Sociolinguistic motivations in sound change: on-going loss of low tone breathy voice in Shanghai Chinese

Abstract

This study focuses on the ongoing disappearance of low tone breathiness in Shanghai Chinese. In the change from a voicing contrast to a tone register contrast in Sinitic languages, the ancient voiced series was characterised by a breathy voice quality, which remained as a secondary and redundant cue of low tones in Shanghai Chinese. This study, using transversal production data from 12 young and 10 elderly speakers, shows that low tone breathiness is better preserved by elderly than young speakers, and by male than female speakers. We predict a future loss of this secondary cue, which is speeding up due to the interference with Standard Chinese. We also found that the disappearance is more advanced in female speakers, which might be explained by female speakers' stronger adherence to Standard Chinese as the prestigious form. Indeed, our young female speakers reported more frequent usage of Standard Chinese than Shanghai Chinese and higher competence in Standard Chinese than in Shanghai Chinese, whereas young male speakers were more confident in their usage of Shanghai Chinese. Loss of low tone breathiness in Shanghai Chinese (1) *-V(N). > 平 ping 'level tone' *-ʔ. > 上 shang 'rising tone' *-s. > *-h. > 去 qu 'departing tone' There was another coda type, *-p|t|k., which is preserved in Middle Chinese and some Modern Chinese varieties such as Cantonese, and which forms another category that is traditionally counted as a fourth tonal category 入 ru 'entering tone'. The second tonal development, which occurred around 1000 CE, and which is known as the 'tone split' process, consisted in a transphonologisation from a two-way onset voicing contrast into a two-way tone register contrast, as shown in (2), where <P> stands for any voiceless stop onset and <B> stands for any voiced stop onset. (2) *.P-> 陰 yin 'high register' *.B-> 陽 yang 'low register' It is very likely that the voicing contrast in early Middle Chinese was accompanied by a voice quality difference: voiced stop onsets were produced with breathy voice while voiceless ones were produced with modal voice. It was probably the combined effect of voicedness and breathy voice that led to perceptible pitch lowering before its phonologisation. Evidence of a voiced breathy series in Middle Chinese can be found in historical records of descriptions of consonants and tones of that time. Voiced stops are traditionally labelled as 濁 zhuo 'muddy', in contrast to voiceless ones that are labelled as 清 qing 'clear', which might convey an impression of different voice qualities. According to a description of Chinese tones from the early eighth century composed by Annen, a Japanese monk, "the level tone was level and low, with both the light and the heavy [allotones]" (cited in Mei 1970, 98) my emphasis). According to Pulleyblank (1978), 'heavy' and 'light' described originally different voice qualities associated to tones, as far as the level tone was concerned, at least. Furthermore, as suggested by Annen's descriptions, voice qualities, originally associated with onsets, were la...

The phonetic properties of the non-modal phonation in Shanghainese

“…Our understanding of phonation contrasts, along with the tools for extensive voice analysis, have greatly advanced during the last decade. Recently, the phonetic properties of the Shanghainese register contrast have been revisited in several studies (Gao, 2016;Tian & Kuang, 2016;Gao & Hallé, 2017;Zhang & Yan, 2018) with mostly younger speakers (born after 1980).…”

“…In any event, older speakers' production should be examined in order to understand the phonetic properties of the Shanghainese phonation contrast. (2012) Less tension in the entire vocal tract; less amount of change in tension than breathy voice Follow Laver (1980) Follow Laver (1980 Moreover, although existing studies of older speakers' production (including more recently Tian &Gao &Hallé, 2017) suggest that the non-modal phonation in Shanghainese is generally breathier (i.e., produced with relatively less glottal constriction), it remains unclear whether this breathier voice in Shanghainese is similar to or different from the breathier voices in other languages. As noted by Catford (1977), Laver (1980) and Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), there is substantial cross-linguistic variation for so-called 'breathier voice.…”

Individual and dialect differences in perceiving multiple cues: A tonal register contrast in two Chinese Wu dialects

“…Some sound changes involve a non-primary cue taking over the role of a primary cue as occurs in 'tonogenesis' (Kingston, 2011), for example, the case of some younger speakers of Afrikaans shifting from VOT to f0 to signal a voicing contrast (Coetzee, Beddor, Shedden, Styler, & Wissing, 2018). In contrast, in the case of Shanghai Wu, a non-primary cue (i.e., breathiness) to the register contrast is losing importance (Gao, 2016). We thus may expect to observe increased individual variability in the use of non-primary cues in a variety undergoing sound change (though see Coetzee et al, 2018 perception data).…”

“…While both Shanghai and Jiashan dialects share the same characteristics of register contrast, the Shanghai dialect is argued to be going through a loss of breathiness in the lower register, at least in production (Gao, 2016;Gao et al, 2011). Based on their acoustic and electroglottographic data, Gao and colleagues found that younger speakers used less breathy voice in the lower register compared to older speakers, possibly due to contact with Mandarin Chinese which does not employ breathy voice in tonal contrasts.…”

“…1 In both dialects, three cues are used in signaling the contrast: pitch height (F0 onset), voice quality, and pitch contour (pitch slope). Pitch height is considered the primary cue and the role of voice quality is thought to vary across dialects, playing a weaker role in Shanghai Wu in younger generations (e.g., Gao, 2016). No previous studies have examined perception of Jiashan Wu or quantitatively compared the roles of the different cues to this contrast at the same level of detail in either dialect.…”