雷州方言入聲韻尾及聲調系統變化研究

A Study of Development of Terminal Plosives and Tonal Systems in Lei-Zhou Dialects

朱曼妮(Man-Ni Chu) ； 曹逢甫(Feng-Fu Tsao)

《聲韻論叢》 16期 (2009/12) Pp. 177-212

https://doi.org/10.29753/CP.200912.0007

摘要

The goal of the study is to explain why Lei-Zhou loses its final /-t/, which results in a series of re-categorizations of tones due to the subsequent interaction between segments and tones after the loss of stop codas in Lei-Zhou. Stops in the syllable final position make the tone shorter in terms of duration, resulting in what is known as a checked tone. We will investigate how a language tonal system is affected if its checked tone (alias entering tone) codas are lost.
Chen (1973) reported that (superscript *)m merged with (superscript *)n and then further merged with (superscript *)ng in the case of nasal ending and (superscript *)p merged with (superscript *)t and then merged with (superscript *)k in the case of final plosives. Nasal and stop developments in final position in Chinese are thus parallel. Eric Zee (1985) disagreed with Chen's and argued that the direction of nasalization is -m ＞ -n and -ng＞-n, which is easily nasalized in the end. Our observation is: Lei-Zhou dialect's checked tone coda /-t/ was either merged with /-k/ or lost. Our explanation is the relative smallest locus effect of /t/, which causes the segment alternation.
Zhang (1987) and Lin & Chen (1996) reported that Hai-Kang (named Lei-Zhou today) kept its entering tone codas /-p/ and /-k/ but lost its /-t/. This causes the syllables ending in /-t/ to be re-categorized into two. Some syllables are merged with the final /-k/ category. In such cases, tones keep its short duration and the whole tonal system stays the same. But it may simply result in a large increase in homophones. The other syllables lose their /-t/, leading to the loss of the checked tone. These tones are forced to merge with other non-checked tones of the closest tonal values: either yang-qu (55) or yang-shang (33) in Lei-Zhou's case. Both strategies reveal that languages tend to expend the least cost to maintain the whole tonal system by either merging the checked tone with other checked tones or with other non-checked tones. As a result of the merger a lot of homophones appear leading to a large amount of two-syllable phrases a word in today's Lei-Zhou dialect.

關鍵字

雷州方言 ； 入聲韻尾演變 ； 聲調系統的調整 ； 聲學感知

並列摘要

The goal of the study is to explain why Lei-Zhou loses its final /-t/, which results in a series of re-categorizations of tones due to the subsequent interaction between segments and tones after the loss of stop codas in Lei-Zhou. Stops in the syllable final position make the tone shorter in terms of duration, resulting in what is known as a checked tone. We will investigate how a language tonal system is affected if its checked tone (alias entering tone) codas are lost.
Chen (1973) reported that (superscript *)m merged with (superscript *)n and then further merged with (superscript *)ng in the case of nasal ending and (superscript *)p merged with (superscript *)t and then merged with (superscript *)k in the case of final plosives. Nasal and stop developments in final position in Chinese are thus parallel. Eric Zee (1985) disagreed with Chen's and argued that the direction of nasalization is -m ＞ -n and -ng＞-n, which is easily nasalized in the end. Our observation is: Lei-Zhou dialect's checked tone coda /-t/ was either merged with /-k/ or lost. Our explanation is the relative smallest locus effect of /t/, which causes the segment alternation.
Zhang (1987) and Lin & Chen (1996) reported that Hai-Kang (named Lei-Zhou today) kept its entering tone codas /-p/ and /-k/ but lost its /-t/. This causes the syllables ending in /-t/ to be re-categorized into two. Some syllables are merged with the final /-k/ category. In such cases, tones keep its short duration and the whole tonal system stays the same. But it may simply result in a large increase in homophones. The other syllables lose their /-t/, leading to the loss of the checked tone. These tones are forced to merge with other non-checked tones of the closest tonal values: either yang-qu (55) or yang-shang (33) in Lei-Zhou's case. Both strategies reveal that languages tend to expend the least cost to maintain the whole tonal system by either merging the checked tone with other checked tones or with other non-checked tones. As a result of the merger a lot of homophones appear leading to a large amount of two-syllable phrases a word in today's Lei-Zhou dialect.

並列關鍵字

Lei-Zhou Dialects ； the development of terminal plosives ； the adjustment of the tonal system ； acoustic perception