Accentualism in Chinese

This paper introduces a typology of tone sandhi in Chinese based on two formal properties of sandhi rule: the behavior of the undergoer and the behavior of the trigger. Three major types are proposed. In Type I, the undergoer is confined to its lexical host, and the trigger is active; in Type II, the undergoer spreads beyond its lexical host, and the trigger is not active. Type III contains properties of both: the undergoer is confined to its lexical host, and the trigger is not active. Type I is characteristic of Mandarin, Type II of Wu, and Type III of Min. Based on the typology, I propose an accentual analysis of Wu and Min, and argue that Chinese accentualism is derived from tone. Chinese tone sandhi is not metrical.

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