Chinese Syllable Structure: An X-bar Approach

This dissertation proposes a Generalized Multi-spec X-bar Model for therepresentation of Chinese syllable structure based on the Multi-spec X-bar Modelproposed by van de Weijer&Zhang (2008) and through a comprehensive applicationof syllable-related theories within the framework of Generative Phonology (GP),especially the X-bar Theory. After an in-depth study on the syllable structure of fourmajor Chinese dialects, this dissertation concludes that the Generalized Multi-specX-bar Model adequately captures the syllable structure of major Chinese dialects.The X-bar Model in phonology was proposed by Levin (1983,1985), and dealsspecifically with syllable structure. It draws upon the idea of the X-bar representationof syntactic structure and applies it to the representation of syllable structure inphonology. Based on the X-bar Model and enlightened by the Multiple-Specconstruction proposed by Chomsky (1995) for sentence structure, van de Weijer&Zhang (2008) proposed a Multiple-Spec X-bar Model for Mandarin Chinese (MC)syllable structure through an in-depth study of the status of the pre-nuclear glide inMC syllables. In this model, the syllable node Nmaxis the maximal projection, and thepre-nuclear glide is the terminal node of the left-ward branch of the middle projectionN”. Based on the Multiple-Spec X-bar Model, this dissertation proposes aGeneralized Multi-spec X-bar Model, by drawing upon the theories of FeatureGeometry, Markedness Theory, Underspecification Theory and Mora Theory,The Generalized Multi-spec X-bar Model is different from the Multi-spec X-barModel in that:(i) the latter can accommodate at most four levels of projection, whilethe former is more flexible in accommodating different syllable types since it allows an indefinite number of intermediate N’ projections;(ii) the latter proposes that thereis a CV tier between the projection nodes and the terminal nodes, while the formerproposes that the projection nodes are directly associated with the terminal nodes,which stand for clusters of distinctive features in the lexicon, organized and specifiedaccording to the theory of Feature Geometry, Markedness Theory andUnderspecification Theory, and thus avoiding redundant information in the lexicon.This dissertation then makes the claim that the Generalized Multi-spec X-barModel can capture the syllable structure of major Chinese dialects. In order to justifythis claim, this dissertation presents an in-depth study of the syllable structure of fourmajor Chinese dialects: MC, Shanghai dialect, Cantonese and Amoy. To be morespecific, this dissertation first makes the general claim that the overall syllablestructure of a specific dialect can be captured by the Generalized Multi-spec X-barModel, and then translates this general claim into specific hypotheses about specificconstituents of the syllable, including the onset, pre-nuclear glide, rhyme, nucleus andcoda. These hypotheses require justification, which mainly comes from the followingfive sources of evidence:(i) research results presented in previous related studies;(ii)rhyming systems as embodied in folk songs, popular songs, local Fanqie languagegames, children’s lyrics and idioms;(iii) psycholinguistic experiments designed toanswer specific phonological questions;(iv) evidence from the tone patterns; and (v)co-occurrence restrictions (CRs) on syllable constituents. In the process of obtainingthe evidence, this dissertation uses two major methods: literature review andpsycholinguistic experiments. In the process of analyzing the evidence, thisdissertation uses four major methods: association through Fanqie syllables, analysisof phonological distribution, language comparison, and distinctive feature analysis.In view of the close relationship between the tone and the syllable in Chineselanguages, this dissertation presents a thorough review of major theories concerningChinese tones, and claims that the relationship between Chinese syllables and tone ismediated by syllable weight. The Syllable Structure-Weight-Tone Correlation Modelis proposed to capture this relationship. This model shows that the segmental tier islinked to the tone tier through the mora tier. Phonological evidence for this model is adduced partly on the basis of Duanmu’s (1993,1994) studies, which also providefirst-hand data from phonetic experiments that support this model. This model thusserves as the argument for the rhyme structure of Chinese languages.This dissertation concludes that the Generalized Multi-spec X-bar Modeladequately captures the syllable structures of all the four major Chinese dialectsstudied in this dissertation, showing that there are many commonalities betweenChinese dialects in terms of syllable structure, which include the following points:(i)complex onsets are not allowed;(ii) there is a pre-nuclear glide;(iii) consonantalcodas exist. This dissertation also discovers some major distinctions in syllableconstituents between the dialects under study:(i) in terms of the onset, MC andCantonese have onsetless syllables while Shanghainese syllables must have onsets;(ii)in terms of the pre-nuclear glide, MC syllables obviously have pre-nuclear glides [j]and [w], while in Cantonese, the pre-nuclear glide [j] has disappeared, and [w] canonly co-occur with the velar stops [k] and [kh]. The pre-nuclear glides inShanghainese are closer to the onset while those in Amoy are closer to the rhyme;(iii)in terms of the post-nuclear glide, Shanghainese does not have syllables withpost-nuclear glides, while MC, Cantonese and Amoy do;(iv) in terms of thepost-nuclear nasals, MC syllables have two nasal codas, i.e.[n] and []; Shanghainesesyllables only have one nasal phoneme [N]; Cantonese and Amoy syllables have threekinds of nasal codas [m],[n] and []; there are nasalized vowels in Amoy;(v) in termsof the consonantal codas, MC syllables do not allow any consonantal codas;Shanghainese syllables allow the glottal coda; Cantonese syllables allow the stopconsonants [p/t/k]; and Amoy syllables allow both stop consonant codas and theglottal coda;(vi) in terms of the tone, MC does not have the entering tone, whileShanghainese, Cantonese and Amoy have. All these differences have impacts on thesyllable structure in terms of the number of projection levels and the representation ofthe terminal nodes, but do not influence the validity of the X-bar representation of theoverall syllable structure.