Standard Chinese Research Articles

An Optimality-theoretic Analysis on the Tone Change Types of Reduplication in Standard Chinese

An Optimality-theoretic Analysis on the Tone Change Types of Reduplication in Standard Chinese

The four tones of Mandarin Chinese

In this paper we discuss the four tones of Standard (Beijing) Mandarin Chinese. First, we will suggest a proposal for their phonological representation. Then, we discuss the order in which they are acquired in first language acquisition, relating this both to the representations we propose and to the relative frequency with which these tones appear in the most frequently used Chinese words. It turns out that the former predicts the order of acquisition more closely than the latter: We provide an explanation for this based on the early stage at which the tones are acquired.

Incomplete neutralization of sibilant consonants in Penang Mandarin: A palatographic case study

It has been anecdotally observed that the three-way contrasts in Standard Chinese are reduced to two-way contrasts in Penang Mandarin (PM). PM is a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Penang of Malaysia, which is influenced by Penang Hokkien. This work shows that the alleged neutralization of contrasts is incomplete (10 consonants x 3 vowel contexts x 5 speakers). More specifically, alveopalatal [ɕ] may range from postalveolar zone (73.33%) to alveolar zone (26.67%), and so does retroflex [ʂ] (46.67% vs. 46.67%). [s] and [n] are apical (or [ + anterior]) coronals. The goal of this study is three-fold: (i) to describe the places of articulation of PM coronals and the patterns of ongoing sound changes, (ii) to show the neutralization of place contrasts is incomplete whereby constriction length remains distinct for these sibilant sounds, and (iii) to demonstrate different coarticulatory patterns of consonants in variant vowel contexts. The intricate division of coronal consonants does not warrant a precise constriction location on the upper palate. This PM data lend support to Ladefoged and Wu’s (1984) observation that it is not easy to pin down a clear-cut boundary between dental and alveolar stops, and between alveolar and palatoalveolar fricatives.

The rise of a high transitivity marker 到 dao in contemporary Chinese

Transitivity has been approached from various discourse functional points of view. In this paper, we describe the emergence in standard Chinese of a marker of high transitivity, 到dao‘reach’, in syntactic contexts where it has not been attested before (e.g., 帮助到你bangzhudaoni‘help you’). We argue that this emergence is associated with a number of factors: the semantic properties of the main verb, dialectal influences, and recent social trends towards consumerism and an emergent “yuppie” identity in contemporary Chinese urban life. We take the innovative uses ofdaoto be an instance of linguistic structure co-evolving with societal change.

The Acoustics Properties of the Nasals and Nasalization in Standard Chinese

The Acoustics Properties of the Nasals and Nasalization in Standard Chinese

The Effect of Carry-over Coarticulation of Bi-Syllabic Words in Chinese

In this study, trans-consonantal vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Chinese is investigated. The target words are in the form of 'bV1.ba', and the subjects are eight native speakers of standard Chinese. Vowel formants are examined at the onset, middle and offset points of the target vowel. Results show that trans-segmental coarticulation exists in Chinese, especially at the onset point, as well as for the second formant of the target vowel. Coarticulation is more likely to occur on F2, and in Chinese, coarticulatory effect does not extend to the offset point of the vowel.

Evaluation of speech errors in Putonghua speakers with cleft palate: A critical review of methodology issues

Speech errors associated with cleft palate are well established for English and several other Indo-European languages. Few articles describing the speech of Putonghua (standard Mandarin Chinese) speakers with cleft palate have been published in English language journals. Although methodological guidelines have been published for the perceptual speech evaluation of individuals with cleft palate, there has been no critical review of methodological issues in studies of Putonghua speakers with cleft palate. A literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies published over the past 30 years in Chinese language journals. Only studies incorporating perceptual analysis of speech were included. Thirty-seven articles which met inclusion criteria were analyzed and coded on a number of methodological variables. Reliability was established by having all variables recoded for all studies. This critical review identified many methodological issues. These design flaws make it difficult to draw reliable conclusions about characteristic speech errors in this group of speakers. Specific recommendations are made to improve the reliability and validity of future studies, as well to facilitate cross-center comparisons.

Statistical Analysis for Standard Chinese Syllables and Phoneme System

This paper uses the theories of phonemics,phonology and mathematical statistics to concrete research the 2500 commonly-used standard Chinese characters phonological system in different levels, including the statistics and analysis of three aspects: words frequency, syllable frequency and phoneme frequency. Some resulted have gained that: 1) There is a obvious difference in the words frequency distribution of the 2500 commonly-used Chinese characters,2) The number of homophones has an inverse proportion with its total frequency,3)The combination ability of the unaspirated initials,monophthong vowels and falling tone, whose combining ability is stronger than others. This paper provides data and certain reference value for the further study on phonological system of standard Chinese.

The associations of body mass index with physical and mental aspects of health-related quality of life in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: results from a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundThis study aimed to determine the associations of various clinical factors with generic health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores among Hong Kong Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the outpatient primary care setting using the short-form 12 (SF-12).MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 488 Chinese adults with T2DM recruited from a primary care outpatient clinic was conducted from May to August 2008. Data on the standard Chinese (HK) SF-12 Health Survey and patients’ socio-demographics were collected from face-to-face interviews. Glycaemic control, body mass index (BMI), chronic co-morbidities, diabetic complications and treatment modalities were determined for each patient through medical records. Associations of socio-demographic and clinical factors with physical component summary (PCS-12) and mental component summary scores (MCS-12) were evaluated using multiple linear regression.ResultsThe socio-demographic correlates of PCS-12 and MCS-12 were age, gender and BMI. After adjustment for socio-demographic variables, the BMI was negatively associated with PCS-12 but positively associated with MCS-12. The presence of diabetic complications was associated with lower PCS-12 (regression coefficient:-3.0 points, p < 0.05) while being on insulin treatment was associated with lower MCS-12 (regression coefficient:-5.8 points, p < 0.05). In contrast, glycaemic control, duration of T2DM and treatment with oral hypoglycaemic drugs were not significantly associated with PCS-12 or MCS-12.ConclusionsAmong T2DM subjects in the primary care setting, impairments in the physical aspect of HRQOL were evident in subjects who were obese or had diabetic complications whereas defects in the mental aspect of HRQOL were observed in patients with lower BMI or receiving insulin injections.

Application of Computer Software in Analyzing Sound Acquisition in Modern Standard Chinese

E-Prime is a suite of applications to fulfill researchers’ computerized experiment needs. Praat is a free software program for the analysis of speech in phonetics with which phoneticians can analyze, synthesize, and manipulate speech. SPSS is a software program which can be used for doing statistical analysis of the collected data. These computer software programs are applied in the present study which aims to explore the consonant acquisition of Putonghua (Modern Standard Chinese) by native speakers of Uyghur. The difficulty hierarchy of the Chinese consonants for the Uyghur learners of Chinese is found out through the perception experiment. The results of the experiment support the Markedness Differential Hypothesis. In addition, it shows that the second language speech acquisition is influenced by both the first and also the target language phonological system. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i8.3146

Essentials of Standard Chinese Phonetics for Prosthetic Dentistry

Speech adaptation after oral rehabilitation is based on a complex interaction of articulatory and myofunctional factors. The knowledge of basic phonetic principles may help clinicians identify phonetic problems associated with prosthodontic treatment. The purpose of this article is to illustrate basic phonetic terminology, standard Chinese (Putonghua) phonetics, and the anatomic structures relevant for dentistry. In cooperation with a Chinese linguistic specialist, Chinese articulators were selected and are described and compared with English phonetics. Established test words and sentences aid the identification of mispronounced articulators and their related dental structures. The pronunciation of most consonants and vowels in standard Chinese is similar to English, but some of them, such as the retropalatals (/zh/ [tʂ], /ch/ [thʂ], /sh/ [ʂ]), have notable differences. Palatal consonants (/j/ [tɕ], /q/ [tɕh], /x/ [ɕ]) are unique to the Chinese phonetic system and are not found in English phonetics. The comprehension of the basic anatomic regions involved in Chinese phonetics may help prosthodontists treat patients whose native language is standard Chinese.

Population genetics of 17 Y-STR loci in Chinese Manchu population from Liaoning Province, Northeast China

Manchu is the third-largest ethnic group in China after the Han (1.16 billion) and the Zhuang (16.18 million), whose number is quite large with 10.68 million, constituting 0.8% of the total population. They can be found throughout China, but live mostly in Beijing, Hebei, northeastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia (Fig. S1). Historically, the Manchus originated from ‘Jurchens’ and then founded both the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) and the Qing Dynasty (1644–1910) that ruled China. Most Manchu today speak Standard Chinese, while the Manchu language is only spoken by elderly people in remote northeastern China.

Lexical Effects in Phonemic Neutralization in Taiwan Mandarin

&lt;p&gt;Colloquial Taiwan Mandarin has deviated from Guoyu [National language] or Standard Chinese in pronunciation, vocabulary, and even syntax. Such changes come from the linguistic contact with Taiwan Southern Min or natural diachronic linguistic drift (Kubler, 1985; Tung, 1994; Tsao, 2000). This new form of Taiwan Mandarin has become a lingua franca among speakers of the different backgrounds in Taiwan and a creole for new generations to acquire as their mother tongue (Her, 2009). One of the most noticeable segmental changes in Taiwan Mandarin is the merging of alveolar sibilants [ts, tsh, s] and retroflex sibilants [tʂ, tʂh, ʂ]. The other one in Taiwan Mandarin is the neutralization of alveolar nasal coda [n] and velar nasal coda [ŋ].&lt;/p&gt;

On the principles of Chinese transcription of Mongolian sounds in the Sino-Mongolian glossaryDada yu/Beilu yiyu(late 16th–early 17th century)

The article deals with the main principles according to which Mongolian sounds are rendered into Chinese in the Sino-Mongolian glossary Dada yu/Beilu yiyu (late 16th–early 17th century) where one of the late Middle Mongolian dialects is reflected. Three such principles are distinguished by the author: (1) principle of phonetic identity (the Chinese and Mongolian segments completely coincide with each other by their features); (2) principle of phonetic substitution in its two varieties: weak phonetic substitution (the Chinese and Mongolian segments differ from each other in only one distinctive feature) and strong phonetic substitution (the Chinese and Mongolian segments are distinguished from each other by two or more features); (3) principle of zero marking (the Mongolian segment is in no way rendered into the Chinese transcription because of the impossibility of its notation by means of Chinese). The influence of different stages of the phonetic development of Chinese on the glossary’s system of transcriptions is also emphasised, such as Standard Chinese, Late Ming Guanhua, and Ancient Mandarin.

White Matter Structure Changes as Adults Learn a Second Language

Traditional models hold that the plastic reorganization of brain structures occurs mainly during childhood and adolescence, leaving adults with limited means to learn new knowledge and skills. Research within the last decade has begun to overturn this belief, documenting changes in the brain's gray and white matter as healthy adults learn simple motor and cognitive skills [Lövdén, M., Bodammer, N. C., Kühn, S., Kaufmann, J., Schütze, H., Tempelmann, C., et al. Experience-dependent plasticity of white-matter microstructure extends into old age. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3878-3883, 2010; Taubert, M., Draganski, B., Anwander, A., Müller, K., Horstmann, A., Villringer, A., et al. Dynamic properties of human brain structure: Learning-related changes in cortical areas and associated fiber connections. The Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 11670-11677, 2010; Scholz, J., Klein, M. C., Behrens, T. E. J., & Johansen-Berg, H. Training induces changes in white-matter architecture. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 1370-1371, 2009; Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., Schuirer, G., Bogdahn, U., & May, A. Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427, 311-312, 2004]. Although the significance of these changes is not fully understood, they reveal a brain that remains plastic well beyond early developmental periods. Here we investigate the role of adult structural plasticity in the complex, long-term learning process of foreign language acquisition. We collected monthly diffusion tensor imaging scans of 11 English speakers who took a 9-month intensive course in written and spoken Modern Standard Chinese as well as from 16 control participants who did not study a language. We show that white matter reorganizes progressively across multiple sites as adults study a new language. Language learners exhibited progressive changes in white matter tracts associated with traditional left hemisphere language areas and their right hemisphere analogs. Surprisingly, the most significant changes occurred in frontal lobe tracts crossing the genu of the corpus callosum-a region not generally included in current neural models of language processing. These results indicate that plasticity of white matter plays an important role in adult language learning and additionally demonstrate the potential of longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging as a new tool to yield insights into cognitive processes.

A study on phonetic feature of ‘ong’ in the teaching of standard Chinese

在普通話語音敎學當中，韓國學生經常提問普通話韻母ong中的元音o的正確音値到底接近於韓國語的옹[oŋ]還是웅[uŋ]。普通話鼻音韻母系統中o和u?非對立分布，因此發옹[oŋ]還是웅[uŋ]皆不構成意義上的差別。但是在韓國語的語音系統中옹[oŋ]和웅[uŋ]形成對立關系。因此言語的範疇知覺作用，韓國學生總要追究ong的具體音値。 本硏究爲了解決上述提到的問題?提高語音敎學的效率，通過實驗語音學的方法考察了普通話韻母ong的音値。實驗由三個部分組成：聲學實驗、聽辨實驗和記音實驗。 聲學實驗結果表明，普通話韻母ong具有多種語音變體，但是其變體條件不具備規律性。聲學元音圖上ong中的o集中分布在舌位比[u]低一點的地點，這意味著ong的o更接近於[o]。聽辨實驗和記音實驗結果表明，參加實驗的大部分韓國人和中國人把ong的o認知爲[o]?平時發音爲[o]。 總之，在普通話語音敎學上，鼻音韻母ong發成옹[oŋ]或者웅[uŋ]都可以。但是敎師如果?到不得不選擇其中之一的情況，先把普通話語音系統和實驗結果介紹給學生以後，指導學生把ong發成옹[oŋ]?可。

Prosodic Realization of Rhetorical Structure in Chinese Discourse

The research reported in this paper is an acoustic experiment attempting to elucidate the relationship between prosodic variation and rhetorical structure in discourse. Based on Rhetorical Structure Theory, facets of discourse structure such as hierarchy, relation, and the relative importance of discourse segment were identified. Five speakers of standard Chinese were recorded reading ten paragraphs with two repetitions. Boundary pause duration, f0 max, f0 min, and pitch range of the segments were measured. It was found that speakers realized longer pauses at boundaries of higher hierarchy. Furthermore, compared with segments linked by nucleus-satellite relation, segments linked by multinuclear relation were found to have wider pre-boundary pitch range. Additionally, important segments were found to be articulated with wider pitch range than unimportant segments. These results suggest that rhetorical structure is reliably conveyed by prosodic parameters in standard Chinese.

Visual displays of the pitch pattern for the CAI self-teaching system to discriminate Chinese tones

A computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system for self-teaching to discriminate Chinese tones is available for public through the internet (http://chinesetone.org) in Japanese, English, and Chinese versions. The design and construction of this system has been reported previously (Hiki et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 120 (5, Pt. 2), 2006, 3168). This system utilizes the displays of the pitch pattern as visual cues in training. The following new functions of the visual displays have been added to the system recently: 1) Essential pitch patterns of 15 bisyllabic words, with every combination of the four tones in Standard Chinese, were drawn on the six whole tone musical scale. By displaying visually the corresponding essential pitch pattern along with the measured pitch pattern, it became easier for the beginners to perceive aurally the tonal characters, which underlay the measured pitch patterns; 2) The bisyllabic word lists comprising only voiced consonants were edited, and the measured pitch patterns not interrupted by unvoiced consonants were displayed visually. These speech samples were useful in the early stages of tone discrimination learning. It was also ascertained that the tone discrimination was stimulated by paying attention to musical pitch perception.

An Acoustic Experimental Study on Sound Acquisition in Standard Chinese by Native Speakers of Uyghur

The present acoustic experiment studies the acquisition of Standard Chinese vowels by native speakers of Uyghur. The results indicate that in identifying the 7 vowels of Standard Chinese produced by the native Han Chinese speakers, Uyghur subjects with high Chinese proficiency perform better both in accuracy and reaction time than Uyghur subjects with low Chinese proficiency, and all the Uyghur subjects are not good in perceiving vowels //, /i/ and //. The results of the experiment support the Speech Learning Model and the Perceptual Assimilation Model. In addition, it shows that the second language speech acquisition is restricted by the first language phonological system.

Why should men break all the rules?

This paper presents the results of a detailed investigation of grammatical inflexion for number in spoken Modern Standard Chinese and explores whether the use of the plural marker men conforms to the guidelines laid down in standard grammar reference works. For the purposes of studying morphological features in context a new source of spoken language samples is identified: published transcripts of television broadcasts. This study focusses on spoken Modern Standard Chinese in mainland China, as exemplified in a popular Chinese chat show over the period 2003 to 2006. The analysis of the data shows significant discrepancies between the traditional grammatical analysis of the plural marker men and its actual use in real-life situations, with the so-called plural suffix employed to perform many more functions than have traditionally been ascribed to it. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the contexts in which the plural suffix is used suggests that to maintain that inflexion for number is optional in Chinese, as many grammar textbooks do, may be somewhat misleading.