Modeling interaction between tone and phonation type in the Northern Wu dialect of Jinshan

Phil Rose, Yang Tianle

Poster presentation (paper to appear in proceedings)

Abstract

Impressionistic and acoustic data are presented for the seven tones of the Wu Chinese dialect of Jinshan 金山, where tone is much more than just pitch. The independence of extrinsic phonation type from syllable Onsets is exemplified, and it is argued using quantified tonatory parameters that phonation type determines tonal pitch, not vice versa. Command-response modeling is then used to factor tone into depression and tonal target components, which enable a more precise understanding of Jinshan tonological structure.