Phonological Analysis Of Hongkui To

This dissertation discusses the phonological system of Hongkui To (henceforth HT) within the framework of Government Phonology (henceforth GP). The discussion is divided into the following aspects: the phonological template, the nuclear system, the onset system, inter-constituent interaction and the tone system.First, in chapter one, I make a brief introduction on the basic notions of GP, which includes the element theory, theory of constituent structure, theory of transconstituent structure, government, Empty Category Principle and tone theory.Chapters two to six are considered the core part of the whole dissertation. In Chapter Two, I discuss the phonological template of HT, proving that it is a templatic language. The basic template of HT is two sets of onsets and nuclei, i.e. O1N,O2N2, on the basis of which an extended template, O1N,OaNaO2N2, can be derived. P-licensing Constraint and other related constraints will also be discussed.Chapter Three focuses on the nuclear system of HT. The concept of licensing constraints in general is introduced first. Then the licensing constraints of the nuclear system at the lexical level of HT are established, from which all and onlythe seven lexical nuclei of HT can be derived. The phonological representations for the lexical nuclei are provided accordingly.The phonological representations of onsets and their behavior are discussed in the fourth chapter. I propose the lexical representation of HT onsets in terms of elements. Specific constraints on onsets and their behavior are also included.To provide a comparatively complete picture of the phonological system of HT, Chapter Five provides discussion specifically on the interaction between constituents. There are three sections, working on the interaction between nuclei, the interaction between onsets and the interaction between onset and nucleus respectively. Some of the constraints are found echoing with each other, which provide evidence to the discussion and claims.The discussion of the tone system is provided in Chapter Six. HT is found to be a language of complex tone system. Constraints are proposed to derive the five tonal patterns of the language. It is discovered that the spreading always goes from right to left, there can be at most one tonal element in a tonal patterns, and that the final position of the tonal patterns is the head.