Chinese Phonology in Generative Grammar

In the 1990's, the focus of phonological studies has changed from rule-based analysis to constraint-based analysis. The study of Chinese phonology has also undergone such a change, as have other area studies in Generative Phonology. Why and how this change has occurred, the difference between the two kinds of analyses, and what has really happened in phonology after the change are the primary concerns of linguists and anyone interested in the study of Generative Phonology or other area studies in Generative Linguistics. To answer these questions, one must: review the developing process of the change; compare the two kinds of analyses in terms of their different frameworks and research focuses; and profile the studies in phonology (in any area studies) in recent years. "Chinese Phonology in Generative Grammar" is intended to offer such a review and comparison while outlining the studies in Chinese phonology. Eight unpublished papers written by seven authors are selected to cover the areas of field-work, dialectology, and synchronic studies of segmental and tonal systems of the Chinese language family. These papers are directly related to the theoretical issues in: the SPE Model; Lexical Phonology and Morphology; Autosegmental Phonology; Metrical Phonology; and Optimality Theory. By putting the study of Chinese phonology into the generative perspective, this collection provides useful data for further theoretical work and draw significant feedback to the theory of Generative Phonology. It reviews the theoretical development from rule-based analysis to constraint-based analysis in the study of Generative Phonology over the last three decades. It compares the two kinds of analyses with respect to their different frameworks and research focuses and their relations with each other in Generative Phonology. It profiles the study of Chinese phonology in recent years by putting it into the generative perspective.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: De Bao Xu, From Rule-base Analysis to Constraint-based Analysis The SPE Model: Jianguo Shi, The Sound System of Shuyang Dialect Lexical Phonology and Morphology: De Bao Xu Lexical Third Tone Sandhi and the Lexical Organization of Mandarin Autosegmental Phonology: Zhiming Bao, Sub-syllabic Processes and the Southern Min Syllable Metrical Phonology: San Duanmu, Stress in Chinese Hua Lin, Stress and the Distribution of the Neutral Tone in Mandarin Optimality Theory: Moira Yip Dialect Variation in Nasalization: Alignment or Duration? Yen-Hwei Lin An Optimality-theoretic Account of Dialect Variation in Er Suffication: A Case Study of Shejiang Wu Dialects Yen-Hwei Lin, Toward a Unified Account of Three Classes of Huojia Affixed Words.

About the Author :
After spending seven years as a farmer in the countryside to receive the so called 'secondary education from the peasants' (1968-1975) and three years as a worker in Taiyuan Railroad Company in China (1975-1978), De Bao Xu went to college in 1987 although he did not have a chance to go to High School during the Cultural Revolution. He received his MA in History of the Chinese Language at Beijing Normal University (1985), MA in Chinese Linguistics (1989) and Ph.D. in Linguistics (1991) at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He started teaching in 1991 and is Associate Professor of Chinese at Hamilton College. He is also the Editor-in-Chief (with James Huang) of Contemporary Linguistic Theory Series (8 volumes, China Social Sciences Publishing House, Beijing, 1997-99), co-author of Generative Phonology-Theory and Usage, and co-translator of A Short History of Linguistics (Robins, 4th edition, Longman, English to Chinese, China Social Sciences Publishing House 1997). His research interest lies in theoretical phonology and Chinese phonology. He has also published papers in Chinese Historical Linguistics.

Review :
"This remarkable collection of linguistic studies will be a challenging introduction for the beginning student and a valued resource for the advanced scholar." --RUSSELL T. BLACKWOOD, John S. Kennedy Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, New York "The volume is a fine collection of studies in generative phonology, using the latest methods to investigate a variety of interesting phenomena in the sound patterns of Chinese." --WILLIAM S-Y. WANG, Academia Sinica, Taiwan and Professor (Chair) of Language Engineering, Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong "De Bao Xu is to be congratulated for recruiting leading generative researchers to offer theoretically up-to-date analyses of aspects of the tonal, prosodic, and segmental phonologies of a variety of Chinese dialects. The volume will be of interest to specialists as well as to general audiences." --Michael Kenstowicz, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "The study of theoretical phonology in general and Chinese phonology in particular will benefit substantially from this excellent book. De Bao Xu has put together a collection of new papers from a number of specialists in Chinese phonology that is impressive in terms of the quality of the research, the range of theoretical perspectives, and the diversity of dialects and phenomena examined." --Charles K. Kisseberth, Professor of Linguistics, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and Tel-Aviv University, Israel Duanmu and Xu primarily discuss issues in Chinese phonology, many of these topics involve instrumental phonetic evidence and are actually excellent materials for a course with equal emphasis on phonology and phonetics...Many students in my class were inspired by these readings to carry on further investigations...I think this is the strongest testimony to the success of the books. --De Bao Xu, Phonology, Vol 21, 2004.