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Syllabic weight and syllabic duration: a correlation between phonology and phonetics*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2008

San Duanmu
San Duanmu
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Extract

This paper explores a correlation between phonology and phonetics. It first reviews a phonological analysis that proposes that all full Mandarin rhymes are heavy and that all Shanghai rhymes are underlyingly light. Then it reports a small phonetic experiment that attempts to determine whether there is a phonetic correlate for the phonological claim. Four Mandarin speakers and five Shanghai speakers were recorded, each reading five sentences four times at normal speed. Average syllable durations were determined. It was found that the average syllable duration in Mandarin was 215 ms and that in Shanghai was 162 ms. Statistics show that the durational difference is significant. The result thus agrees with the phonological analysis. Implications and limitations of the present study will be discussed.

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Articles
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Phonology , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , May 1994, pp. 1 - 24
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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