The development of neutral tone in Mandarin-speaking children.

Abstract

Besides the four citation tones in Mandarin stressed syllables, neutral tone usually occurs in unstressed syllables. The fundamental frequency (F0) contour and height of neutral tone are determined by the preceding tones. Neutral tone was also considered to have lower intensity and shorter duration compared to citation tones [Cao (1986); Chao (1968)]. Li and Thompson [(1977)] suggested that neutral tone was not fully acquired by Mandarin-speaking children by age 2. However, the acoustic characteristics of neutral tone in the extended period of acquisition were not explored. The present study compared acoustic realizations of neutral tone in children’s production with adults. Eight 5-year-old and eight 8-year-old monolingual Mandarin-speaking children and young adults participated. Bisyllabic target words containing neutral tone in the second syllable were elicited by picture-naming tasks. F0, duration, and intensity of neutral tone syllables were measured. The ratios of these acoustic parameters between the first and second syllables were calculated. Results indicated that 5-year-old children started to produce F0 contour and height of neutral tone according to the preceding tone. But they still showed significant differences in the above-mentioned measures compared to 8-year-olds and adults.