An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics
Francis D. M. D ow
Faculty of Asian Studies in association w ith the Australian National University Press
Canberra 1972 This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy. An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics
Oriental Monograph Series No. 10
PLEA&g RETiJkfti TO EDrroRIAL DEPARTMENT jM IM M HüTlOyi imiM ill
olS-(f 0 2-
■ f r u - ' 1 0 Faculty of Asian Studies: Oriental Monograph Series These monographs are a continuing series, on the languages, cultures, and history of China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and continental Southeast Asia. 1. A.H. Johns : The Gift Addressed to the Spirit o f the Prophet (1965) 2. H.H. Dubs (compiled by Rafe de Crespigny) : Official Titles o f the Former Han Dynasty (1967) 3. H.H.E. Loofs : Elements o f the Megalithic Complex in South east Asia : An annotated bibliography (1967)
4. A.L. Basham (ed.) : The Papers on the Date o f Kaniska (1969)
5. A. Yuyama : A bibliography o f the Sanskrit Texts o f the Saddharmapundarikasutra (1970) 6. I. de Rachewiltz and M. Nakano : Index to Biographical Material in Chin and Yuan Literary \Yorks (1970) 7. Miyoko Nakano : A Phonological Study in the Phags-pa Script and the Meng-ku Tzu-yün (1971) 8. K.H.J. Gardiner : The Early History o f Korea (1969) 9. R. de Crespigny : The Last o f the Han (1969)
10. Frances D. M. Dow : Mandarin Phonetics. 2nd Edition (forthcoming) 11. D.N. Lorenzen : The Kdpdlikas and Kälämukhas : Two Lost Saivite Sects (forthcoming) An Outline of Mandarin Phonetics
Francis D. M. D o w
Faculty of Asian Studies in association with the Australian National University Press Canberra 1972 First published 1970
Second edition 197'-
c Francis D.M. Dow
This book is copyright. Apart From any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher.
Printed in Australia by Southwood Press
Registered at the General Post Office, Sydney, for transmission by post as a book
National Library of Australia card and ISBN
0 7081 0168 2
Library of Congress Catalog card no. ^ ^ - 1 ^ 2 2 ^ 6 PREFACE
It is a commonplace in modern linguistics that the spoken language is primary and that the written language is derived, the former being not only an important means to proficiency in reading, but a respectable end in itself. An understanding of the spoken language is more immediately useful than a knowledge of the written language.
Phonetics is an essential subject in the study of spoken language, and phonetic transcription serves as a basic tool in speech analysis both for those who investigate their native languages and for those who wish to learn a foreign language. This book is written to meet these purposes.
On the basis of the knowledge of general phonetics and English phonetics learnt in Europe, I wrote this book after I had started teaching Chinese at the Australian National University in 1967* I should like to thank Messrs. C. Court and J. Harris of the Department of Linguistics, School of General Studies, for their inspiration and help in many ways at the earlier stage. I am grateful to my English teacher, Mr D. Morgan, for reading through my manuscript. My sincere thanks are particularly due to Professor Y.R. Chao of the University of California for his teaching and advice by correspondence. Although he was extremely busy with his own work, he went through the final draft of my manuscript, kindly and patiently correcting errors and furnishing me with a number of valuable points.
As I have been mostly teaching English-speaking people, some sounds in this book are only compared with those in Received English; they are occasionally compared with those in some Mandarin dialects, Chinese dialects and Peking opera. Words which have sounds difficult for both foreign learners and non-Mandarin speaking Chinese are particularly selected for practice. For the purpose of the accurate comparison of different sounds in different languages and dialects, the articulatory system is rather detailed in descript ion. Due to the lack of phonetic symbols, some easily
v typed marks are used in appendix I and II. No tone marks of alternation are used except for those over yi (one).
I am grateful to Professor S.A. Wurm of the Department of Linguistics, Institute of Advanced Studies, for lending me his typit elements and his valuable suggestions about the arrangement of appendix I and II. I would like finally to express my thanks to Miss J. Wildash and Mrs R. Speight who typed the manuscript and helped with the checking.
Australian National University July 1970 Francis D.M. Dow
vi Preface v
Spelling Guide xvi
1. Speech Organs and the Production of Speech-sounds 1 1.1 Respiratory System 1 1.2 Phonetory System 3 1.3 Articulatory System 5 1.4 Articulators in Connection with the Production of Speech-sounds 6 1.5 1*5 A Brief Statement ofthe Process of Sound-production 12
2. Secondary Features 13 2.1 Aspiration 13 2.2 V-o ice 1 4 2.3 Nasalization 14
3. Consonants 16 3.1 General Survey 16 3.2 Consonants Classified in Terms of Manner of Articulation 17 3»2a Non-continuants 18 Stops 3•2b Continuants 19 3.2b.1 Nasal 19 3•2b.2 Oral 21 Fricatives 21 Resonants 22 Flaps and Trills 23 Affricates
vii 4. Consonants (initials) in Mandarin Chinese classified According to Place of Articul- at ion 24
4.1 General Survey 24 4.2 Labials 25 [b] and [ph] 25 M 27 [f] 28 4.3 Dental Sibilants 29 [dz] and [tsh] 29 [s] 31 4.4 Alveolars 32 [d] and [th] 33 [n] 34 [1] 3 6 4.5 Retroflexes 37 [dz] and [tsh] 37 [s ] and [z] 4o
A Comparison between these Two Sounds and some English Sounds 42
4.6 Prepalatals 44 [dz] and [tch] 45 [c] 48 4.7 Sharper and Flatter Sounds 49 -3- 00 Velars 50 [ g ] and [ kh ] 50 [ ] 52 [ ] 53 4.9 Summary 54
viii 5. Zero Initials 56 5.1 General Survey 56 5.2 Zero before Open Finals 56 5- 3 Zero before Spread Finals 57 5.4 Zero before Rounded Finals 47 5.5 Zero before Inner-rounded Finals 57
6 . Semi-vowels 58 6 .1 General Survey 58 6.2 [j] 59 6- 3 [w/ ] 60 6.4 [ ] 61
7. Vowels 62 7.1 General Survey 62 7.2 Vowels in Mandarin Chinese 64 7.2a Vowels 64 7.2b Neutral Vowels 65
8. Compound Vowels 66 8.1 General Survey 66 8.2 Diphthongs 66 8.2a Falling (Descending) Dipthongs 67 [ ] 67 t ] 68 [ e ] 68 [ o ] 68 8.2b Rising (Ascending) Dipthongs 69 [ ] 69 [i e ] 69 [ ] 70
- ix - [ ] 70 [y e ] 72 8.3 Triphthongs 72
Finals 73 9.1 Open Finals 74 9.1a / /- Group 74 [ ] 74 [ ] 75(see 67) [an] 75 [ ] 75 [ ] 75(see 68) 9.1b / /- Group 75 [ ] 75 [e ] 76(see 68) [ n] 76 [ ] 77 [o ] 77(s ee 6 8 - 6 9 ) 9.2 Spread Finals 77 9.2a / z/z/ 77 [*] 77 [»] 78 9.2b /i/ and /i/ + / /- Group 78
[i] 78 [ ] 78(see 69) [ ] 79 [ ] 79 [ ] 79(see 7 2 )
X 9 .2c /i/ + / /- Group 79 [IE] 79(see 69-70)
[in] and [i ] 79 [ o ] 79(see 72) 9-3 Rounded Finals 80 9.3a /u/ and /u/ + / /- Group 80 [u] 80 [ ] 80(see 7 0 ) [ ] 80(see 72) [ an ] and [ ] 80 9.3b /u/ + / /- Group 80
[ ] 81(see 70) [ ] 81(see 72) [ n] 81 [ ] 81 9.4 Inner-rounded Finals 82 9«4a /y/ and /y/ + / /- Group 82 [y] 82 [Van] 82 9.4b /y/ + / /- Group 82 [y e ] 8 2 (see 72) [yn] 83 [Y ] 83
Retroflexed Finals (Retroflexed Vowels and Diminutive Suffixes) 84 10.1 General Survey 84 10.2 Rules of Retroflexed Finals Derived from Ordinary Finals 87
The Formation of Syllables 98
xi 12. Tones 1 02 12.1 General Survey 102 12.2 Tones Uttered in Succession 1 04 12.3 Special Tone Change 105 12.4 Difficulties for English- speaking Learners 107
13* Neutral Tones 109 13*1 General Survey 109 13*2 Grammatical and Lexical Neutral Tones 113 13*2a Grammatical Neutral Tones 114 1 . Parti cles 1 14 2. Pronouns after Verbs 1 14 3 . Complements 1 14 3.1 Directional Complements 1 14 3.2 Resultative Complements 117 4. Some Localizers 1 18 5* Reduplicated Words 119 13•2b Lexical Neutral Tones (see App.il) 142
14. Stress 121 14.1 General Survey 121 14.2 Word Stress 122 14.3 Sentence Stress 123 Appendix I 125 Words with Terminal -r Appendix II 142 Trochees Select Bibliography 1 76 Index 180
- xii - Illustrations,Tables and Lists
1. The three systems (respiratory, phonetory and articulatory) 1
2. The speech organs in the phonetory and articulatory systems 2
3» The structure of the larynx and the activities of the vocal cords 4
4. Diagrams showing aspirations 13 5. Diagrams showing the three stages (initial, hold and release) of alveolar stops in Mandarin Chinese 17 6. Table of stops 18 7. Table of nasal consonants 20 8. Table of fricatives 22 9. The position for bilabial stops 25 10. The position for bilabial continuant 27 11. The position for voiceless labio-dental slit fricative 28 12. The position for apico-dental affricates 29 13« The position for apico-dental voiceless fricative 31 14. The position for apico-alveolar nasal oontinuant 34 15* The position for apico-alveolar lateral resonant 36
xiii 16 . The position for apico-prepalatal affricates 37
17* The position for apico-prepalatal fricatives 40
18. Table of sounds used in place of [3 ] by various dialect-speakers 41
19• The position for fronto-prepalatal affricates 46
20. The position for fronto-prepalatal fricatives 48
21. A list of sharper and flatter sounds 49-50
22. The position for dorso-velar stops 50
23* The position for nasal dorso-velar continuant 52
24. The position for uvular fricative 53
25* A list of Mandarin consonants 55
26. A list of Mandarin semi-vowels occurring in various environments 59
27* The vowel diagram 63
28. A list of neutral vowels in Mandarin Chinese 65
29* Table of the variants of [tf] in Mandarin Chinese 71
30. Table of finals 73
31 • The position for [a^J 84
32. Table of terminals with -r added 86
33* A list of initials and finals 98
34. Table of the formation of syllables 99
35* Table of syllables 100
36. Diagram illustrating the four lexical tones in Mandarin Chinese 104
37* Table of the unstable tone patterns of a few morphemes 106 xiv 38. A list of disyllabic words possessing different meanings when spoken with different stresses 109-110
39. The shapes and pitches of neutral tones 112-113
40. Table of directional complement s 115
41 . Table of resultative complements 1 17
xv 1. Consonants (initials)
IPA Wade Pinyin (New Chinese Phonetic Symbols 1.1 Labials /b ph m f/ /p p' m f/ /b p m f/ 1.2 Dental Sibilants /dz tsh s/ /t s ts' s/ /z c s/ 1.3 Alveolars /d th n 1/ /t t ' n 1/ /d t n 1/ l .4 Retroflexes /dz tsh s z/ /ch ch' sh j/ /zh ch sh r/ 1.5 Prepalatals /dz t h / /ch ch' hs/ /j q x/ 1.6 Velars /g kh n x/ /k k' ng h/ /g k ng h/
2. Vowels (Finals)
2.1 Open a. / / - Group /a/ - Group /a/ - Group an n a ai an ang ao a ai an ang ao b. / / - Group /e/ - Group /e/ - Group e n n ° e (o ) ei en eng ou e ei en eng ou 2.2 Spread ([j ] after ([y] after zero (/i/ after /l . 2-/l. 4-1.5 zero & prepalatal initials) y after zero initials) initials) a. /z/z / /u/ih/ b. /i/ & /i/ + / / /i/ & /i/ + /a/ /i/ & /i/ + /a/ n ia ien iang iao ia ian iang iao c . A / + / / /i/ + /e/ A / + /e/ IE in in ieh in ing iu ie in ing iu 2.3 Rounded ([w/u] ( [w] after zero ([w] after zero initials) after zero initials initials) & [-w-] after velars) a . /u/ & /u/ + / / /u/ & /u/ + /a/ /u/ & /u/ + /a/ an n ua uai uan uang ua uai uan uang b. /u/ + / / /u/ + /e/ /u/ + /e/ e n n uo ui un ung uo ui un ong 2.4 Inner-rounded ([ ] ([yü] after zero ([yu] after zero initials after zero and pre initials) [ii] after /l-/) palatal initials) a . /y/ & /y/ + / / /ti/ & /ü/ + /a/ /(y)u/ + /a/ Yan uan -uan (after /l.5-/) b. /y/ + / / /u/ + /e/ /(y )u/ + /e/ YE yn Y n üeh ün üng ue un (after /l.5-/ long (after /l.5-/)
xvi 1
1. Speech Organs and the Production of Spe ech-sounds
There are three systems of the speaking apparatus in three parts of the human body used for the production of speech sounds. The three parts are trunk, throat and head. The three systems are the respiratory system, the phonetory system and the articulatory system. They are illustrated as follows:
Articulatory, Phonetorysystem system
Respiratory system
1.1. Respiratory System
Within this system, the lungs provide air. The outward moving column of air known as the egressive pulmonic airstream is the most common source of air used in normal speech in the great majority of languages.
When a person is breathing, the air passes 2
out through the throat and the nose, or through the mouth, and it can be used for speech. On its way out, the air coming from the lungs meets with various obstructions and is modified in various ways. As a result different sounds may be produced.
The process of speech production is fund amentally the same as that of sound production in a flute, a horn or any other wind instrument. In either case there is initiation of an air- stream and modification of it in the cavities through which it has to pass before it finds its way into the outer air.
Before further discussion, the speech organs in the phonetory system and articulatory system are illustrated below. The abbreviations repre senting the names of the speech organs are alphabetically arranged.
Fig. 2.
a apex (tongue tip) al = alveolar ridge 3 a.p. = alveolar-palate b = tongue back bl = tongue blade e = epiglo 11is es = esophagus (oesophagus)f = tongue front g = gum 1 = lips (upper & l o w e r ) 1. & g. = larynx, glottis l.j. = lower jaw m = tongue middle n = nasal cavity o = oral cavity p = pharynx r = tongue root t = upper & lower front teeth tr = trachea (windpipe) u = uvula v = velum (soft palate) v.c. - vocal cords v.p. = velo -palate (the middle of the hard palate)
1.2. Phonetory System
This system consists of the speech organs in the pharyngeal passage. While producing the speech-sounds, the airstream must pass through the trachea (the windpipe leading to the lungs) and the larynx. The larynx is situated between the pharynx and the trachea; it forms a part of the air-passage and opens into the lower part of the throat and is protected by the epiglottis.
The epiglottis, a thin cartilage, is fastened in the upper part of the larynx below the root of the tongue; it does not appear to participate in the function of any speech-sounds. When breathing and talking, it opens so that air can pass through the trachea, but when eating and drinking, it closes to cover the trachea so that food goes through to the esophagus (food-pipe) which is right behind the larynx.
The vocal cords, a pair of fleshy membranes resembling two lips, are situated in the larynx. They can be opened and shut, or relaxed and tensed at will. When they are brought together 4
and air is forced between them, they vibrate, producing musical sounds - vowels and voiced consonants. The space between the two cords is the glottis which is the organ of voice. Since the structure of the larynx and the activities of the vocal cords are described in many books, they are not repeated here, ^but illustrated with the following figures.
Tongu. Epiglottis Ligamentous Glottis Fahe Vocal Chord Vocal Chord Cartilaginous Glottis Pharynx Cavity
Thyroid Cartilage Ligamentous Glottis Crieo-Thyrcfcl W ot Vocal M iuda Vocal Process Cartilaginous Glottis Back Vtew AryUnoid Cartilage
Fig. 3- Laryngeal Fig. 4. Larynx as cartilages & hyoid reflected in a bone laryngoscope mirror with horizontal sec tion
Hyoid Bone
Falsa Vocal Chon)
Fhtas Vocal Chord .Ventricle of Morgagni
-Vocal Chord
Median Section Anterior-Posterior Section
Fig. 3. Vertical sections of the larynx
i T. Chiba and M. Kanyama, The Vowel, its Nature and Structure, pp. 2-3« 5
Speech-sounds are resonances excited by the airstream coming through the larynx; they never reach our ears unmodified. They must pass through resonance chambers which impart their character istics to the sounds. The resonators are:
1. The upper larynx space above the vocal cords.
2. The pharynx - from top of larynx to the oral entrance and the entrance of the nasal cavity. Forward in the anterior middle pharynx is the opening of the velar door; below it is bounded by the tongue root and above by the velum.
3« The oral cavity.
4. The nasal cavity.
All larynx sounds must pass through 1. and 2. and either 3« or 4. or both.
1.3 Articulatory System
In this system, besides the nasal cavity which is used as an air-passage when nasal sounds are produced, the most important cavity is the mouth. The mouth consists of two parts: the roof and the floor - each having a hard and a soft portion. The upper jaw with the palate for the upper hard portion, the horse-shoe shaped jaw for the lower part. The rear of the oral cavity is closed by the velum above, and tongue- back below, and the front of the oral cavity is closed by the lips.
For the production of vowels, there are three doors in the oral cavity - lip door, middle 6
door and velar door. The mouth works to strengthen and brighten the voiced airstream for the majority of vowels. In the production of vowels, the lower the harmonics are, the more open the oral cavity is. The lowest harmonics require deep dropping of the back of the tongue to enlarge the oral cavity.
The mouth has many shapes made, in the main, by the movements of the tongue and lips. All oral art iculators function by raising all or part of the lower portion against the upper portion. Speech- sounds are generally produced by combining the active articulators (movable) and the passive articulators (stationary). The active articulators are the tongue, buccal walls, velum and uvula inside the buccal cavity, the lower jaw and lips outside the mouth, and the vocal cords in the phonetory system. The passive articulators are the teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate and the back wall of the pharynx.
1.4. Articulators in Connection with the Production of Speech-sounds
A) The passive articulators
A. 1 ) The upper front teeth
If the active articulators are placed against various points of the upper teeth, many different speech-sounds may be pro duced. They are labio-dentals, interdentals, dentals (Spanish [t,d] and dental sibilants, etc . ) .
A.2) The upper gum
The upper gum is situated between the back of the upper teeth and the alveolar ridge. 7
Speech-sounds made with the tip of the tongue and the upper gum are generally called "alveolars, gingivals, postdentals or dentals".
A.3) The alveolar ridge (or alveolus, alveoli, honeycomb •)
The alveolar ridge is situated between the upper gum and the hard palate. Alveolar sounds are generally produced by placing the tip or blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge.
A.4) The hard palate
The hard palate is the middle passive articulator of the upper portion of the mouth; it divides the roof of the mouth into 2 parts - the stationary passive art iculators described on page 6 and the movable velum (soft palate). In return, the hard palate is divided into two parts - the anterior palate (alveo-palate) and the cen tral palate (velo-palate). Various palatal sounds are produced by placing the tip, blade, front or middle of the tongue against the anterior part or central part of the hard palate.
A.5) The velum (the soft palate)
The division between the hard palate and the velum can be felt with the tip of the tongue when it is curled back as far as possible. The contour of the velum follows that of the roof of the nasal passage, bow ing down from the horizontal to the vert ical, opposite the spinal column.
The airstream coming up through the throat is usually divided at the velum, 8
part going through the mouth and part through the nose. Like a valve, the velum opens and shuts the passage from the throat into the nose. When breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, the velum opens and shuts alternatively. The velum closes off the back of the mouth by touching the back of the tongue and also closes off the nasal passage by touching the back wall of the throat.
A.6) The upper and lower throat spaces
The relatively large space between the back side of the velum and the back wall of the throat forms the upper throat space; the considerably smaller space between the tongue root and the back throat wall is the lower throat space.
A .7) Uvula
The uvula is a fleshy, hanging protuberance in the centre of the posterior part of the soft palate. A sound produced by contact between the back of the tongue (or the area between the back and the root of the tongue) and the uvula is uvular, while a sound produced with the uvula pressed back against the wall of the mouth so as to prevent an escape of air by way of the nose is called a buccal sound.
B) The active articulators
The most active of the speech organs is ,of course,the tongue. The word for ’language1in a number of languages is the word for 'tongue', in fact the word’lan guage ’itself means something like 'tongue- stuff . So far as the production of the speech-sounds is concerned, the tongue is y
generally divided into the following parts:
B.l) Tongue edges (tongue rims) (at rest opposite the teeth)
B.2) Apex (tip) (at rest opposite the upper gums and the post upper teeth)
Sounds like dentals, alveolars and alveo-palatals are generally produced by placing the apex of the tongue against the various points of articulation ranging from the cutting edge of the upper front teeth to the anterior part of the hard palate.
B.3 ) Blade (at rest opposite the alveolar ridge)
The blade of the tongue is just past the apex and up to the front; it is the flat part of the upper front surface of the tongue. In the production of various speech-sounds, it coincides with the upper gums, the arch of the roots of the teeth, the alveolar ridge and even the anterior part of the hard palate.
B.4) Front (at rest opposite the anterior part of the hard palate)
The front of the tongue means the front surface of the tongue. In the production of alveo-palatal sounds, it coincides with the anterior part of the hard palate.
B.5) Middle (at rest opposite the velo-palate)
In the production of speech-sounds, it coincides with the velo-palate.
B.6) Back (at rest opposite the velum)
The back of the tongue is the back dorsum 10
or surface of the tongue. If the back of the tongue is lowered, the uvula is free. The vowels [o] and | u] are produced with the back of the tongue arched towards the velum, while velar consonants are formed by raising the back of the tongue against the velum.
B .7) Root
The tongue root is the front wall of the pharyngeal cavity. A pharyngeal sound which is produced at the pharynx is formed with the root of the tongue near the back of the pharynx.
Since consonants are generally produced by moving the active articulators in contact with o^ close to l x passive articulators, h ^ a sides should be named. Of the sides of the tongue, the apico-, fronto- and dorso- represent the tip, front and back of the tongue respectively (dorso- is used to represent both front and back surfaces of the tongue by some writers), while the word 'linguo-' is employed to represent all parts of the tongue. The latter is just as ambiguous as those named only by the places of articulation (passive articulators).
So far as the pitch of the harmonics is concerned, the tongue is the determinant. The more the tongue is retracted, the larger the resonance chamber becomes, and the lower the pitch; the more it moves forward, the smaller the chamber becomes, and the higher the pitch. The tongue movement in connection with the pro duction of the vowels are briefly described as f o l l o w s :
1) The height of the tongue
1a) A high vowel is produced by raising the tongue towards the mouth roof. lb) A mid vowel is produced when the tongue is at the middle position in the mouth, i.e. at the point between the highest and the lowest elevation.
lc) A low vowel is produced with the tongue in the lower half of the mouth, which is relatively wide open.
2) Front-back position
2a) A front vowel is produced with the mass of the tongue pushed towards the front of the mouth and the front of the tongue arched towards the palate.
2b) A back vowel is produced with the back of the tongue arched towards the velum.
C) Speech organs outside the oral cavity
C .1) Lips
In forming speech-sounds, the general significance of the lower lip is greater than the upper lip. The upper lip only acts in smiling and laughing. Both lips join in blowing and whistling in addition to producing bilabial and rounded sounds.
In the [f-v] series, the lower lip lies gently against the cutting edge of the upper front teeth, leaving a narrow slit for the air- stream. For the [p-b] series and the [m] series, it is pressed against the upper lip.
In the production of vowels, the lip position is one of the three dimensions. The formation of the rising resonance series [a] [ ae] [e] [i], accordingly, is aided by spreading the lips, just 12
as in the de sc ending series [ u ] |_ o ] [ o ] [ d ] it is helped to drop by less and less lip rounding.
C .2) Lower j aw
The lower jaw can be raised or lowered, thrust forward or down backward. Forward motion seems greater than backward motion. The oral cavity is enlarged by dropping the jaw; reduced by raising the jaw.
1.5 A Brief Statement of the Process of Sound-production
The pulmonic egressive airstream coming from the lungs, rises and forces the vocal cords open and closed when the vocal cords return into position and continue opening and closing so rapidly that the puffs of air sent up are heard as voice. Voice serves as the foundation of speech-sounds in the resonance chamber; it comes up through the velar door into the wide open mouth and gives [aj - sound; but if the lips are sharply rounded [u] results. if the tongue lies like an upturned leaf, leaving spaces at its sides, [i] results. If the tongue back and the velum are close together and the air goes through the nose, the sound [b] is made. When it passes through both nose and mouth chambers nasalized vowels are produced. If it goes through the oral cavity only, and the tongue or lip is raised to form a narrow passage, oral noise results, depending on where it occurs. If a closure is made while the vocal cords vibrate, [b, d, g] are formed. More detailed description of the sound production is given in the following chapt er s . 2. Secondary Features
A feature which is added to ordinary articulation is said to be a secondary feature. Before the discussion of speech-sounds, some secondary features such as aspiration, voice and nasalization in Mandarin Chinese are briefly introduc ed.
2.1 Aspiration
Aspiration is the addition to a plosive consonant of a perceptible puff of breath. The puff of breath which follows the first consonant of the English words "pea, tea, key" can be tested by holding a small slip of very light weight paper before the lips as the words are spoken. The paper will flutter slightly just as the first consonant ends (see Fig. 6)
F i g . 6
When the Chinese words formed with the same initials are spoken in the same way, however, the paper will flutter considerably more. To determine whether or not a sound is strongly aspirated, use a slip of paper which is not too thin and observe the fluttering of the paper as the words are pronounced. 14
A recorded word like ’tea' will not reverse into 'eat’ as expected, but into something like ’east’ because of the aspirated nature of [t] which is regarded as a complex sound. In Mandarin Chinese, there are six aspirated consonants - three stops and three affricates. There are two types of aspiration-indicators - [h] and [*] with parallel use in Chinese phonetics. In this book, [h] and [1] are used to indicate strong aspiration of a sound in a stressed syllable and weak aspiration of a sound in an unstressed (atonic) syllable respectively.
2.2 Voice
Sounds produced with the vocal cords brought together, so that they are made to vibrate by the outpushing air and to produce a musical tone, are called ’voiced' . Conversely, sounds produced with the vocal cords held apart, so that the airstream moves between them with a minimum of local friction, are called 'voiceless’ or 'breathless'
Among the 22 consonants in Mandarin Chinese, there are five voiced consonants and only a pair of consonants distinguished from each other by means of presence and absence of voice. Three unaspirated, voiceless stops and affricates occurring in atonic syllables (or in intervocalic position) become voiced, while vowels |_-z, -i, -u, -y] occurring in atonic syllables particularly preceded by tone-4, become voiceless.
2.3 Nasalization
Nasalized sounds are produced with both the nasal and oral cavities opened. The air passes 15 through both the nose and mouth. The velum is in its neutral position. In general, the airstream through the narrow nasal passage sounds damped and muffled; through the wide open mouth it is bright and open; with both nasal and oral passages open it has a quality between the two.
Experimentally, this can be determined by the breath striking on a cold polished surface, by having the person stand in front of it, with a ruler horizontal between nose and mouth, and tight against the surface. Then the vowel in question is spoken and held a short time. If there is no evidence of steamed surface above the ruler, it is oral only. The degree of moisture above the ruler shows the relative nasality present.
Nasalized vowels are very common in French. A vowel preceding a nasal consonant is generally nasalized in a north-west Mandarin dialect spoken in Shan-hsi province. In standard Mandarin Chinese, when a terminal [-r] is added to a word ending in[-q], then there is no longer any complete closure between the tongue back and the velum, although the back of the tongue rises towards that position. The nasal passage is open, and the curling back of the tongue tip for the [-r] is actually done at the same time as these other motions, so that a strongly nasalized [-r] at the end of the word results. 16
3* Consonants
3.1 General Survey
The word ’consonant’ is a generic term indicating the speech-sounds made with an obstruction (restriction or closure), complete or partial, of the airstream at various places and in various degrees and ways. Although classifications of consonants are many and varied, two dimensions are usually employed. They are manner of articulation and place of articulation.
Consonants arranged vertically under manner are introduced in general, while in Chapter 4, the Chinese consonants arranged horizontally (place of articulation) are described in particular. This would enable us to acquire the knowledge for proceeding to the comparison of different speech-sounds with other dialects and languages.
In the articulation of consonants, there are normally 3 stages: initial, hold and release.
1) The initial stage is the movement of the speech organs from a state of rest to the position necessary for the articulation of a given sound; it is also called catch or implosion and its partial synonyms are initial glide and on-glide.
2) The hold (occlusion or compression stage) involves the problem of a controlled opening which may be of rather brief duration of complete obstruction of the breath passage in the buccal cavity between the initial stage and the release of the breath stream; it is the stage which is absolutely necessary for the utterance of a consonant. 17
3) The release, the final stage of a con sonant, is the movement of the speech organs from a position of articulation to a state of rest; it lets the air out when the hold is broken. The following three figures show the three stages of the articulation of [d, th] in Mandarin Chinese.
3.2 Consonants classified in terms of manner of articulation
The manner of articulation is also called the mode of articulation; it refers to the type of sound-producing or sound-modifying mechanism in the mouth or larynx.
In terms of manner of articulation, a fundamental division of all sounds can be made into continuants and non-continuants. Continuants, as the term itself implies, are those sounds in which there is no blockage of the airstream, and the flow of breath is channelled but not interrupted. In other words, continuants are consonants that may be continued or prolonged without alteration for the duration of an emission of breath. Strictly speaking, non-continuants mainly consist of stops (in some 18
classifications,trills also belong to non continuants), while continuants include frica tives, flaps and resonants, oral and nasal. All these consonants, non-continuants as well as continuants, are subdivided and generally described below.
3«2a Non-continuants
Stops
A stop is a consonant that momentarily halts the flow of breath and is produced by completely closing the oral and nasal air passages (implosion), resulting in a retention of air (holding period, pause of silence), then abruptly opening the closure and releasing the breath (explosion); the final phase may not invariably occur and it may or may not be accompanied by various second ary features discussed in chapter 2.
There are various kinds of stops because they can be produced by different parts of the articulator against different places of articu lation. They are tabulated as follows:
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
b d d 4 4- S
P t t k ? r—» t P The manner of articulation of these sounds can be described as this: a bilabial stop is made by both lips; a dental stop is made by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth; an alveolar stop is made by the tip of the tongue 19
against the alveolar ridge; a palatal stop is made by the surface of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate; a velar stop is made by the back of the tongue against the velum; a glottal stop is formed by closing the glottis and suddenly releasing air with an explosive effect-
3*2b Continuants
3*2b. 1 Nasal
Nasal sounds are generally produced and characterized by an open velic cavity, the space between velum and the back wall of the pharynx. A complete occlusion is formed at some point in the oral cavity and the uvula and velum are lowered, allowing the air to escape through the nose so that the nose cavity acts as a primary resonator, and the oral cavity as a secondary resonator. In other words, nasal consonants are continuants produced in the combination of closed oral and open nasal cavities. When a nasal sound is said in combination with a non-nasal sound, the opening or closing of the nasal part may be made abruptly or gradually. Nasal emission is the defining feature of nasal consonants, thus, different nasal sounds have in 20
common the fact that air cannoi escape through the mouth. On the contrary, if the nose passage is blocked, nasal sounds like j_m,n,C] will be pronounced as [b,d,g]. Although the airstream is forced to flow through the naso-pharynx and the nasal cavities to escape at the nose rather than at the lips, nasal consonants have a resonance chamber in the mouth. The various points at which the oral passage is stopped off provide the characteristic distinctions among the various nasal consonants. For example, [m] is made by the closure of the lower lip against the upper, [n] by the tongue tip against the gum of the upper teeth, [ 13 ] by the back of the tongue against the velum. They are classified according to observable peculiarities of other oral articulators» The major accoustic differences among them are due to differences in the character of the oral resonator, which has the lowest range of frequencies for [m], the intermediate for [n],and the highest for [13].
Nasal consonants articulated at various points are tabulated as follows:
Bila Labio- Alveo- Retro - Pre - Pal Ve Uvu bial dental lar flex pala - atal lar lar t al
m n T N
[m], [n] and [p] exist in Chinese and English. These three nasal sounds have been classified as a part of the larger unit of vowel like sounds. They are, of course, produced with the vibration of the vocal cords and are syllabic in English and some Chinese dialects. [#.] is an allophone of /n/ when preceding [i] in a type of English but very common in Mandarin Chinese excepting Peking dialect. 21
3•2b.2 Oral
Fricatives
In general, in producing the fricatives, the airstream is emitted through the restricted narrow passage between different parts of the articulators and the place of articulation. Like other consonants, fricative has many synonyms by which readers, particularly beginners, are often confused. The synonyms of fricative are ’spirant1, ’constrictive’ or ’static consonant', etc. The term ’sibilant’ seems to be a partial synonym of fricative consonant because it is often restricted to [s] [z] and affricates»
Due to the different shape of the sus tained narrow passage in which fricative con sonants are produced, central fricatives are generally divided into two types known as grooved fricative and slit fricative. Grooved fricatives such as [s] [z] [/] [3] are pro duced with the passage much narrower from side to side and deeper from top to bottom and the tongue grooved by raising the edge, while slit fricatives such as [f, v, 0 , b] are articulated with the passage relatively wide from side to side but very narrow from top to bottom. The shape of the passage is like the slit^ which is relatively wide horizontally and shallow vert ically, while the tongue is relatively flat.
Fricative consonants,classified according to the place of articulation, may be tabulated as follows B = Bilabial L = Labio-dental I = Interdental A = Alveolar R = Retroflex V = Velar
H.A. Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguis tics, p. 22. 22
PI. of B LI A R P a 1 a t a 1 V Glottal ^ a r t . 1 2 3 T y p ^ v * + * *+ z t: J Grooves * + c s t3 J ß <5 * 3 V $ £ k Slits *• + * * $ f 0 X h
Note * Sounds in English + Sounds in Mandarin Chinese (Peking dialect) * + Sounds in both languages
All the grooved and slit sounds tabulated above are central fricatives in contrast with lateral fricatives (which only exist in a few languages).
Resonant s
’Resonant’ is a general term indicating a semi-vowel (or even a vowel), vocalic consonant (or sonorant) produced by shaping, but not obstructing the sound, and using the mouth and throat as a resonance chamber; the sole acoustic effect is the product of the vibration of the vocal cords and its resonance. Semi-vowels and nasals belong to central resonants, while [l] belongs to the lateral consonant. All resonant consonants, central and partial, are articulated with only partial closure, that is frictionless, and capable of being prolonged like a vowel; they can, on occasion, be syllabic. Apart from nasals discussed on pp. 1 9 -2 0 , [l] and semi-vowels are dealt with, individually, in the following chapers. 23
Flaps and Trills
Flaps such as [r] in Russian and [r ] in French are generally considered to be non continuants. Trills like Lr] as in "very" and [;p] as in "sorry" are occasially heard in a type of English.
According to the classification of the various sounds described above, consonants are tabulated as follows:
Stops Non-continuants - W •Trills -p Ö Lateral cü Ö -< Nasal o Fricatives - CO grooved Ö o o Continuant s* •Central Lateral Or a l - Slit I Resonants -<|" Central Flaps
Affricates
Among the basic divisions of the consonants tabulated above, affricates are not included. Affricates are produced primarily by a combin ation of stop and frictional modulation. Like stops, they are made at approximately the same point of articulation from the stop position and the air passage is momentarily closed. Unlike the stops, the release of air is less sudden than in the case of a plosive and is immediately followed by the corresponding fricative. Thus, affricates may be called more accurately stop-frictional sounds. Due to their plosive nature, affricates are sometimes called semi-plosives; they are also called assibilant because of their fricative nature. 24
4. Consonants (initials) in Mandarin Chinese Classified According to Place of Articulation
4.1 General Survey-
In traditional Chinese phonetic terms, con sonants, excepting [C] which occurs only as a terminal, are called initials. There are twenty- one consonantal initials in Mandarin Chinese. Of the twenty-one initials, [n] is the only one which can be used as an initial as well as a terminal. In other words, there are only two terminals [CJ and [n] in the formation or syllables in modern Mandarin Chinese. So far as their different positions and manner of pro nunciation are concerned, they can be classified into six categories. They are 1) labials, 2) dental sibilants, 3) alveolars, 4) retroflexes, 3) prepalatals, 6) velars. Labial refers to interactiol both lips, labial dental to lower lip and upper teeth. Dental, alveolar, prepalatal (including retroflex) and velar indicate characteristic locations which the tongue touches or approaches. They are classified and arranged according to the place of articulation (in the order of the vert ical listing of rows) for the following reasons:
1) The consonants of each category have their homorganic nature in articulation.
2) In the constitution of syllables, certain sets of initials occur before certain sets of finals.
3) It is more convenient to compare the con sonants of each category with those in other Chinese dialects. 25
4.2 Labials
In traditional Chinese phonetics, labial consonants include 'heavy' labial sounds and 'light' labial sound, the former being bilabials and the latter labio-dental. The bilabial con sonants include three sounds [b], [ph] and [m] while the labio-dental is represented only by LI
[b] and [ph] L !> -1
[b] and [ph] are gener ally produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure; Initial Final 2) pressing the lips together to block [b] & [ph] the air passage at the initial stage; Fig. 8
3) building up voiceless breath pressure in the closed oral cavity and holding it for a moment;
4) exploding the voiceless breath by quickly moving the lips at the release stage.
The articulators are in almost the same position for the [b] and [ph], but the [ph] is made with the strong tension of the muscles and a vigorous aspiration, and [b] is pronounced 26
with weaker articulation without aspiration and voicing; the former is fortis the latter a lenis. In addition to the presence or absence of aspiration, the different strength of art iculation is a distinctive feature determining the two homorganic stops as a minimal pair of two phonemes. Thus, ban (to disguise) is in contrast with phan (to rebel). The formation of [b] and [ph] may be expressed concisely by defining as a voiceless, unaspirated bilabial stop»and a voiceless, aspirated bilabial stop» respectively.
The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [b] from [ph]. The following words are useful for practice in making this dis tinction.
bae I (to worship) phael (to s end ) B be i (the back) phe I (to match) 0 bo0 n (to run away) phan (to spurt)
Voiced [b] existed in old Chinese; it still survives in the dialects of Wu and Amoy, [b-] in intervocalic position has full voice at its second stage. Examples are:
bobr (father) ifläubiD (blemish)
Intervocalic [-b-] has full voice in both Mandarin Chinese and English, but initial [b-] is voiceless in Mandarin Chinese and partially 27 devoiced in English .
[ph-] occurring in the atonic syllable is less aspirated. For example, amp'31 (to arrange).
[m]
m] is produced by
1) lowering the velum so that the velic opening is made;
2) maintaining a closure at the lips as at the initial stage of [b ] ;
3) emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the nasal passage.
In the production of [m], the articulators take positions resembling those that they assume for the preliminary voicing of [b], with the exception of the velum. Since the nasal part is opened by lowering the velum, the voiced breath for [m] is resonated in both the closed oral cavity and the open nasal cavity in addition to the other cavities of the vocal tract. There fore, [mj is characterised by a combination of vocal cord, closed cavity and open cavity modulation. [m] is briefly described as a bilabial continuant.
Words with [-m] terminal in old Chinese still sur- vive in some southern Chinese dialects such as Cantonese, Hakka and Amoy. Syllabic [m] is very common in Cantonese and Wu dialect.
^A.C. Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p . 147. 28
[f]
[f] is produced by
1 ) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2) forming a restricted slit (not completely obstructed) between the lower lip and the cutting edges of the upper front teeth;
3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the restricted lip-teeth slit with friction.
[f] is made with the frictional modulation (the articulators are in similar position for the voiced [v]). The airstream moving over the tongue passes through the restricted lip-teeth slit and is thrown upperward against the upper lip when it rebounds and then passes out between both lips. [f] is described as a voiceless, labial-dental slit fricative.
In syllable formation, final or central- back vowel [-Y ] following this set of consonants is pronounced with slightly rounded lips, while -u preceded by [f-] becomes [-v]. [-v] in -fv occurring in the atonic syllable is devoiced or dropped. For example, doufv or doUf (bean curd). Among the four labial initials, only [f-] does not occur before [-i], but [fi] in place of [fei] is used in Peking opera.
Of the non-Mandarin speakers, the Japanese and the Min-dialect speakers tend to pronounce [fv] as [hu ]. 29
4.3 Dental Sibilants
Sibilants are fricative consonants pro duced by emitting a continuous airstream which passes with friction through the very narrow channel formed by the tongue in contact with the place of articulation. Dental sibilants are, of course, generally articulated by emitting a continuous airstream and letting it rub through the narrow channel formed by the tongue tip in contact with the back of the upper front teeth.
A set of Chinese dental sibilants, known as acute consonants, includes two affricates and a voiceless grooved fricative. They are:
[dz ] and [t sh]
These two sounds are produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2) placing the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth at the initial [dz] & [tsh] stage; Fig. 11 3) emitting the voiceless air stream through the narrow channel formed by the tongue tip and the upper side teeth at the release stage.
In the pronunciation of these two sounds, the air passage is completely blocked by pressing the articulator tightly against the place of art iculation at the initial and hold stages. The 30
narrow channel is opened slowly by removing the articulator from the place of articulation. In the production of [dz], the vocal cords begin to trill after the release of the obstruction. In the production of [tsh], there is a strong aspiration when the release stage is made. These two sounds are generally described as voiceless, apico-dental affricates.^
Atonic [dz-] and [tsh-] tend to become voiced and less aspirated respectively. Examples are :
jidz(z) (a chair) nuts’31 ( a bondsman; a slave)
The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [dz-] from [tsh-]. The following words are use ful for practice in making this distinction.
dzz (a character) tshz (a thorn) d zü (to rent) tshü (coarse) o
These two sounds in the initial position are uncommon in English. Thus, English-speaking people often confuse [dz-] with [tsh-]. The Japanese tend to pronounce the words formed with this set of initials and the consonantal vowel
They are considered by some writers (see Mandarin Chinese Reader) to be articulated by placing the tip of the tongue against the gum. They are thus described as apico-alveolar affricates. In fact, the position of the tongue tip varies from speaker to speaker. 31
[-z ] with lip action.
[s]
[s] is produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2 ) raising the tip of the tongue in contact with the back of the upper front teeth; [«] Fig. 12 3 ) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the middle of the extremely narrow blade-alveolar groove by means of which friction is caused.
In the articulation of [si, the position of the tongue tip varies from speaker to speaker. The tongue tip may be raised to make a light contact with the alveolar ridge, and the side rims of the tongue are close to the upper side teeth. The tongue tip may be lowered in contact with the back of the lower front teeth, so that friction is made between the blade of the tongue and the anterior alveolar ridge. The first type of [s] is described as an apico- dental voiceless fricative, the second as a blade-alveolar voiceless fricative. Audibly, neither type is very different.
This set of sounds is generally used to replace the retroflexes used by southerners and the speakers of a southern Mandarin 32
dialect spoken in Hsii-chou and the adjacent areas between Kiangsu and Shantung. Thus,sz (poetry) is pronounced as sz (silk). On the other hand, speakers of a northern Mandarin dialect spoken in some regions in north-east China usually replace this set of sounds with the retroflexes just mentioned. Thus sz (silk)is pro- nounced as pift (poetry). Conversing with the speakers of the two Mandarin dialects, a Peking dialect-speaker will certainly be confused.
In standard Mandarin Chinese, in contrast with the set of these three sounds known as acute or sharper consonants, the set of retro- flexes and the set of prepalatals are regarded as flatter. The quality of the sound among the three sets of sounds depends upon the diff erent points or channels formed by moving the tip or front of the tongue forward or backward along the anterior portion of the mouth roof.
b.k Alveolars
As the sounds themselves imply, alveolars are generally articulated by placing the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge (except for those occurring in individual environments, such as dental [t-J and backward [t-] in English [tö] and [tr- ] ). Alveolars consist of stops, apico-nasal and laterals. When these sounds are produced, the airstream is obstructed by raising the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge. In Mandarin Chinese, there are four alveolar sounds - fd, t h , n, 1 "I . 33
[d] and [th]
These two sounds are produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2) raising the tip of the tongue against the anterior alveolar ridge and placing the edge of the tongue against the side teeth to block the airstream at the initial s t age;
3) building up voiceless breath pressure in the closed oral cavity at the hold stage;
4) exploding the voiceless breath by quickly moving the tongue tip away from the place of articulation at the release stage (see Fig. 7)
Cognates [d] and [th] are produced from similar articulatory positions; both are voiceless, but at the release stage, a strong aspiration accompanies [th]. Apart from the presence or absence of aspiration between the two sounds, [d], a lenis, is pronounced with weaker articulation, while [th ] > a fortis, is produced with the strong tension of the muscles. These two sounds are described as voiceless, apico-alveolar stops.
The intervocalic Chinese [-d-] , particularly when occurring in the atonic syllable, has full voice, while the aspirated Chinese [th] occurring in the atonic syllable is less aspirated. Examples are:
didi (younger brother) tsh°ut'i (a drawer) 34
[ d] and [th i in both Mandarin Chinese and English have very similar articulatory positions. Intervocalic [-d-] is fully voiced in both languages, but initial d-] is voiceless in Chinese and partially devoiced in English.^
[n]
[n] is produced by
1) lowering the velum so that the velic opening is made ;
2) placing the tip of the ton gue against the alveolar [n] ridge at the initial stage; Fig. 13 3) maintaining a closure in the oral cavity as at the initial stage of [d] ;
4) emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the nasal passage.
The articulatory positions for [d] and [n] are somewhat similar. If the nasal ^passage is blocked, then [n] sounds like [dj.
Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p. 157* 35
[nj is characterized by a combination of vocal cord, closed cavity and open cavity modulation. It is described as an apico- alveolar nasal continuant.
In syllable formation, [n] is the only consonant which can be used as both initial and final in Mandarin Chinese. As an initial, [n-] followed by [—i ] and [-y] becomes pre palatal [n-] in many Mandarin dialects and the Wu dialects. It sounds like [-ni-] as in * onion'used by some English speakers. Although it is rare in the Peking dialect, it is very common in Peking opera. As a final, [-n] is sometimes called a vowel-following consonant. In connected speech, [-n 1 frequently assimilates to the articulation of a following word initial [-m] before bilabial stops, [-C ] before velar stops and [-nj ] before labio dental. It is more weakly articulated when occurring after [a-] than after other vowels.^ That is, it is articulated with the tongue not quite reaching the alveolar ridge. Thus, it is pronounced as [a11] in Peking dialect. [ -n ] is replaced by [- c] in some southern Mandarin dialects spoken in some areas in north Chiang- su and south Shantung, while [-n] in vowel-n syllables is dropped and the preceding vowel is nasalized in some north-west Mandarin dialects.
Linking [-n-] as in 'in America' is very common in English speech. This does not occur in Chinese (except for a few atonic particles) The phenomenon that [-n] does not link to the vowel initial of the following word in the connected Chinese speech can be explained by quoting Professor Y.R. Chao's statements.^
1 Chao Yuen-ren, Mandarin Primer, p. 24.
2 Chao Yuen-ren, 'The Voiced Velar Fricative as an Initial in Mandarin', Le maitre phonetique 3rd ser., 89 (1948), pp. 2-3. 36
"...The presence of the initial [V -] [?-] or [ q- ] before the syllables of k'ai K'ou group explains the great aversion to linking a final [-n] to a vowel. In d^0n 0 (very hungry) for example, the final [-n] is not only weakened to an imperfect closure, but is usually articulated with the root of the tongue, forming an imperfect closed [13]. Consequently, no no-like effect, as a result of the juncture, can be heard".
The presence or absence of the occurrence of [y-] [9-] or [13-] before the syllables of k ’ai K ’ou group varies from speaker to speaker. As a matter of fact, linking [-n-] does not occur in the connected Chinese speech even if there are no such sounds before the following syllable beginning with zero initial of k ’ai k ’ou groups (see page 56).
[1] [l] is produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2) making a medial occlusion by raising the tongue tip [1] against the centre of the Fig. 14 alveolar ridge at the initial stage;
3) opening both sides of the tongue so that the lateral voiced breath stream is emitted 37
between the teeth near the first pre molars .
[l] is described as an apico-alveolar lateral resonant. Among the non-Mandarin speakers, the people in all of the Yangtze valley (including the Wu region) and Canton often confuse [l-] with [n-J
4.5 Retroflexes
In general, by raising the tip of the tongue against or close to the anterior part of the mouth roof and moving it from the upper front teeth to the anterior part of the hard palate, dental, alveolar and retroflexed sounds are produced. Retroflexed sounds (also called 'cacuminal* , 'cerebral' or 'inverted' sound) are, of course, those produced with the tongue tip curled upwards towards the hard palate. There are various retroflexed sounds such as stops, fricatives, affricates, nasal, lateral and flap. In Mandarin Chinese, there is a set of four retroflexed sounds - two affricates and two fricatives.
[dzj and [tph]
These two sounds are produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2) curling the tip of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate [dz] & [tsh] behind the alveolar Fig. 15 38
ridge at the initial stage;
3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the narrow aperture formed by the tongue tip and the anterior part of the hard palate at the release stage.
[dz] is formed by a voiceless, unaspirated, retroflexed [d-] and a voiceless, retroflexed fricative [-z]. [tsh] is formed by a voiceless, aspirated, retroflexed [th-] and a voiceless, retroflexed fricative [-s]. For convenience, they are transcribed as [dz] and [tsh] re spectively. In the pronunciation of these two sounds, the air passage is completely obstructed at the initial and hold stages, then the narrow aperture is opened slowly by removing the tongue tip from the place of articulation. The air is emitted by rubbing through the aper ture. Like other Chinese affricates, its obstruction and the friction come close together. In addition to a vigorous aspiration when released, [tph] is pronounced with a strong tension of the muscles* After the aspiration of [tsh] has vanished, a prolonged [-2^] is heard as in tshz^ (to eat). These two sounds are described as voiceless, apico- prepalatal affricates. Due to their retroflexed nature, they are generally called retroflexes.
Atonic [dz] is voiced and atonic [t^h] is less aspirated. Examples are:
\ d^jEdzj (3) (a ring) U )1 (to support) These two sounds should be accurately distinguished from each other. The following are some useful words with the two initial
This trochaic word has now recovered its tone on its second syllable. 39 sounds in contrast.
d^an (to stand) tshan (a prophecy) dzu (to dwell) tshu ( a place) V v dzuan (accurate) tshu3n (stupid)
Distinguish [dzj from [dz]
dz:3Sl (a debt) dzasl (to be at-, in) c * o dzan (to stand) dzan (to praise) dzu (a pig) dzu (to rent)
Distinguish [t^h] from [tsh]
t^hasl (fuel) tshaei (talent) t^hsD ( a city) tshac ( stratum) tshu ( a place) tshu (vinegar)
Among the foreign learners, some English- speaking people tend to use their own [dr-] and [tr-j in place of these two Chinese sounds. The difference in the articulatory positions between the two pairs of sounds in the two languages should be made very clear. In pro nouncing the English [dr-] [tr-] , the centre of the tongue is less hollowed and retroflexed than that for the two Chinese sounds, the obstacle to the airstream is formed by a closure made between the tip and rims of the tongue and the rear edge of the upper side teeth.1 In articulating the two Chinese sounds, the lips must be natural or slightly spread unless they are followed by [-u] or [-ou]. Conversely,
Gimson, op.cit., p. 172. 4o
in producing the English [dr-] [tr-] , some speakers will always use a certain amount of lip protrusion typical of [r], though the lip position is conditioned mainly by that of the following vowelJ
[s] and [z]
These two sounds are produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure;
2) curling the tip of the tongue close to the hard palate just behind the [p] & [z] alveolar ridge; Fig. 16 3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath for [p] and voiced breath for [ zjj through the narrow aperture formed by the tongue tip and the anterior part of the hard palate.
In Mandarin Chinese, [p] and [ 2jJ are the only pair of sounds characterized by the absence and presence of voice respectively. These two sounds are briefly described as apico-prepalatal fricatives. Due to their retroflexed nature, they are generally called retroflexes.
The absence or presence of voice is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [p] from [ zjj • The following words are useful for practice in making this distinction.
1 Ibid. 4l
san (to flash) zan (to dye) L i SQQ (to ascend) (to yield) fQU (little-f ew) (to disturb)
nguish [s] from [p]
sz (f o u r ) (yes;verb to be) i Pi san (three) pan (a mountain)
su (plain; simple) iu (a tree)
Different sounds used in place of [ ] in some Chinese dialects
[ z-] is said to be derived from [r>-] or [ it is rare in many Chinese dialects. The different sounds used in place of [^-] by various dialect-speakers are tabulated as follows:
Sounds Words Dialect regions
V zj^an (man) Peking and most Mandarin speaking regions
j - jin(man) 1. large area of north-east China
2. Chiao-tung, Shantung
1- 18n(man) 1. Han-k'ou (Central China) 2. Some districts of north Kiangsu
p,- i>in ( ma n ) 1. Wu dialect-speaking areas 2. Nan-ch’ang, provincial capital of Kiangsi 42
zft (the sun;day) is the only morpheme in Mandarin Chinese. Among the total number of the commonly used words, up to six hundred have the initials of this set of sounds.
A Comparison between these Two Sounds and some English Sounds
Daniel Jones used [/] in place of [p] in the phonetic transcription of Pekingese; he stated, "we are not sure that much is gained by using the more accurate ^ zj^ (the symbols for retroflex s z) in place of f^ . After all p z^ are only varieties of f^ , and the symbols may be used in any language which doesn’t contain normal/3 as separate phonemes beside s z/ .1 Strictly speaking, [pJ [z] are different in many articulatory points from [/] [ 3] which are common in English. These two English sounds are articulated by the tip and blade of the tongue making a light contact with the alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue being raised at the same time in the direction of the hard palate and the side rims of the tongue being in contact with the upper side teeth. The Chinese [p] [z] can never be articulated in this way, and the two English sounds are not produced with the tip of the tongue retracted and the centre of the tongue hollowed. Con versely, in producing [/] [ 3] the body of the tongue is arched towards the hard palate and alveolar ridge to form a fissure.
Daniel Jones, ’The Transcription of Pekingese’, Le ma^tre phon^tique 3rd s^r., 21 (1928), pp. 2-3.
2 Daniel Jones, An Outline of English Phonetics, p. 190; Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p. 284. 43
Sounds in different languages might be similar but cannot be identical. The English frictionless consonant a - is said to be very In fact, English- similar to the Chinese zi ~ speaking people often replace the Chinese [3 -] with the English [a-]. The similarities and differences between the two sounds can be briefly described as follows:^
A) Similarities
A.1) Both are voiced oral sounds.
A.2) Both share the similar place of articulation.
A. 3) Both are articulated with the tongue hollowed and the tongue tip retracted towards the hard palate.
B) Differences
B. l) The English [a-] is produced with slight rounding of a certain protrusion of the lips, while the Chinese [^-] is pronounced without lip action except when it is followed by a vowel requiring rounding,
1 With regard to the production of the English see the following sources: la. Jones, An Outline of English Phonetics, p. 205; lb. Gimson, op. cit., p. 201; lc. Ralph K. Potter, George A. Kopp and Harriett C. Green, Visible Speech, pp. 218-19. 44
such as zju (entering).
B.2) [^-] is shorter and has more friction than [a-], the former being pronounced with more tension of muscle.
B.3) Phonetically [3 -] is described as a pre palatal fricative, but [j -] a post- alveolar frictionless consonant. The channel formed by the articulator and the place of articulation for [2^-] is narrower than for [u -].
B . 4) In pronouncing [a-], there are two commonly used positions in American English.
B.4a) Articulatory [a-] with tongue tip down.
B.4b) Articulatory [a-] with tongue tip up.
If the two initials are followed by a rounded vowel, they are hardly distinguished from each other. Examples are:
z^u (entering)
j u (:) (rue)
When the two initials are followed by an unrounded vowel, they are clearly distinguished. If ^an (to dye) is spoken as asen (ran) , then it will be understood as ^uän (soft) in Chinese.
4.6 Prepalatals
Palatal sounds are generally produced by placing various parts of the front section of the 45 tongue, ranging from the tip to the middle of the tongue, against the front part or centre of the hard palate. Palatal sounds are named according to the place of articulation, the front part of the mouth roof, while frontal sounds are named according to the front part of the articulator, the tongue. If speech- sounds are named only according to the place of articulation, then both sets of [dz, tgh, and [d^,, tqh, c.] in Mandarin Chinese are pre palatal sounds. With the various parts of the front part of the tongue placed against the different portions of the hard palate, the following sounds are made:
1. Retroflexed and post-alveolar sounds (see P-37)-
2. Prepalatal (alveo-palatal) sounds (see the description of the three sounds below).
3. Palatal sounds (such as [j] [c h] [~ c ] , which are used in place of [ dz, J [tch] [ Q ] , are very common in a type of Mandarin dialect spoken in Chiao-tung, Shantung province) are produced by raising the middle of the tongue against the centre of the hard palate.
[ dz,] and [ tqh ]
These two sounds are produced by
1) raising the velum to make a velic closure; 46
2) elevating the front of the tongue against the anterior portion of the hard palate so that the air passage is completely obstructed at the initial stage;
3) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the narrow channel made by the front of the tongue [ ds^] & I tQh ] and the alveo-palate at the release stage. Fig. 17
When the front of the tongue is elevated towardsthe anterior portion of the hard palate, simultaneously the tip of the tongue is placed behind the back of the lower front teeth. When the obstructed air passage is slowly opened and the air is allowed through by rubbing the narrow channel, the obstruction and the friction come close together.
[dz<] is formed by a prepalatal [_ d J and a prepalatal [zj. |_ t^hj is formed by a prepalatal [ thJ and a prepalatal [_ c J . For convenience, they are transcribed as [ dz?J and [tjGh] respectively. Both are produced from the similar articulatory positions, but [t/jh] is accompanied by a strong aspiration at the release stage. Phonetically they are described as a voiceless, unaspirated fronto-prepalatal affricate, and a voiceless aspirated fronto-prepalatal affricate respectively.
Atonic [d^J is voiced and atonic [ t>chj is less aspirated. Examples are: 47
jind^iiQ (eyes) kh*t9 '(i) (polite)
The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [d^>] from [t^h]. The following words are useful for practice in making this dis tine tion.
\ V dz,iÖ (to post) t In syllable constitution, these two sounds occur only before [-i] and [-y], while [dz-] [tsh-] and [dzj_-] [tgh-] are never followed by the two vowels. This enables us to distinguish them easily from one another, and, phonemically, these two consonants are considered to be allophones of dz - [tsh-] by some writers or those of [g-] - kh- o by others according to the principle of complementary distribution. Phonetically, the difference between these two sounds and the post-alveolar affricates, which are common in English, needs to be dis tinguished. The lip position for both pairs of sounds are conditioned by the following vowel. Lip rounding of these two pairs of sounds isj of course,required if a rounded vowel follows, but special care should be taken in distinguishing the lip position between the two pairs followed by unrounded vowels. The lip position of the Chinese [d^,-] [t^h-] followed by j-i] is free, while that of the English [d3~J [tf - ] followed by unrounded vowels is slightly rounded and with some speakers a certain amount of lip protrusion is always 48 present. Besides this, the two Chinese sounds are articulated with the tip of the tongue held down behind the lower front teeth, while the two English sounds are produced by raising the tip and blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. [9 ] is produced by 1) raising the velum to make a velic closure; 2 ) raising the front of the [9] tongue close to the Fig. 18 anterior portion of the hard palate so that the narrow groove is formed between them; 3) placing the tip of the tongue behind the lower front teeth; 4) emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the narrow groove so that friction is caused. [$] is the second element of the Chinese [ t<§ h ] ; it only occurs before [ -i] and [ -y ] . When followed by [-i], [9] is made with lips free. Phonemically, [ q -] is considered to be an allophone of [s-] by some writers, but that of [ X-] by others according to the principle 1 Gimson, op.cit., p. 170. 49 of complementary distribution. Phonetically, [9 -] is described as a voiceless, fronto- prepalatal fricative. [y-] is often used in place of [g -] by English-speaking people. With regard to the difference of the articulatory points of these two sounds, compare [c-] with [/-] described on page 42. 4.7 Sharper and Flatter Sounds Historically, the set of prepalatal sounds are partly derived from the set of dental sibilants and partly from the set of velar sounds. In syllable constitution, dental sibilants followed by [-i] and [-y] are gen erally regarded as sharper (chien), while pre palatals (in addition to retroflexes) followed by the same vowels are regarded as flatter (t'uan)1 (see page J2)- The sharper sounds, though no longer existing in Peking dialect, are still common in many Mandarin dialects as well as in Peking opera. Well-trained Peking Opera singers are required to differentiate strictly these two categories of sounds. Some examples of the characters formed by the two types of sounds followed by [-i] and [-y] are as follows: Sharper Flatter dzi ( /to re d^i ( /to lieve ) remember) tshi ( ^ /all in t^hi ( Ä / a readiness) flag) Professor Chao has been using the translations ’sharp’ and 'rounded*. 50 s i ( m /fine) <5-1 ( /a play) dzy ( /an ulcer) d^y ( ® /to dwell; L> & to live) t shy ( m / int ere s t- t9.ll/y ( (1l / a dis ing) trict) sy ( m /m u s t ) 9V ( Jg /empty; hypocritic) 4.8 Velars Velar sounds are generally formed by rais ing the back of the tongue (dorsum) against the velum. A velar sound is also called a dorsal or a guttural. Velar sounds include stops [g,k], nasal [ ft], fricatives [V,x ] and semi vowel [w]. In Mandarin Chinese, there are four velar consonants - two stops, a nasal and a uvular fricative. [g] and [kh] These sounds are produced by 1) raising the velum to make a velic closure; 2 ) raising the back of the tongue in contact with the velum so Initial Final that the airstream is blocked at the [£] & [kh] initial stage; Fig. 19 3 ) building up voiceless breath pressure in 51 the closed oral cavity; 4) exploding the voiceless breath by quickly moving the back of the tongue away from the velum. Cognates [g] and [kh] in Mandarin Chinese are produced from similar articulatory positions; both are voiceless, but a strong aspiration accompanies [kh] at the release stage. In addition to the presence or absence of aspir ation between the two sounds, [g], a lenis velar stop, is pronounced with weaker art iculation, while [kh], a fortis velar stop, is pronounced with a strong tension of the muscles. These two sounds are described as voiceless, dorso-velar stops. Intervocalic Chinese [-g-] is fully voiced, while atonic [kh] is less aspirated. Examples are : Wugo (five) dak 13 i (to open) Q The presence or absence of aspiration is the principal feature that distinguishes accurately [g] from [kh]. The following words are useful for practice in making this dis tinction. gas i (ought to) khasi ( to open) s gan (the trunk) khan (to see ) £u (to employ) khu (trous ers) This set of velar initials does not occur before [-i] and [-y] in standard Mandarin Chinese, 52 but palatalized [g-, kh-, x-] are very common in some Mandarin dialects spoken in Nanking and Chiao-tung, Shantung province. jkx-] in place of [kh-] is used in some north-west Mandarin dialects. Intervocalic [-g-] is fully voiced in both English and Mandarin Chinese. [d [1 3] is produced by 1 ) lowering the velum to make a velic opening between the nasal and pharyngeal cavities at the initial stage; [d raising the back of the 2 ) Fig. 20 tongue in contact with the posterior hard palate and part of the velum to form a closure as for [g] [kj; 3) emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the nasal cavity at the release stage. [r] ] may be produced from a number of slightly different points of dorso-velar contact depending upon the sound with which it is com bined. Usually it is produced towards the front with the front vowels, towards the back with the back vowels. It is described as a nasal dorso-velar continuant. Initial [r] - ] does not exist in standard 53 Mandarin Chinese, but it is very common in Peking opera as well as in many Mandarin dialects, southern and northern, in addition to Cantonese. T is used by a small minority of the Peking- dialect speakers. Occasionally, it is either heard as a linking [-13-] as in tshdlQ an (pro vincial capital of Shensi) or before syllables beginning with zero initials of k ’ai k 'ou groups (see page 56)* [-0] is used in place of [-n] in some southern Mandarin dialects; conversely, [-n] in some words used in Peking opera is replaced by [-£)] in Peking dialect. Examples are: Peking dialect Peking opera diO (the top) din (the top) d^d-t] (the national d^in (the national capital) capital) dec (a lamp) dan (a lamp) gäC (to change) gan (to change) [x] [X ] is produced by 1 ) raising the velum to make a velic closure; 2) raising up the back of the tongue close to the velum to form a very narrow air [ x] passage below the uvula; Fig. 21 54 emitting a continuous stream of voiceless breath through the passage so that friction is caused. Apart from the three items of the principal articulatory activities, the forward part of the tongue back is more or less close to the velum in front of the uvula. Thus the air- stream driven through the narrow passage of the velum door and over the top of the tongue strikes on the velum and on the back edge of the hard palate and produces this sound. The front of the tongue is pressed down in the lower jaw with the tongue tip slightly retracted so that it does not touch the back of the lower teeth. [x] is briefly described as a voiceless uvular fricative. Mandarin-speaking children, Cantonese, the Japanese and the English-speaking people all tend to use [h— ] in place of Mandarin Chinese [x- ]» while the speakers of a type of southern Mandarin dialect (Kan dialect) spoken in Kiangsi province generally replace [X—] (when it is followed by [—u] or [—w— ]), with [f— ]. Thus xwei (meeting) is pronounced as fei (expenditure) h .9 Summary The seven places of articulation of the consonants in Mandarin Chinese introduced in this chapter are summarized as follows: 55 Places of Articulation Consonants 1. Upper & lower lips Bilabials [b, ph, m] 2 . Lower lip & upper Labio—dental [f] front teeth 3» Tongue tip & the back Dental sibilants of the upper front [dz, tsh, s J teeth 4. Tongue tip & alveolar Apico—alveolars ridge [d, th, n, 1,] 5* Tongue tip & anterior Retroflexes [ dz^, part of the hard t^h, p, zl] palat e 6. Tongue front & Prepalatals [dz-, tph, anterior part of the /»] hard palate -j 7. Tongue back & velum Velars [g, kh, 13, x] -| Except for the uvular fricative 56 5. Zero Initials 5.1 General Survey Besides the twenty-one initials described in chap ter there is a zero initial in the formation of syllables in Chinese. That is, syllables are formed without preceding consonants. Zero initial syllables can be formed merely by single vowels, or by compound vowels, or by vowels followed by [ -n ] and [-!)]• Syllables without consonantal initials (sheng) are finals (yiin) . All the finals can be used as independent syllables. The production of the starting vowels of the zero-initial syllables is briefly described as follows(semi-vowels [j] [w] [q] are fully described in Chapter 6): 5.2 Zero before Open Finals 5*2a /a/ group [a]» [ sei J * [an ]> [afl]> [au] 5.2b /a/ group [V], [ e i ] , [an], [a 13], [ou ] When /a/ and /a/ finals are used as independ ent syllables, the starting vowels (with exception of [a] and [or]) are pronounced with considerably individual variation. The greatest majority of the standard Mandarin speakers pronounce them with a preceding velar continuant ["#-], while a small minority of the speakers use [9 - ] or [13-]. Thus, the starting vowels of these two groups can be linked with the terminal [~c] rather than [-n] of the preceding syllable (see pp. 36 and 53). 57 5.3 Zero before Spread Finals (/!/ + /a/ & / 0/ Groups) When /i/ is used at the beginning of a syllable, it is pronounced with friction. Thus, it is phonetically transcribed as [j — ] - /i/ has two functions - principal vowel and non- syllabic semi-vowel ([j-], [-J-], [-I - ] & [ - I ])* 5*4 Zero before Rounded Finals (/u/ + /a / & /a/ Groups) When /u/ is used as an independent syllable, it is pronounced with friction. Thus, it is phonetically transcribed as [wu]. But, when /u/ is used in the beginning of a syllable followed by unrounded vowels (except for [-"& ] as in ’WJT’)» speakers of the Peking dialect pronounce it as frictionless labio—dental continuant [ V-] . /u/ has two functions - principal vowel and non-syllabic semi-vowel ([w-/u-], [-W-], [-U-] & [-»]). 5.5 Zero before Inner-rounded Finals (/y/ + /a / & /©/ Groups) When /y/ is used at the beginning of a syllable, it is pronounced with friction. Thus, it is phonetically transcribed as [h]. /y/ has two functions - principal vowel and non-syllabic semi-vowel ([q- ] , [~q-] & [-Y-]). Professor Chao points out that [ - ] is more common in Tientsin; it is a minority type in Peking. 58 6o Semi-vowels 6 o 1 General Survey A semi-vowel is a sound which is intermediate between a vowel and a consonant, partaking of the nature of both; it is a vocoid accompanying another vowel, and without a peak of sonority Like a vowel, a semi-vowel is produced by vocal cords and cavity modulation, but unlike a vowel, the oral channel used in producing a semi-vowel is more constricted than is used in producing most vowelso The articulation of the semi-vowel is characterized by transition, rising or falling from one point to the other, with swift frequency change,. In the production of semi-vowels, the passage tnrougxx cue mouth is open c o LLe midlinso They are, therefore, called median resonantsl. Semi-vowels, which are high vowels made consonantal by narrowing the passage so as to have noticeable obstruction, are not produced except during the interval in which the articulators move from the steady state position and without remaining there any appreciable time proceed very quickly to the position for the combined sound; they are called glides. The characteristics of semi-vowels are: 1o rapid in articulation 2. shorter in duration and less stressed than vowels 3o non-syllabic or unprominent in a syllable _ Gleason, An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, p . 21. 59 4. articulated with very slight friction^. This is the most important factor to render them consonantal0 According to the occurrence in different environments, the following phonetic symbols are employed to denote the high vowels and semi-vowels in Mandarin Chinese. 1 o [-i], [-u], [-y] - normal, as syllabic vowels 2 o [j-]» [w-/p-],[p-] - when initial and non-syliable 3° [-j-], [-p-] - preceded by prepalata1 initials 4 o [-W-] - preceded by velar initials 5. [~l], [-u] - second elements of falling diphthongs 6 o [-I-], [-Y-] - preceded by o ther con - sonants than prepalatals 7° [-U-] - preceded by other consonants than velars [-I-], [-U-] & [-Y-] are frictionless, non- syllabic medials (see 802b) and | -l] & [-UJ are non-syllabic, final elements of compound vowels (see 80 2a) o [j], [ "W ] & [p ] are described, in particular, below. 6.2 [j] [j] is produced by placing the lips in approximately the same position as for [i], starting with the other articulators held almost in the [i] position, except that the elevated position of the tongue is higher and not so far forward in the mouth. The opening between the Except for the second elements of falling diphthongs and the medials not preceded by prepalatals and velars. 6 0 pharyngeal and nasal cavities is closed. A continuous stream of voiced breath is emitted while the articulators are moving towards their position for the combined sounds of gr eater proniinenc e . The front of the tongue is raised rather high in the direction of the hard palate; the lips are spread; the velum is in its raised position;and the vocal cords are made to vibrate, so that the voice is heard. The major portion of the [j], like the [wj glide, is produced while the articulators move from starting position to the position for the sound which follows. The next position of the articulators from which the |~ j ] glide starts depends somewhat on the sound with which it is combined. In other words, the actual sound used in particular words depends, to some extent, on the nature of the following vowel. [j], like other glides, cannot be produced in isolation; it is a transitional sound characterized by continually varying vocal cord-modulation between the position of origin and its transition to the next sound. As ij ] is produced with slight friction, it occurs at the beginning of a syllable, and as a medial between prepa.latal initials and vowels in Mandarin Chinese. The medial [j] is [i] or [e] when occurring between alveolars and [a] and [a] (see 6. p. 59). 6.3 [w/p ] Iw j is produced by rounding the lips without too much tension, raising the back of the tongue 61 towards the velum to a position similar to [u] and moving away immediately to the position of the following sound. The opening between the pharyngeal and nasal cavities is closed, the continuous stream of voiced breath is emitted and the articulators are moving towards their positions for the combined adjacent sound. As a glide, it cannot be produced in isolation. [y] is produced by forming a restricted slit (not fully obstructed) between the lower lip and the cutting edges of the upper front teeth; emitting a continuous stream of voiced breath through the restricted lip-teeth slit without friction. The velum is in its raised position so that the velic closure is made. [y] differs from [v] in having no friction; it is, therefore, described as a frictionless labio—dental continuant. In Peking dialect, [w— ] only occurs before [—u] and [-#']. [ y— ] never occurs before rounded vowels. [y— ] rather than [w— ] is only used in some Mandarin dialects spoken in north east Kiangsu, Port Arthur, Darien and some other areas of north-east China. 6.4 [h ] The articulatory manner of [p] is the same as that of [j] except that the lips are rounded. The shape of the lips for [p] is the same as that for [w]. With the occurrence of different environments frictionless [—Y— ] occurs after [n-] and [l— ], while [^t—] and [-1!-] occur after the zero initial and prepalatal initials respectively. 6 2 7. Vowels 7.1 General Survey The vowels are much less definite, less comprehensible, and finer in articulation as well as in acoustics, than the consonants. Vowels are produced with the vibration of the vocal cords and with relatively little obstruct ion as the air passes from the lungs through the articulatory organs. The individual vowels result from the modulation of the vocal breath stream by different sizes and shapes of the vocal cavities above the vibrating vocal cords. The positions of the tongue and the lips have more influence on vowel quality than any other factor. In the production of vowels, tongue—height (high or low, the higher the tongue is the closer the oral cavity becomes, and the vice versa), tongue—advancement (front or back) and lip-position (spread or rounded) are regarded as three principal articulatory dimensions (see p. 11). Daniel Jones devised a system of eight vowels, four front and four back, known as primary cardinal vowels (Nos. 1 — 8 as shown in the following diagram). These vowels are said to have approximately equal acoustic intervals between them with characteristic tongue and lip positions and well-defined acoustic qualities. The cardinal vowel chart is as follows: 63 Front C entral Back Spread/rounded 17/18 16/8 Close (High) (Mid—high) Mid Half-open (Mid-low) Open [i-u] - line is longer than [a—a] — line because the front and back position makes a greater difference for high than for low vowels, and the distances between [i] and [a] is greater than between [a] and [u] because there is more room for variation in tongue height in front. The triangle in the middle of the diagram marks off the central vowels from the front and back vowels. From Nos. 9 to 19 are secondary vowels (abnormal vowels); they are formed with the same tongue positions as the eight primary cardinal vowels, but they have different lip positions. For example, [y] has the tongue position of [i] but is pronounced with rounded lips. Sk To complete the inventory of the IPA symbols for vowels, there are [i] between and [e], [ae] between [a] and a J , [ u J between[i] u and [o], [e ] between [e and [e], and A between [a] and [a].~ High vowels with open variety [i, U, Y] are also called half high vowels, while low vowels with close variety [ae] and [r ] are called half low vowels. The half high vowels with several synonyms such as wide, loose or lax vowels are generally produced with lesser muscular tension in the speech organs, weaker breath pressure, and correspondingly lesser concentration of energy in the spectrum and in time. They are used in this book as first elements of ascending diphthongs, second elements of descending diphthongs, and both preceding and succeeding elements of triphthongs. 7.2 Vowels in Mandarin Chinese 7.2a Vowels Vowels marked with * in the vowel chart shown on page 63 exist in Mandarin Chinese (Peking dialect). Apart from these, there are two apico vowels, [ —z] and [-z^]. Besides the neutral vowels briefly discussed below, vowels in Mandarin Chinese used in this book are partly described in the compound vowels and partly in the finals of the following chapters. 1 See p . 70 > n . 1 . ^See p. 74, n .1. 65 7.2b Neutral Vowels Neutral vowels are indistinct; they are principally employed to represent vowels in atonic syllables. 1) [0 ] is articulated in the absolute center of the mouth; it is used in two ways in this book: la) As the vowel element in [on] and [at)] in tonic (stressed) syllables. lb) As the weak form of [e-1 in fell and [o-] in [ou]. 2) [3 ]» a more open variety of [a], represents the atonic [a] in [aei], [uaei], [an], [ i asn] , [ uan] and [Yan] . 3 ) [e], a more open variety of [3 ], represents the atonic medium f~a] in open syllables and the back [aj in [q d ], [iau], [at)], [iat)] and [uai^j (see pp.lll & 113). 66 8. Compound Vowels 8.1 General Survey A compound vowel is a combination of two or three vowel sounds functioning as a single unit. In the single unit the speaker glides continually from one vowel to another with only one tension of the laryngeal muscles. According to the sound pressure measurements which have thrown fresh light on a cardinal point in the theory of compound vowel, the compound vowel is a monosyllabic connection of two or three vowels.^ Compound vowels in Mandarin Chinese com prise of diphthongs and triphthongs. They are separately described below. 8.2 Diphthongs A diphthong is a sequence of two vowels occupying only one syllable, one element only has a stress of syllabic value, while the other plays an inferior part, it is only a semi-vowel or a glide (see p.59 )• During the course of the pronunciation of a diphthong, there is appreciable change of quality. Hence in the production of diphthongs there must be changes in the position of the tongue, the opening of the mouth and the shape of the lips. 1 L. Hegediis, 'Experimental Phonetics in the Service of the L ingu istic Atlas ( 1 ) * , Acta Li.ngn i s t i c a V ( I9 r>">), r>- 67 According to the various formations of diphthongs, it is customary to separate them into falling, rising and level types. The first two types are very common in many languages, the third one, according to L. Hegedus, exists in some Hungarian dialects. 8.2a Falling (Descending) Diphthongs A falling diphthong is formed by a syllabic (stressed) element preceding a non- syllabic glide (off-glide); it has a gradual diminution of inherent sonority. In the pro duction of a falling diphthong, the change is, of course)accompanied by progressive reduction of intensity. All the off-glides entail decreasing mouth opening and rising tongue position, or movement towards closure.. The second element of these diphthongs, high vowels j -i] and [-u] only indicate the directions of movement, but are rarely reached. Thus j -I] and [-UJ are used as indicators of fading off- glide changes. There are four falling diphthongs in Mandarin Chinese. [«,] The production of this diphthong is generally described as starting from [as-], 1 [fpx] rather than | aT J is found, for .instance, in la. Chao Yuen-ren, 'Specimen', Le mai'lro pi i one L i g no 3rd ser . , 1 7 (1927)> P • ^ r) ; lb. Mandarin Chinese Reader. 68 towards the direction of [—i ] • This diphthong is pronounced as [e] in some Mandarin dialects spoken in Shantung and north-west China; it differs from the Received English [ai] which generally begins at a point slightly behind the front open position.^ [ au ] The production of this diphthong is generally described as starting from [a-], the cardinal vowel No. 5> towards the direction of [—■u]. This diphthong is pronounced as [° ] in a Mandarin dialect spoken in Chi-nan, pro vincial capital of Shantung. [e.] The production of this diphthong is generally described as beginning from [e-],the cardinal vowel No. 2, towards the direction of [-i]. [e-] in this diphthong is not stable; it is more open in the syllables of tone-3 and tone-4 than that in the syllables of tone-1 and tone-2. Thus, it is transcribed as [ei] (t-1 & t-2) and [ei] (t-3 & t-4). [on] The production of this diphthong is generally Gimson, An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, p~! 1 34 . 69 described as beginning from (o-J the cardinal vowel No. 7) towards the direction of [—u]* [o-] in this diphthong is not stable; it is more open in the syllables of tone-3 and tone-4 than that in the syllables of tone-1 and tone-2. It is, therefore, transcribed as [ou] (t-3 & t-4) and [°u] (t-1 & t-2). In many Mandarin dialects, however, the first element of this diphthong is pronounced with the lips spread. 8.2b Rising (Ascending) Diphthongs A rising diphthong is formed by a non- syllabic vowel and a syllabic vowel; it has a gradual enlargement of inherent sonority. In the production of a rising diphthong, the change is, of course,accompanied by progressive increase of intensity. In Mandarin Chinese, there are five rising diphthongs. [ r a ] This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic [i-J and a normal syllabic [-a] (medium Chinese [A])- [IE] This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic [I—] and a syllabic [-E]. [e ] seems to be unfamiliar to the users of the IPA symbols. As the sound value of this vowel is between [ e] and [e], Professor Y.R. Chao proposed to 70 add this symbol to the IPA system in 1931*^" A glottal stop is heard at the end of this diphthong in some southern Mandarin dialects. I i as IJ 7 a rare alternate in Peking dialect, is commonly used in place of [IE] in Peking opera as well as in some southern Mandarin dialects. tua] This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic U-] and a normal syllabic [-a] (medium Chinese >]). hd This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic [U-] and a normal syllabic [ ] . Phonetically, it is transcribed in many different ways such as [uo], [u o a ] and [ü q a J^ etc. In fact, this diphthong is produced by rounding the lips for a non-syllabic [u-] and immediately moving to a syllabic [y ]. In other words, it is -^r produced with a non-syllabic preceding U- (with regard to the sound value of [ ?f ] , see pp. 75-7Ö* [u *’] rhymes with [ Jr ] . Examples are: 1 » wj (to lie down) 2. dzuy (yesterday) * (hungry) dztf (a rule ) Le maitre phone3;ique 3rd ser. , 3 ^ ( 1 9 3 1 ) * PP • 23-^ Chao Yuen-ren, Language and Symbolic Systems, p. 30 71 U" du * (to snatch) 4. dsU (a table; a d e s k ) d* (virtue) dz,V (to break open) g w r (a saucepan) k * (songs) Furthermore, with the occurrence of different environments,the two finals have several variants and some of their variants are identical e.g. " '\^^Finals -U« I Initials 1 . Zero w-r y 2. Labials - -V 3- Dental sibilants 4. Alveolars -u* -y 5. Re tro f1 exes -V -y 6. Velars -w [ — UÄ ] after [3-» 4-, 3-] = [-fr ] after [2-]. [-2f ] occurring after velars is pronounced as [ -wjf ] in Peking opera as well as in many Chinese dialects. 72 [y e] This diphthong is formed by a non-syllabic [Y-] and a syllabic [-E]; it rhymes with jIE] but is produced with the lips rounded for the first element. 8.3 Triphthongs A triphthong is a sequence of three vowels occupying only one syllable. The middle element is syllabic (principal vowel), while the rest are non-syllabic (semi-vowels). In Mandarin Chinese, there are four triphthongs - [ iau], [iou], [ uaei ] and [uei]. Of the four triphthongs, [ -o-] in [ iou] and [ -e-] in [~ Ue I ] are more open in the syllables of tone-3 and tone-4 than those in the syllables of tone-1 and tone-2. [- u-] in f-uei] preceded by alveolars and dental sibilants are dropped in some Mandarin dialects spoken in north-east Kiangsu pro vince and some regions of north-east China. 73 9 . Finals A final is the second part of a syllable in Chinese, but it can be used as an independent syllable, a syllable preceded by a zero initial (see chapter 5)> it can be formed merely by a simple vowel, or by a compound vowel, or by a vowel or a compound vowel followed by [-n] or [ 13]. They may be tabulated as follows: Groups Finals' I ae n in i I ou ua u a e i ue i uan u©n uac U01Q H O Ya n 74 9.1 Open Finals 9.1a /a/ - Group [a] [a] has a medium quality between front [a] and back [o]; it is Otto Jespersen’s [a ]^ which is not officially part of IPA. In Mandarin Chinese, this vowel oc ,urs only as a final in open syllables and a word, particle. As a particle spoken in word-stream, it is often fused with the ending sound of the preceding syllable. In this book, [e] and [ar] are used to represent atonic [a] and r-coloured [a] respectively.^ -j Otto Jespersen, Lehrbuch der Phonetik, p. 157; Chao Yuen-ren, Language and Symbolic Systems, p. 30. 2 Different symbols used to represent r-coloured [a] are : 2a. [eu] was used in 1927 by Professor Chao in Le maitre phonetique 3rd ser. , 17 (1927)» PP* 45-6; 2b. [au ] was used in 1928 by Jones in Le maitre phonetique 3rd ser., 21 (1928), p p . 2-4; 2c. [ar] is considered to be homophonous with [ar] by, for example, Wang Fu-shih in Chung-kuo yii-wen 123 (1963), PP* 115-24; 2d. [Qr ] has been used by Sung Yüan-chia in Chung-kuo yii-wen 136 (1965)» p. 174. 75 [ aei ] (see P- 67) [an] [an] is formed by front [a-] and [-n]; it rhymes with [-iaen], [-uan] and [ -Yan] . [ a ro J This final is formed by [ a - ] , the cardinal No. 5, and f —13] ; it rhymes with [ 1 ciIq] and [ ucsid ]. [qu] (see p. 68) 9.1b /e/ - Group [r] This vowel is located between [0 ] and [*]* Phoneticians have great disagreement in employing 76 symbols to represent it. [y] rhymes with [ U and is pronounced like [u 5f] when it occurs after labial consonants (see pp. 70-7 1 )• Some words with this final are pronounced as those with [-el] in a southern Mandarin dialect spoken in a region between Kiangsu and Shantung. [el] (see p . 68) [en] This final is formed by schwa and [-n]; it rhymes wirh [in], [nan], and [yn]. "*[s] and [y ] were used in 1927 & 1928 by Professor Chao (Le maltre phonetique 3rd s6r., 21 (1928), p p . 2 -3 ); [y] (after prepalatals) and [a] were used in 1928 by Jones (Le maltre phonetique 3rd ser., 21 (1928), pp* 3-4); [0a] was used in 1955 by A. Dragunov (translated in Chung-kuo yii-wen 77 (1958), p p . 513-25); [ y J or [ y a J was used in 1 9 5 6 and 1 9 5 8 by Tung Shao- wen (Yii-y in c h ’ang-shih, p. 63) and in Mandarin Chinese Reader; [y a J was used in 1957 by Wang Li (Han-yii shih-kao , p p . 146-7)• 77 [ ar^ ] This final is formed by schwa and [- fl] ; it rhymes with [iq], [ ufl] > and [Y0tD]. In Peking opera, this final occurring after labials is pronounced as [ uid] , after other initials as [©n]. [ou] (see pp. 68-69 ) 9.2 Spread Finals 9.2a /z/ft/ [?] [z] is pronounced by keeping the tongue tip almost exactly in the position it is in for the preceding dental sibilants. In other words, in the production of [-z ] , articulate dental sibilants and widen the passage between the tongue tip and the gums just enough to stop the friction. It sounds like the voiced pro longation and weakening of the fricative element of the preceding hissing consonant. There is no lip action. In a southern Mandarin dialect spoken in Ho-fei,Anhivei province, L [-z t -J] not only occurs after dental sibilants, but also after bilabials and palatals. 78 w As [-2jJ only occurs after retroflexed initials, it is produced by retracting the tip of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate and then slightly widening the passage between the active and passive art iculators just enough to stop the friction. It sounds like the prolongation and weakening of the fricative element of the preceding element. There is no lip action. In southern Mandarin dialects as well as other southern dialects, [-2^] is not so common as [-z ] . [ zjj is replaced by [i] in Peking opera. 9.2b /i/ and /i/ + /a/ - Group [i] [i] is produced by raising the front of the tongue towards the anterior part of the hard palate. The tongue tip touches the lower front teeth. The teeth are nearly closed. The oral cavity is divided into two parts by the tongue, the smaller before the larger behind the tongue, with a third small cavity lying between the teeth and the lips. The lips are flat and their corners are slightly drawn sideways. If the restriction of [i] is high enough the voice stream takes the character of [j]. [I a ] (see p. 6 9 ) 79 [ I sen] This final is formed by a non-syllabic I-] and final [-an]. [-a-] in this final is -as-] ^ due to the influence of [i-]. [ i at]] This final is formed by a non-syllabic [i-] and final [-afl]. [lau] (see p . 72) 9 .2c /i/ 4- /a/ - Group [IE] (see pp. 69-7O ) [in] & [ifl] [_0_] in these two finals is lost. Thus the vowel element of these two finals is normal syllabic [ i - ] . [iou] (see p. 72 ) or[-£-] is used by some Chinese speakers. 80 9-3 Rounded Finals 9.3a /u/ and /u/ + /a/ - Group [u] In the production of [u], the jaw remains raised and the teeth nearly closed, the tongue humps backwards towards, the posterior velum, and the lips are rounded and phckered. The oral cavity is bisected, the larger portion being before and the smaller behind the tongue, while the third cavity between the teeth and the lips has been considerably enlarged, thus giving the mouth a lengthened somewhat funnel-shaped profile. If the restriction of [u] is high enough the voice stream takes the character of [w]. [ua] (see p. 70.) [ U03I ] ( see p . 72 ) [uan] & [uafl] These two finals are formed by a non-rsyllabic [u-] and [-an] and [-at)] respectively. 9«3b /u/ + / 0/ - Group 81 [ u*] ( see p. 70 ) [ueIJ (see p . 72) L U 0 i i This final is formed by a non-syllabic [u-] and final [-8n]. The middle obscure element is very unstable. With the occurrence of different environments,variants of this final are as follows: 1 . [ - u n ] (t- 1 & t-2 ) - after apico consonant s 2 . [-usn] (t-3 & t-4) - after apico consonants j i s: - 3 . i i— i 4. [ U0n] - after zero initial [us!] ] This final is formed by a non-syllabic and final [ 13] * [ "0 - ] 1 in this final is very unstable; it appears only when this final follows a zero initial. With the occurrence of different environments, variants of this final are as follows: ^ It is transcribed as [-a -] or |_ — 2T— ] by some writers. 82 1. [-UId] - after consonantal initials 2. [ Ü8ID] - after zero initial 9.4 Inner-rounded Finals 9.4a /y/ and /y/ + /a/ - Group [y] [y] is a simultaneous pronunciation of [i] and [u]; it is produced by keeping the tongue in the same position as for [i] and the lips in the same shape as for [u]. Speakers of Min dialect as well as the English-speaking people and the Japanese tend to replace [y] with [i], To make this sound properly, pronounce [i], and , without changing the position of the tongue, simultaneously round the lips to the [u] position. [Ian ] This final is formed by a non-syllabic [Y-] and final [-an]. 9.4b /y/ + /a/ - Group [y e ](see P.72) 83 [yn] This final is formed by |_y] and final I-an]. The middle obscure element is very un stable; it has a slight [-i-] quality. With the occurrence of different environments, variants of this final are as follows: 1. [qln] - after zero initial 2. [-yn] - after consonantal initials [fan] This final is formed by a non-syllabic [Y-] and final [-Qfl]. The middle obscure element of this final has a slight [-u-] quality. 84 10. Retroflexed Finals (Retroflexed Vowels and Diminutive Suffix) 10.1 General Survey All vowel sounds may be characterized by retroflexion, the slight upward turning of the tongue tip towards the hard palate. In other words, in the production of retroflexed vowels, the tongue is held as for an ordinary vowel, but the tongue tip is simultaneously curled up towards the hard palate with lateral contraction; the edges of the hinder part of the tongue are pressed against the upper molars, so as to bend the middle and the blade of the tongue into spoon-form, without touching the hard palate, preventing the emitted breath from trilling the tip of the tongue (see fig. 22). The resulting sound has a peculiar hollow quality; it is a mixed sound of vowel and consonant. [ r ] ( aO Fig. 22 Retroflexed vowels may be transcribed in many different ways. For convenience, [-r] added at the end of a vowel is used to represent a retroflexed vowel in this book. 85 In Chinese, there are two kinds of words with retroflex endings.^ One is a very small number of primary words, of which the only common root morphemes ending in [-r] are 9r (child), ar (ears) and ar (two). The other class consists of a great number of monosyllabic words which are morphologically complex in that each is derived from a primary word plus a diminutive suffix (mostly [-r]). The suffix forms no add itional syllable, but gives an r-colouring to the preceding vowel. It is generally known as terminal [-r] or ending [-r] like that in 'better' in General American English. Mostly, its duration is short because it is an unstressed sound. The sound made during the glide approach to the short terminal part of the [r] constitutes a considerable portion of the entire r-sound. Words with the common suffix of the terminal [-r] added is one of the characteristics of Mandarin Chinese, particularly in Peking dialect and south-west Mandarin. The r-forms have come from three different etymons. 1. The localizer -li (in) forming with demonstrative place words. 2. zfo (day) forming names of days with reference to the present. 3. 9r (child), which has become the dim inutive suffix properJ Some retroflexed vowels are formed by adding the terminal [-r] to the vowels, and some are formed by deleting the following elements of the compound vowels or vowel-nasal ([-n] and [-ft]) 1 Chao, Mandarin Primer, p p . 30-2 and A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, pp* 228-99* 86 finals, and then adding the terminal [-r] to the main vowels. The exact manner in which the pre ceding sounds are affected is determined normally by the nature of the sounds combined with the [-r]. The following table illustrates the ordered rules of how ordinary finals become retroflexed f i n a I s . 0 CD a *H -H d W d >3 U Sh CD d d 87 With reference to the table shown on the previous page, some phonetic phenomena need to be noted. Firstly, when the terminal [-r] is added, there is a slight change of sound values of [a], [e _, [tfj and [u], while [z], [z^], [ei] and [on are all substituted by [or]. In other words, they are homophonous with one another. Secondly, the high, front vowels [i] and [y], formed with a flattened tongue, are incompatible with retroflexion; therefore, they must be followed by a retroflexed central vowel, thus, pi (play) + -r — — - r ^jgr. The terminal [-I] and [-n] also incompatible with retroflexion, are simply dropped, thus .ein (letters) + -r ---^ ^jor, consequently homophcnous with pjor (play). Examples of these phenomena are: [ar] is derived from [aei] and [an] [or] is derived from [el] and [on] [ior] is derived from [i] and [in] [Yor] is derived from [y] and [yn] Thirdly, when [-r] is added to a syllable ending in [ - r]] , then [ - 13] is dropped and the main vowel of the syllable becomes nasalized. 10.2 Some rules of how the ordinary finals become retroflexed finals and on what occasion a retroflexed vowel is used 10.2(l) Shortening The final syllables or suffixes of some disyllabic (or polysyllabic) words are dropped when the terminal [-r] is added, e.g. a) The atonic noun suffix -dz(z) is often 88 replaced by -r. For example, &ar c--- §aeidz(z) (a lid). In general, an atonic noun suffix can be replaced by [-r] without change of meaning except for a few words in the following: b8r = capital in b8ro or b8ndz(z) C- . ' » ' = trade an exercise book miaur = sprout mlaUdz(z) = the Miao people \ mlar = surface miaendz(z) = ’face' pride Some nouns can be spoken with atonic suffix -dz— (z^ or non-syllabic diminutive [-r] such as diaaidz(z) or d iar (a cushion), but when they are preceded by another noun with an atonic -dz(z), they take the latter form as in jidz(z)dl'er^ / V V I ' (a chair cushion) b) Syllables formed by retroflexed sounds of the following words are replaced by [-r]. e.g. i [~r ] ds^in^z^ --- z* d^»j ar (today) ii -dz^z---- r -r] O ^ J / \ / v bu dzz. da u --- y- bur da u (do not know) o C * 1 Is o v 111 — r7” X_r 1 . , , jau sz, bu ... — — ^ jaurbu ... (if v I * Q> not ...) Both ii and iii are very informal, particularly when they are spoken very quickly by the speakers of Peking dialect. 89 c) The atonic localizer -li (in)forming with demonstrative place words is often replaced by [-r] in the informal style- e.g. noli --- ^ ncir (there) d) Various atonic suffixes or final syllables of nouns are replaced by [-r]. e.g. dzuV par --- ~7 dzuy r (a seat) tshu~jr t^'u -----?> tshuJ r (fault) ueideu ---- Ü8r (taste; flavour) m8ndeur --- ^ m8r (opportunity) From the examples shown above, lexically or textually, syllables or suffixes replaced by [-r] are almost all atonic. In this case, it is clear that some disyllabic or polysyllabic words or sense-groups are shortened by replacing their atonic syllables with [-r]. [-r], however, still plays the role of a diminutive suffix of the following words with atonic final syllables, e.g. bagyr (the mynah) m u t t 's r (a model) mujnr (appearance) tshas ilmur (material) d^jEdz^sr (a ring) pif(v)ar (wife) gudur (a bud) gülur (a wheel) gw* gwjr (a large uan j or (toys ) green cricket) / When -th° U (head) is used as suffix, it is often atonic; 1 it is sometimes followed by [-r] as in niaent'sur (thoughts) phseit’9Ur (manner; an air) thiaait* 8Ur (a bait; a lure) 1 O v ^ Tonic - th°yr occurs as in t9hith°ur (to start); lapth pr (an old man), etc. 90 The atonic localizer -bl3n (side) is often followed by [-r] such as joUbI3r (the right-hand side). 10.2(2) The Idea of Smallness Semantically, the diminutive suffix [-r] starts from the idea of smallness and shades off through the speaker's attitude of regarding the thing as small and thence to almost nothing but a change of grammatical function with or without change of meaning from that of the root morpheme. The following words with terminal [-r] added indicate something small, tiny, minute, little, few, insignificant, petty, mean and trifling; the immaturity or inferiority of man or animal. e. g. a) Nouns (inanimate) preceded by pj^U- (small; little) allein jar (petty minds) pjaU^Qr (a trivial matter) pjaUdiQur (a tune) b) Nouns (inanimate) without preceding ,pj C 5 U - « Those with atonic suffix - dz(z) which can be replaced by [-r] are excluded. j blEdzsr (a pin) o o h phut'-eugar (dried grape - raisin) dirDdz^Qr (a thimble) lirQsU8r (fragments) 1 Chao, A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, p. 230. 91 lirodgO ar (small pieces of ) d^-jouw^r (a dimple) \ pir]2^6r (apricot kernel) / j äbith0 Ur (a cigarette butt) Suffix -j asn indicating ’a small hole or eye’, whether used figuratively or not, is often followed by [-rj. Examples are: phlaenpinjar (partiality) thiaujar (to find fault) ' V ✓ dzzjar (an expression; a word- phraseology ) da^gnjar (the eye of the needle) c) a few idiomatic compounds with preceding ji- (one-). e.g. ji diar (a little; a dot) ji d^ar (a little while) ji Xwbr (a while) ji phiar (a slice) A few such forms are adverbs; they do not indicate smallness or shortness. Examples are; ji khwar (together); jidzdur (from morning). d) Nouns (animate) preceded by fcjaU-* pjauxar (child; children) pjdugdur (puppies) jCjdud^ur (a piglet) e) Nouns (animate) without preceding pjdU-. bägour (a small dog) sunnY 9r (a grand-daughter) t^hoUr (a low-comedy player) d^dll igUr (a cicada) gdur (a lamb) f) The second syllable of the reduplicated verbs, with or without ji (one) inserted, is not merely atonic but also retroflexed such as dsrQdgr (wait a minute). Reduplicated verbs with terminal [-r] added were very common in a colloquial novel - The Dream of the Red Chamber written in the Ch *ing dynasty (1 644-19 11 ) but are less used in present-day Chinese. 10.3 Some words with terminal [-r] added and those without it belong to the different parts of speech* a) The following words with terminal [-r] added are nouns and those without it are verbs.e .g# Verbs Nouns ban (to accompany) bar (companion) bau (to wrap) bdur (a parcel; a b a g ) dzut (to sit) dzu # r (a seat) o' 7 V t^haft (to sing) t^har (a song) * (to say) £a r (a mood ; theory) G.jdu (to laugh) pjdur (a laugh) jin (to print) j8r (a mark) 93 Verbs Nouns ^aei (to cover) ^ar (a lid) Xwd (to paint) Xwclr (a painting) XwV (to live) Xwyr (a work) belgaU (to be accused) belgaUr (the defendant) b) The following words with terminal [-r] added are nouns and those without it are adjectives* e- g%» Adj ectives Nouns bssi (white) bar (albumen) ban (half) bar (a half) fd£l (square) fdr (a prescription) dzdiQ (dirty) dzar (dirt) O tsh^lT (wrong) t shu Yr (f aul t) dän (single) dar (a bill) o o duel (right) du'ar (a couple) o 0 lau (old) laUr (father) ly (happy) ltfr (happiness) / lialQ (cool) liar (coolness) ! lldlQ (light) liar (light) ji jaft (the same) ji jar (one thing) XdU (good) XaUr (applause) / X"walQ (yellow) Xwdr (yolk) Uän (bent) Uär (a corner) 94 c) The following adverbs with terminal [-r] plus suffix -d0 are formed by reduplicating monosyllabic adjectives. The syllable followed by [-r] is pro nounced in tone-1 irrespective of the original tones. e.g. man + man + -r + -dg ----7 mammarda (slowly) Xdu + xau + -da ----yauxaudg (properly) d) Classifiers (except for units of measure or quasi-measures) for individual physical objects suffixed with [-r] become nouns, mostly with the class meaning of 'size, shape, or quality (of the t h i n g ) ^ e.g. Classifiers Nouns fan (a copy of) far (a copy; a share) duel (a pair of) duar (a couple) thiau (a strip of) thlQUr (a brief note) Textually, classifiers are rather unstressed, particularly the general individual classifier - g 0 * . 10.4 The following words with and without terminal [-r] added are more or less different in meaning; they should e properly distinguished from each other. e.g. a) baeimisen (flour) baeimikr (heroin) b) miasn (flour) mlar (surface;powder) ✓ c) fe I^oU (fat and fe l^oUr (half-fat and thin) half-lean meat) Chao, A Grammar of Spoken Chinese, p p . 232-3. 95 d) tshz (lyric metres; tsh9r (word) a genre of poetry) e) thiaen (sky) thlär (weather) f) th° u(head) th°ur (a leader) s) puel (water) ^U0rV \watery / part; juice) h) ,pin (a letter) Pj8r (message) i) jaen (smoke in gen.; jar (smoke in gen.) t obacco) / j) ji khw«l (a dollar; ji khwar (together) a piece of) h) Xw*j&ir3 (the planet Xwir p j 0r ( sparks ) Mars) 10.5 Various types of compound and idiom with [r] inserted or added at the end. a) Component-r + compound-r This rare type appears in plural form only used to classify people, e.g. nI arm 0r (womenfolk) gsrliar (the two brothers; the two fallows) b) [-r-] is inserted in the following compounds i Component-r + noun e.g. phiarthän) (soup with small dumplings) maUrpi (play with an all-women .cast) pctOjard^ilB (a well with two openings) 9 6 gäug©rpjE (high-heel shoes) Xäbnrgo u (a bull-dog) 11 Component-r + atonic -g0 indicating ’day' used more often before verbs of action than other verbs or nominal predicates. e.g. d^jOrg© (today) iii Component-r + adjective e.g. bbrbalD (wonderful) darpjau (timid) järz^s (envious) iv Verb-r + particle-1©, sign of past tense, e.g. für 1 © (annoyed) diar 1© (ran away) \wxr 1 © (angered) c) Some polysyllabic idioms with terminal [-r]. e.g. thud^^m1^ f0r (to rouge and powder - to adore; to gloss) ^ould^our (hand-in-hand) wuXwabdm©r (too complicated) 10.6 Some radicals of Chinese characters e.g. baugar (a radical indicating 'roof') (ji) phlEr (a stroke to the left) 97 dz^jaUsSr (a radical indicating ’silk* ) (ji) när (a stroke to the right) dzoudz^Gr (a radical indicating 'walk* ) (ji) pur (a vertical line) danz^Qr (a radical indicating 'a man’ ) pUalDz^Sr (a radical indicating ' two men’ ) / t^ht[3enj0 Ur (a radical indicating 'a dog' ) pupjär (a radical indicating heart') sandIffin^ U9r(a radical indicating 'water') (ji) (a horizontal line) (ji) g°ur (a hook) tshd'dcujr (a radical indicating 'a knife' ) 10.7 [9r] and [ar ] As described on p.85,root morpheme 9r (child) only occurs in tone-2, while ar (ear) and dr (two) occur in tone-3 and tone-4 respectively. These primary words are very small in number. A very few of them are atonic. Atonic 8r or ar, though weak in articulation, is different from non- syllabic diminutive suffix [-r], the latter being twisted into its preceding vowel, e.g. a) ny sr (a daughter) b) sunnY8r (a grand-daughter) '-gr' in a) is an atonic syllable, but that in b) is a non-syllabic diminutive suffix. 98 11. The Formation of Syllables Each sound which constitutes a peak of pro minence is said to be syllabic, and the word or phrase is said to contain as many syllables as there are peaks of prominence. A syllable in Mandarin Chinese is generally made up of an initial and a final. The initial is the sound with which a syllable starts; it may be a con sonant or a zero. When a syllable is formed by a zero initial and a final, the syllable con sists of only a final. According to the order of initials and finals, the distribution of their combinations may be tabulated as follows: 1. Initials 2. Finals 1.1 Zero 2.1 Open 2.1 a /a/ - group 1.2 Labials .-d][-ae i][-an][-an)] [b-][ph-][m-][f-] . -auJ 1.3 Dental sibilants 2.1b /©/ - group [dz-][tsh-][s-] [-* ][-ei ][-0n][-0r^] -o u 1.4 Alveolars [d-][th-][n-][l-] 2.2 Spread 2.2a /-z/ /-%/ and /i/ 1.5 Retroflexes + /a/ - group 2.2b /i/ + /s/ - group 1.6 Prepalatals 2.3 Rounded [d^-][t*»h-][s-] 2.3a A 1/ + /a/ “ group 2.3b /a/ 1.7 Velars /u/ + - group [g-][kh-][x-] 2.4 Inner-rounded 2.4a /y/ + /a/ - group 2 . 4b /y/ + /e/ - group 99 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.1a 2.1b z i • 3 ' 1.1 + + + + + 1.2 + + +•* + 1.3 + + + + 1.4 + + + + +* 1 .5 + + + + 1.6 + + 1.7 + + + Note ” + M indicates that an initial can go with final ” * m /f_ /does not occur before /-i/; /d- /and /th-/ do not occur before y-y / This table may be enlarged as follows: r 0 Velars (pre) R e t r o - a lv e o Dental L a b ia ls Zero