Siripen Ungsitipoonporn. Phonological and acoustic analyses of the tone system of Hakka as spoken in Bangkok, Thailand . Doctoral Degree(Linguistics). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2007.
Phonological and acoustic analyses of the tone system of Hakka as spoken in Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract:
This dissertation is a description of the tone system of Hakka, one of the southern Chinese dialects which belong to the Sino-Tibetan family. The objective of this study is to describe and clarify Hakka tones by using articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, and phonological analyses. The investigation focuses on syllable structures, onsets, vowels, rimes, and especially the tone system. Furthermore, the phenomenon of tone sandhi is analyzed. A comparison between Hakka tones as spoken in China and Thailand is made in the last chapter.
The results show that the Hakka tone system of Bangkok, Thailand, has divided into four tones on live syllables and two tones on dead syllables. According to acoustic measurements, it is clear that the duration of dead syllables is approximately one-half or one-third shorter than that of live syllables. The symbolic representation of Hakka tone contours with Chao tone letters and tone values is as follows: Yin Ping: Mid Level ˧33; Yang Ping: Mid-low Falling ⇃21; Shang Sheng: Mid Falling 31; Qu Sheng: Mid-high Level ˦44; Yin Ru: Mid-falling Stopped32; and Yang Ru Mid-high Level Stopped ˦4. There are 18 onset or initial consonants / p, pʰ, t, tʰ, k, kʰ, ʔ, ts, tsʰ, f, s, h, m, n, ŋ, l, w, j /; six single vowels / i, e, ɨ, a, o, u / and 66 rimes. The syllable structures include three types on open syllables and six types on closed syllables.
Tone sandhi, that is, the phenomenon of conditioned change in tone contours in certain tonal environments, can be observed in Hakka disyllabic and trisyllabic words; there are two tone sandhi rules:
(1) Yin Ping Mid Level ˧33 Rising 325/___ ⇃21, 31, 32 (that is, before the lower tones).
(2) Qu Sheng Mid-high Level ˦44 High Falling 53/___Yin Ping Mid Level ˧33 and Yang Ru Mid-high Level Stopped ˦4.
With respect to the comparison between Hakka tones as found in China and those in Thailand, there are variations in terms of tone values but they are not significant differences. The contours of each tone are: Yin Ping tone is a mid to mid-high level, the Yang Ping tone is low level whereas the Shang Sheng tone is a mid falling. The Qu Sheng tone as spoken in China is a high falling whereas it is a level tone in Thailand.