On the status of “basic” tones

Abstract

Abstract In the traditional analysis of the tones in Chinese, a distinction is made between “basic tones” and “sandhi tones”. The former occurs on the citation tones of monosyllabic words and the latter on syllables that had undergone tone sandhi changes. Typically, tone sandhi positions are sites where tone neutralization had taken place, so that in a given dialect, the number of tones in citation context exceed those in sandhi context. As a result, the tones on citation forms are considered the “basic” tones. This paper challenges the traditional treatment of citation tones as the “basic” ones. In some dialects, there is an increase in tonal contrasts in tone sandhi environment. In such cases, the tone sandhi environment has preserved contrasts lost in citation context. Further complications in some dialects are presented here, providing the basis for making a three-way distinction among: (1) citation tone, (2) sandhi tone, and (3) basic (or underlying) tone. The basic, or underlying, tone may be coterminous with either the citation tone or the sandhi tone, or it may have its own, separate tonal value. Phonological contrasts surfacing in tone sandhi environments are not restricted to cases involving tones. Two examples from Fuzhou Chinese are included in this paper to demonstrate that tone sandhi positions may also preserve segmental contrasts that are totally or partially neutralized in citation context.