 011 and)

[-dzj. ]phu8 h /a flow; a defect)

[-e* ]lan •• railing)

[ - X« ]*i „ ('ty /rare)

w /to

146

[ "e D1 [ -an ]

[ - Mbi M ( zl> 3 /for example) phffil » isfr /an honorific arch)di " ( 3 /place) d^gE •• (#f >2 /neighbours)

[-d. ]- " (- /should; suitable; just) as in biffin *' * /

suitabLe; convenient); d^an «• ( i- ««/exactly what Should be); thuy ** (-ic «»/properly done); t/ßhjd «•( : „/just right); y©n n (-?*.. n/firm; settled).

An unrelated homophone of -dun is:lln »« (4<^£/a bell)

[-». ]llaO « .J’ /bright) XwaO " ( 3t. A /idle; frivolous)

[-1 .]bin " (*£ ** •/the betel-nut )• I

[-n, ]du „ (■ TBa.'j /to mutter) wj « (| ^/unhappy)

[-dV ]bä »* ( £_> $ /palm of the phäu *• (*il/ ^/firecracker)

hana)Xwan «♦ (tk Tfc/trepidation)

[ t g ' * ]

phffii » {4*yY>‘jfr /stylish; elaborate)

147

da it ( f j f o to sweep up) lau » ( /grumbling)

- m (“ ^ /hair) as in m e i „ ( ff- „/eye-brows) ; y'a*1 n( /i1 „/the fine hair on the skin)An unrelated homophone of -nre u is: ejan „ ( /appearance)

-d , ]

- n ( - 5Ü /a way; reason) as in man „ ( f ; »/opportunity) ;dz^ m ( ,./to know); dz»jcu „ ( »/to associate with);gGrj ,t ( ^:„/fair). Figuratively as in di „ ( „/genuine)you m ( [I/L „/friendly); D e I " ( n/taste) .Other unrelated homophones of -deU are:✓dise n m $ii/turned up- d?ijaen „ /a pair of scissors)

side down)lau „ ( ° '/? Ü /chattering;

loquacious)-1

(- J"/ /fruit; nut) as( /cherry) 5

in phu „ ( /grapes);( /walnut)

jiO m

dz/rj m ( /camphor) zy „ ( jk$,'j /noisy)

-l.]Ctrj „ ( J j j ^ V merit)

- d z f ]

ph /i „ ( P' /a licence)

. ] (see p . 110)

- O ' I ]

da u „ p /to pray)

1 48

-k ' , ]lüu „ (&u /trustworthy;

dzz „ ( r^SS/a shop)i??t " ( /addicted to)

firm)

dz«i tl ( nliS /a mark) Pja.j M ( /wasteful)

1.2 /s/ - Group

[-*]

[-b,]

g'f „ ( SJrft'S /the arm)

r-p*.]lau ft ( /wife) .

r-m,] (see p . 110)thu y ,, (/sfr ? s /spittle) dzu i „ ( /to grasp)

dz.jE „ ( 'fp’pfc /ground mus­tard )

[-*\]farj „ (\^A i /seemingly)

[-St]- m (- fu /colour) as in jaen „ ( tS\ «'/colour) j ®n ,, ( fll ,„ /

a hint given with the eyes); tohi „ ( ^ „/colour ofthe face); etc.

L " d ^ r ]f * igan „ ( 1 '■ /sugar cane)

lU r m ( $ikiJ /turnips)

Xw* ft ( /lively)

dz? h ( Sffr1? /to ill-treat)tphUasl it ( j jj' -/to turn over iLn

the mind)

[-tp' t ]la it ( jfc ifc/to hold one

another's hand)

[ -v ]dzüU „ /to provoke)

[-S,]dan „ ( /to delay) dzz „ ( /a qualification)

[-*',]tshz M ( /an assassin)

[-X,]b / p e p p e r m i n t ) tshou „ ( ^*/to assemble)o

Z ou „ ( /mild) jaiJ „ ( /to shout)

[ _ 31] - [ -e. ]

[-b,]- it (- /to prepare; to equip) as in faO „ ( tt// v

to guard against); t/shi m ( ^ • » /prepared); qy „( fit ii /to prepare); sX n ( lx " /equlPment)

Other unrelated homophones of -bsi are:bau m ( /trea- tshz „ ( /compassionate)

surer)

[-,]dzz „ ( /sisters)

[-f,]

149

(- /to spend); to waste) as in phan „ ( ^ „/ travelling expenditure); phu» „ ( n/to waste); Xd u ii ( f t „/to waste)

1 5 0

[-an]

[-m f ] (see p. 1 10)

[-f.]

- m (“ ^ / d u t y ; obligation; position; part) as in bu „( „/part; department); g§n ,, ( &S „/one'sstanding in society); mir] „ ( §£ä „/proper status); mir] „ ( „/obligation); t,ehir] „ ( fpj' „/obligationsto friends); pan „ ( h /af f ini t y ) ; e t c .

- „ (- Vf /period) as in niasn „ ( ^ „/the cycle ofa year)

[-t? 1 , ]sz „ ( /hours - cal- ph© i „ ( /additional

culated in Chinese illustration)w a y )

[ Jdz-i r] „ ( ^ /spirit;

energy)

[-2je ]/

- „ (- /\ /man; -er) as in da „ ( ~7\ „/adult); m e i „( „/a match-maker); dgdr] „ ( „/father-in-law);di „ ( g;' „/an enemy); gur] „ ( IL „/workers); etc.

- „ (- ^r' /to be responsible; to trust) as in dzi „ ( jf; „/\

duty); .6in „ ( „/to trust); etc.

[-S1-]]

[-p't ]

- „ (- v-ic, /a shelter) as in do u „ ( /a straw hat);X 1 - y ^

dzarj „ ( iJM /a tent); 1 I as n „ ( /seed-case ofthe lotus)

151

[-f,]- „ (- te /wind) figuratively as in £>ao „ ( „/an

advantageous position); ,eja ,, ( “jp „/a disadvantageousposition); ye i „ ( jfj/ „/an awe inspiring) .

An unrelated homophone of -f0iQ is: tshcel n ( /a tailor)

t-d,]mi „ ( ^/bewildered)

[ - t ' J- „ ( _ /quick and repeated activity) as in fan „

( ÜS „/to turn over); daU „ ( /stirs andupsets); d^T „ ( fff „/changes and overturns)

["n t ]dzuY „ ( flFi?/to make)CJ

[-dztl ]* f 813 „ ( JKIffr /a kite)

[ -1 s ’ , ] (see p. 118)- it (~ ifü /process) as in lu „ ( w „/a journey);

„ ( Ip „/rules; regulations); „ ( IE „/construction works)An unrelated homophone of -tsr0r3 is:far] „ ( /to pay

court to)

[ - p . ]- „ (- /-man; -er) as in & jan „ ( „/mr.; sir; a

teacher); ,eqE „ ( Jp ,,/a student); ji „ ( ^ 11/ a doctor).

“ m (" W: /a sound) figuratively as in f 3Q "( J| u/reputation ; rumour); ,Gjat) „ ( „/comic monologue).

Other unrelated homophones of -p 0r] are:tshü M ( /a domes- /nephews)

tic animal)

[-ou]1 52[-au]

[-dj] (see p. 89 & 109)

[-tJ t ] (see p. 89 )As an atonic suffix, -tf©U (- gj| ) follows various parts of speech to form noun.mu „ ( ^ „/wood)11 m ( Ä ,,/inside) d z /m „ ( f t t»/a P i l l o w )

gi .. ( ® „/stones)

[-It ]phaei „ ( /honor­

ific portal)

gü „ ( # „/bone) g *■ „ ( 1& „/the tongue) khu „ ( »/hardship)

dou »I (^f^ /to shake off)

[ ~ d2tt ]

sou „ ( /a broom)

- „ (- ÜW /to pledge with wine) as in bau ,, ( „/torequire); jiro „ ( J Ä „/to entertain guests)

[-*>,]„ (- /a hand; -er) as in bao „ ( •> /an assistant);

d^u m ( n/an assistant)

["^t ]Vgn „ ( 2^.^ /meek; gentle)

[ " S t 1

n0O „ ( WE ^oj/to be ableto )

3 00 „[-*,]

( /to discount) ( /domestic animals)

153

“X* ]„ (- ^ /to greet; to wait) as in sz „ ( jßj „/to wait on);

ygn„ ( „/to extend one1 s regard to others);dsn „ ( ^ „/to wait).- ^ which does not belong to this category occursin dzjpro „ ( ^ „/symptoms); ^ »» ( ^ „/time);tehi „ ( ( (|/climate)

An unrelated homophone of -XS,J ^s:„ ( jfeflpL /honest)

Spread Finals

1 5 4

2 .

2.1 [-z] & [-2JThese two finals occurring in atonic syllables tend to be

devoiced, whispered or completely dropped. They are bracketed in the following trochees. Noun suffix - dz(z) is mostly atonic, it is thus not included.

[ (-z) ] T-- [-z]

[■s, ]„ (- /thought; idea) as in pin „ ( ^ „/thoughts);

ji „ ( „/idea; meaning).

Other unrelated homophones of -s(z) are:1

1 UY " ( /screw) gwän „ ( 'gs] /litigation)

[(-ZL)] ^-- [-zj

[ -dzi,t ]- „ (~ ^ /to hold; to retain) as in dzj0r] „ ( ^ „/to

disagree; to dispute); gu „ ( fjg „/obstinate;stubborn).

- „ (- J /delicacy; scenary) as in biau „ ( W M k /goodloolcing) ; b iE „ ( $ 0 © /new and unusual); dzd. n „( # $ & /scenary); ja „ /polished) .

- 11 (~ jjjij /to restrain) as in cjaen „ ( PÜ „/to limit);Khuro „ ( ix ../to control); etc.

- „ (- lUl /to set; a place) as in an » ( ^ „/to laydown); bu „ ( A „/to arrange); tshu „ ( „/tohandle; to settle); yei „ ( ^ „/a position); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of -dz(z) are:dzu M ( /to organise) dz,ja „ ( ÜHli. /value)dz.jE „ ( /a ring) jaen „ ( d'3 Jjt /rouge)

[-P.](- /to be) has optional neutral tone when used as

155a final syllable of conjunctions.

- it (- ^ /a preacher; a well-trained person) as in dau t,( /a Taoist-pries t) ; mu „ ( $C{® /a pastor);

„ ( f J Ü /a nurse); d^an „ ( /a warrior)- u (- /to be acquainted with) as in ^9n „ ( „/to be

acquainted with) ; dz^„ ( ÄI „/knowledge); ji „ ( ^ „/idea); d^j^n M ( „/the scope of one's knowledge);

„/to appreciate); etc.- „ ( - Ä /a form; a pattern) as in d arj „ ( J£ „/formally);

gX it ( „/a pattern); etc.- „ (- tfti /to ornament) as in dzjUÖrD,, ( „/to ornament);

goU „ ( "Hf „/a lady’s ornament); etc.- „ (- ^ /sincere; solid; concrete; authentic) as in lau

* ( ^ „/honest); d^jE „ ( „/solid; concrete);d^a „ ( >fL „/concrete; strong); etc.

- „ ( - /food) as in Iraq „ ( /jit „/provisions); t hz „( „/food in general); ywt „ ( „/meals).

- „ ( - Tfj /market) as in man „ ( F^„/to sell retail overthe counter); ydiQ „ ( ^ „/market rates).

- it (- /affairs; business; events) as in ban „ ( „/ability); t häsl „ ( „/official business) ; gu „( ^ „/story - 'previous events'); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of -s(z ) are:mat „ ( /recklessly) fv „ ( ß^^/to wait on)dz>jE „ ( /to gou „ ( /to tidy up)

explain)d^in „ ( Ä f i /short- jdu „ ( fflf /a key)

sight ed)

2.2 /i/ & /i/ + /a/ - Group

[-i]

Atonic [-i] occurring after prepalatal initials tends to be devoiced, whispered or completely dropped. It is bracketed in the following trochees.

[-zero f ].iV. v \ _

- „ (- /mind; will; purpose) as in dz u „ ( £ „/decision) ;

1 5 6

gd „ ( ® „/on purpose); qan „ ( ® „/willing). Atonic-Jx xn S01Q it ( /business) is exceptional.

- it (- ^ /easy; exchange) as in z ^ „/easy); d^jdu „( „/trade).

- „ (- /to suspect) as in /sjsen „ ( ^ „/suspicion);ywgsl „ ( Ä „/to suspect).

- „ (- /suffix) as in su* „ ( jjf „/so; therefore);Kh* „ ( pj* „/may); etc-.

- „ (- /art; skill) as in sou „ ( ^ „/know-how;handicraft); uan „ ( ^ „/artistic things; toys);wu „ ( ^ „/tactics).

Other unrelated homophones of -ji are:ph I ah „ ( /cheap) pci 0 „ ( /to consult; to

talk over)mi 0 „ ( /a title) U9h (( ( fjffi/epidemics)

[-P\]tchja u „ ( /winsome) yu „ ( |gj£j; /to shelter)

[-df]thu „ ( /apprentice) ywafl „ ( /the emperor)

[-t' , ] (see p. 33 )

bi „ ( /mucus)

[ - 1 J- „ (- m /profit) as in b Iaen „ ( {'^ „/profitable); d .i „

( "cf „/auspicuous) . 1 i°u „ ( „/fluent)- „ ( - iM /reason; on order) as in da u „ ( jj|[ „/reason);

thidu it ( pj „/to adjust); lidu „ ( „/to put inorder; to look after); dz0r] „ ( „/to put in order);-cj°u t, ( Ä „/to repair); gwan „ ( S' „/to aadminister); etc.

- „ ( - /to pass through) as in 1 asl m ( „/antecedents);dzd-Q „ ( „/to pass through; experience); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of -li are:b 0* „ ( /glass) lit] „ ( /clever)sz „ ( /power; .cit] „ ( tTrjS /luggage)

influenc e)XÜ „ ( /a fox)

157

[*-<*£, ]

[-*.]

„ (- nü/to remember) as in dlasn M ( „/to think of);üar] „ ( ^ „/to forget); etc.

„ (- St /to calculate) as in suan „ ( „/to calculate)Khwgei M ( „/accounting); etc.

„ (- /to gather together) as in s°u „ ( ^ „/tocollect); s®u „ ( ^ „/to gather things together inone place); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of -ds>(i) are:bu* „ ( I K Ä /a winnower) tshz „ ( /incentive)<}u „ ( /jealous) ni sen „ ( ^ f E / a g e )li „ ( d i a r r h o e a ) iu y „ ( Sitt /logic )t^hsq „ ( /ach-

i e v e m e n t s )SOU „ ( /the d e c a p i t a t e d

heads of enemies)dZijE „ ( /social

c l a s s )dz.joU „ ( /to relieve)

gu „ ( j®i* /to worry) „ ( 'f&ilp /to supply)ywa „ ( / h u m o r -

ou s )xw ? „ ( Ä l t /members of a

company)

(see p. 47 and 110)

„ (- ^ /air; weather; b r e a t h ) as in thi äen „ ( ^ „/weather); figuratively as in phi „ ( „/temper);fv „ ( fra „/good luck); li „ ( „/strength); d^z „( „/ambition); tshasl „ ( ^ „/talent ) : su „ ( frf „/common; vulgar); ^sn „ ( ^„/expression); khou „( P„/the way of talk); ijln „ ( ^ „/good luck).

Other unrelated homphones of -t,c*(i) are:d -i „ ( /machine) tphin „ ( /relatives)

(see p . 109)

„ (- M' /profit; rest; information) as in an „ ( TJc„/torest); li „ ( ^ „/profit); tghü „ ( (tj „/profitable; ^in „ ( Tn „/information); ,g jaU „ ( ^ „/information); -ej°u „ ( ft „/to rest); etc.

„ (- 1 / t o learn) as in liasn „ ( ^ „/to practise); jsq;E „( „/to learn)

„ ( - /minute; careful) as in dzz „ ( „/careful);,Gjar3 „ ( „/minute).

are :Other unrelated homophones of -9(1)

ba „ (ffi® /juggling) *1 „ ( S f e /loving care)gwän „ ( /rela- ywan m ( 8 ^ ® /to be pleased)

ti o n s h i p )y u „ ( /to breathe)

[-in] ^-- [ - i a ]

[-d , ]- „ (- ^ /home; the So and S o ’s) as in dzz M ( ^ „/oneself)

lin „ ( ^ „/the Lin's); „ ( fa „/those in the 'know'professionals); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of d^jr are:d ^ „ ( JB^/nails) d^uäiQ »»( 0 ^ /growing crops)

[-ßt] (see p . 118)

[ - i 3n ] -c-- [ - i©n]

[-zero, ]fv „ ( /to g loss; to interpolate)

[ - b f]- „ (- 3Ä/side; direction) as in li „ ( ^ „/inside).

An unrelated homophone of -bl3n is: farj „ ( /convenience)

[-mi] (see p. 1 1 0)

- „ ( - | S /side; face) as in li tt ( « „/inside). thi „( „/honorable); tjehiq „ ( tw „/favour)

[- d , ] (see p. 133)

da „ (fJüÄ/to make ready)

[ - * ' , ]

159

- „ (- ^ /day; season) as in mi n „ ( „/tomorrow);

tshun „ ( $ „/spring); etc.

[ ~ n t ]

- „ (- ^ /year) as in mi 13 n ( „/next year).

An unrelated homophone of -ni3n is:

dz.i M ( / to remember)

[ - 1 . ]tjshjfgnit ( / to implicate)

[ -dz„ 1 ( s eep . 117)

[ - t * ' , ]

- it (- ^/money) as in ban „ ( ^ o/capital in trade);

d^ja »» ( f t „/price); gün „ ( X„/wage); etc.

An unrelated homophone of -tpj3n is:

ggn „ ( ^ ^ / in thefront of)

[ - -»«]

dz^ai „ ( /needle- ^in „ ( /fresh; strange)work)

pan M ( jßjl'fllj /a fairy)

[ - m n ] ^— [ - I a n ]

[ -zero,]

th ael „ ( /the sun) qan „ ( /the Mandarin duck,male and female. Used as an emblem of conjugal f ide l i ty , happiness)

gun M ( / to support)

[ - n t ]

(- ^/mother; female)

gn „ ( ££ ,,/a g ir l ) .

as in da ( > „/an aunt);

160

[-1 ,]- M (- Ü l /measurement; capacity) as in da „ ( n/to

measure; to estimate); du „ ( „/a measure);li „ ( „/strength; force); „ ( jg „/to consult);dz.jau tt ( ^ „/to compare by measurement).

- „ (- Jg / b r i g h t ) as in phiau „ (y% „/good -looking) ;.jejar „ ( „/bright and airy; clear-sounding);H E „ ( ^ n/the moon).

Other unrelated homophones of -lmr] are:dzd m ( '^/the back) gau „ ( l J ^ /common sorghum)

[ ]- „ (- iEE /workman) as in phi „ ( Ü>C ,,/a tanner); mu „ (/fc w /

a carpenter); etc.

An unrelated homophone of -d^j eq is? khwa „ ( /to commend; to extol)

[-*,]\

d^in „ ( /income)

- in u] •*---[ - ia u]

[ - z ero, ]

d ^ a u „ ( 4S /to cause disturbances)

[ - t ' J

mid u tt ( /graceful and slender)

2.3 /if + / 0/ - Group

[-i e ]

[-zero,]

161

- „ (- ^ /father; a gentleman) as in fuj- „ ( ^ „/Buddha); lau „ ( ti/an °ld term used to call arich man or an official);; jsau „ ( & „/an old term used to call a young gentleman); „ ( $0 „/an oldterm used to call a son-in-law); etc.

ba „ ( /to toady to) jßjau m ( /JsÄQl /miss; a younglady)

[ - , ]phaiQ „ (tfj7 /a crab)

[-in]

[-zero,]

- „ (- 3* / a sound) as in „ ( ^ ,,/a voice; a sound);khou „ ( P „/accent).

[ -d?., ]

t.ohin „ ( /intimate) mlaen „ ( /gluten of wheat)sou it ( if;ft /a towel)

- „ ( - ^ /intimacy) as in fv „ ( 2C „/father); mu „( -Q: „/mother)

[-.]- „ (- /Li» /heart; mind) as in liat] „ ( jä. „/conscience);

pjau it ( 'JN „/careful). - in di sen „ ( „/refreshment) does not belong to this category.

[-1 *3]

[-zero,]

da „ ( /to promise) tshalQ „ f lies )dzau „ ( /to look

after)

1 62

[ -b t ] (see p. 26)

- ,, (- ©l* /cake) as in s q u m ( „/a baked cake);gen „ ( j|j( „/a large thin cake).

- „ (- ^ /handle; power) as in ba „ ( ijg u/a handle;also used figuratively for anything that gives occasion for talk, etc.); t.Ghqan „ ( fl „/power).

[-P* t ]phi „ ( Ötff /to criticize) g ut] 1» ( /fair; justice)"09n „ ( ^ /a diploma)

[ -m, ]

- „ (- EJJ3 /bright) as in tshuo „ ( ^''/clever) ; d^d-H „( M „/clever and smart); gay m ( „/intelligent);tjehify n ( iW „/a Chinese festival); etc.

[-d,]bu „ ( /a patch)

da „ ( /to make th ja u „ ( /to mediate)inquiries)

tg>ha u „ ( /the emperor)

[-1,]\mi 13 „ ( 't p* /orders) it ( /witty)

[ -d%ot ] (see p. 47 )- „ ( - j§p /peaceful; quiet) as in bei „ ( iNf „/quiet);

due v ( WJ „/motion and rest; deportment).- „ ( - -jp; /a view) as in f 0 H ^ „/a view); gwaC „

( „/prospect; circumstances)

Other unrelated homophones of -d^i 13 are:dz^O „ ( /serious;

normal)^ /quick-wi11 ed)

jä u „ ( /monster) gan „ ( § £ # /clean)

[ - t . ö d , ]

163

- „ (- ffci /re la tionship; a ffa irs ; nature) as in sz „

( lj* „ /affa irs ; things); d^jnu „ ( $C „/friendship);

•eir] „ ( Ü „/temper)

[ - , ]d* „ ( /v ir tue - in dsji „ ( /memory)

a sarcastic sense)

tfihir] "( /things as theyare; circumstances of a matter)

f - I 0 U ] ^ ----- [ - I O U ]

I -zero t ]

phi a u „ ( /tossed phsro „ ( jT /friends)about)

buU tt ( /to bless)

[ " n t ]

blE „ ( ^ /disagreement)

[-1,]

- „ ( - f{£ /slippery; smooth) as in Xwa „ ( „/slippery);

gwö ro „ ( % „/smooth) .

An unrelated homophone of -li9u is:

f iq n ( /deportmentand manner; style)

[ -d >, ]

bän „ (Ö£/V* / a rockpigeon)

d .jar] „ ( / to makethe best of the thing)

[ “ t f t ' , ]

ni „ ( i&fcK/a loach - asmall fresh-water fish)

d^jdq „ ( /fussy about theappearance)

j sen „ ( JffSt /research)

3. Rounded Finals

3.1 /u/ & /u/ + /a/ - Group

[-»]

Atonic [-u] tends to be devoiced or whispered.[-v] is the variant of [-u] when occurring after [f-J. [ -v]in atonic [fv] tends to be dropped; it is bracketed in the following trochees ending in [-fv].

[-zero]

- „ (- /noon) as in sar] „ ( ihtC/ ,,/noon) ; P O " ( „/before noon); etc.

- „ (- >$) /staff) as in £Z „ ( ^ „/food stuff); XwV „

( Ä „/goods); etc.

- „ (- ^ /affairs; business) as in thA „ ( m „/espionage); z"^n „ ( ^ ,,/duty). sz „ ( „/aff a i r s );etc .

- „ (- gg /miss; delay) as in dan „ ( JJ£ „/to delay);tshur n ( 0B „/mistakes); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of -wu are:duel „ ( /rank dzz „ ( /to make an excuse)0 and file)

[ - b t]

bael M ( Ull'fö /to throw thIE „ ( /to subsidize)difficulties in one 1s w a y )

gan M ( /cadres)

[ “ m , ]

- „ (- g /the eyes; a list) as in thi „ ( „/themes;topics); dzat] „ ( ijg „/details of accounts); su „( ^ „/numbers); etc.

Other unrelated homophones of -mu are:me „ ( /numbed) 9 jsen „ ( /to admire)

165[-f.]

- M (- ^ / m a n ; -er) as in daei M ( ^ n / a doctor); dZfCiO tt ( , , /husband); dzk)E »* ( IjQ n/bro ther-in-law) ; gü " ( ^ "/uncle - aunt’s husband). - ^ in guO „ (jQ”/time) is exceptional.

- m (- /woman) as in < i „ (r) ( n/wif e ) ; gwa »» ( JJ"/a widow).

- „ Jl /to violate) as in tjehi „ (see p. 112); gu „( ^ „/ungrateful)

" ” /M/clothes; admiration) as in jl „ ( ^„/clothes);phel „ ( 4jfL ../to admire). - ggin su „ ( „/com­fortable) is exceptional.

- " (- Uff/to order) as in f9"n „ ( ||g> „/to bid); dzu .. (seep. 11^ .

“ ” (“ /rj“/to meet) as in j i 13 „ ( to* »/to meet); duel ..(see p .112 ) .Other unrelated homophones of -f(v) are:

buu ri ( /a small cloth- maei m ( @ { ^ / t o ambush)wrapper)

d°u m ( S.|$f-/bean curd) £ ©n „ ( 2C /catholic priests)S2 tt ( /master tutor) ;

a cook; a technician)[ -st ]

gel U ,, ( /to tell) f 013 ii ( /customs)

[-df]- it (- St /a measure; a degree) as in th^.i „( Jjg „/attitude)

" ( ®J „/system); tshSrQ „ ( „/grade;standard).Other unrelated homophones of -du are:

jin it ( £Plsi. /India) dz>i „ ( y£s &6 /jealous)

[ -t , ] (see p . 110)

than „ ( /to seek tph‘u9 „ ( /to conflict)after)

[-1 ,] (see p. 89)“ it (“ /way) as in dau„ ( ^ „/the way); m©n „ ( " /

clue; a way of life)

Other unrelated homophones of -lu are:dü M ( ° / a bunch mu M ( B /a catalogue)

of grapes)Xu „ ( J / t h e

bottle-gourd)

[-d5l. 1tshsel „ ( /a bat) „ ( % gjj /to help; to aid)

wealthy man) '

[-*?’ I ]_ (_ jÜtÜ /point; place) as in tshat) „ ( ^ „/forth­

comings); dUan „ ( „/shortcomings); ji „ ( fat „/benefit-advantageous point); etc.

An unrelated homophone of -t^'u is: tphiO „ ( /distinct; clear)

[-s « ]- „ (- /art; skill) as in ji „ ( ^ „/arts); dz,i „

( ££ „/skill; technique); sob „ ( ^ „/operation - asin surgery)

- H ^ /number) as in tshz „ ( ^ „/times); f9n„ ( ^ „/marks); etc.

An unrelated homophone of -su is: lau „ ( ^li^/a mouse)

[ "g, ]dzjQt „ ( m m /to look phi „ ( JthfiS: /the buttocks)

after)muV „ ( /mushroom) ni „ ( /a nun)h an „ ( /a cause)

[-k’,]

va ii (-tv ’jS’/to ridicule)

[-X* ]- it (- ß^/to call) as in dzau „ ( t^„/to call); tsh.00 „

( fPht/to name); jaU „ ( »/to shout)- ii (- l^/paste; muddle; indistinct) as in mi „ ( ^ " /

muddled); m^ „ ( ^„/indistinct); ds-jat) " ( §j£„/paste);Xan ii ( ik" “ /ambiguous ; speaking indistinctly)Other unrelated homophones of -Xu are:

ma „ ( k'ibÜ /careless) lau /a tiger)

dz^i „ ( /to care tßhuCHQ „ ( W p /a window)about)

dzi „ ( /almost)

[ -Me] — [-ua]

[-g, ]

- m (- Ä /-melon; vegetable) as in ci „ ( ffi (f/

watermelon); nan „ ( psj „/the pumpkin); etc.

An unrelated homophone of -gwr is:

lau „ ( / a crow)

[ - * ]m I agn M ( /cotton)

bi ff ( i ’ljFiJ /to ges- t icu lat e)

^jaU /a J°ke)•ßjäu „ ( yf'j'fh /to digest)

L - U3 I J ----- [ - Uasl]

- ? t ]

pan n ( ^ ^ / a general­issimo)

[ - g j

(- /strange) as in jd u M ( Ilk. „/a spook) gu

( fl „ /s trange )

-k \ ]

(- /quick - figuratively used to indicate 'comfort 1 )

as in thur] „ ( „/comfortable); 1 la D „ ( „/cool)

ß Udp „ ( ,,/confortable ; straightforward)

168

[ - u 3n ] ^-- [ - uan ]

[-s. ]

- „ (- ^ /to calculate) as in phan „ ( M „/to make a mental calculation); da „ ( fX „/to plan to)

phan .1 ( MJIl /travelling expenditure)

C-d,]so u „ ( /schemes)

[-«,],ci „ ( f=äft£t /custom)

[-%]sz „ ( /to use) ,ci „ ( ■U-fflZ. /to be pleased)dz,jau „ ( /to shout) thi „ ( ^ /to change)

[- UB13] — [-mo]

[-zero,]

- „ (- =§! /to face; to look forward to) as in phan „( „/to hope for); miO „ ( ^ „/reputation)

Other unrelated homophones of - V'S'Q are:1 ael „ ( /social inter- qän „ ( /an injustice)

c o u r s e )

[-*',]dz^i 0 „ ( /things

in general)

[- x, 3dzi „ ( /famine) Ja U „ ( /swaying)

3*2 /u/ + /s/ - Group

1 69

[ - «*]

[-zero,]

ba „ ( ffiÄ /guarantee; bei „ ( ^ ,, /a coverlet)authority for taking action);

[-3 ,]du* m ( /shaking) thjab „ ( *$/to stir up)m uj „ ( /to grope iV „ ( gg. o*/annoying; to make

for) a fuss)

[~d , ]ar „ ( / ears )

[-t'Jl u* M ( §§££ /a camel)

[-1.]li m ( /clear) dz^an M ( 3fi$S / to look for)

[ “ Xt ]- it (- ^0 /nice and) as in n ban „ ( (jg „/nice and warm);

z/an „ ( „/soft)- „ ( - /live; lively) as in khw^I „ ( lift „/gaily); jo.13 „

( SI »/to rear).Other unrelated homophones of -ywlT are:mi m ( /muddled) tshael „ ( Hfelk. /fuel)dz>jü „ ( ^g{jfc/tools)

[ — u 8 1 ] [ - ue i ]

as

1 70

an

J_-zerot] (see p. 89)- „ (- ÜL /a site; a position) as in phsei M ( „/

ancestral tablet); di „ ( jfy M/a position).- „ (- j^/to do ;t o acknowledge) as in nan u ( H(| „/

difficulty - unable to do); z an. m ( „/to acknow­ledge); ji „ ( JsX „/to take for granted that)'

Other unrelated homophones of -U9iare:an „ ( /to comfort) tshz „ ( /the hedgehog)

[ -s, ] (seep. 90)

[ - t ? 1 . J

ban „ ( tt&i/a stick)

[-?< ]_ „ 7X/water and that used figuratively) as in lu

(gf ,,/dew); fSQ „ ( $L"/wind and water - the geomantic system by means of which sites are determined for graves houses and other buildings, which sites are said to have an influence on the people); j u „ ( jS»/011 and water - profit); iin , ( §f "/fuel and water - salary)

["gt ]rr/ I 11 ( > X 3% / rose)

[-X, ]- m ( - /to meet; to comprehend) as in dzl „ ( \\ /

opportunity); thi „ ( fg „/to comprehend); bael „( „/to pay a visit); fv „ ( pfj "/to force aninterpretation); wu „ ( IS „/to mi sunds t and) ; li ,,( 3H „/to give heed to).

Other unrelated homophones of -yw9l are:an t» ( JHißS /grace; dzzu „ ( /wisdom)

favour)dzi „ ( /taboo; dzz^ „ ( 8 /to command)

prohibitions as certain things which may not be said or done).

171

[ -un ] -s--- [ - U 0n ]

[-zero t ]

/*v\E „ ( Ip Pfd/knowledge)

[-ts'J

- „ (- t J- /inch) as in f0n n ( „/measurement);( „/foot and inch - length)

An unrelated homophone of -ts'un is:U3n It ( /genial)

tgtiz „

[-d,]dz^n it ( /to arrange)

[-1,]V

„ ( - /to discuss) as in thaU „ ( „/to discuss);ji „ ( IS „/to discuss).

l~tBt t]an „ (^Sb §'0 /the quail) /the young leaf

shoots are eaten)

[-f>i J,6jaU „ ( /dutiful)

[-un]

[-dz, ]dzu „ ( /ancestor)

-d. ]

q i n „ ( $[1 jjft /exc ercis es ;movement)

gu „ ( /curious)

[-f,]jsen „ ( /a chimney)X \ I, ( ^fhj/a contract)

khssl „ ( /open-minded)

[ " n , ]gu „ ( föp% /to murmur)

[-1 ,]d9i] ii ( / /a lantern)

khü" ( rm hoie)la M ( tt--fS|/to dandle)X° U „ ( Pf|| /the throat)

- „ »La /worms; insects) as in tshou M ( J/l ,,/bed-bugs)tshdq „ ( isk "/a snake); xwc* h) „ ( • „/the locust)

[-St ]bjdrD „ ( /a young

gentleman)kholl „ ( /depositions)

[-k*,]khw e i 3? /deficit)

173

4. Inner-rounded finals (Ts’o-k’ou yün)4.1 /y/ & /y/ + /a/ - group

[-y]

[-n, ]^wet „ ( •f) ~tr /a girl; a daughter)

[-<*?<]thaei »» (jz ijr /to recommend) d^ja »» ( »ji /tools)gw^l „ (*^r3<C./rules; well-

behaved)

[-t?i3üel »» (-4 /a grievance;

a wrong)

[-9,]ny „ ( Ö /a son-in-law)

4.2 /y/ + /a/ - group

[y e ]

[-*<». ](- /birds) as in <?i „ (-*r JF?/the magpie);(^L yft /a peacock)

it khUQ it

174L-ynJ

[-*«•]\

d^jov„ (3*.«<|/to educate; to teach)

[-YsoJ

[-P-]

di „ ( Jr' ' /brothers ; brethren)

175

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179

Index

Articulation, 16— 18 ; continuants, 17, 19 (frictionless labio­dental) 62; dimensions, 62; of consonants (initial, hold, release) 16; non-continuants, 17— 18; place of, 16, 24; system, 1, 5; see also Stops

Articulators, active and passive6 , 8-10

Affricates, 23; post-alveolar,47

Alliteration, 102 Allophone, 20, 47Alveolars, 24; see also Palate,

Ridge, Sounds, Stops Apex, see Tongue Aspiration, 13— 14 Atonic Syllables - see Tone Auslauts, see SyllablesBilabials and bilabial stop, 18,

25-7Blade, see Tongue Buccal sound, see SoundComplements, 114— 15; potential

directional, 116; resulta- tive, 117, (optional atonic)1 18

Consonants, 10-16; acute, 29,32; aspirated 14; flatter, 32, 49; sharper, 32, 49; tabulated 22, 24; velar, 50-4; voiced and voiceless, 14; see also Articulation

Continuant, see ArticulationDental: sibilants, 24, 29“32;

sounds, 9; stop, 18 Diphthongs, 66; ascending 64,

69; descending, 64, 67; falling, 67 — 9; rising, 69-72

Directional complements, see Tone

Epiglottis, 2 Esophagus, 2 Explosion, 18Finals, 24, 56, 73, 98; inner

rounded, 82-3; retroflexed, 84-97; rounded, 80-2; spaced, 77”9

Flaps, 22 Fortis, 26, 33, 51

Form-words, 123 Fricatives, 21; grooved, 21;

lateral, 22; split, 21, 28;uvular, 53-4

Glides, 16, 58, 66 Glottal stop, see Stops Glottis, 2; see also Stops Gum, 2, 6-7Harmonics, 10, 103Hold, described, 16 Iambs and iambic words, 104, 109,

122; smallness, see Suffix Implosion, 18Initials, consonantal, 24, 56, 98;

stage, 16Intonation language, 107 IPA, 64, 74Jaw, lower, 2, 12Labials, 24, 25; labio-dental, 25,

28, (frictionless continuants)61

Larynx, 4 Lenis, 24, 33, 51 Lip door, 5“6 Lips, 2, 11Localizers, 118Middle door, 5-6Morpheme, and morpheme complexes,

101, 118Nasal cavity, 2 Nasal sounds, 19 Nasalization, 14Non-continuants, see Articulation Non-syllabic: defined, 58;

medials, 101 Notional words, 123 Nasal cavity, 2 Nasal sounds, 19 Nasalization, 14Non-continuants, see Articulation Non-syllabic: defined, 58;

medials, 101 Notional words, 123Off-glide, see Diphthongs Open finals, 65-7 Oral cavity, 2Palate, alveolar, 2; hard, 7

^ V-v'-v

Particle s, 1 1 4Pharynx, 2; see also Sound Phoneme, 26, 42; segmental,

102Phonetory system, 1 , 3Pitch, 10, 107; patterns

(lexical), 102Plosives, 19 Post-tonic words, 104 Prepalatals, 24, 44-50 Primary resonator, 19 Prosodic feature, 102Reduplicated words, 119-20 Release, 7Resonants: central, 22;

lateral, 22; median, 58 Respiratory system, 1 Retroflexes, 37“44; see also

FinalsRidge, alveolar, 2, 7Riming compound, 102Secondary features, 13 Secondary resonator, 20 Segmental phoneme, see

PhonemeSemi-vowels, 58-61; see

also Vowels Shortening, 87-90 Sibilants, 24, 29~32 Smallness, see Suffix Sounds: alveo-palatal, 9;

alveolar, 9» 3 2 —7 ;breathless (voiceless),14; buccal, 8; dental, 9; frontal, 45; labial (heavy) 25, (light) 25; palatal, 45; pharyngeal,10

Stops, 18 ; alveolar, 18 ;bilabial, 1 8 , 2 5 -6 ; dental, 1 8 ; glottal, 1 9 ; palatal, 1 9 ; velar, 19

Stress: primary, 121;secondary, 121; sentence, 1 2 3 ; tertiary, 121; weakest, 121; word, 122

Suffix, diminutive, 62, 8 5 , 89-90

Syllabic, 20, 22, 27, 66-7,7 2 , 59; defined, 98

Syllables, 98; auslauts,101; formation of, 100—3; open, 74

180

Syllables, atonic, 109; change of pitch quality, quantity, and shape, 111, 112; resultativecomplements, 118

Syntactic words, 122Teeth, front, 2, 6Terminal, 24 Terminal-r, 15, 8 5 Throat spaces, 8Tone, 102; atonic syllables, 109

(changes of pitch, quality, quantity, and shape), 111-12; compound, 1 0 5 ; deflected, 102; entering, 102; falling, 102; grammatical neutral, 114, (directional complements) 114— 1 5 ; level, 102; lexical neutral, 113; neutral, 1 0 9 , (optional) 124; rising, 102; sandhi, 105

Tongue, 8-10; apex, 2, 9; back, 2; blade, 2-3, 9; edges, 9; front,2, 9; height, 10; middle, 2, 9;root, 2, 10

Trills, 1 8 , 23Triphthongs, 64, 72 Trachea, 2Trochaic words and trochees, 104,

109, App. IIUvula, 2Velars, 24 Velar door, 5”6 Velic cavity, 19 Velo-palate, 2 Velum, 2, 7 - 8