No abstract

Pitch is generally regarded as the exclusive distinctive tonal feature in tone descriptions of Chinese dialects. By means of acoustic experiments, this paper investigates the tones of the Fuqing dialect. The results show that the F0 of the shangsheng and yangqu tones are nearly identical. A perception experiment involving identification tests was conducted to explore the influence of tone length on tonal perception. The results show that length functions as the exclusive distinctive feature. This demonstrates the vital role length plays in a description of the tones of the Fuqing dialect.

Pitch is generally regarded as the exclusive distinctive tonal feature in tone descriptions of Chinese dialects. By means of acoustic experiments, this paper investigates the tones of the Fuqing dialect. The results show that the F0 of the shangsheng and yangqu tones are nearly identical. A perception experiment involving identification tests was conducted to explore the influence of tone length on tonal perception. The results show that length functions as the exclusive distinctive feature. This demonstrates the vital role length plays in a description of the tones of the Fuqing dialect.

This paper has confirmed five falling contours in the Jianyang variety of Northern Min, {62, 52, 54, 43, 32}, which are typologically identified as High-Falling in Rg U, High-Falling in Rg M, Slight-Falling-H, Slight-Falling-L, and Pure Low Tone. The finding of this extreme case of falling contours has enriched the universal tonal inventory by adding two falling tonotypes: High-Falling in Rg U and Slight-Falling-L. 本文描寫閩北建陽話的聲調，幷從類型學角度對它們進行定位。建陽話除了一個升調、一個高短調跟一個平調外，還有五條降拱，{63, 52, 54, 43, 32} 對類型學構成很大的挑戰。在普適調型庫中它們可以確定爲四個降型調和一個純低調：上域高降型 /63/；常域高降型 /52/、高微降型 /54/、中微降型 /43/、純低調 /22/。這四個降型調的發現，對聲調類型學有三重意義：1）豐富了調型庫：原來微降只有一種，現在要增補一種；2）原來上域降調只有短降，現在要增補一種長降。3）證實了一個有五條降拱的極端例子。(This article is in Chinese.)