INTRODUCTION: Health inequities do not result exclusively from absolute income levels, education or type of occupation, but also from individuals relative position in social hierarchy. The subjective social status expresses individuals sense of their relative place in social hierarchy. The object is to apprehend a dimension of social stratification which is not captured by ordinary objective indicators of social position, such as income and education. OBJECTS: To investigate if subjective social status is associated with self-rated health and tobacco smoking, independently of objective indicators of social position, among civil servants participating in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Additionally, we assess if there are differences in the magnitudes of theses associations, comparing three different reference groups for the subjective social status: other people from the society in general, other people from the local community and other people from the same work place. METHODOLOGY: Were legible for the study all the 15,105 civil servants between the age of 35 and 74 years who participated in the baseline of ELSA-Brasil (20082010). ELSA-Brasil is a prospective multicenter study developed in higher education and research institutions in six Brazilian states: Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Bahia e Rio Grande do Sul. All the participants were submitted to face-to-face interviews. The response variables were self-rated health (good/poor) and tobacco smoking (nonsmokers/former smokers/smokers). The main explanatory variable was the subjective social status measured by the two MacArthur Scales of Subjective Social Status, which use society and community as reference groups. A third scale was adapted for ELSA-Brasil, using the work environment as reference group. The adjustment variables were sex, age, skin color, education and net household income. Odds ratios (OR) and a 95% confidence interval were obtained by logistic regression for self-rated health, and multinomial regression for smoking. RESULTS: The correlations among SSS ladders were stronger than the association of these ladders with income and education. The prevalence of poor self-rated health was of 19.9%; of former smoking, 30%; and of current smoking, 13.1%. In all three scales, the lower the subjective social status, the higher the prevalence of poor self-rated health. Current and former smoking were also associated with low subjective social status in the three scales, but there was no gradient for former smoking. Independently of objective measures of social position, low subjective social status was significantly associated with poor self-rated health and former smoking, although not with current smoking. No significant differences were identified between the magnitudes of these associations in the three scales. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that subjective social status, education and income represent distinct aspects of social inequalities and indicate that the impact of these variables on health or health-related behavior is different. This reinforces the importance of subjective social status as a complementary measure in the study of social inequities in health and contributes to the increase of researches which highlight the importance of perception of social status to health. / INTRODUÇÃO: As iniquidades em saúde não resultam apenas dos níveis absolutos de renda, do grau de escolaridade ou do tipo de ocupação, mas também da posição relativa dos indivíduos na hierarquia social. O status social subjetivo expressa a percepção do indivíduo sobre sua localização relativa na hierarquia social. Objetiva apreender uma dimensão da estratificação social que não é captada pelos indicadores objetivos mais comuns de posição social, como renda e escolaridade. OBJETIVOS: Investigar se o status social subjetivo está associado à autoavaliação de saúde e ao tabagismo, independentemente de indicadores objetivos de posição social, entre servidores públicos participantes do Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil); e verificar se há diferenças nas magnitudes dessas associações entre três diferentes grupos de referência para o status social subjetivo: outras pessoas na sociedade, outras pessoas na mesma comunidade e outras pessoas do mesmo local de trabalho. METODOLOGIA: Foram elegíveis para análise todos os 15.105 servidores com idade entre 35 a 74 anos que participaram da linha de base do ELSA-Brasil, realizada entre 2008 e 2010. O ELSA é um estudo prospectivo multicêntrico desenvolvido em instituições de ensino superior e pesquisa em seis estados brasileiros: Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Bahia e Rio Grande do Sul. Os participantes foram submetidos a entrevistas face a face. As variáveis resposta foram: autoavaliação de saúde (boa/ruim) e tabagismo (não fumantes/ex-fumantes/fumantes). A variável explicativa principal foi o status social subjetivo, mensurado pelas duas versões da escala de MacArthur de Status Social Subjetivo, que utiliza a sociedade e a comunidade como grupos de referência. Foi utilizada também uma adaptação dessa escala, utilizando como grupo de referência as pessoas no local de trabalho. As variáveis para ajuste foram sexo, idade, cor da pele, escolaridade e renda familiar líquida. Odds ratios (OR) e intervalo de 95% de confiança foram obtidos por regressão logística para autoavaliação de saúde e regressão multinomial para tabagismo. RESULTADOS: As escalas de status social subjetivo apresentaram correlações mais fortes entre si que com a renda e escolaridade. A prevalência de autoavaliação de saúde ruim foi de 19,9%; de ex-tabagismo, de 30% e de tabagismo atual, de 13,1%. Nas três escalas, quanto pior o status social subjetivo maior a prevalência de autoavaliação de saúde ruim. Tabagismo atual e ex-tabagismo também foram associados a um pior status social subjetivo nas três escalas, porém não apresentaram um gradiente para ex-tabagismo. Independente de medidas objetivas de posição social, pior status social subjetivo foi significantemente associado à autoavaliação de saúde ruim e ao ex-tabagismo. Entretanto, o mesmo não pode ser observado com tabagismo atual. Não foram identificadas diferenças significativas nas magnitudes dessas associações entre as três diferentes escalas de status social subjetivo. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados sugerem que status social subjetivo, escolaridade e renda representam aspectos distintos das iniquidades sociais e sugerem que o efeito dessas variáveis na saúde ou no comportamento relacionado à saúde é diferente. Isso reforça a importância do status social subjetivo como medida complementar importante para o estudo das desigualdades sociais em saúde e contribui para o crescimento do corpo de pesquisas que evidenciam a importância da percepção do status social para a saúde.

Este trabalho equivale à dissertação de mestrado, ora submetido ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde-Pública / Área de concentração em Epidemiologia, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva e Social, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Conforme regulamento deste programa de pós-graduação, constam desta dissertação: dois artigos científicos, um de revisão do assunto e outro contendo os resultados da investigação, e o projeto de pesquisa no qual se insere o estudo realizado. O primeiro artigo, intitulado Modelos de Predição de Risco em Cirurgia Cardíaca, apresenta os principais modelos propostos na literatura científica recente (duas últimas décadas) e discute a metodologia utilizada para construção destes modelos e alguns aspectos relacionados à sua aplicação. O segundo artigo, com o título Fatores Preditores da Mortalidade Hospitalar e Complicações Per-operatórias em Cirurgia de Revascularização do Miocárdio, mostra os resultados de um estudo prospectivo realizado em um hospital de referência em cirurgia cardíaca na cidade de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, no período de 1996 a 1999. Neste estudo, procurou-se identificar os fatores de risco preditores destes eventos em pacientes submetidos a cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio e estruturar modelos de predição de risco utilizando regressão logística múltipla e análise de sobrevida.

Context: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has contributed to technology improvement in interventional cardiology, but its role in percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) is still controversial, despite several meta-analysis published so far. Conducting reviews of systematic reviews has turned to be imperative, to divide and to contrast them, trying to minimize the bias, showing the evidence to clinical decision making. Design: Systematic review followed by meta-analysis based on intention to treat. Objectives: 1) To evaluate the role of IVUS-guided PCI with bare metal stent (BMS) implantation in reducing death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) and the combined outcome of major cardiovascular adverse events (MACE). 2) To analyze the results of the meta-analysis published by Parise et al., reviewing its validity and searching for possible explanations for discrepancy in the results. Data sources: Computerized search of PubMed and Embase databases and manual search in reference lists. Study selection: Randomized clinical trials published until April 2011, comparing IVUS-guided PCI with BMS implantation with angiography-guided PCI, with at least six months of follow-up, with computed relevant clinical outcomes: death, non-fatal MI and MACE. Data extraction: Two independent reviewers performed data extraction by a sensitive search, including articles that followed the inclusion criteria with adjudication by the remainder of the investigators in cases of disagreement. Results: Five studies and 1754 patients were included. Comparing both IVUS-guided and angio-guided PCI, there were no differences regarding death OR= 1.86; 95%CI= 0.88 to 3.95; p= 0.10), non-fatal MI (OR= 0.65; 95%CI= 0.27 to 1.58; p= 0.35) and MACE (OR= 0.74; 95%CI= 0.49 to 1.13; p= 0.16). Analyzing the data from the meta-analysis of Parise et al. for MACE, we observed that the Funnel Plot, the Egger Test and the Trim and Fill Test strongly suggest publication bias and the cumulative analysis by sample size inverted order and the One Study Removed Method show the strength of the small studies in a meta-analysis. Additionally, we can see great heterogeneity between the studies. Conclusions: This meta-analysis was not able to prove benefit on IVUS-guided PCI comparing with angio-guided PCI in none of the relevant clinical outcomes evaluated. Regarding the published results from Parise et al., we observed significant methodological problems. Therefore, their results should be analyzed with caution. / Contexto: O ultrassom intracoronário (USIC) tem contribuído para o avanço tecnológico da cardiologia intervencionista, mas seu papel na intervenção coronária percutânea (ICP) ainda é controverso. Existem duas meta-análises e uma revisão sistemática sobre o assunto com resultados conflitantes. A fragilidade metodológica de algumas revisões leva à necessidade de reavaliá-las por meio de revisões de revisões sistemáticas, tentando minimizar os vieses ou deixando-os evidentes para a tomada de decisão do clínico e do gestor. Delineamento: Revisão sistemática seguida por meta-análise baseada na intenção de tratar. Objetivos: 1) Avaliar o papel adjuvante do USIC na ICP com implante de stent convencional, no que diz respeito à redução de morte, de infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM) não-fatal e de eventos cardiovasculares adversos maiores (ECAM). 2) Analisar os resultados da meta-análise publicada por Parise et al., revendo sua validade e buscando explicações para as divergências nos resultados encontrados. Fonte de dados: Busca eletrônica nas bases de dados PubMed e Embase e busca manual em lista de referências de artigos relevantes. Seleção dos estudos: Foram incluídos estudos aleatorizados e controlados publicados até abril de 2011, que compararam a ICP com implante de stent convencional com e sem auxílio do USIC, com tempo de seguimento clínico de, no mínimo, seis meses, e que avaliaram os desfechos clínicos morte, IAM não-fatal e combinado de ECAM. Extração dos dados: Dois revisores independentes realizaram a extração dos dados a partir de uma estratégia de busca sensível e selecionaram os artigos de acordo com os critérios de inclusão, com adjudicação de um terceiro revisor em caso de discordância. Resultados: Foram incluídos cinco estudos, totalizando 1754 pacientes. Quando comparados os grupos de pacientes que realizaram ICP guiado pelo USIC com aqueles que realizaram ICP guiado por angiografia, não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa nos desfechos morte (OR= 1,86; IC 95%= 0,88 a 3,95; p= 0,10), IAM não-fatal (OR= 0,65; IC 95%= 0,27 a 1,58; p= 0,35) e ECAM (OR= 0,74; IC 95%= 0,49 a 1,13; p= 0,16). Refazendo os cálculos da meta-análise publicada por Parise et al. para o desfecho combinado de ECAM, observou-se que a análise do gráfico Funnel Plot, os testes de Egger e Trim and Fill e os cálculos da meta-análise cumulativa por ordem inversa de tamanho amostral e pelo método de One Study Removed sugerem fortemente a presença de viés de publicação assim como a força de pequenos estudos. Além disso, há grande heterogeneidade entre os estudos analisados. Conclusões: A presente meta-análise não mostrou benefício do uso do USIC como adjuvante terapêutico na ICP com implante de stent convencional em nenhum dos desfechos clínicos analisados. Com relação aos dados publicados por Parise et al., foram observados problemas metodológicos significativos. Suas conclusões, portanto, devem ser analisadas com cautela.

The Hospital Admission Centers (HAC) were set up as a tool to regulate patient access to hospital admission. However, many admissions occur directly via hospitals. The present dissertation, which is being presented by way of two scientific articles, looked into the existence of differences as well as into characteristics and outcomes of admissions made by the BH Unified Health System (SUS-BH), in 2002, according to type of access to hospital admission, direct or via HAC. The data were gathered from Authorizations for Hospital Admission (AIH), reports and requests for hospital beds in the City Department of Health. Admissions required for Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and Coronary Insufficiency (CI) were included in the study. The first article compared, by means of cross-sectional analysis, the characteristics of admissions in relation to type of access. Out of 3705 admissions, 24.9% were made via HAC and 75.1% were by direct access. There were more direct Hospital admissions as compared with the ones made via HAC for patients aged ³ 70 years (23.6% vs. 18.8%, p=0.001), with medical report of CAI (74.4% vs. 65.4%, p<0.001), at surgical clinic (9.1% vs. 5.4%, p<0.001), during weekends (20.9% vs. 17.6%, p=0.030) and for other invasive procedures related to ischemic diseases (8.8% vs. 5.0%, p<0.001). There were more admissions through the HAC, as compared with direct access, for patients residing outside BH (43.8% vs. 35.8%, p<0.001), at non-public hospitals (97.1% vs. 72.0%, p<0.001) and admitted to Intensive Care Unit (20.2% vs. 16.8%, p=0.020). The results also show discrepancies in types of access regarding costs and length of stay. The second article checked, by means of longitud inal study, if the means of access to hospitalization was associated with in- hospital death after adjusting the relevant factors. When there was more than one admission due to AMI or CI, only the last hospitalization was taken into account. Each hospital admission under analysis corresponded to a different patient The results did not indicate any association between the means of access to hospital and risk of in-hospital death for the studied factors. The multivariate analysis showed that the risk of death was greater for: patients aged ³ 60 years, female sex, admission due to AMI, in Intensive Care Units (ICU), at public hospitals and in surgical specialization (clinic). Patients admitted to hospital due to AMI also showed greater risk of death if the admissions were made at weekends. The study demonstrated differences in the characteristics of admissions made by diverse types of access as well as and inequalities on the outcomes of healthcare. The results suggest the need of further investigations in order to assess healthcare provided at hospitals taking into account the influence of other factors such as structure of services, technology available, patient severity and co- morbidities and health care process in order to support new interventions and ensure greater equity and better quality of care. / As Centrais de Internação (CI) foram criadas como ferramentas para a regulação do acesso às internações hospitalares. Entretanto, muitas internações ocorrem diretamente nos hospitais. Esta dissertação, apresentada sob a forma de dois artigos científicos, investigou a existência de diferenças nas características e desfechos das internações realizadas pelo SUS-BH em 2002, segundo a via de acesso ao hospital, direta ou pela CI. Os dados foram obtidos das Autorizações de Internações Hospitalares (AIH) e dos laudos e pedidos de vaga para internações da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde-BH. Foram selecionadas internações solicitadas por Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio (IAM) e Insuficiência Coronariana (IC). O primeiro artigo comparou, através de uma análise de corte transversal, as características das internações com relação à via de acesso. De 3705 internações, 24,9% foram realizadas pela CI e 75,1% por via direta. As proporções de internações pela via direta foram maiores que as pela CI para pacientes ³ 70 anos (23,6% vs. 18,8%, p=0,001), internados por IC (74,4% vs. 65,4%, p<0.001), na clínica cirúrgica (9,1% vs. 5,4%, p<0.001), no fim de semana (20,9% vs. 17,6%, p=0,030) e com outros procedimentos invasivos relativos à doença isquêmica (8,8% vs. 5,0%, p<0.001). Os percentuais de internações via CI foram maiores que os via direta para residentes em outros municípios (43,8% vs. 35,8%, p<0.001), em hospitais não públicos (97,1% vs. 72,0%, p<0.001) e com utilização de UTI (20,2% vs. 16,8%, p=0,020). Houve também disparidades entre as vias de internação com relação aos custos e tempo de permanência. O 2º artigo verificou, através de estudo longitudinal, se a via de internação esteve associada ao óbito intra- hospitalar após ajuste por fatores relevantes. Nos casos de mais de uma internação pelos procedimentos IAM ou IC, somente a última foi considerada. Cada internação analisada correspondeu a um paciente diferente. Os resultados não indicaram existência de associação entre a via de acesso à internação e o risco de óbito intra- hospitalar pelos fatores estudados. A análise multivariada mostrou que o risco de óbito foi maior para: pacientes com 60 ou mais anos, sexo feminino, procedimentos solicitados por IAM, uso de UTI, internação em hospital público e especialidade cirúrgica. Nas internações em que procedimento solicitado foi IAM, houve maior risco de morte de pacientes internados no fim de semana. O estudo demonstrou a existência de diferenças nas características das internações realizadas pelas vias de acesso e desigualdades nos resultados da assistência. Os resultados sugerem a realização de novas investigações para avaliar a assistência prestada pelos hospitais, levando-se em conta outros fatores, como por exemplo, a estrutura dos serviços, tecnologia disponível, gravidade e comorbidades dos pacientes e processo do cuidado, subsidiando intervenções que garantam maior equidade e qualidade da assistência.

INTRODUCTION: Subjective social status (SSS) reflects the perception that the individual has its location in the social hierarchy and has been used to better understand the socioeconomic gradient in health. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether low SSS is associated with low consumption of fruits and vegetables, the habitual consumption of meat with excess fat and obesity, after adjustment for demographic and socioeconomic variables. METHODS: This was a cross sectional study conducted with adults aged 35 to 64 years of age (n = 13,514), participants from baseline (2008-2010) of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). The dependent variables were: low consumption of fruits and vegetables, habitual consumption of meat with excess fat, overall obesity (BMI 30 kg/m2) and abdominal obesity (waist to height ratio 0.5). The main explanatory variable was measured by the SSS of three "ladders" with 10 steps according to the contexts of the society, community and work. The variables were adjusted for age, self-reported skin color, educational level and net family income. Odds ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals were obtained by multiple logistic regression for gender specific. RESULTS: In men, the SSS in the three ladders was associated low consumption of fruits and vegetables, the habitual consumption of meat with excess fat, after adjustment, the SSS in the three ladders associated the low consumption of fruits and vegetables and SSS on the ladder of society remained associated the habitual consumption of meat with excess fat. In women, the SSS in the three ladders was associated low consumption of fruits and vegetables, the habitual consumption of meat with excess fat and waist to height ratio 0.5, the SSS on the ladders society and the community was associated for general obesity, after adjustment, the SSS on the ladders society and work remained associated the habitual consumption of meat with excess fat. The perceived availability of fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood did not attenuate the magnitude of the association between SSS and consumption of fruits and vegetables. CONCLUSIONS: Our results extend the knowledge about the use of subjective social status as an indicator of socioeconomic condition, showing its importance to represent different aspects of social inequities in men and women. / INTRODUÇÃO: O status social subjetivo (SSS) reflete a percepção que o indivíduo tem de sua localização na hierarquia social e tem sido utilizado para melhor compreender o gradiente socioeconômico em saúde. OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se o status social subjetivo está associado ao baixo consumo de frutas e hortaliças, ao consumo habitual de carnes com excesso de gordura e à obesidade, independentemente de indicadores objetivos de posição social. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo transversal realizado com adultos entre 35 a 64 anos de idade (n= 13514), participantes da linha de base (2008-2010) do Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil). As variáveis resposta foram: baixo consumo de frutas e hortaliças ( 4 dias por semana), consumo habitual de carnes com excesso de gordura, obesidade geral (IMC 30 kg/m2) e obesidade abdominal (Razão cintura para altura 0,5). A variável explicativa principal foi o status social subjetivo, mensurado pela escala de MacArthur de Status Social Subjetivo utilizando a sociedade e a comunidade como grupos de referência, e uma adaptação dessa escala, que utiliza as pessoas no local de trabalho como grupo de referência. As variáveis para ajuste foram idade, cor da pele, escolaridade e renda familiar líquida. Odds ratios (OR) e intervalo de 95% de confiança foram obtidos por regressão logística múltipla específicas por gênero. RESULTADOS: Em homens, o SSS nas três escadas foi associado ao baixo consumo de frutas e hortaliças, ao consumo habitual de carnes com excesso de gordura; após ajustamento, o SSS nas três escadas permaneceu associado ao baixo consumo de frutas e hortaliças e o SSS na escada da Sociedade permaneceu associado ao consumo habitual de carnes com excesso de gordura. Em mulheres, o SSS nas três escadas foi associado ao baixo consumo de frutas e hortaliças, ao consumo habitual de carnes com excesso de gordura e à razão cintura para altura 0,5; o SSS nas escadas da Sociedade e da Comunidade foi associado à obesidade geral; após ajustamento, o SSS nas escadas da Sociedade e do Trabalho permaneceu associado ao consumo habitual de carnes com excesso de gordura. A percepção de disponibilidade de frutas e hortaliças na vizinhança não atenuou a magnitude da associação entre SSS e consumo de frutas e hortaliças. CONCLUSÕES: Os nossos resultados ampliam o conhecimento a respeito da utilização do status social subjetivo como um indicador de circunstância socioeconômica, evidenciando a sua importância para representar aspectos diferentes das iniquidades sociais em homens e mulheres.

This thesis examines the representation and acquisition of the Mandarin tonal system. The proposals raised relate to three areas of phonological research: formal phonology, Mandarin phonology and the acquisition of phonology. Concerning formal phonology, the proposals are mainly three. First, tones are internally structured, following Yip (1990) and Bao (1999). Second, tone and stress can co-occur in tone languages, following Hyman (2006). And the uneven trochee should be recognized as one of the universal foot shapes across languages. Last, there is a relation between rising tone and stress, and between level tone and lack of stress. A relation also holds between high register and stress, and between low register and lack of stress. Stress determines the realization of tone. Stress makes tone high and rising; lack of stress makes tone level. Turning to Mandarin phonology, the proposals made in this thesis concern the formal representations of tones, prosodic structure and their interaction in tone sandhi processes. It is argued that Mandarin tones are underspecified: High register and rising contour are specified which, when embedded in a geometry where register (either H or L) and contour are sisters under the tonal node, results in the five-way tonal contrast of Mandarin, with T2 being the most marked tone and T0 the least marked. It is suggested that Mandarin is a weight-sensitive language and that a four-way weight distinction must be recognized: super-heavy (trimoraic), heavy (bimoraic), light (monomoraic) and weightless (moraless). Relatedly, it is argued that Mandarin strives to build uneven trochees, and that word-level stress falls on the leftmost heavy syllable in the domain of the phonological word. It is also proposed that phrasal stress in Mandarin falls on the rightmost head syllable in the domain of the phrase. The overarching point made concerning Mandarin prosodic structure is that the language respects the prosodic hierarchy most commonly adopted for other languages, in contrast to the position of many previous researchers working on the language. As far as tone sandhi is concerned, this thesis provides a unified stress-based account for the three processes attested in the language: T2 sandhi, T3 sandhi and yi-bu-qi-ba sandhi. It is argued that T2 sandhi targets prosodic dependent position and changes the tone from more marked to less marked; T3 sandhi and yi-bu-qi-ba sandhi target prosodic head position and change the tone from less marked to more marked. Turning to the acquisition of phonology, a hypothesis is formulated for children acquiring contour tone languages, which respects the Successive Division Algorithm (Dresher 2009) as well as Minimality and Monotonicity (Rice & Avery 1995, Rice 1995). This hypothesis leads to predictions for children's tonal behavior at each stage in development, including the point at which tone sandhi should be acquired. It is predicted that children acquiring contour tone languages may vary at the onset of acquisition because Universal Grammar provides two possible launching points: "register" and "contour". Subsequent stages in development are predicted to vary as well, if children acquire the tonal contrasts through repeated binary splits of the phonological space, as per the Successive Division Algorithm, and by adding one degree of complexity to representations at a time, following Minimality and Monotonicity. The hypothesis for children's acquisition of contour tone languages is tested against naturalistic longitudinal data collected from two children in northern China: GY and LL. The two children acquire the tonal system differently: GY focuses on "register", whereas LL on "contour" earlier. The children's tonal behavior over time is also different, including the points at which they acquire tone sandhi processes. The cross- and within- subject variation observed at the initial and subsequent stages of acquisition is shown to conform to the predictions. / Cette thèse étudie les représentations et l'acquisition du système tonal du mandarin. Les propositions soulevées dans la thèse touchent trois domaines de la recherche en phonologie : la phonologie formelle, la phonologie du mandarin et l'acquisition de la phonologie. La phonologie formelle a trois aspects. Premièrement, la thèse appuie l'approche de Yip (1980/1990) et de Bao (1990/1999) selon laquelle les tons ont une structure interne. Puis, il peut y avoir une cooccurrence du ton et de l'accent dans les langues tonales et la trochée inégale devrait être comptée comme une forme de pied universelle. Enfin, il existe une relation entre les tons montants et l'accent, entre le ton neutre et l'absence d'accent. Une relation existe aussi entre un registre haut et l'accent; entre un registre bas et l'absence d'accent. En effet, l'accent détermine la réalisation du ton: la position de la tête prosodique engendre un ton haut et montant; la manque de cette dernière entraine un ton neutre. Les propositions de cette thèse touchent les représentations formelles des tons, la structure prosodique et leur interaction dans les processus de sandhi tonal. Il est montré que les tons du mandarin sont sous-spécifiés: quand ils se trouvent dans une géométrie où le registre (H ou B) et le contour sont sœurs sous le nœud tonal, le registre haut et le contour montant sont spécifiés et engendre les cinq contrastes toniques du mandarin où T2 est le ton le plus marqué et T0 le moins marqué. La thèse propose aussi que le mandarin est une langue sensible au poids et que ses quatre distinctions doivent être reconnues: super-lourde (trimoraïque), lourde (bimoraïque), légère (monomoraïque) et sans-poids (sans more). Le mandarin cherche à construire des trochées inégales et l'accent de mot tombe sur la syllabe lourde la plus à gauche du domaine du mot phonologique. L'accent syntagmatique tombe sur la tête syllabe qui est la plus à droite du domaine du syntagme. L'idée qui s'oppose à la position de plusieurs chercheurs, est l'utilisation de la hiérarchie prosodique communément employée pour autres langues. Quant à sandhi tonal, la thèse propose une explication fondée sur l'accent pour trois processus attestés dans la langue : le sandhi T2, le sandhi T3 et le sandhi yi-bu-qi-ba. Le sandhi T2 vise les dépendants prosodique et change d'un ton plus marqué à un ton moins marqué, le sandhi T3 et le sandhi yi-bu-qi-ba affectent la tête prosodique et changent d'un ton moins marqué à un ton plus marqué. Une hypothèse concernant l'acquisition des langues tonales à contour chez l'enfant est formulée en respectant l'algorithme de division successive (Dresher 2009) et les principes de minimalité et de monotonicité (Rice & Avery 1995, Rice 1996). Cette hypothèse prédit le comportement tonal des enfants à tous les stades du développement, incluant le moment où le sandhi tonal devrait être acquis. Une variation est possible quand les enfants apprennent une langue tonale à contour car la grammaire universelle propose deux points de départs: le «registre» et le «contour». Les stades subséquents du développement peuvent varier si l'enfant acquiert les contrastes tonique suite à des divisions binaires répétées selon l'algorithme de division successive, ou l'ajout d'un degré de complexité de représentation à la fois, selon les principes de minimalité et de monotonicité. L'hypothèse est confrontée à des données longitudinales prises auprès de deux enfants du nord de la Chine, GY et LL, lors d'entretiens informels dans leur milieu naturel. Les deux enfants ont appris le système différemment: GY se concentre sur le «registre» avant le «contour» et LL se concentre sur le «contour» avant le «registre». Le comportement tonal de ces enfants à travers le temps diffère aussi au niveau du moment où ils acquièrent les processus du sandhi tonal. Ainsi, la variation observée au début de l'acquisition puis dans les stades subséquents conforme aux prédictions.

碩士 / 國立政治大學 / 語言學研究所 / 90 / This thesis aims to explore three issues in Hai-lu Hakka Phonology in terms of Optimality Theory (OT). The three issues are tone sandhi, pre-nuclear gliding and syllable contraction. Hai-lu Shang Toned and Yin-ru Toned numerals preserve their base tones in any case. Thus, previous studies would need to add an additional condition for the special tone sandhi behaviors of Hai-lu numerals. This thesis offers a set of OT constraints to explain tone sandhi in Hai-lu. The OT constraints can successfully operate Hai-lu tone sandhi without additional conditions. Pre-nuclear glides in Hai-lu behave like the secondary articulations of the onsets. This thesis suggests Duanmu’s (1990) syllable structure for Hai-lu syllables. A set of constraints are proposed to explain the pre-nuclear gliding in Hai-lu syllables. The approaches previous studies suggest for syllable contraction are not across-the-board in Hai-lu. Thus, a set of segmental and tonal constraints are proposed to explain Hai-lu syllable contraction. The OT constraints operate syllable contraction in Hai-lu without difficulties. This thesis is a pioneering study which aims to examine Hai-lu phonology in terms of OT. With OT constraint rankings, this thesis explains the remaining problems from previous studies successfully.

碩士 / 國立聯合大學 / 客家語言與傳播研究所 / 103 / Dongshi Hakka is a minority language spoken in Dongshi District and its neighborhood (i.e. Shigang and Xinshe Districts). Although Dongshi District is the largest Hakka language community in central Taiwan, recently Dongshi Hakka has undergone some change because of language contact and language policy in Taiwan. 　　This thesis intends to explore monosyllable tones and disyllabic tone sandhi of Dongshi Hakka from an acoustic perspective. The results of this thesis are different from related literature in both citation tones and disyllabic tone sandhi, especially Yangping citation tone. It was described as a rising tone or a level tone in most literature; however, this thesis finds it as a contour tone of [323] for females. Actually Yangping tone is always controversial in some other literature and is worth further study. Gender difference also occurs in the experimental results. Males produce lower pitch in six monosyllable citation tones and three disyllabic tone sandhis than females. The difference may be caused by both physical factor and sociolinguistic factor.

林文芳. / "2008年8月". / "2008 nian 8 yue". / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-167). / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Lin Wenfang. / Chapter 第一章 --- 引言 --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- 福清方言語音系統及變調的硏究現狀 --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- 硏究的材料和方法 --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- 硏究的目的和意義 --- p.4 / Chapter 第二章 --- 福清（海口）方言聲韻調系統 --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- 福清（海口）方言聲韻調 --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2 --- 福清（海口）方言聲韻調配合關係 --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- 福清（海口）方言同音字表 --- p.18 / Chapter 第三章 --- 福清（海口）方言兩字組連讀變調 --- p.50 / Chapter 3.1 --- 福清（海口）方言非疊式兩字組連讀變調 --- p.50 / Chapter 3.2 --- 福清（海口）方言重疊式兩字組連讀變調 --- p.78 / Chapter 3.3 --- 小結 --- p.91 / Chapter 第四章 --- 福清（海口）方言三字組連讀變調 --- p.91 / Chapter 4.1 --- 福清（海口）方言三字組的連讀調値 --- p.91 / Chapter 4.2 --- 福清（海口）方言三字組連讀變調中的語音制約因素 --- p.124 / Chapter 4.3 --- 福清（海口）方言三字組連讀變調中的語法制約因素 --- p.150 / Chapter 4.4 --- 小結 --- p.152 / Chapter 第五章 --- 結語 --- p.153 / Chapter 5.1 --- 總結 --- p.153 / Chapter 5.2 --- 硏究展望 --- p.153 / Chapter 5.3 --- 本硏究的局限 --- p.154 / 參考文獻 --- p.155 / 附錄福清融城鎭和海口鎭方言變調的差異

本文主要是探討漢語短語及詞彙層次的輕聲現象。關於短語性的輕聲，鄭良偉先生(1989)是從句法的觀點來分析，本文則採用韻律体系理論來探討。我們提議了一組焦點詞語的原則及幾個相關的制約。此外，我們從蕭宇超先生(1991 & 1994)的韻板計數理論來觀察輕聲的節奏問題，因而修訂了虛詞音板指派及音板連接方向的原則，也建議了一條抵輔音板加入的規則。 　　關於詞彙性的輕聲，我們採用McCarthy及Prince(1986)的構詞規型理論及Kiparsky(1973 & 1982)，Mohanan(1982 & 1986)的字構音韻學理論來探討此一現象。我們建議了詞彙性的輕聲基本上運作於楊抑格音步，然而抵輔調卻運作於抑楊格音步。觀察了相關的音韻及構詞規則，我們也發現到文獻上輕聲的語料可由層級的觀念來分析。 / This thesis deals with neutral tone sandhi in Mandarin Chinese at the phrasal and lexical levels. Previous research of the phrasal neutral tone, e.g., R. Cheng (1989), has focused only at the syntactic level. In this research, we employ prosodic theories (Selkirk (1984 & 1986), Nespor and Vogel (1986), etc.) to condition phrasal neutral tone sandhi, and propose a set of focal phrasing principles and a couple of relevant constraints. In addition, we discuss the rhythm of neutral tone under the framework of the beat-counting theory (Hsiao, 1991 & 1994) to see in what ways the theory has to be modified. We propose a pair of revised principles of functor beat assignment and directional beat adjunction, along with a backup rule of the default beat addition. 　　As to neutral tone at the lexical level, we incorporate morphological template theory (McCarthy and Prince (1986)), and lexical phonology theory (Kiparsky (1973 & 1982), Mohanan (1982 & 1986), etc.). We propose that lexical neutral tone target a trochaic foot template, while a default tone target an iambic foot template. Observing the relevant phonological and morphological rules, we find that the neutral-toned data in the literature can be somehow generalized by way of level ordering.