Speaker: Sixing Cui (Central China Normal University, Wuhan; MIT Visiting Scholar) & Michael Kenstowicz (MIT)
Title: Searching for Phonetic Correlates of Velar Palatalization
Time: Monday, November 25, 5-6:30pm
Location: 32-D831
Abstract: Earlier research (Cui 2012, 2021) suggests that when Mandarin disyllabic adjectives of the form AB such as [dàfang] ??generous are reduplicated to AABB [dàdà-f?ngf?ng] ????, the B syllable is placed in a stressed position. Mandarin neutral tones (T0) are banned from stressed syllables (as well as the initial syllable of a word or phrase). What tone is assigned to a T0 syllable when a disyllabic AB base with a final neutral tone is reduplicated to AABB? We present preliminary results of a study that poses this question for seven Beijing Mandarin native speakers.