A Theoretical Reconstruction of Tone Contour Types and Pitch Values in the Sino-Tibetan Languages
This 1991 paper by Wang Jun (Yan'an University) proposes an exhaustive, theory-driven typology of possible tone contours across the Sino-Tibetan languages, deriving twelve contour types (level, rising, falling, rising-falling, falling-rising, level-rising, level-falling, falling-level, rising-level, falling-rising-falling, rising-falling-rising, and "point" tones covering neutral and checked/entering tones) and up to 300 theoretically possible pitch values within them. Each contour type is illustrated with attested examples drawn from Chinese dialects (Beijing, Kunming, Suzhou, Cantonese, etc.) and from Kam-Sui, Hmong-Mien, and Tibeto-Burman languages including Zhuang, Dong, Li, Miao, Yao, Tibetan, Yi, Jingpo, Bunu, Naxi, and Vietnamese. The paper argues the neutral tone deserves recognition as an independent tone category (since it distinguishes word meaning, unlike ordinary tone sandhi) and that the checked/entering tone is phonologically just another "point tone," its apparent distinctness being a syllable-coda artifact rather than a tonal one.
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