Metrical Structure and Tone: Evidence from Mandarin and Shanghai

Abstract

A well-known problem in Chinese phonology is that in some dialects most regular syllables keep their underlying tones, but in others the initial syllable determines the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic domain. Mandarin and Shanghai, two of the most studied dialects, best represent the contrast. Duanmu (1993) proposes that the two dialects differ in syllable structure but otherwise obey the same phonological constraints, including moraic trochee. However, a number of problems remain, such as questions regarding the metrical counting units, the predicted weight of a syllable and its phonetic duration, the economy of underlying tones, the mechanism of tone deletion, and the relation between weight and stress. This article offers a solution to the problems. The main proposal is that Chinese is both mora-counting and syllable-counting, in that a heavy syllable forms a bimoraic trochee, which I call M-foot, yet a minimal word must be a disyllabic trochee, which I call S-foot. In addition, both Mandarin and Shanghai are subject to tonal polarity, which is independently found in African languages. I also discuss the implication of the S-foot for metrical theory and other consequences of the present analysis.