The interface of intonation and lexical tone: Boundary phenomena in Mandarin varieties

2026-08-05

AI Summary

This study investigates the interaction between intonation and lexical tone at utterance-final boundaries in Mandarin dialects, focusing on how they jointly encode sentence-level functions (e.g., interrogative vs. declarative) and speaker attitudes as part of multi-layered pragmatic meaning. Centering on fundamental frequency (f0)—the primary acoustic cue shared by both systems—the research integrates acoustic analysis, f0 modeling, and emerging speech processing techniques within a functional intonation framework to systematically model boundary phenomena. The findings reveal distinct co-articulatory patterns between intonation and tone at utterance edges, elucidating the acoustic mechanisms through which complex pragmatic information is realized in Mandarin. This work not only advances understanding of the phonetic implementation of boundary meaning but also provides novel empirical evidence and theoretical insights into the architecture and function of the Mandarin intonation system.

Abstract

This chapter explores the intricate interplay between intonation and tone in Mandarin Chinese varieties, focusing on f0, the primary acoustic cue for both intonation and tone. The main empirical base is intonation boundary phenomena, where intonation and tone intersect and influence each other in conveying a range of sentence-level linguistic functions -- such as question vs. statement -- and a rich array of speakers' attitudinal information. Theoretical models and emerging techniques are also discussed to account for the observed interactions of tonal aspects and boundary phenomena to convey multiple levels of communicative meanings.

Problem

• intonation
• lexical tone
• boundary phenomena
• Mandarin varieties
• f0

Innovation

• intonation-tone interface
• boundary phenomena
• f0
• Mandarin varieties
• communicative meaning