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18 - Perception and production of Mandarin Chinese tones
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- By Allard Jongman, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Kansas, Yue Wang, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, Corinne B. Moore, Product Manager, ProQuest Media Solutions, a division of ProQuest Company, Joan A. Sereno, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Kansas
- Edited by Ping Li, University of Richmond, Virginia, Li Hai Tan, The University of Hong Kong, Elizabeth Bates, University of California, San Diego, Ovid J. L. Tzeng, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
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- Book:
- The Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics
- Published online:
- 05 June 2012
- Print publication:
- 27 April 2006, pp 209-217
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction
Lexical tones are pitch patterns that serve to provide contrasts in word meaning. They perform this function analogously to segments such as voiced and voiceless stops, except that tone may extend beyond one segment. Mandarin Chinese phonemically distinguishes four tones, with tone 1 having high-level pitch, tone 2 high-rising pitch, tone 3 low-dipping pitch, and tone 4 high-falling pitch (Chao, 1948). The same segmental context carries different meanings depending on the tone. For example, the meaning of Mandarin Chinese ma with tone 1 is “mother,” the tone 2 version means “hemp,” and the tones 3 and 4 meanings are “horse” and “scold,” respectively.
Pitch or tone is a function of the rate of vocal fold vibration (see Ohala, 1978, for a review of tone production). As stipulated in the myoelastic–aerodynamic theory of vocal fold vibration (e.g. Van den Berg, 1958), it is a cyclic process that is achieved by a complex combination of aerostatic and aerodynamic forces, operating together with air flow and laryngeal muscle forces. Changes in fundamental frequency (or in rate of vocal fold vibration) are made by manipulating tension in the vocal folds. This tension is increased or decreased by the laryngeal muscles, particularly the cricothyroid muscle and the thyroarytenoids. The cricothyroid has been linked to both rises and falls in pitch, while sternohyoid activity is associated with pitch lowering (Sagart et al., 1986).
The rate of vocal fold vibration is quantified as the fundamental frequency (F0), expressed in Hertz (Hz).