An Analysis On The Tone Sandhi Of Zhoukou Dialect

The methods in experimental phonetics are employed in this thesis attempting to make a scientific analysis on the tone sandhi of Zhoukou dialect. The tones in citation forms and the tone sandhi in disyllabic sequence were defined in scientific way in this thesis.In chapter one, the initial and final systems in Zhoukou dialect were described briefly and some general comparisons are made in this chapter as well.In chapter two, the current research situation on OT in China is presented firstly. The, the applications of OT into the study on the tone sandhi of two dialects in China are exemplified separately. After that, the applications of OT into the study on the tone sandhi of two dialects in Henan province are stated in a general way. A brief description of tonal study in Zhoukou dialect is presented at last .In chapter three, the software Praat was used to analyze the recorded materials which included the tones in citation forms, the tone sandhi in disyllabic sequence and and the neutral tones in disyllabic and trisyllabic sequence and consequently obtained the following result: 1.There are four tones in citation forms: T1(13),T2(43),T3(33),T4(51). The checked tone has dissolved into other tones. 2.The tone sandhi in disyllabic sequence is shown in the following : 1) T1 + T2â†'T4 + T2 LH + HHâ†'HL + LH 2) T1 + T3â†'T4 + T3 LH + LLâ†'HL + HH 3) T3 + T4â†'T1+ T4 LL + HLâ†'LH + HL 4) T4 + T4â†'T1 + T4 HL + HLâ†'LH + HL3. The analysis on the neutral tones by the experiment indicated that the neutral tone disyllabic sequence tended to be falling tones except for T1+N .For most of the neutral tone except for T2/T3/T4+N+T2 in trisyllabic sequence, its starting point coarticulates with the ending point of the preceding stressed tone, and its ending point is in accordance with the starting point of the succeeding stressed tone, in other words, the pitch value of neutral tone is the transition between two stressed tones.In chapter four, Optimality Theory was used to make an analysis on the tone sandhi in disyllabic sequence in phonological way. OT deserts the derivation process by the ordered rules and focuses onranking of constraints.