An Analysis Of The Chinese Phonetic System And Its Mathematical Modeling Based On Jakobson’s Theory Of Distinctive Features Of Phonemes

For a long time,the study of Chinese phonological history has always been single-lined.However,in the recent years,increasingly more scholars start to reexamine Chinese phonological history in different ways,the scattered multi-lined methods,the multi-lined methods and the two-tier structured methods are becoming new key words.In emphasizing the significance of the common language,Chinese dialects over its long evolving history should also be given equal attention.Huge advancement as the academia has made,there are still bunch of thorny problems facing us.For instance,the colossal amount of data,the complex historical and regional backgrounds,the lack of efficient auxiliary tools and the shortage of effective inspection methods are some of such obstacles around the corner.Then,how can we carry forward the macroscopic study of Chinese phonological history in a more efficient and multi-lined way?Facing such difficulties,the author has no alternative but to resort to the method of systematical science,attempting to study the Chinese phonetic systems from both the synchronic or diachronic way.Considering the phonetic complicacy and relevancy between mandarin Chinese and dialect Chinese over the long evolution process,the author deems that the concept of the phonological system of Chinese needs to be redefined.Moreover,the speech sounds of ancient and modern Chinese as well as Chinese dialects of all times and all regions should be placed under a single macroscopic frame so as to observe and study them synchronically and diachronically.To structure such a huge frame,computer technology is required to facilitate the research.Above all,the speech sounds of Chinese needs to be transferred into a formal language that computers can comprehend,and this process is called the mathematical modeling.The theoretical basis of the paper is Jakobson’s Theory on Distinctive Features of Phonemes,and the major research tool applied here is the mathematical branch of Vector space and Linear algebra.Chapter two mainly concerns on the practical study of Chinese phonological systems.Taking Lu Zhiji’s case study of the distinctive features of mandarin Chinese phonemes for reference,the author conducts systematic research on ancient Chinese phonemes,and creates the Matrix of the Distinctive Features of Modern Chinese Consonant Phonemes(hereafter referred as MDFMOCCP),of Medieval Chinese Consonant Phonemes(hereafter referred as MDFMECCP),and of Archaic Chinese Consonant Phonemes(hereafter referred as MDFACCP).Meanwhile,the author selects modern Hongkong-Canton dialect and ancient Min Dialect(popularly used in Fujian Province)as samples to build up the Matrix of the Distinctive Features of Modern Chinese Dialect Phonemes(or more precisely,of Hongkong-Canton Dialect,hereafter referred as MDFCDP)and the Matrix of the Distinctive Features of Min Dialect of Song Dynasty(hereafter referred as MDFMDSD).Moreover,the author further discusses the inapplicability of the twelve pairs of distinctive-featured phonemes in archaic,medieval Chinese and other dialects,points out the reasons behind,and raises up two workable solutions.The third chapter probes into the actual process of mathematical modeling.Obviously,Jakobson’s theory must be mathematized in the first place,or any mathematical deduction will not be feasible.In the course of modeling,phonetic terms are interpreted into corresponding mathematic concepts.The author manages to fulfill the mathematic modeling of the Matrix of Lu Zhiji’s Distinctive Features of Mandarin Chinese Phonemes,and investigate the significance of taking Lu Zhiji’s model as a standard basis.In bringing the concept of Vector space and Subspace into discussion,the author proves that the opposition between Archaic Chinese and Medieval Chinese in terms of distinctive features of phonemes can be offset by increasing the dimension of phonemes itself.Apparently,such an action will not affect the scientificness of the pre-existing Chinese phonological system and the mathematical modeling of Mandarin Chinese.Furthermore,the author deduces that the mathematical modeling of Chinese phonological system can be extended infinitely.No matter what speech sound materials it may involve or no matter how different the dimension might be,all distinctive features of phonemes can be defined in a single mathematic modeling matrix.As mentioned above,the author creates five matrixes in the practical study,namely the the MDFMOCCP,the MDFMECCP,the MDFACCP,the MDFCDP and the MDFMDSD,and manages to build up corresponding mathematical models and place them into the standardized mathematical frame for further investigation.Chapter five is focused on practical study.Through further programming,a brand-new Chinese phonological system platform,which combines the synchronic study and the diachronic study together,is framed up.This platform is constructed mainly on the mathematical models of the five above-mentioned matrixes,but it actually stores far richer data of varied levels.For instance,there are the matrix of distinctive features of Chinese phonemes,the phonemes of mandarin and other modern Chinese dialects,the reconstruction of ancient Chinese phonology by scholars,the sets of synchronic and diachronic phonemes classified by the distinctive features,etc.Apart from the basic application function,the platform can intelligently generate matrixes and pictures,making the rules of the phonological changes easily visualized.In addition,the author takes the phenomenon of devocalization of sonant as a typical case to conduct effect verification.The adoption of cloud computing technology largely reduces the researching difficulty and time,and guarantees the inclusiveness and error-resilience of the Chinese phonological system platform,where contradictory academic standpoints can harmoniously accommodate.Meanwhile,the author proposes a new concept of sharing-research,which means to set up a big-data platform where all other scholars can utilize and in this way to facilitate further data-mining research of Chinese phonology.Through our research efforts,what is clear is that each unique phoneme can be sorted out according to the distinctive features,and by blending different phonemes,all synchronic and diachronic Chinese speech sounds can be restored(normally embodied with specific pronunciations).However,there are still enormous research work worthy of putting forward.The mathematical models constructed in the paper is mainly based on consonants,and the dialect matrixes are created only with two samples——the Hongkong-Canton dialect and the ancient Min dialect.To perfect the study,models and matrixes on vowels need to be added in.Moreover,the reconstructed phonemes stored in the mathematical models are selected mainly to the norms of The Handbook of Ancient Chinese Phonology,in which archaic Chinese and medieval Chinese are reconstructed,yet modern Chinese and dialects are seldom touched upon.As a result,the matrixes of the distinctive features of phonemes are also incomplete.Furthermore,if those phonemes are weighted in the models,are they still reliable to represent the actual phonetic value? Besides,the normalization in the process of sharing study also needs further discussion.Although the Chinese phonological system platform is preliminarily constructed,there is still a huge space for improvement on its functional exploitation,so that more scholars can share the fruits.