From non-uniqueness to the best solution in phonemic analysis: evidence from Chengdu Chinese

Abstract

Abstract The “non-uniqueness” theory assumes that there is no best solution in phonemic analysis; rather, competing solutions can co-exist, each having its own advantages (Chao, Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology 4: 363–398, 1934). The theory is based on the assumption that there is no common set of criteria to evaluate alternative solutions. I argue instead that such a set of criteria can be established and it is possible to find the best solution. The criteria include riming properties, rime structure, constraints on syllable gaps, phonemic economy, phonetics, syllable sizes, and feature theory. I illustrate the proposal with Chengdu. Four analyses are compared, the “CGV” segmentation, the “CV” segmentation, the “finest” segmentation, and the “CVX” segmentation, and CVX is shown to be the best.