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The Tonal Comparisons and Contrasts between Taiwanese and Taiwan Mandarin

Wi-Vun Taiffalo Chiung

The University of Texas at Arlington

1. Introduction
1. Purpose of the study
2. Traditional tonal categories

A: Traditional Taiwanese tonal categories according to Cheng.

Samples	君 [kun] gentle	滾 [kun] boil	棍 [kun] stick	骨 [kut] bone	裙 [kun] skirt	-	近 [kun] near	滑 [kut] slippery
Traditional Tone Categories	陰平 im-peng	陰上 im-siong	陰去 im-khi	陰入 im-jip	陽平 iong-peng	陽上 iong-siong	陽去 iong-khi	陽入 iong-jip
Traditional Tone Numbers	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Tonal Values of Five Scales	55	53	21	32	13		33	54
Graphical Five Scales
Descriptions	Hl	Hf	Lf	Ms	Lr		Ml	Hs
	HH	HM	ML	Mc	LM		MM	Hc

H=High (or +High, -Low); M=Mid (or -High, -Low); L=Low (-High, +Low)

l=level, f=falling, r=rising, s=short, c=checked (when p,t,k,h in the final)

B: Traditional Mandarin tonal categories according to Chao.

Samples	媽 [ma] mother	麻 [ma] sesame	馬 [ma] horse	罵 [ma] blame
Traditional Tone Categories	陰平 im-peng	陽平 iong-peng	上聲 siong	去聲 khi
Traditional Tone Numbers	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Tonal Values of Five Scales	55	35	214	51
Graphical Five Scales
Descriptions	Hl	Hr	Lf-r	Hf

2. Methodology
1. Method of Tonal Triangle Analysis (MOTTA)

Five criteria to be measured. Angle *1, *2, ROT (Ratio of Tone; AB to BC), BOT (Beginning of Tone), and DOT (Duration of Tone).



2. Word lists (only last syllable was measured)

T: 國軍, 水在滾, 真好睏, 排骨, 短裙, 命運, 路真滑.

M: 保溫, 作文, 接吻, 學問

3. Speakers

11 females and 11 males. Taiwanese students at UTA. Average age is 27, ranging from 22-38. T-M bilingual.

4. Procedure

4 repetitions of each word are recorded in a cassetteà PC with Computerised Extraction of Components Intonation of Language (CECIL)à MS Excel .

5. Data analysis

Paired t-test. 0.05 p value to reject null hypothesis.

3. Results and Findings
1. Tonal descriptions of Taiwanese

The shape of T-tone 1 should be phonetically regarded as a slight curve rather than a traditional straight line. It's a slightly falling and then rising contour at an average of 0.776 degrees MOTTA of curve. The average ratio of falling length to rising length is 1.052.

T-Tone 1	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	1.052	-0.051	0.776	41.7	238
sd.	0.051	0.183	0.021	0.7	171
highest	3.272	0.274	2.040	47.5	385
lowest	0.000	-0.417	0.000	34.1	140

T-tone 2 is a high falling tone at an average of -2.057 degrees MOTTA of falling.

T-Tone 2	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.041	-2.057	-0.691	42.9	118
sd.	0.000	0.733	0.093	743.0	81
highest	0.231	-1.094	0.000	51.0	205
lowest	0.000	-3.890	-5.291	35.7	50

T-tone 3 is a mid falling tone at an average of -2.767 degrees MOTTA.

T-Tone 3	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.003	-2.767	0.300	40.2	86
sd.	0.000	1.218	0.090	0.9	83
highest	0.063	-1.146	6.296	48.3	165
lowest	0.000	-4.694	0.000	33.2	20

T-tone 4 is a mid short falling tone at an average of -1.338 degrees MOTTA. And the average DOT is 69 msec. My measurements reveals that there is no significant difference between T-tone 4 and T-tone 8 among the 22 subjects.

T-Tone 4	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.063	-1.338	-0.294	39.8	69
sd.	0.001	0.598	0.023	0.7	17
highest	0.444	-0.353	0.000	47.0	95
lowest	0.000	-2.545	-2.578	31.3	25

T-tone 5 is a low falling and then rising tone at an average of 1.773 degrees MOTTA of curve. The average ratio of falling length to rising length is 1.916.

T-Tone 5	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	1.916	-0.538	1.773	37.8	227
sd.	0.220	0.663	0.042	1.0	423
highest	8.999	0.400	3.535	44.7	450
lowest	0.000	-2.555	0.000	29.1	35

T-tone 7 is a low level tone at BOT 38.0.

T-Tone 7	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.091	0.296	-0.048	38.0	257
sd.	0.008	0.501	0.002	0.9	209
highest	2.000	2.454	0.000	46.2	390
lowest	0.000	-0.070	-1.050	30.5	110

My measurements reveal that there is no significant difference between T-tone 8 and T-tone 4 among the 22 subjects.

T-Tone 8	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.184	-1.229	-0.124	40.1	76
sd.	0.011	0.726	0.036	0.7	81
highest	2.000	-0.109	1.337	48.9	210
lowest	0.000	-2.934	-2.864	30.4	20

2. Tonal descriptions of Taiwan Mandarin

M-tone 1 is a level tone at BOT 38.2. M-tone 1 is phonemically regarded as high level tone in Mandarin tonal system, and it's said to be equal to Taiwanese tone 1. However, my measurements reveal that M-tone 1 should be phonetically close to Taiwanese tone 7 rather than T-tone1. It would be better to describe M-tone 1 as a mid level (22) tone if we compare its BOT with other Mandarin tonal categories.

M-Tone 1	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.000	0.727	0.000	38.2	262
sd.	0.000	0.006	0.000	0.9	130
highest	0.000	1.319	0.000	44.3	360
lowest	0.000	0.207	0.000	30.8	180

M-tone 2 is traditionally regarded as a rising tone, but my measurements reveal that it should be a falling and then rising tone at an average of 1.567 degrees MOTTA of curve. And the average ratio of falling length to rising length is 1.079. It would be better to describe M-tone 2 as a mid falling-rising (212) tone based on my phonetic measurements.

M-Tone 2	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	1.079	0.182	1.567	36.4	244
sd.	0.046	0.096	0.597	1.0	297
highest	4.125	6.454	17.544	43.1	440
lowest	0.000	-0.702	0.000	28.2	110

M-tone 3 is traditionally described as a falling and then rising tone. But, my measurements reveal that it should be a falling tone at an average of -1.8 degrees MOTTA of falling. It would be better to describe M-tone 3 as a mid falling (31) tone based on my phonetic measurements.

M-Tone 3	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.357	-1.800	0.230	40.2	134
sd.	0.070	0.029	0.028	0.8	189
highest	5.377	-0.353	3.260	46.3	295
lowest	0.000	-3.352	0.000	32.0	50

M-tone 4 is traditionally regarded as a high falling tone. But, my measurements reveal that it's a rising and then falling tone (453) at an average of -2.524 degrees MOTTA of curve. And the average ratio of rising length to falling length is 0.45.

M-Tone 4	ROT	*1	*2	BOT	DOT
mean	0.450	-0.960	-2.524	42.2	153
sd.	0.003	0.015	0.032	0.9	140
highest	1.071	0.079	0.000	47.0	265
lowest	0.000	-1.957	-3.640	33.8	65

3. Similarities between Taiwanese and Taiwan Mandarin.

		T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	T7	T8
M1	*1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	*2	-	-	*2	-	-	*2	*2
	ROT	-	-	ROT	-	-	ROT	-
	BOT	-	-	-	-	BOT	BOT	-
	DOT	-	-	-	-	-	DOT	-
M2	*1	*1	-	-	-	-	*1	-
	*2	*2	-	*2	-	*2	-	-
	ROT	-	-	-	-	ROT	-	-
	BOT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	DOT	DOT	-	-	-	DOT	DOT	-
M3	*1	-	*1	-	-	-	-	-
	*2	-	-	*2	-	-	*2	*2
	ROT	-	ROT	ROT	ROT	-	ROT	ROT
	BOT	-	-	BOT	BOT	-	-	BOT
	DOT	-	DOT	-	-	-	-	-
M4	*1	-	-	-	-	-	-	*1
	*2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	ROT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	BOT	BOT	BOT	-	-	-	-	-
	DOT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

　

	Tonal comparisons between Taiwanese and Taiwan Mandarin
Taiwanese	T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	T7	T8
Mandarin	M2	M3(M4)	M3	M3	M2	M1	M3

The table above will be helpful for learning Taiwanese tonemes through the tonal comprehension of Taiwan Mandarin. When learning Taiwanese 1^st tone, learners in Taiwan were taught to catch it through Taiwan Mandarin tone 1. But, my study surprised me that T-tone 1 is phonetically close to M-tone 2 rather than M-tone 1. T-tone 4 and T-tone 8 are checked tones, which don't occur in Taiwan Mandarin. Therefore, the duration of M-tone 3 must be short while learning T-tone 4 and T-tone 8 through the comprehension of M-tone 3.

4. Summary of new tonal descriptions.

New Tonemes or Alltones?   [Click here to get a graphic tonal contoures]

New descriptions of Taiwanese tonemes based on my findings.

Traditional Tone Numbers	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
Tonal Values of Five Scales	434	53	31	32	212	-	22	32

New descriptions of Taiwan Mandarin tonemes based on my findings.

Traditional Tone Numbers	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Tonal Values of Five Scales	22	212	31	453

4. Conclusion

My measurements reveal that all the Taiwanese tonal categories except the low level Toneme 7, share falling departures with either rising or falling endings. And all the Taiwan Mandarin tonal categories except the mid level toneme 1, share falling departures with either rising or falling endings.

In comparing Taiwanese with Taiwan Mandarin, both of these two languages share the falling departures. We may assume there is a falling tendency in both Taiwanese and Taiwan Mandarin. The factor that caused the Beijing Mandarin Toneme 2 and Toneme 3 to switch to Taiwan Mandarin Toneme 2 and Toneme 3 might be the falling tendency. The falling tendency of Taiwan Mandarin might be the influence of Taiwanese.

In short, we may predict that the Taiwanese 1^st toneme will become a high falling and then rising tone in contrast with the low falling and rising (212) of the Taiwanese 5^th toneme. In addition, we may predict that the Mandarin 2^nd toneme in Taiwan is becoming a falling-rising (212) tone. The Mandarin 3^rd toneme in Taiwan is becoming a falling (31) tone.

5. Suggestions for further studies

• Redesign word lists to consider preceding tones in different combinations. This will be useful for understanding the influences of preceding tones on a measurable syllable.
• Contrast Taiwan Mandarin with Beijing Mandarin, to see whether there are any tonal shifts from Beijing to Taiwan.
• Examine Taiwanese-only and Taiwan Mandarin-only speakers, and then compare them with T-M bilingual speakers.
• How do Taiwanese and Mandarin listeners recognize different tonal categories?

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Chao, Y. R. 1994. 中國話的文法(A Grammar of Spoken Chinese). Taiwan edition. Taipei: Student Press.

Cheng, Robert. (鄭良偉) 1977. 台灣福建話的語音結構及標音法 (Phonological Structure and Romanization of Taiwanese Hokkian). Taipei: Student Press.

Cheng, Robert. (鄭良偉) 1997. 台語的語音與詞法(Taiwanese Phonology and Morphology). Taipei: Yuanliou Press.

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Weingartner, F. F. 1970. Tones in Taiwanese. Taipei: Ching Hua Press.

This paper was presented at

The sixth Annual UTA Student Conference in Linguistics

By Wi-Vun Taiffalo Chiung