REAL

The Structure of the Chinese Text: Prosody and Grammar

Kassevitch, Vadim and Speshnev, Nikolai (2003) The Structure of the Chinese Text: Prosody and Grammar. Acta Orientalia, 56 (2-4). pp. 187-193. ISSN 0001-6446

[img]
Preview
Text
aorient.56.2003.2-4.7.pdf

Download (120kB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the authors' recent findings concerned with the rhythmic structures typical of the Chinese text. The proportion of disyllabic and trisyllabic words is shown, disyllabic words or binomials being predominant. The intervals between two strong (full-toned) syllables are found to reproduce the same two-syllable pattern. Chinese is proposed to be classified as a binomial-timed language. With accelerating speech rate, certain syllables tend to loose their inherent full-tone characteristics, thus becoming “weak” or even light (neutral). Since full-toned “strong” syllables are often interpreted as stressed, their “disappearance” under certain conditions seems to be another evidence of superfluity of word-level phonological stress in Chinese.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: D History General and Old World / történelem > D0 History (General) / történelem általában
P Language and Literature / nyelvészet és irodalom > PI Oriental languages and literatures / keleti nyelvek és irodalmak
Depositing User: xKatalin xBarta
Date Deposited: 27 Jan 2017 12:30
Last Modified: 30 Nov 2023 00:15
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/46624

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item