華語三聲變調的運作範疇(domain)一直以來皆是漢語音韻學家激烈探討的主題，不同研究對於運作範疇的定義皆不同，而過去研究也留下了一些尚待解決的問題，例如分類詞(Classifier)以及介係詞(Preposition)如何與其他音節形成三聲變調的運作範疇。本篇論文藉由觀察語料庫中324句最短為6音節，最長為24音節且由數個三聲音節所組成的中文句子，來檢視台灣華語三聲變調若以Nespor & Vogel (1986)所提出之韻律階層(Prosodic hierarchy)為範疇來運作是否能得出自然且多樣的聲調組合。以下分析主要根據韻律階層的順序分成以下四部分：音韻詞(Phonological word)、附著詞組(Clitic group)、音韻詞組(Phonological phrase)、語調詞組(Intonational phrase)。而作者假設三聲變調有兩種運作方式，一種為循環(Cyclic)，一種為同時(Simultaneous)。循環運作時，三聲變調可先以音韻詞邊界為範疇，再以附著詞組邊界為範疇，再以音韻詞組邊界為範疇，最後再以語調詞組邊界為範疇。同時運作時，三聲變調則只以語調詞組邊界為範疇。語料庫分析結果顯示，中心語(Head)之非遞歸邊(Nonrecursive side)的分支性(Branchingness)需被納入音韻詞組的定義中以得出正確的聲調組合。再者，語調詞組的定義也需將語意(Semantic)以及韻律(Metric)的因素納入考量，以限制語調詞組邊界的形成。經過修正，韻律階層理論不僅能成功描述分類詞以及介係詞之三聲變調現象更可預測華語三聲變調的多樣性。 / Mandarin tone sandhi has been argued by different scholars to apply to different phonological domains such as the foot, the phonological phrase etc. This thesis tackles three main issues left by Shih (1986) and Hsiao (1991): the classifier, the preposition and the under-generation problem. In revising the framework of Nespor & Vogel (1986)’s Prosodic Hierarchy, this thesis proposes a possible explanation of the problems. This thesis constructed a corpus of 324 sentence tokens consisting of 6 to 24 third tone syllables. The tokens were recorded from four Taiwan Mandarin native speakers at a speech rate of at least 200 beats per minute. Through the observation of the tone patterns collected, it is found that the original definitions of the phonological phrase and the intonational phrase given by Nespor & Vogel (1986) are not able to describe the Taiwan Mandarin data. This thesis provides a revision of the prosodic hierarchy by taking into account the branchingness of the nonrecursive side on the phonological phrase level and by incorporating Selkirk (1984)’s Sense Unit Condition on the intonational phrase level. Finally, a foot formation condition is also proposed in order to restrict the minimal length of a phonological phrase or an intonational phrase.

本文調查年輕世代 (1988 至 1995 年間出生者) 閩南語的變調範域 (Tone Sandhi Domain)，即調群 (Tone Group)。文中以「傳統調群」表文獻記載的變調範域，以「新調群」表本文重新調查的變調範域。論文的研究立基於音韻句法互動之上，並持間接指涉假設觀點，從韻律音韻學的角度出發，認為句法音韻間存有一韻律介面，且調群為此介面上的韻律單位：音韻詞組 (Phonological Phrase, ϕ)。 本文發現新調群與傳統調群的劃分相異。前人研究指出，調群邊界 (#) 標於音韻詞組右端，音韻詞組為一最大投射 XP，且不可為附加語及附著語。新調群僅部分可以傳統音韻詞組界定，其他則對應至句法上的主要語 X，以及附加語最大投射 XP。此外，新調群的邊界為選擇性地出現，具語言變異。新調群出現四種於傳統調群未見的劃分形式：依調群邊界前的語法單位分為主要語 X 類別：(1) V # NP # (2) V # QP # 及附加語 XP 類別： (3) QP # A # (4) AdvP # V #。 本文提出調群新定義，並以優選理論中的 ROE 模型進行分析，提出三個新制約：Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ)、ϕ-min 及 Align-R (X-head, ϕ)。Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ) 用以區分功能性投射與詞彙性投射；ϕ-min 限制音韻詞組至少含兩音節；Align-R (X-head, ϕ) 解釋調群邊界標註於主要語 X 右端。分析時著重制約 Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ) 、ϕ-min 及 Align-R (X-head, ϕ) 與切分線 | (Critical Cut-Off Line) 的關係。整體制約排序為：Ident-T-Rϕ | Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ) >> ϕ-min >> Align-R (X-head, ϕ) >> *T >> Align-R (XP-Lex, ϕ)。除信實性制約 Ident-T-Rϕ 之外，其他標記性制約皆列於切分線之下，預測語言變異。 / The goal of this thesis is to explore the tone sandhi domain, tone group (hereafter, TG), of Taiwan Southern Min of younger generation. A corpus is built and analyzed within the framework of Prosodic Theory, a derived theory from the Phonology-Syntax Interface Theory. In the literature, TG boundary # was marked at the right edge of an XP which is neither an adjunct nor a clitic. However, the TG boundary # of younger generation is marked at the right edges of a maximal XP, an adjunctive XP and an X-head. Moreover, language variation is observed in the TG parsing: the presence of TG boundary # is optional. There are four TG parsings not observed in the literature: (1) V # NP # (2) V # QP # (3) QP # A # (4) AdvP # V #. TG is redefined as a Phonological Phrase which syntactically corresponds to a maximal XP, an adjunct XP, an X-head but not to a clitic XP. The four TG parsings are then analyzed with Rank-Ordering Model of EVAL (ROE), a subtheory within the Optimality Theory domain which particularly addresses language variation. According to ROE, constraints on the right side of critical cut-off line participate in the prediction of variation. Three constraints involving in variation are proposed: Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ), ϕ-min and Align-R (X-head, ϕ). Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ) distinguishes lexical projection and functional projection, ϕ-min requires a Phonological Phrase to be minimally disyllabic, and Align-R (X-head, ϕ) predicts # to occur at the right edge of an X-head. The analysis centers around the three constraints’ relation with the critical cut-off line. The constraint rankings are: Ident-T-Rϕ | Align-R (XP-Fnc, ϕ) >> ϕ-min >> Align-R (X-head, ϕ) >> *T >> Align-R (XP-Lex, ϕ). Except for the faithfulness constraint Ident-T-Rϕ, the other markedness constraints are arranged at the right side of the cut-off line in order to predict language variation.