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Tones & Pronunciation

Master Chinese tones
韵律词与音步结构
prosodic word and foot structure
Mandarin has iambic feet
Monosyllables often pair to form disyllabic units
句重音与焦点
sentence stress and information focus
NEW information stressed; given info reduced
Focus stress marks new vs given information
语篇延续语调与结束语调
list vs conclusion intonation in discourse
rising for list continuation; fall for conclusion
Intonation signals discourse structure
连读中的弱化与同化
reduction and assimilation in connected speech
tāmen → tamen in fast speech
Unstressed syllables reduce; tones assimilate
书面语发音 vs 口语省略
formal pronunciation vs colloquial contraction
careful speech vs casual speech
Same morpheme pronounced differently in registers
借词音系适应
phonological adaptation of loanwords
kāfēi (coffee)
bǐsàbǐng (pizza)
啊的音变规则 (allomorphs)
allomorphs of sentence-final particle 啊
a→ya/wa/na/nga depending on preceding sound
Conditioned allomorphy of 啊
方言声调对普通话的影响
dialect tone interference in Mandarin
Cantonese preserves -p/-t/-k; Shanghainese merges tones
Regional accent patterns in Standard Chinese
感情语调与音域扩展
emotional speech and expanded pitch range
exclamations widen pitch range
Affective speech differs from neutral speech
边音 ḿ ń ǹ — 边缘音节
marginal syllables ḿ ń ǹ
ǹg for disagreement
Syllabic nasals used as interjections