CORPUS-BASED ANALYSIS OF CHINESE HYMNS
3.1 Introduction
This study analyzes the relationship between Chinese biblical verses and melody by constructing a corpus of Chinese hymns composed by Mou (2007). In this chapter, the corpus is introduced. Since the melody of the hymns carries important information, the basic coding includes the following:
(1)
a. Correspondence between syllables and notes
(a) one-to-one correspondence between syllable and note (b) syllable-note linking
(c) no syllable repetition
(d) position of rest mark b. Language and music boundaries
(a) the position of the longest syllable in an IP (b) edge of the tiercet
c. Syllable rhythm: neutral tone rhythm
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Contrary to notes that indicate sound, the rests mark silence in the music. They may occur at the edge of an XP. It is also possible that they occur in a phrase medial position. Language and music boundaries also interact with each other. The position of the longest note is checked and the edges of the tiercet are observed in the corpus.
Since neutral tone syllables are read shorter in common speech, it is assumed that the rhythm of music is influenced by that of speech. Thus, neutral tone syllables may be linked to shorter notes.
3.1.1 Sources of the Corpus
This corpus contains Chinese hymns selected from the “Singing Bible,” a book of biblical verse hymns which were composed by Mou (2007). Mou set Chinese Biblical verses2 as lyrics to the music she composes. The ones selected are those which contain verses from the Book of Psalms. It is because in the original Bible in
1 I had an interview with the composer of Singing Bible, Wei-hua Mou on 08/20/2009. She indicated that she aimed to follow the original verses of the Bible. Therefore, she intended not to add or delete any word from the Bible.
2 The Holy Bible: Chinese Union Version (Shen Edition)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
15
Hebrew, Psalm belongs to the Poetic Books and the translation of these verses into Chinese is more poetic in form than that of the language in other books in Bible.
Hymns with lyrics in Southern Min and rap were not selected. Ten hymns with a total of 160 lines were selected from the corpus which is represented in (2).
(2)
3.1.2 Annotation
There are ten hymns with a total of 160 lines in the corpus. The lyrics of the hymns are divided into IPs and each line includes one IP. IPs are sense units3. The criteria by which I identify an IP boundary are punctuations, for example, the used of a period, comma, or semicolon in the lyrics. These punctuations mark the boundary of an IP because the singers of hymns change breath according to such punctuations.
3 See .2.5.1 for the definition of sense unit.
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Most of the IPs in the biblical hymn conform to this criterion. The lines are serially numbered, as in (3). The abbreviation ‘HM’ represents Mou’s (2007) hymns. The following three numbers, ‘005’, indicate that it is the fifth hymn in the corpus. The last three numbers, ‘003’, indicate the third line of that hymn.
(3)
(4) Translation of the verse in (3) 向 我們 王 歌頌 xiang wo-men wang ge-song
‘to 3PL King sing’
[Sing to our King.]
In (5), “one syllable to one note” represents one syllable that is linked to only one note, while “one syllable to multiple notes” represents one syllable that is linked to multiple notes with different pitches.
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(6) Translation of the verse in (5) 所以 祂 必 指示 罪人 走 正路 suo-yi ta bi zhi-shi zui-ren zou zheng-lu
‘so 3SG must teach sinners walk right-way’
[So he will be the teacher of sinners in the way]
(7) records the position of a tiercet. “Tiercet followed by a stray syllable”
indicates that the right edge of a tiercet is linked to the right edge of the penultimate syllable in an IP. “Tiercet in XP initial” indicates that the left edge of a tiercet is linked to the left edge of an XP. “The longest and IP final” stands for the longest syllable that appears at the right edge of an IP.
(7)
(8) Translation of the verse in (7)
因為 我 的 盼望 是 從 祂 而來 yin-wei wo de pan-wang shi cong ta er lai
‘because 1SG POSS hope COP from 3SG DIR’
[For from him comes my hope]
As shown below, “NT” represents the neutral tone syllable in the hymns. Neutral tone syllables are supposed to sing not longer than its adjacent syllables. Therefore, I
Serial # Verse Tiercet # Tiercet
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record the duration of neutral tone syllable compared to its adjacent syllables. “NT <”
indicates that the neutral tone syllable is shorter than its adjacent syllables. “NT =”
represent that the neutral tone syllable is equal to its adjacent syllables.
“NT >” indicates that the neutral tone syllables is longer than its adjacent syllables.
As in (9), one neutral tone syllable, de, is shorter than its adjacent syllables. Therefore,
“NT <” is marked with “1.”
(9)
Serial # Verse NT < NT = NT >
HM001-001 不從惡人的計謀 1 0 0
(10) Translation of the verse in (9)
不 從 惡人 的 計謀 bu cong e-ren de ji mou
‘NEG follow bad-person POSS plot’
[Do not go in the company of sinners]
The composer may repeat verse in the Bible to satisfy the music template. As recorded in (11), the verse from HM003-014 is repeated and “1” is marked for
“repetition.” As for rest, if it appears in the medial position of an XP, “Rest in XP medial” is marked with “1.”
(11)
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(12) Translation of the verse in (11) 要 等候 耶和華
yao deng-hou ye-he-hua ‘must wait-on Lord’
[Wait on the Lord.]
3.1.3 Basic Concepts of Notation
The duration of the notes can be identified by their shapes which are illustrated in (13). The whole-note has the longest duration while the half-note lasts as half as
The pitch of the notes is determined by their position on the stave as in (14). The lower a note is on the stave, the lower its pitch is.
(14)
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3.2 Correspondence Between Syllables and Notes
3.2.1 One-to-one Correspondence Between Syllable and Note
Mou (2007) set biblical verses to music. The music score served as a template for the lyrics. A large percentage of syllable-note correspondence is on a one-to-one corresponding basis. The syllables, bu, cong, e, ren4, de, ji, and mou in example (16) are linked to one note, respectively.
(16) HM001-001
4 The syllable, ren2, is regarded as linked by only one note because the note G is played once with the duration of a quarter note.
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A total of 1,026 syllables are collected in the corpus. Within all of the syllables, 91.61 % of them are linked to one note while only a small percentage of them are linked to multiple notes with different pitches. This shows the correspondence between the number of syllables and notes.
Table 3.1: Correspondence between syllables and notes One syllable to notes is greater than that of the syllables number, one syllable may be associated with multiple notes.
3.2.2 No Syllable Repetition
Bruce Hayes (2005) indicates that a lapse or long sequence containing no syllable is often avoided when lyrics are set into music. In the corpus, every syllable is linked to notes to satisfy the music template. However, when the number of syllable
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
is less than the number of onte in a section of music, there will be notes that are not linked to syllables. The notes that are not mapped with syllables occur only in the prelude, interlude, ending, or accompaniment, and are played by instruments rather than being sung.
As Chen (1992) mentions, lyrics are modified in order to make the music more fluent, complete, or intensified. Mou (2007) adjusts the lyrics to make them satisfy the music template by repeating phrases or sentences. In (17), the composer repeats the sentence yao deng hou ye he hua, ‘wait one the Lord,’ in order to fill the music template and emphasize the importance of “waiting on the Lord.”
(17) HM003-013, HM003-014
Nevertheless only a small percentage of the syllables are inserted into the lyrics.
As shown in table 3.2, 82.59 % of the syllables are from biblical verses while only 17.41 % of the syllables are reduplicated and added to the lyrics by the composer.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
23
Table 3.2: Syllable repetition
3.2.3 Position of Rest Mark
As observed in the corpus, each rest mark appears at either the right edge or left edge of an XP. However, there is no rest mark that appears in the medial position of an XP, as illustrated below:
*(18)
As shown in (18), the rest mark appears in the medial position of the verb phrase duan din, ‘judge,’ which is not found in the corpus.
3.3 Language and Music Boundaries
3.3.1 The Position of the Longest Syllable in an IP
Lindblom (1978) mentions that the similarity between language and music lies in Original syllables Repeated syllables Total
# of syllables 925 195 1120
Percentage 82.59 % 17.41 % 100.00 %
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
the nature of the boundary markings. He indicates that ‘final lengthening,’ a form of boundary marking that occurs in speech and music, is the longer duration of a speech sound or note in the final position of a phrase. It indicates the prosodic constituent, syntactic boundary, and breath group in music. In the hymns, the boundaries of the lyrics and the music are aligned with each other. The longest syllable appears in the rightmost position of an IP. Take (19) as an example, lang, ‘wave,’ is the longest syllable which should be in the final position of the relevant IP. Those IPs are sense units and their boundaries are identified by punctuations which conforms to breath change.
(19) HM010-007
As shown in table 3.3, there are totally 160 IPs in the corpus. 75.625% of the right edge of the IP is corresponded with the right edge of the longest syllable in the relevant IP. This shows the correspondence of boundaries in language and music.
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Table 3.3: The longest syllable and IP
3.3.2 Edge of the Tiercet
In most cases, syllables are linked to notes that are binarily branched, as illustrated in (20). In (20), the notes in the first line are quarter notes. A quarter note can be binarily branched to two eighth notes as shown in the second line.
(20) HM013-007
However, some of the syllables are linked into notes that are trisectingly branched as shown in (21). The first note in (21) is still binarily branched into an eighth note which then be branched into a sixteenth note. However, the second note in (21) is trisectingly branched. It is equally branched into a set of three notes which is called a ‘tiercet.’
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(21) HM008-035
In the hymns, the right side of a tiercet is linked to the penultimate syllable in an IP. In (22), the syllables, hu, is linked to the penultimate syllable in the IP. Since the tiercet represents a special rhythm, the composer links the syllables she wants to emphasize to the tiercet. In this way, those syllables are highlighted.
(22) HM006-008
A presented in table 3.4, 76.92 % of the rightmost syllable of a tiercet is linked to the penultimate syllable in an IP.
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Table 3.4: Rightmost syllable of the tiercet Linked to the
The left edge of a tiercet is also aligned with a boundary in lyrics. As shown in example (22), the left edge of the tiercet is linked to the left edge of the XP, ‘dou zai hu shen, ‘all in God.’ This makes the boundaries of language and music correspond
with each other. Table 3.5 shows the percentage of the left edge of a tiercet that is aligned with the left edge of an XP. There are totally 13 tiercets in the corpus, and 100% of the left edge of the tiercet is linked to the left edge of the XP.
Table 3.5: Left edge of the tiercet
Linked to XP initial Not linked to XP initial Total
Token 13 13 13
Percentage 100.00 % 0.00 % 100.00 %
3.4 Syllable Rhythm: Neutral Tone Rhythm
Duanmu (1998) indicates that neutral tone syllables are not stress syllables so they are shorter syllables. In contrast, non-neutral syllables are stress syllables and thus they are longer syllables. In the hymns, neutral tone syllables are also found to be linked to notes with shorter duration. As shown in (23), each de is linked to a note that is shorter than at least one of its adjacent syllables. The first de is linked to an eighth
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
note which is only one-third the length of the note that appears before it. The second de is also an eighth note that is shorter than both of its adjacent syllables.
(23) HM002-012
When the neutral tone syllable, de, is linked to a shorter note, the hymn sounds rhythmic and shows a correspondence to language form. In ordinary speech, we also tend to shorten de. As mentioned above, de is linked to a note that is shorter than at least one of its adjacent notes. When de is linked to a note that is equal to its adjacent syllables, as shown in (24), the rhythm is still acceptable. In (24), de is linked to an eighth note while its adjacent notes, guo and zuo, are also linked to eighth notes.
(24) HM009-006
However, if de is linked to a note that is longer than its adjacent notes, as in (25),
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
29
it will not sound harmonically. De in the example below is linked to a quarter note that is longer than its adjacent notes, guo and zuo, which are both eighth notes.
* (25) HM009-006
Aside from de, the example of other neutral tone syllable is exemplified below.
As shown in the following example, zi is a neutral tone which is mapped into an eighth note. The adjacent syllables of zi are ye, ‘leaf’ and ye, ‘also’ that are both linked into quarter notes. Therefore, zi is shorter than its adjacent syllables.
(26) HM001-009
The following table 3.6 shows that 68.32 % of the neutral tone syllables are linked to notes that are not longer than their adjacent syllables.
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Table 3.6 Neutral tone syllable rhythm
3.5 Summary
Chapter 3 discusses the correspondence between syllables and notes, the boundary of lyric and music, and the rhythmic features of the neutral tone syllables. In regard to the correspondence between syllables, it is found that the correspondence between syllable and note is on a one-to-one mapping basis. Syllable is linked to multiple notes only when there are notes that are not associated with any syllable.
Therefore, the composer may repeat syllables to satisfy the music template. A rest mark that indicates pauses in music occurs at either side of an XP. Such a mark does not appear in the medial position of an XP. In addition to the correspondence between syllables, the boundaries of both language and music are discussed. The right edge of a tiercet is linked to the right edge of the penultimate syllable in an IP. The left edge of a tiercet is linked to the left edge of a XP. Rhythmic correspondence is also an interesting relationship between language and music. Neutral tone syllables that are read shorter in ordinary speech are also linked to notes that are not longer than their adjacent syllables.
Longer neutral tone Not longer neutral tone Total
Token 32 69 101
Percentage 31.68 % 68.32 % 100.00%
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
31
CHAPTER 4
AN OT ANALYSIS OF CHINESE HYMNS
4.1 Introduction
This chapter employs Optimality Theory in a discussion of the interaction between biblical verses in the Chinese language and music. The Chinese biblical verses and music composed by Mou (2007) shows the interaction between language and music in a variety of forms: The lyrics may be changed to satisfy a music template, or the music may be modified to accommodate the rhythm of the lyrics and to highlight the meaning of certain words.
This chapter will first analyze the correspondence between syllable and note.
Then, language and music boundaries will be discussed. I will also examine the rhythm of neutral tone syllables.
4.2 Correspondence Between Syllable and Note
A musical score may serve as a template for lyrics, where syllables are associated with music notes. In most cases, a syllable corresponds to only one note. More than
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
90% of the syllables are linked to one note in the corpus. The following constraint is set for the syllable-note correspondence:
(1) Uniformity-SM: Assign one violation mark to every extra note that is linked to a single syllable. The extra note has different pitch with its adjacent syllable.
The constraint Uniformity-SM governs the syllable-note mapping on a one-to-one basis. As shown in (2), three notes are linked to ta, ‘him’. However, the second and the third notes are extra notes so (2) violates Uniformity-SM twice.
(2)
(3) is the melody for a hymn line. Two possible candidates, (4a) and (4b), are evaluated in tableau (5):
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
33
(3) HM008-021 Melody:
Verse line:
惟獨 你 是 神 wei-du ni shi shen ‘only 2SG COP God’
[You only are God.]
(4) a.
b.
(5)
(4a) is the optimal choice, where every syllable corresponds to a music note. In candidate (4b), two notes with different pitches are linked to ni, which violates
Uniformity-SM
(4a)
(4b) *!
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Uniformity-SM. Therefore, it is ruled out.
Although more than 90% of the note is linked to only one syllable, syllable that is linked to notes with different pitches can still be observed in the corpus. This is governed by the constraint, Associate Note, below:
(6) Associate Note: Assign one violation mark to every music note that is not associated with any syllable.
(7) Associate Note >> Uniformity-SM
As observed in the corpus, a music note is usually associated with at least one syllable. Therefore, when a note has no syllable with which to be associated, it will be associated with a syllable that has already been linked to other notes. Thus, Associate Note ranks higher than Uniformity-SM, as in (7). The melody and the hymn line in (8) is from the Singing Bible.
(8) HM008-011 Melody:
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note. The second note and the third note in (9a) are associated with the same syllable while the third note in (9b) has no syllable to be linked with. The constraint evaluation is given in tableau (10).(9) with different pitches, satisfying Associate Note. However, Uniformity-SM is a
Associate Note Uniformity-SM
(9a) *
(9b) *!
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
lower-ranking constraint. Although (9a) violates this constraint, it is still the optimal choice. However, (9b) violates Associate Note, which is a fatal violation.
When Mou (2007) composed the hymns, she intended not to add any word to the original verses. A constraint governing this fact is (11):
(11) DEP-σ: Assign one violation mark for every output syllable that is not in the input.
The following constraint ranking includes DEP-σ:
(12) Associate Note >> Uniformity-SM >> DEP-σ
The following are possible candidates that are evaluated in tableau (15).
(13) HM003-013 Melody:
Verse line:
要 等候 耶和華 yao deng-hou ye-he-hua ‘must wait-on Lord’
[Wait on the Lord.]
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
37
(14) a.
b.
c.
(15)
Although (14a) violates DEP-σ six times, it is selected as the optimal output.
When the repeated syllables, yao, deng, hou, ye, he, and hua, are added to the lyrics, the constraint Uniformity-SM is violated only twice. (14b) does not violate DEP-σ, but violates Uniformity-SM eight times, so it is eliminated. (14c) violates the highest constraint, Associated Notes, so it is ruled out.
Associate Note Uniformity-SM DEP-σ
(14a) ** ******(14b) ********!
(14c) ********!
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
As listed in (12), Uniformity-SM ranks higher than DEP-σ, so repeating the lyrics is permitted. However, it is also found in the corpus that more notes may be linked to one syllable, instead of repeating the lyrics. Therefore, DEP-σ may rank higher than Uniformity-SM. (16) is the melody for a hymn.
(16) HM007-009 Melody:
(16) HM007-009 Melody: