<OT> New Posting: ROA-1063

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 1063-1209

Juncture Phrasing Thresholds:  A constraint-based approach to speech rate effects  on Mandarin tone sandhi

T.-Y. Vivian Lee <vivism715 at gmail.com>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=1063


Abstract:
This thesis investigates the effect of speech rate on Mandarin
tone sandhi. This effect is argued to be the result of hypothesiz
ed thresholds on the duration of junctural units that lie
between phonological phrases. A new type of constraint,
*WrapSD(nmsec), is proposed that assigns a violation to
every juncture that exceeds a specified durational threshold.
The *WrapSD(nmsec) constraints are incorporated within recent
constraint-based approaches to phonological phrasing and
shown to be superior to alternative approaches that require
either cyclic rule application or constraint re-ranking.
This approach also leads to an empirical exploration of
four new sentence types, which are documented with eleven
native Mandarin speakers and shown to be consistent with
juncture thresholds.

Comments: 
Keywords: Mandarin tone sandhi, phonological phrasing, junctural thresholds
Areas: Phonology,Syntax
Type: Masters Dissertation

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=1063