One Tonology with Two Approaches: A Traditional Phonological Approach and a New Semiotic Perspective with Evidence from Mandarin

Tone is the special feature that separates non-tonal languages (e.g., English) from tonal languages (e.g., Chinese languages). Tone sandhi, a linguistic term which describes tone changes, often occurs in tonal languages such as Mandarin. Different theories have been proposed to account for tone and tone sandhi in Mandarin Chinese. In Mandarin, there are two types of 3rd tone sandhi: Type I where a 3rd tone [213] changes to a 2nd tone [35] when it is followed by another 3rd tone; Type II where a 3rd tone [213] changes to a half 3rd tone [21] when it is followed by a non-3rd tone. The present study proposes two principles to account for Mandarin 3rd tone sandhi. One is the Register-Tone Correspondence Principle, which is based on the traditional phonological approach. The other one is the Give-and-Take Principle, which is based on a semiotic approach. This study thus views Mandarin tone from a unified phonological/semiotic perspective, a new approach to tone. Conventional linguistic analyses on tone sandhi are based on either assimilation (e.g., Bao 1999) or dissimilation (e.g., Yip 1990). Likewise, the present study views tone change as a result of assimilation, and proposes that the syllable which undergoes the tone change is toneless during the process of the sandhi. The register of the post-sandhi syllable determines the contour. This is the common point of the two proposed principles to tone sandhi in Mandarin. Furthermore, most Mandarin tone sandhi analyses focus more on Type 1 3rd tone sandhi. In other words, not many linguistic studies have been established for the type II 3rd tone sandhi in Mandarin. That is to say, Type II 3rd tone sandhi has not had an important role in Mandarin tone sandhi studies to date. Hence, the present study encourages discussion on Type II sandhi in linguistic terms. In addition, this is the first study to use one linguistic principle, but with two different perspectives: a traditional phonological approach and a new semiotic approach, to investigate Mandarin 3rd tone sandhi.

Thesis Author: Ho, Kit-Ching

Year Completed: 2000

Committee Members: John Robertson, Dana Scott Bourgerie

Thesis Chair: Deryle Lonsdale