Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 30, 1998." Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, April 30, 1998." Also available in print.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, May 14, 1999." Also available in print.

Traditional representations of Mandarin tones have provided valuable descriptions of Mandarin tone sandhi processes. However, none of them has been able to associate these processes in a principled way, or to explain why they occur at all. In contrast, I have proposed in this dissertation a unified analysis of Mandarin tones and tone sandhi, with an emphasis on the revelation of the nature of these tones and processes. Specifically, I have found that Mandarin tones are most optimally represented as follows: (0.1) [special characters omitted] Under such a representation, all Mandarin tone sandhi processes (i.e. the second, third, and fourth tone sandhi processes, and the neutral tone sandhi process that has been uncovered in this study) can be uniformly accounted for by the following Tone Reduction Principle: (0.2). Tone Reduction Principle Clause A: In normal speech, reduce a tone by one toneme iff it is immediately followed by another tone within the same prosodic foot. Clause B: In fast speech, reduce a tone by one toneme iff it is immediately preceded by another tone, and at the same time immediately followed by another tone within the same prosodic foot. This tone reduction principle functions to shorten a tone in duration by the following implementation rules: (0.3) [special characters omitted] With these two rules, Mandarin tone sandhi processes can be described by the following derivations: (0.4) [special characters omitted] While the implementation riles in (0.3) produce grammatical results in all other cases, they yield outputs, in the cases of 3TS(B) and 0TS, that violate the following OCP related, Mandarin specific WFC: [special characters omitted] Therefore, these two outputs obligatorily undergo the following OCP repairs ((a) for 3TS and (b) for 0TS): [special characters omitted] In brief, all the Mandarin tone sandhi processes are fundamentally tone reduction processes, the results of which may be subjected to further modification should they turn out to be violations of certain WFCs. In addition to the rules and derivations presented above, the analysis proposed also contains a theory of tonemes as timing units, a theory of Mandarin syllable weight and quantity, and a theory of the diachronic implications of the analysis. / Graduate

No description available.

This study endeavors to provide a descriptive analysis of the phonology of the Dukhobor Dialect and to introduce some of the main features of its inflectional system. The description is drawn against the background of standard Russian of which Dukhobor speech is unquestionably a dialect. Several older generation Dukhobors living in Grand Forks, British Columbia, served as the chief informants. Following a brief introductory chapter regarding the geographical and linguistic contacts of the Dukhobors during their short history, the main body of the text deals with the phonology of their language. Each phoneme is described as articulated, established by minimal pairs and noteworthy variations from the Russian phonological pattern are given. The study is basically one of segmental phonemes. The Dialect's phonemic inventory includes five stressed vowels /a, o, u, i, e/ and three unstressed vowels /a, u, i/. Only in unstressed positions are deviations from the Russian pattern evident. There is a tendency toward moderate jakan’e. Thirty-five consonants comprise the remainder of the list of phonemes: /p, p’ b, b’, t, t’, d, d’, k, k’, m, m’, n, n’, l, l', r, r’, s, s’, ss, z, z’ š, šš, ž, žž, x, h, c, č,ǰ, w, w’, j/. The principal allophones are [i, v, v’, f, f’, g, g’, x’,h’]. A consideration of the behavior of phonemes in word contraction and cluster reduction is included. Wherever it is apparent, the influence of Canadian English is indicated. A brief note on stress completes the main text and an appendix provides a short summary of substantive and verb inflections. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

The object of this study is to provide a postal questionnaire that may be used for investigating dialectal variation in the province of British Columbia. Such a questionnaire is necessary to provide the groundwork for more intensive and systematic investigation at a later date. The questionnaire will test items for a future questionnaire, establish the dialectal status of B.C. English, and locate the dialectal regions of B.C. The questionnaire draws heavily on work sheets and check lists used in the United States, but includes much material characteristic of Canadian speech, since it is felt that for historical reasons the separateness of the Canadian experience must be stressed. An account of the sources of the items and the criteria for selection are presented along with a methodology for choosing informants and communities, administering the questionnaire, and processing the results. Each question is accompanied by a commentary on the feature to be investigated, giving information on its occurrence in B.C., Canada, or the United States. The data presented on B.C.usage is derived chiefly from research recently carried out by the author. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.