Deang Language Widely Card If Interrogative Tone

There are few studies concerning intonation in the phonetic studies of Chinese minority languages. As confined to the traditional phonetic methodology, intonation can not be studied profoundly and independently. Consequently, in order to promote the study on intonation and phonetics of minority languages, this thesis aims at making a comprehensive research on the intonation of interrogative sentence of Guangka dialect, a sub-dialect of De'ang language, by adopting the methodology of modern Experimental Phonetics. Based on the methodology of traditional Phonetics, this thesis first classifies the patterns of interrogative sentence of Guangka dialect and generalizes its basic characteristics. Then by applying the methodology of modern Experimental Phonetics, this thesis analyzes its models and acoustical characteristics on a micro level.The thesis is composed of four chapters. Chapter one includes a general review of former researches on intonation. Chapter two is a descriptive and synchronic study on the grammar of Guangka dialect. The integrative sentence of Guangka dialect is divided into five different sentence patterns. In Chapter three, the author analyses the carrier of intonation and the relationship between tone and intonation by comparing the tone range of different patterns on the basis of experiments. In the last chapter, the author concludes the carriers of intonation of interrogative sentence and the different models that how intonation affects tone and attempts to reveal laws by comparing the intonation of interrogative sentence between Guangka dialect and Chinese language.The experimental result indicates that the models of interrogative sentence intonations in the De'ang Language differ in terms of the sentence pattern and the marker. The main carriers of interrogative sentences havenothing to do with the un-neutral tone in the rhythm units at the end of a sentence, but usually relate to the carrying capacity and the positions of the interrogative markers. On the whole, the main carriers are the interrogative markers or the syllables before and after them. In the De'ang Language, the interrogative intonations influence the tones and cause three results. The first one is to change the registers by raising the tone range. The second one is to make the contour change quantitatively by changing the curve slope of the fundamental frequency. In Guangka dialect, the acting force of the interrogative sentence intonations is uneven. Therefore, when the low point of a tone moves faster than the high one, the tone may have a qualitative change in terms of type, which is different from Chinese language.