An Analysis Of Tones In Luoshan Dialect

This thesis firstly gives a detailed description of Luoshan dialect, its initials, finals, and its tonal information, on the basis of acoustic experiment. Then it aims to give a phonological analysis of the tonal behaviors within the framework of Optimality Theory.The thesis begins with the introduction to the previous research done on Luoshan dialect (LSD) in Chapter I.Chapter II shows the detailed process and result of the acoustic experiment done with Cool-edit Pro and Praat on the tones in LSD. There are four lexical tones in LSD, and the discovery of the tone sandhi behavior is shown as:T1+T1→ T2+T1;T4+T1→ T3+T1;T4+T2→ T1+T2;T4+T3→ T1+T3;T4+T4→ T3+T4.The neutral tone in disyllabic and trisyllabic sequences is determined both by phonetics and phonology. In disyllabic sequences, the starting point of the neutral tone co-articulates with the end point of the preceding tone, while the end point is default L. Neutral tone in the pattern S+N+N is generally similar to that of disyllabic sequences. In the pattern S+N+S, while the starting point of the intermediate neutral tone co-articulates with the end point of the preceding tone, the end point is influenced by its surrounding tones.Chapter III deals with the phonological analysis of the tonal behavior of LSD within the framework of Optimality Theory. Through the interaction of faithfulness and markedness constraints, the tone sandhi behavior of disyllabic sequences and the neutral tone in disyllabic and trisyllabic sequences get an explicit account.The last chapter concludes the thesis.