Aspects of Intonation in Cantonese

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of whether intonation plays a linguistic role in Cantonese, a language known for its rich inventory of lexical tones and if so, what specific forms it may take and what functions it may serve. Applying a combination of auditory and instrumental analyses to several sets of sound recordings, it was found that it is possible to establish a system of intonation for Cantonese comprising two main components: utterance body intonation and utterance final intonation. The former is best described using gradual declination from a mid-high pitch to a low pitch as a baseline, with possible variation along the parameters of pitch height, range and slope. A higher onset was noticeable in interrogatives as opposed to declaratives, and in utterances with an ‘excited’ tone of voice as opposed to ones said in a ‘quiet’ tone. In addition to the general phenomenon of utterance declination one also finds phrase declination effects which have clear syntactic functions. As far as utterance final intonation is concerned, four patterns are recognised: ‘neutral’, falling, rising, and rising-falling. These help distinguish sentence-types (declarative, interrogative, imperative), and, through variations in pitch height, may convey gradient expressive implications.

本文在前人研究的基礎上進一步探討粵語的語調問題。字調豐富的粵語，其語調和字調的關係為何？當如何描寫粵語語調的形式、如何理解粵語語調的功能？我們通過對幾組錄音的聽覺和儀器分析，初步提出一個粵語語調系統。系統分兩大部分：句幹語調和句末語調。句子音高從較高水平逐漸回落到較低水平（即'漸降'）可被視為句幹語調的'底線'。在這底線之上又可以根據音域的寬窄和下降的幅度而出現不同的變化。研究發現，與陳述句相比，疑問句句幹語調的起點一般明顯較高。除句子語調整體漸降之外，同時發現句子內部分句或詞組中語調漸降的效果，清楚顯示語調具有標示句法結構的功能。在句末語調子系統裡可分辨出四種圖形：中性、降、升、先升後降，用以標示不同種類的句子（陳述、疑問、祈使）。通過與句幹語調的配合，也可表示程度不一的感性意義。