Research on tonal assignment in Standard Chinese loanwords usually confronts extreme complexity and variety. However, we show that Chinese lettered words display a very clear stress-to-tone match pattern in Beijing Mandarin. Beyond this usual pattern, a default rule and a rule of phonetic contrast maximization also function in tonal assignment. The emergence of these secondary patterns is found to be associated with the specialization degree of words in their meaning and usage. Based on the findings on tonal adaptation patterns of Chinese lettered words, we argue that the complex patterns previously reported from the observations of ordinary Chinese loanwords are in fact results of noise from external factors related to Chinese writing system.

为了精准定位情态副词的分布规律并据此提取其语义、情态，本文在 综述并吸收前人基于不同语法理论而采取的不同研究方法的基础上， 以语义语法为理论基础，根据情态副词的性质和特点，提出了四条方 法论原则。第一，前人的研究方法大致可分为四类：传统语法基于语 感的意义分类法、结构主义语法基于句法的分布辨义法、认知功能基 于情态的认知解释法和生成语法基于层次的制图排序法。第二，根据 语义语法理论，情态副词具有“指称情态而关联话语”的虚实兼备性 和四个特点：话语关联的制约性、句法分布的复杂性、语义提取的难 证性、情态内涵的难解性。第三，根据情态副词的性质和特点，语义 语法研究情态副词需要坚持四条原则：基于话语关联论由表及里多层 锚定话语功能的原则、基于句法制约论由大到小精确定位句法分布的 原则、基于语义决定论形意兼顾多元证明语法意义的原则、基于情态 因果论瞻前顾后系统解释情态内涵的原则。

本文使用电子声门仪(Electroglottograph)记录并分析台湾闽南语的弱化现象。主要观察标的为一般公认为典型弱化现象之一的元音间浊化。本研究操弄以下变项：(甲)形态句法边界，(乙)构音部位与(丙)语速来观察浊化现象。与先前文献报导不同、实验结果显示上述三个变项基本上都不是促发元音间浊化的原因。反而是虚词与实词的对立才是促使元音间浊化发生的主因。亦即：虚词一般都会促发元音间浊化，但在相似的环境里的实词原则上并不会如此。这种虚实对立可由优选论里对虚词的信实性(Faithfulness)要求较低来解释。而究其动因，很有可能还是因为重音的缘故。本文认为由于虚词不能独立构成韵律词，因此无法承载重音。非重音音节的虚词会导致邻近音段构音重叠程度显著加大，进而引发元音间浊化、乃至于其他类似的弱化现象的发生。也正因如此，可承载重音的实词并不会发生弱化。

摘要: 本文是一项吴语虚词史的研究，探讨吴语疑问代词 "啥" 的来源。一 般认为吴语的 "啥" 来源于 "什么" 类的合音，可是吴语声母存在清 浊对立，需要解释为何 "什" 类浊声母在吴语中合音的结果是清声母 的 "啥" 。文章首先讨论了 "啥" 在吴语中的地理分布样态和表意功 能差异，然后构拟了其早期语音形式。在此基础上，文章主张 "啥" 的合音是在宋代汴洛地区完成的，而吴语中的 "啥" 则是宋室南渡之 后，由汴洛移民带入的成分。 ABSTRACT: This article focuses on the source of the interrogative pronoun sha '啥' in Wu dialects, which is a case study of Wu dialects' historical syntax. It is generally believed that sha '啥' of Wu dialects comes from the fusing of shenme '什么', but this solution has the following problems: Wu dialects have voiced initials, so sha '啥' which is voiceless initial cann't come from shenme '什么'. The article first discusses the geographical distribution and function differences of sha '啥' in Wu dialect, and then reconstructs its early phonetic form. We hypothesize that the fusing of shenme '什么' were considered in the Bianluo area of the Song Dynasty, and then sha '啥' was brought into Wu dialects via the Song southern migration.

ABSTRACT: Phonetic comparison of Chinese dialects has been an important issue of academic interest. There are still some prominent problems with various existing metric comparison methods, such as randomness of phonemic processing and insufficient sampling of cognates or core words. Therefore, this paper proposes a new method using homophonic syllabary as the modeling object. Compared to existing methods, the present method has more advantages in terms of materials and methods. On the one hand, compared with phonological systems, syllabic lists or limited number of selected words, homophonic syllabaries are more representative linguistic materials and have been highly valued in Chinese dialectology. On the other hand, the present method focuses mainly on the homophonic relationship based on the unit of syllable, thus avoiding the difficulties of phonemic processing. Most importantly, this method is not simply a comparison of dialects by a certain parameter through a certain measurement method but rather a systematic modeling of the traditional historical phonological-dialectological method. While the method still needs to be further developed, it is promising as a combined quantitative and qualitative research paradigm. 摘要: 汉语方言的语音计量比较一直是学术界关注的重要问题。现有的各类 计量比较方法仍然存在一些突出的问题，如音位处理的随机性和关系 词或核心词的采样不足。因此，本文提出了一种以同音字汇为建模对 象的新方法。与现有方法相比，本方法在材料和方法上都有一定优势。 一方面，相比于音系、音节表或有限的关系词，同音字汇是更具代表 性的语言材料，在汉语方言学中一直受到高度重视。另一方面，本方 法主要聚焦在音节单位的同音关系，从而避免了音位处理的困难。最 重要的是，本方法不是简单地通过某种测量方法对方言进行某种参数 的比较，而是对传统的音韵-方言学方法进行系统的建模。虽然该方法 仍需进一步发展，但作为一种定量和定性相结合的研究范式，它是很 有前途的。

ABSTRACT: This paper reconstructs the Proto-Naish open-syllable rhyme system. Data from 3 Naish languages—Lijiangba, Malimasa, and Yongning—are employed in the reconstruction. Rhyme correspondences revealed by comparing the three languages are interpreted by referring to conservative languages of the Sino-Tibetan family, in particular Tibetan, Burmese and rGyalrong. Other related languages, such as Tangut, and other Naic languages, such as Namuyi and Xumi, are taken as references. Five open-syllable rhymes, *-a, *-e, *-i, *-u, *-o, are reconstructed to Proto-Naish. Some general tendencies of the sound changes of the Naish languages are summarized, and their implications for the topical issue of the genetic position of the Naish languages are set out. 摘要: 本文重构了原始纳语的开音节韵母系统。重构中利用了三个纳语组语 言的材料：丽江坝纳西语、玛丽玛萨话和永宁纳语。首先通过建立三 个语言之间的语音对应，确定原始语韵母的类，然后再比较保守的汉 藏语言，主要是藏语、缅甸语和嘉戎语，以此为原始纳语的韵母对应 提供解释。其他亲属语言，例如西夏语，以及其他纳语支语言，例如 纳木依语和旭米语，在本文的构拟中也用来作为参照。重构的原始纳 语开音节韵母系统包括*-a、*-e、*-i、*-u 和*-o。在重构中还总结了纳 语组语言的音变规律，以及这些音变规律对确定纳语组的历史地位提 供的启示。

Neologisms reflect new ideas or new concepts in our life and play an important role in cultural transmission and the vitality of human language. The explosion of neologisms, especially in the past two decades, can also be ascribed to the popularity and accessibility of digital content and social media. In this paper, we focus on the issue of how neologisms arise by looking at the trajectory of developments in terms of their usage over time, i.e., their life cycle. By studying neologisms in vivo, instead of as fait accompli, we hope to better understand the nature of neologisms and to enable better prediction and earlier inclusion of neologisms. To achieve this goal, we examine the memetic model for the life cycle of neologisms and compare it with a recently studied epidemic model. We present a longitudinal modeling of the development of neologisms based on internet usage data aggregated from Google Trends, covering the 90 most influential Chinese neologisms from 2008–2016. Our study verifies that the memetic model can describe and predict the life cycle of the neologisms robustly for the early stages (i.e., the ascending stages) of its cycle, but not for its full life cycle, and crucially cannot predict the inflection point. We conclude that two models are needed for word propagation: a memetic model for the initial stages and an epidemic model for the latter stage, particularly the inflection point. This two-stage/two-model approach allows for neologisms to be more easily identified as potentially new words, as it is easier to write a program to automatically filter for emerging terms using a memetic model.

This paper reconstructs the Proto-Naish open-syllable rhyme system. Data from 3 Naish languages—Lijiangba, Malimasa, and Yongning—are employed in the reconstruction. Rhyme correspondences revealed by comparing the three languages are interpreted by referring to conservative languages of the Sino-Tibetan family, in particular Tibetan, Burmese and rGyalrong. Other related languages, such as Tangut, and other Naic languages, such as Namuyi and Xumi, are taken as references. Five open-syllable rhymes, *-a, *-e, *-i, *-u, *-o, are reconstructed to Proto-Naish. Some general tendencies of the sound changes of the Naish languages are summarized, and their implications for the topical issue of the genetic position of the Naish languages are set out.

ABSTRACT: The tonal-pattern of Lanzhou dialect is experiencing a change demonstrated in two aspects: a) Yin-ping 阴平(T1a) has two variants, falling and level, and the former is being replaced by the latter; b) Shangsheng 上声(T2) and Qu-sheng 去声(T3) are merging. We propose that the tonal change of T1a is partially a result of language contact, and the sandhi T1a from initial position of disyllabic combination also plays a role in extending the level tone to the citation T1a, the change of T1a then further triggers the merger of T2 and T3. Yet whether it is the change of sandhi T1a in the initial position or the change of the surface representation of citation T1a, or the merger of T2 and T3, all the directionality of tonal change is in line with the “clockwise tone shift circle” (Zhu et al. 2015; Yang and Xu 2019). We argue that tone changes are mainly due to internal factors. Although there are external stimuli, the path of tone change follows rules. The illustration of the ongoing tonal-pattern change in Lanzhou dialect will shed light on the understanding of the rules. 摘要: 兰州方言的声调变化表现在两个方面：阴平(T1a)有降调和平调两种 变体，并且平调正在取代降调；上声(T2)和去声(T3)有合并的趋势。 文章的主要观点认为 T1a 的声调变化是由语言接触引发的，普通话的 影响促使双字调中已经发生变调内化的 T1a 首字将平调扩散延展到单 字调 T1a 和双字调的尾字 T1a 上。T1a 的声调变化进一步引发了 T2 和 T3 的合并。在上述的三个变化中：双字调首字 T1a 的内在音系变化、 单字调 T1a 的后续变化、T2 和 T3 的合并，所有这些声调变化的方向 都符合“顺时针声调变化圈”(Zhu et al. 2015; Yang and Xu 2019)。我 们认为声调的变化方向主要由内在的自然因素决定的，虽然有时会有 外因的刺激诱发，但声调变化的路径是有规律可循的。对于正在变化 的兰州声调进行研究，会有助于对上述规律的理解。

摘要: 江西吉水方言的“做”有普通话“和”的介词和连词功能，可引出协同对象、言谈对象、比较对象和并列对象。连-介词“做”的功能一般可以用“做伴(/嘙/得)”替换。文章以“做”为代表观察“做”及双音节形式的功能后指出，“做”是“做伴”语音弱化的结果，伴随介词“做伴[ʦɿ31–51 phon512–20]”源于相伴义动词“做伴[ʦɿ31–33 phon512]”，即在突显协同对象的连谓结构中，动词前的“做伴”发展出伴随介词功能，并发展出其他功能。考察发现，连-介词“做”及双音节形式也见于吉水周边的赣方言、吴方言和徽语，汉语方言中广泛存在相伴义动词发展出连-介词功能这种现象。① ABSTRACT: Similar with he or ken in Mandarin, ʦɿ 31-512 (做) of Jishui dialect in Jiangxi functions as comitative, animate directional and comparative preposition as well as coordinator, which can be substituted by the disyllabic functional words ʦɿ31–51 phon512–20 (做伴), ʦɿ31–51 pho20 (做嘙) or ʦɿ31–51 te20 (做得). This paper explores the functions of ʦɿ 31-512 as well as its disyllable and explores their semantic sources and pathway of semantic changes. It claims that the comitative ʦɿ 31-51 p h on 512-20 originates from verb ʦɿ 31-33 p h on 512meaning accompany , and it is reanalyzed with tonal change in the situation where ʦɿ 31-33 p h on 512 acts as the first verb with a prominent animate object of a serial verb construction. Then, on the one hand, the comitative ʦɿ 31-51 p h on 512-20 undergoes erosion into ʦɿ 31-51 p h o 512-20 or even into ʦɿ 3-512, and the latter one constitutes a compound disyllabic with suffix te 0. On the other hand, the disyllabic and monosyllabic comitatives are extended into other situations with other kinds of verb where they are reanalyzed into animate directional and comparative prepositions. Simultaneously, the comitatives are grammaticalized into coordinators, when the two participants make similar contributions to an event and hold equal status. Then it reveals that cognates of the preposition and coordinator ʦuo (做) or its compounds spread widely around Jishui dialect in Jiangxi as well as some Wu and Hui dialects, and it is common for verbs meaning accompany to develop into comitatives and coordinators.