IV - What Is a Tone Language?

Abstract

This chapter discusses the tonal phenomena in two languages: the one is standard Japanese that is generally regarded as a prototype for the notion pitch–accent system and the other is Mandarin Chinese, a textbook case of a true tonal system. It also discusses some of the typological questions raised by this familiar dichotomy. Pitch in standard Japanese has the following characteristics: (1) lexical information: depending on the morphological category of the morpheme, its dictionary entry will specify either the syllable, if any, on which it contributes an accent or merely whether or not it contributes an accent and (2) phonological rules: the rules apply in such a way as to yield outputs in which each phrase has at most one accent. Some accent rules make one accent predominate over others, others attract accent into a given position. In either case, the action may be at a distance: The accent on a postposition is eliminated after an accented noun, no matter how many syllables away the accent on the noun is and the accent on the first element of a compound is eliminated no matter how many syllables away from the second element of the compound that syllable is.