This thesis aims at investigating segmental changes in the Dongshi

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Chapter 1

Introduction

This thesis aims at investigating segmental changes in the Dongshi

Hakka

dialect by applying Optimality Theory (OT). Dongshi Hakka (hereafter D-Hakka) is a

dialect spoken in Dongshi Town and its neighboring areas like Xinshe, Shigang, and

Heping in Taichung County. Previous research on Hakka dialects has emphasized

Sixian, Hailu, and Raoping dialects whereas little attention has been paid to D-Hakka.

Not until Dong’s (1994) investigation of the phonemic system of D-Hakka has this

dialect been noted for its significant differences from the Sixian and Hailu dialects.

Since then, a considerable number of studies have been done on D-Hakka, including

those by Jiang (1996) on lexical aspect and Chang (1999) on tone sandhi. Even

though research on D-Hakka has become plentiful in recent years, most of it focuses

on semantics (Jiang 1996), or tone sandhi (Jiang 1998, Hsiao, and Chiu 2006, etc.)

Meanwhile, studies on segmental changes in D-Hakka have been relatively rare.

According to my investigation, phonological phenomena such as assimilation and

contraction in D-Hakka display in an interesting way and merit discussion. Therefore,

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In this thesis, the Pinyin system is adopted for spelling the names and places commonly used in

Taiwan. For the Hakka dialect, I make use of the spelling system for Dongshi Hakka as proposed by

Dong (1994).

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the purpose of this thesis is to explore segmental changes and to scrutinize two main

phonological patterns of D-Hakka: assimilation and contraction. With the assistance

of OT, I will provide a constraint-based account of assimilation and contraction in

D-Hakka.

This thesis is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 includes a brief introduction

that outlines the motivation for the research, as well as the purpose of the thesis.

Chapter 2 first reviews the sound inventories, tonal system, and basic phonological

rules in D-Hakka. It then introduces OT theory. Chapters 3 and 4 consist of my

findings regarding two main topics: (1) two assimilation patterns including

progressive assimilation and nasalization (chapter 3); and (2) syllable contraction

patterns in trisyllabic words (chapter 4). Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes our findings

and concludes this thesis.