A corpus study of Chinese regulated verse: phrasal stress and the analysis of variability

Abstract

I introduce 1460 lines of Chinese regulated verse and offer an analysis of the data. I also compare Chinese with English and discuss two approaches to variability in linguistic patterns (such as regular vs. exceptional forms, or perfect verse lines vs. lines with metrical tension). I argue that, whereas word stress is often more important than phrasal stress in English, it is crucial to understand the latter in Chinese. However, stress maxima play a central role in both languages. This suggests that metre is probably less variable cross-linguistically than previously thought. Moreover, while a correlation is thought to exist between metrical tension and frequency, it is difficult to see it in the present corpus. I argue that non-phonological factors can influence frequency patterns and that the presence of variable patterns does not necessarily imply the presence of marked forms. Rather, even fully well-formed patterns may occur rarely.