<OT> New Posting: ROA-854

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 854-0706

Neutral Tones in Disyllabic Sequences Across Chinese Dialects: An OT Account

Mingxing Li <starlee1020 at yahoo.com.cn>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=854


Abstract:
This thesis attempts to give an overview of neutral tone
among Chinese dialects within the framework of Optimality
Theory (OT). The following topics are discussed:

(i) The Unmarked Value of Neutral Tone. This thesis tries
to find out the unmarked value of neutral tone, and give
an OT analysis of this unmarkedness. Analysis is also made
on the difference between neutral tones and full tones in
terms of unmarked value.

(ii) Full-tone-related Neutral Tone and Long Neutral Tone.
It is reported that in some dialects "neutral tones" are
related to the full tone of the syllable concerned. In other
dialects, neutral tones are reported to be long, rather
than short. This paper tries to analyze these problems.

(iii) Realization Patterns of Neutral Tone Values. Neutral
tone values are divergent among dialects, with different
realization patterns concerning the relationship between
neutral tone and its neighboring tone. In this paper, I
summarize three realization patterns with different ranking
of certain OT constraints.

Comments: 
Keywords: Chinese Dialects, Neutral Tone, Optimality Theory
Areas: Phonology, Chinese tonology
Type: Masters Dissertation

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=854