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Re: THEORY: Sandhi / Mandarin

From:Cheng Zhong Su <suchengzhong@...>
Date:Tuesday, December 4, 2001, 23:32
Adam Walker <dreamertwo@...> wrote:  >From:
"Johnson, Anna" <AJohnson@...>
> >Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 09:38:56 -0500 > > > > > >That's how it was introduced to me in my first-year > Mandarin and my > >first-year Korean class; Sandhi occurs in both > languages. Yes, in Mandarin, > >there is Sandhi, although it is known as "tone > Sandhi" (and spelled by > >Froshers erh freshman as 'tone-sandy') because it > only appears in that > >form. > > > > Tone sandhi exists in all three dialects of Chinese > that I actually know > anything about and I suspect in all 7 or ten or 1000 > or however many there > are today *g*. In Cantonese it is exceedingly > simple: high falling before > another high falling or a high level becomes a high > level. In Mandarin it > is simple, too: tone 3 becomes tone 2 before another > tone 3 with the option > of alternating or changing all but the last in a > series of 3rd tones. Also > tone 4 followed by tone 2 gets pronounced like an > extralong tone 3 covering > two syllables. > > But Taiwanese ad so much tone sandi you could make a > beach! When combining > two or more syllables in a phrase 1 becomes 7, 2 > becomes 1, 3becomes 2, 4 > becomes 2, 5 becomes 7, 7 (yes, there is no tone 6!) > becomes 3, and 8 > becomes 3. But after the syllable a2: 1 still > becomes 7, and 2 still > becomes 1, but 3 and 4 also become 1, and 5, 7, and > 8 all become 7 -- yes, 7 > goes back to itself! It's quite maddening, I assure > you. > > Adam wo wonders if other East Asian tonal langs have > such insane sandhi > rules > > >Anna J. Johnson > >Mystif & Scrat Inscrutable > >************* > >Somtyme one of mankynde is both man & woman & suche > ... in englyssh is > >called a scrette. > >- Caxton, Trevisa's Higden (1482)
Answer:I think I have answer Weiben Wang a similar question. And I believe to study linguistics not just learn more language. It could be to analyse 'why','why not' and these questions let us know what will happened in future. Su Cheng Zhong http://shopping.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Shopping - Get organised for Christmas early this year!