4.1 Tonal neutralization in Taiwan Southern Min
4.1.1 Predominant occurrence of tonal neutralization
4.1.1 Predominant occurrence of tonal neutralization
Based on dictionaries and the attested surface form in citation or non-final positions, all types of grammatical words in Taiwanese are underlyingly associated with a lexical tone (although the predominant T4 in sentence-final particles is probably just a dummy which is derived from default low). Table (3) lays out the citation tone of the classes of function words that are usually attached to the right of its host/base and thus have potential to get neutral-toned.
(3) Citation tones of function words in Taiwanese a. Sentence-final particles
ah4 Realization of state
looh4 Realization of state, noteworthiness bo5 Interrogative, unsed in yes or no questions
m7 Used in (echo-)questions to emphasize the interrogativity ah4 Smooth-alert, adhortative
oh4 Smooth-alert, adhortative lah4 Smooth-alert, adhortative mah4 Smooth-alert, adhortative
leh4 Intensifier, to express contempt
neh4 Intensifier, to express praise or satisfaction
b. Modifier marker
e5 (Adjectival) modifier marker, possessive marker c. Aspect markers
leh4 Continuous marker
kue3 Experiential perfect marker d. Directional complements
lai5 ‘towards the speaker’
khi3 ‘away from the speaker’
loh8 ‘downward’
tshut4 ‘outward’
jip8 ‘inward’
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tioh8 ‘at, attached, acquired, ’ kau3 ‘at, to’
diao7 ‘finished, lost’
g. Classifiers
e5 generic classifier
pun2 for books
pang1 for a flight, train or bus at a particular time tai5 for vehicle
te3 for a clump or blob of thing that usually has some weight tiau5 for long, soft piece of thing; for songs
lui2 for flowers
In the final position of a certain domain, most of these classes of grammatical words become neutral-toned. This neutralization, by definition, can be identified based on loss
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of tonal contrast. In derivational terms, a neutral-toned syllable first undergo tone loss and then are realized as either (i) a “constant low neutral tone,” or (ii) a tonal variable as a function of the preceding lexical tone. The former is derived by an association with a default low, while the latter is derived by spreading rightward the offset of the full tone carried by the preceding syllable (Y. E. Hsiao 1995; S. Ou & Y. E. Hsiao 1997).
The two strategies are schematized in (4), where neutral-toned syllables are marked with a superscripted 0. In (4a), the sequential directional complements -tshut4 ‘out’ and -khi3 ‘away from the speaker’ acquire a default low, whereas in (4b), the object pronoun li2 ‘you’ shares the end-pitch of the melody of the preceding syllable. In consequence, though the preceding full tone is identical, the neutral-toned function words in (4a) vs.
(4b) are realized differently, that is, -tshut0-khi0 surfacing as [21-11] while li0 as [33].
Nonetheless, in either case, the original tonal contrast of the function words is lost altogether.
(4) Realization of neutral tone a. Default low docking
b. Rightward offset spreading
According to U. Ang’s (1996b, 1998f) exhaustively descriptive works, members of the classes (3a-e) ― namely, sentence-final particles, adjectival modifier marker (note
1 3 L
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
particularly that e5 as possessive marker cannot be neutral-toned, which is addressed in the next subsection), aspect markers, directional complements, and object pronouns ― undergo tonal neutralization and surface in the way of either (4a) or (4b), as long as they are situated domain-finally. The array of example utterances in (5-9) illustrates such positional neutralization in those classes of grammatical words.
(5) Neutralization of sentence-final particles
(6) Neutralization of the modifier marker
(7) Neutralization of aspect markers a. Li2 u7sin1=ah0 si7=m0
You pregnant=SFP right=SFP
‘You are pregnant, right?’
b. Tshia1 lai5=ah0=lah0 Vehicle come=SFP=SFP
‘Look! Here comes the bus.’
c. Si7 an2 tsuann2=le0
COP how=SFP ‘What is wrong?’
a. Tse1 si7 tsin1=e0 This COP real=MOD
‘This is for real.’
b. Gua2 tsu2=e0 khah4=ho2tsiah8
I cook=mod comp=yummy
‘My cooking is better.’
a. Tua7mng5 kuainn1=leh0 Door close= CONT
‘The door is close.’
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(8) Neutralization of directional complements
(9) Neutralization of object pronouns
On the other hand, the majority of members of the other classes (3f-h), namely, phasal complements, classifiers, and numerals preserve the full lexical tones even in the final position, as exemplified in (10-12). There exist a few exceptions that seem to undermine b. Gua5 u7=khi3-kue0
COP who want=look.for=him/her
‘Who wanted to see him?’
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the validity of the classification based on grammaticality degree, however. For example, the phasal complement tioh8, non-possesive attributive marker e5, and the numerals denoting little degree or small quantity, rather than the concept of cardinal number, all of which being neutral-toned domain-finally, just like the non-prominent classes in (5-9), and therefore form exceptions. These are addressed in the next subsection.
(10) No neutralization for phasal complements
(11) No neutralization for classifiers a. Png7 tsiah8-liau2=ah0
Meal to.eat-PHA=SFP
‘(They) have finished dinner.’
b. Gong1-kho3 sia2-ho2=ah0
You words say-PHA immediately want.to=go.back=DIR
‘She is leaving upon saying those words.’
a. Gua2 beh4=be2 tse2=nng7-e5
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(12) No neutralization for numerals
With the discussion so far, we have attained the picture of tonal neutralization in Taiwanese. That is, among the grammatical categories that have potential to carry a neutral tone in the final positions, only numerals, classifiers, and phasal complements resist this type of reduction, thereby being as prominent as ordinary lexical words in this regards. Given the grammaticality scale established in Chapter 2 (as repeated in (13), where the number denotes the degree of grammaticalization, in the sense that the greater the number, the more grammaticalized the category), this asymmetry of prominence between sentence-final particles and the other classes of grammatical words in Taiwanese can be translated as follows: function words with the degree of grammaticalization higher than 4 (i.e. Fnc≥3) are all prosodically prominent enough to retain their lexical tones, showing no likelihood of tonal neutralization. The distinction between the highly grammaticalized categories, and the highly grammaticalized categories and the medium grammaticalized category are all conflated, as depicted in (14). Consequently, we may say that all categories other than low grammaticalized ones are prosodically on the par with each other, all being neutral-toned.
d. Sann1 tsit8nia2 gua7tse7 Clothes one-CL how.much
‘The dress, how much is it for one?’
a. li7-tsap8-sann1 two-ten-three ‘Twenty-three’
b. Sann1-tsap8-kau2 Three-ten-nine
‘Thirty-nine’
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國立 政 治 大 學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(13) Grammaticality scale
NUM PHA
CL
DIR
OP ASP MOD SFP
1 2 3 4 5 6
(14) Conflation of Fnc≥3
The neutralization vs. non-neutralization distinction between grammaticality degrees 2 and 3 can be captured in the currently proposed framework by ranking ALIGN-R(ω, Fnc≤2) above SP-MAX-X0. This version of alignment constraint dictates that every prosodic word must be right-aligned with some function word in the categories with grammaticality degree equal to or lower than 2, so when it outranks SP-MAX-X0, which requires that every syntactic word have a corresponding prosodic word, only function words with grammaticality degree higher than 2 fail to build their own prosodic word.
Tableau (15) gives an illustration using the sentence in (24), where various prosodizations of function words in categories with different degrees of grammaticality are evaluated. In CAND 1 every syntactic word is parsed in a prosodic word ω, including the sentence-final particle bo, which belongs to the degree 6 category on the grammaticality scale, and the object pronoun gua, which belongs to the degree 6 category; therefore, the prosodic words built on those elements incur two violations of ALIGN-R(ω, Fnc≤2). This problem gets fixed completely in CAND 3 by leaving both the sentence-final particle and object pronoun unparsed, and in that way this candidate wins
Fnc=1 Fnc=2 Fnc=3 Fnc=4 Fnc=5 Fnc=6
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with lower grammaticality degree (i.e. Fnc≤2) is improper for the excessive violations of SP-MAX-X0 incurred.We have mentioned in the last section that there are a few grammatical words appear to be exceptional to the generalization which is complied with by most other members within the same class on the grammaticality scale. These exceptions are problematic because they would undermine the assumption that tonal neutralization correlates with the degree of grammaticality, and therefore they need to be fixed. The exceptions can be distinguished between two types, neutralization in low grammaticalized classes, and non-neutralization in highly grammaticalized classes, which are examined in order.
Two cases of neutralization in low grammaticalized classes are spotted in Be2 go7-tai5 hoo7-gua0 tioh8=bo0
To.buy five.CL give-me right=SFP
‘He bought me five, right?’