Thesis HUMA 2009
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A Phonetic Study on Implosives in China by Cun Xi A Thesis Submitted to The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Division of Humanities April, 2009, Hong Kong i HKUST Library Reproduction is prohibited without the author’s prior written consent UMI Number: 3365904 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ______________________________________________________________ UMI Microform 3365904 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. _______________________________________________________________ ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 Acknowledgements At this exciting and momentous time, the first person I would like to thank is my supervisor Prof. Zhu Xiaonong. Many years ago, when I was a newcomer to linguistics, he introduced me to the possibilities along that path and encouraged me to explore them. Reading and correcting every detail of my thesis is not his style, but his comments often hit the nail on the head. He likes to talk to students in an open-hearted way, as our friend, and invite us to meals at his home. I also thank Sean for encouraging me in my fieldwork, actively arguing for the postgraduate travel grants on my behalf and purchasing the instruments necessary for my research. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my committee members, Prof. Zhang Min, Prof. Sun Jingtao, Prof. Mai Yun, and Prof. Jiang Ping. I really enjoy the courses and seminarsled by Prof. Zhang; they were very interesting and great brain-storming sessions. He also introduced me to the field of language contact. I appreciate the many suggestions from Prof. Sun and Prof. Jiang and their careful examing of my thesis. Thanks for Prof. Mai accepting the invitation to be my committee member in such an urgent time. Prof. Phil Rose was very happy to be my external examiner. However, he had to take a surgery in January which is conflict with the time of the thesis examination. Although what a pity that Prof. Phil Rose could not be my external examiner, I also appreciate the discussion with him. His pertinent comments and criticism helped me to gain a more precise understanding of the tonal production theories. His energy and enthusiasm about linguistics positively infected me. I am very grateful to Prof. Ohala. John is regarded as a hero of the historical phonology by Sean but he is very friendly and easy going, happy to encourage young students. When he visited Hong Kong in 2006, I was glad of a short study time with him to discuss my work and thank him for his help and encouragement. A huge thank you goes to the Division of Humanities for providing the three-year postgraduate studentship for my PhD study, with a special mention to Sean for supporting my application for the postgraduate studentship for the seventh semester. The Division provided three times postgraduate travel grants (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06) for me to do fieldwork. The data collected during these fieldtrips provided the major materials for this thesis. Prof. Sun employed me as Research Assistant for tow months in the summer session which I really appreciated. I am grateful to the numerous linguists in China who provided help and a supportive atmosphere for me to carry out the fieldwork. Special thanks go to Prof. Xin Shibiao. He not only forgave me mistake, but treated me warmly in Hainan University, and helped to find the appropriate informants. He is familiar with all variations in the Min dialects in Hainan. His useful comments saved a lot of time at the start of my research and helped me to capture the features of this dialect more accurately. I owe a great debt to Prof. Mai Yun, Prof. Pan Wuyun, and Prof. Tao Huan, who helped to contact the informants in Guangdong, Guangxi, Shanghai and Zhejiang. I would especially like to thank Dr. Wang Hongzhi who helped to find the valuable Songjiang speaker who is iv among the few people who can still pronounce implosives. Prof. Li Lianjin was of great service in lending a hand to find informants in Zhuang, Maonan, Gelao, etc. I was fortunate to carry out these studies in the supportive atmosphere of the linguistic group in HKUST. My fellow colleague, including Douglas Whitehead, Alex Yim, Hong Ying, Franc Jiao, Celia Zhang, Mao Sheng, Li Yuxiang, Carine (Prof. Yiu) and Dr. Wu Hede, provided encouragement and commiseration. Hong Ying and her friend Xu Yuhang in CUHK also gave invaluable assistance as my informants in Chaozhou dialect. They were also kind enough to contact their friends in Guangzhou to find the informant for my study. Dr. Ling Feng in City University of Hong Kong also gave me a lot of help in solving the technical problems in using instruments. I appreciated the discussion with him in which we share the same interest. I would like to thank all of my informants, in particular those who took part in the aerodynamic investigation. Thank Kitty Ho, Rita Chui, Phil Lam and staffs in the Division who helped with many administration works. Special thanks go to Kitty, for her dedication to her work. I also would like to thank my brothers and sisters in church. Without them my life in Hong Kong could not be as pleasant. They created a communion for me to express my feelings and confusions, and I thank them for traveling with me and providing spiritual guidance. My parents have always loved and supported me. It was asurprise to learn that I was pregnant before the thesis was completed. Initially I was depressed because of both the work pressure and the physical discomfort. The month I spent living with my parents again, when they took superb care of me, greatly comforted me and I gained the strength to face the future. Finally, I would like to give my thanks and praise to my Lord. It was the wisdom from God that illustrated to me the answer of the question which motivated me to start this research. I am grateful for the small but warm home to live and grow together with my husband Steven, my roommate and spiritual mate. Both of us are writing our dissertations so we share with each other the difficult times when no progress is made, and the excitement and joy when a problem is solved or a new idea occurs. Thanks for his love and understanding when I was in a bad mood. The thesis writing is not an easy task, but I gained valuable insight into my character during the whole process. I learned to be calm and patient when things do not fulfil my expectation and to be persisting in completing a task that I promised. v Table of contents Title Page i Authorization...................................................................................................................................................ii Signature Page................................................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................iv Table of contents ............................................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ix List of Tables..................................................................................................................................................xi Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................xiv Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................1 1.2 Purpose....................................................................................................................................4 1.3 Overview of the Thesis............................................................................................................6 Chapter 2 Literature Review........................................................................................................................9 2.1 Understanding the phonetic properties of implosives .............................................................9 2.2 The achievements and problems in the studies in Chinese literature ....................................12 Chapter 3 Method, Background and Procedure .........................................................................................28 3.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................28 3.2 Basic information about the investigations ...........................................................................28