Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T02:55:42.968Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The syntax of Xiamen tone sandhi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2020

Matthew Y. Chen
Matthew Y. Chen*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This collection of thematically related papers in the current issue of the Phonology Yearbook, coming in the wake of recent major works like Selkirk (1984a) and Kaisse (1985), betokens a growing interest in the interfacing problem of syntax and phonology. So far, the most intensively investigated problems such as English contraction and auxiliary reduction fall in the intermediate area of morphosyntax, in the sense that they typically involve the adjunction of clitic-like elements to a neighbouring constituent with certain phonological consequences. The truly phrasal level of postlexical phonology is rather more sparsely populated by well-documented case studies. Chapter 7 of Kaisse (1985) reviews some of the better-known cases, including French liaison, Ewe tone sandhi, Italian raddoppiamento sintattico (initial consonant gemination), and Kimatuumbi vowel shortening (see references cited therein). To this list we may add the highly suggestive case of Chi Mwi:ni vowel shortening (see Kisseberth & Abasheikh 1974; and the insightful reanalysis in Selkirk 1986).

Type
Research Article
Information
Phonology , Volume 4 , May 1987 , pp. 109 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This article could not have been written in the absence of an earlier analysis attempted by Robert L. Cheng, and if written, would have been utterly devoid of general interest without reference to the theoretical issues highlighted principally in the works of Lisa Selkirk and Ellen Kaisse. While I have adopted here a position that differs from theirs in important respects, they have graciously taken my critique as the sincerest form of compliment, and have shared with me their valuable insights. Many other friends and colleagues have encouraged and helped me along the way. Yuki Kuroda was very patient with my many questions regarding one or other aspects of syntactic theory, and Larry Hyman took the time to comment in detail on many specific aspects of the paper. In particular, James Huang took me to task on a number of important issues, forcing me to weigh more carefully the implications of the analysis presented here. I wish to thank each of the above-mentioned for a most stimulating exchange of ideas in the course of completing this paper. Needless to say, none of them should be held responsible for the mistakes that are exclusively my own.

The present article is based on §§1–8 of an earlier and considerably longer manuscript (Chen 1985). §§9–10, devoted to general theoretical discussion, have been excised for lack of space, and will become part of another paper. In the final stages of recasting this manuscript for publication the author was supported by a Wang Institute (Tyngsboro, Mass.) Fellowship and NSF grant BNS–8608374.

References

Aronoff, M. (1980). The treatment of juncture in American linguistics. In Aronoff, M. & Kean, M.-L. (eds.) Juncture. Saratoga, Ca.: Anma Libri.Google Scholar
Beattie, D. A. (1985). Mandarin Chinese tone sandhi and the interaction of phonology and syntax. MA thesis, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Chan, M. (1980). Syntax and phonology interface: the case of tone sandhi in the Fuzhou dialect of Chinese. Ms, University of Washington.Google Scholar
Chen, M. (1980). The primacy of rhythm in verse: a linguistic perspective. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 8. 15–41.Google Scholar
Chen, M. (1985). The syntax of phonology: Xiamen tone sandhi. Ms, UCSD.Google Scholar
Chen, M. (1986a). An overview of tone sandhi phenomena across Chinese dialects. Paper presented at the Conference on the Languages and Dialects of China, Oakland, California. To appear in the Proceedings.Google Scholar
Chen, M. (1986b). The paradox of Tianjin tone sandhi. CLS 22. 98–114.Google Scholar
Chen, M. (1987). Must phonology directly access morphosyntax? Ms, UCSD.Google Scholar
Cheng, C. (1970). Domains of phonological rule application. In Sadock, J. M. & Vanek, A. L. (eds.) Studies presented to Robert B. Lees by his students. Edmonton: Linguistic Research. 39–59.Google Scholar
Cheng, L. (1985). The third tone sandhi in Mandarin Chinese and the interplay between syntax and phonology. Ms, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Cheng, R. (1968). Tone sandhi in Taiwanese. Linguistics 41. 19–42.Google Scholar
Cheng, R. (1973). Some notes on tone sandhi in Taiwanese. Linguistics 100. 5–25.Google Scholar
Cheng, R. (1985). A comparison of Taiwanese, Taiwan Mandarin, and Peking Mandarin. Lg 61. 352–377.Google Scholar
Cheng, R. & Cheng, S. (1977). Taiwan Fujian Hua de Yuyin Jiegou ji Biaoyinfa. [Phonological structure and Romanization of Taiwanese Hokkian.] Taipei: Student Book Co.Google Scholar
Cheng, S. (1981). A study of Taiwanese adjectives. Taipei: Student Book Co.Google Scholar
Chiu, B.-M. (1931). The phonetic structure and tone behavior in Hagu. Toung-Pao 28. 245–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chomsky, N. & Halle, M. (1968). The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Clark, M. (1978). A dynamic treatment of tone with special attention to the tonal system of Igbo. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Google Scholar
Clements, G. N. (1978). Tone and syntax in Ewe. In Napoli, D. J. (ed.) Elements of tone, stress, and intonation. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 21–99.Google Scholar
Defrancis, J. (1984). The Chinese language: fact and fantasy. University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Dowty, D. (1982). Grammatical relations and Montague grammar. In Jacobson, P. & Pullum, G. K. (eds.) The nature of syntactic representations. Dordrecht: Reidel. 79–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, B. (1984). The prosodic hierarchy in meter. To appear in Kiparsky, P. & Youmans, G. (eds.) Rhythm and meter. Orlando, Fl.: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Heny, F. (1973). Sentence and predicate modifiers in English. Syntax and Semantics 2. 217–245.Google Scholar
Huang, C. & Mangione, L. (1985). A reanalysis of de: adjuncts and subordinate clauses. Paper presented at the 4th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, UCLA.Google Scholar
Huang, J. (1982). Logical relations in Chinese and the theory of grammar. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Huang, J. (1984a). On the distribution and reference of empty pronouns. LI 15. 531–574.Google Scholar
Huang, J. (1984b). Phrase structure, lexical integrity, and Chinese compounds. Ms, National Tsing Hua University. To appear in Journal of Chinese Teachers Association.Google Scholar
Hung, T. (1986). The domain of tone sandhi in Fuzhou: a syntactic-semantic approach. Ms: UCSD.Google Scholar
Jackendoff, R. (1977). X syntax: a study of phrase structure. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Kaisse, E. (1985). Connected speech: the interaction of syntax and phonology. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kisseberth, C. & Abasheikh, M. (1974). Vowel length in Chi Mwi:ni – a case study of the role of grammar in phonology. In Bruck, A.Fox, R. & La Galy, M. (eds.) Papers from the parasession on Natural Phonology. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. 193–209.Google Scholar
Li, M.-D. (1985). Reduction and anaphoric relations in Chinese. PhD dissertation, UCSD.Google Scholar
Liao, C. (1971). The syntactic environments of tone sandhi in Taiwanese. MA thesis, National Taiwan University.Google Scholar
McCawley, J. (1983). The syntax of some English adverbs. CLS 19. 263–282.Google Scholar
McConnell-Ginet, S. (1982). Adverbs and logical form: a linguistically relevant theory. Lg 58. 144–184.Google Scholar
Poteet, S. (1985). Tone sandhi and the phonological structure of Mandarin. Ms, UCSD.Google Scholar
Pullum, G. & Zwicky, A. (forthcoming). The syntax-phonology interface. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Rotenberg, J. (1978). The syntax of phonology. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Selkirk, E. (1978). On prosodic structure and its relation to syntactic structure. Distributed 1980 by Indiana University Linguistics Club.Google Scholar
Selkirk, E. (1984a). Phonology and syntax: the relation between sound and structure. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Selkirk, E. (1984b). (Dis)juncture in sentence phonology as a temporal phenomenon. Paper presented at the 5th Internationale Phonologietagung, Eisenstadt. To appear inPhonologica 1984.Google Scholar
Selkirk, E. (1986). On derived domains in sentence phonology. Ph Y 3. 371–405.Google Scholar
Shih, C.-L. (1986). The prosodic domain of tone sandhi in Chinese. PhD dissertation, UCSD.Google Scholar
Thomason, R. & Stalnaker, R. (1973). A semantic theory of adverbs. LI 4. 195–220.Google Scholar
Vendler, Z. (1984). Adverbs of action. In Testen, D.Mishra, V. & Drogo, J. (eds.) Papers from the parasessi on on lexical semantics. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. 297–307.Google Scholar
Wang, W. (1967). Phonological features of tone. IJAL 33. 93–105.Google Scholar
Wright, M. (1983). A metrical approach to tone sandhi in Chinese dialects. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Google Scholar
Xu, L. & Langendoen, D. (1985). Topic structure in Chinese. Lg 61. 1–27.Google Scholar
Yang, B.-S. & Chen, J.-M. (1981). Haifeng hua yuju zhong de shengdiao wenti. [On Haifeng tones in connected speech.] Yuyanxue luncong 7. 123–168.Google Scholar
Yip, M. (1980). The tonal phonology of Chinese. PhD dissertation, MIT.Google Scholar
Zhu, D.-X. (1956). Xiandai hanyu xingrongci yanjiu. [A study of the adjective in Modern Chinese.] Yuyan Yanjiu I. 83–112.Google Scholar
Zwicky, A. (1978). Arguing for constituents. CLS 14. 503–512.Google Scholar
Zwicky, A. (1985). Clitics and particles. Lg 61. 283–305.Google Scholar