Peng, Yaya. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-164). / Text in English with some Chinese characters; abstract also in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / 中文摘要 --- p.ii / AKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iv / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- GOAL OF THE THESIS --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE THESIS --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- Data collection --- p.2 / Chapter 1.4 --- Theoretical framework --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- The architecture of OT --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- OT in the thesis --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- PHONEMIC INVENTORIES --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- BACKGROUND OF XUZHOU DIALECT --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Dialectal classification --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Phonetic inventories --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Previous studies on phonemic inventories of Standard Chinese --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Concept of Phoneme --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Apical “vowels´ح --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Palatal consonants --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3 --- PHONEMIC INVENTORY OF XUZHOU VOWELS --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- High vowels --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Mid vowels --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Low vowels --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Apical “vowels´ح --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- Nasal vowels --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- Summary --- p.37 / Chapter 2.4 --- PHONEMIC INVENTORY OF XUZHOU CONSONANTS --- p.39 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Labials --- p.39 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Dentals --- p.40 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Retroflexes --- p.42 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Velars --- p.43 / Chapter 2.4.5 --- Palatals --- p.44 / Chapter 2.4.6 --- Nasals --- p.49 / Chapter 2.4.7 --- Summary --- p.50 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- PHONOTACTICS --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1 --- Syllables in Xuzhou --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Previous studies on prenuclear glides in Standard Chinese --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Prenuclear glides in Xuzhou syllable structure --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Onsets and rimes --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2 --- Co-occurrences within rimes --- p.62 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Co-occurrences within rimes without medials --- p.62 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Co-occurrences within rimes with j-medial --- p.64 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Co-occurrences within rimes with w-medial --- p.65 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Co-occurrences within rimes with u-medial --- p.65 / Chapter 3.2.5 --- Generalizations and summary --- p.67 / Chapter 3.3 --- Co-occurrences between onsets and rimes --- p.68 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Co-occurrences between labial onsets and rimes --- p.68 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Co-occurrences between dental onsets and rimes --- p.72 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Co-occurrences between retroflex onsets and rimes --- p.77 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Co-occurrences between palatal onsets and rimes --- p.79 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Co-occurrences between velar onsets and rimes --- p.80 / Chapter 3.3.6 --- Co-occurrences between onsets and rimes with apical nuclei --- p.81 / Chapter 3.3.7 --- Generalizations and summary --- p.82 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- OT ACCOUNT FOR XUZHOU PHONOTACTICS --- p.84 / Chapter 4.1 --- OPTIMALITY THEORY --- p.84 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Basic concepts --- p.84 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Comparison with rule-based theories --- p.85 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Comparison with constraint-and-repair theories --- p.87 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Summary --- p.88 / Chapter 4.2 --- PREVIOUS STUDIES ON PHONOTACTICS WITHIN A SYLLABLE --- p.89 / Chapter 4.3 --- CONSTRAINT INTERACTIONS IN XUZHOU PHONOTACTICS --- p.94 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Co-occurrence restriction on height --- p.94 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Co-occurrence restriction on roundedness --- p.97 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Co-occurrence restriction on backness --- p.99 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Co-occurrence restriction on labials --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Co-occurrence restriction on coronals --- p.106 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- Co-occurrence restriction on palatals and velars --- p.110 / Chapter 4.4 --- SUMMARY --- p.115 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- MORPHOPHONEMIC ALTERNATIONS UNDER L-SUFFIXATION AND OT ACCOUNT --- p.117 / Chapter 5.1 --- Phonological representations of the suffix --- p.117 / Chapter 5.2 --- BASIC FACTS OF L-SUFFIXATION IN XUZHOU --- p.118 / Chapter 5.3 --- Previous studies on diminutive suffixation in Chinese dialects --- p.123 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Feature-geometric approach --- p.123 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Constraint-and-repair approach --- p.127 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Optimality-theoretic approach --- p.129 / Chapter 5.4 --- Optimality-theoretic account --- p.133 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Suffixation --- p.133 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Vowel retraction --- p.136 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Vowel insertion --- p.139 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- Coda deletion and vowel nasalization --- p.141 / Chapter 5.4.5 --- Coda contraction --- p.145 / Chapter 5.4.6 --- Suppression of vowel retraction/insertion under coda deletion --- p.147 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.152 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSION --- p.154 / Chapter 6.1 --- Main findings and arguments --- p.154 / Chapter 6.2 --- CONTRIBUTIONS --- p.156 / Chapter 6.3 --- LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE STUDIES --- p.157 / REFERENCES --- p.158

This thesis examines some selective cases of morphophonemic alternation in Mandarin Chinese. It presents analyses of the function -of the retroflex suffix -r and describes several conditions for tone sandhi. The suffix -r functions not simply as a noun formative. Some of the suffixed forms have consistently different meanings from the roots on which they are based. The suffix -r also plays a role in poetry as a time-filler to make each line of a poem fulfill the requirements of the strict number of characters and rhyme. This thesis also explains what causes the tone pattern of words such as xiaojie and jiejie to be pronounced differently. These tonal changes are found to be related to the way in which a word is formed. Compounding, reduplication and suffixation differ with respect to how they effect tone sandhi. Tone alternations in actual speech are explored to determine how tone sandhi produces each pronunciation and how grammatical structure and other factors are relevant.