Rime length, stress, and association domains

Abstract

Every regular Chinese syllable has a syllable tone (the tone we get when the syllable is read in isolation). In some Chinese languages, the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression is basically a concatenation of the syllable tones. In other Chinese languages, the tonal pattern of a multisyllabic expression is determined solely by the initial syllable. I call the formerM-languages (represented by Mandarin) and the latterS-languages (represented by Shanghai). I argue that there is an additional difference in rime structures between the two language groups. In S-languages, all rimes are simple, i.e., there are no underlying diphthongs or codas. In M-languages, all regular rimes are heavy. I further argue that a syllable keeps its underlying tones only if it has stress. Independent metrical evidence tells us that heavy rimes may carry inherent stress. Thus, in M-languages, all regular syllables are stressed and retain their underlying tones (which may or may not undergo further changes). In contrast, in S-languages, regular rimes do not carry inherent stress; instead, only those syllables that are assigned stress by rule can keep their underlying tones and hence head a multisyllabic tonal domain. The present analysis has theoretical implications for the analysis of contour tones, the tone bearing unit, and the interplay between stress and tone.