Pitch contour formation in Mandarin Chinese: A study of tone and intonation.

摘要

Mandarin tones are found to be unpredictable when occurring in connected speech. However, there is no detailed analysis of how pitch contours are formed in the whole course of an utterance. This thesis introduces an instrumental analysis of tape-recorded spontaneous and tonal controlled speech in Mandarin.; It is proposed that the three lowest prosodic levels in Mandarin speech are: prosodic word, intermediate phrase, and intonational phrase. Tonal contours in prosodic constituents at these levels are referred to as tone, tune, and intonation respectively. An intermediate phrase is a basic tone sandhi domain.; Because of physiological constraints in the production of human speech, F0 has to vary gradually within a given range. Therefore, pitch movement obtains undulatory shapes. The tendency of pitch undulation plays an important role in affecting tonal changes in speech.; A principle has been proposed to account for the pitch contour formation in intermediate phrases: pitch contours of strongly stressed syllables build the frame of pitch undulation. Pitch contours of weakly stressed and unstressed syllables retain tonal features compatible with, but give up those which conflict with the frame. Along the tendency of pitch movement, these pitch contours serve as transitions or pre- or post-extensions for tones of strong syllables and positively contribute to the final shape of tunes.; A basic T3 is considered as a low falling contour. The pitch contours in T3 sequences exhibits fixed patterns regardless of stress patterns. The realization of the low T3 target requires a preceding and a proceeding high target in mid-positions of utterances. The physical constraint of tonal production is assumed to cause these phenomena.; The effect of strong emphasis and that of speech style often override the above principle. They are assumed to function at levels higher than intermediate phrase. The effect of catathesis is tested, and the result confirms conclusions of previous studies.; A Mandarin intonation is assume as a curved band of pitch range by previous studies. This thesis defines the surface form of an intonation as the actual pitch movement. The underlying form of an intonation includes: the occurrence and order of underlying tones in the utterance, and the overall strength and height of prosodic constituents at each level.