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A corpus study of Chinese regulated verse: phrasal stress and the analysis of variability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2004

San Duanmu
San Duanmu
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

I introduce 1460 lines of Chinese regulated verse and offer an analysis of the data. I also compare Chinese with English and discuss two approaches to variability in linguistic patterns (such as regular vs. exceptional forms, or perfect verse lines vs. lines with metrical tension). I argue that, whereas word stress is often more important than phrasal stress in English, it is crucial to understand the latter in Chinese. However, stress maxima play a central role in both languages. This suggests that metre is probably less variable cross-linguistically than previously thought. Moreover, while a correlation is thought to exist between metrical tension and frequency, it is difficult to see it in the present corpus. I argue that non-phonological factors can influence frequency patterns and that the presence of variable patterns does not necessarily imply the presence of marked forms. Rather, even fully well-formed patterns may occur rarely.

Type
Research Article
Information
Phonology , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , May 2004 , pp. 43 - 89
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

For useful comments and judgements on some examples, I thank Uijin Ang, Rob Burling, Francois Dell, Shengli Feng, Carlos Gussenhoven, Bruce Hayes, Ben Hermans, Peter Hook, Yu-chau Hsiao, Zhiqiang Li, Yen-hwei Lin, Bingfu Lu, Michael Marlo, Fu-hsing Su, I-Ping Wan, Hongjun Wang, Jenny Wang, Debao Xu, Moira Yip, some anonymous reviewers, and audiences at University of Michigan, University of Iowa and University of California, Irvine, where earlier versions of this paper were presented. Special thanks to Nigel Fabb, Morris Halle, Chris Golston and an anonymous associate editor of Phonology, whose comments have been especially helpful. The editors offered valuable encouragement, for which I am grateful. All remaining errors are my own.