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Chinese is a tone language and, like all other languages, it also uses intonation. While the tones are lexically distinctive, intonation conveys syntactic information. As tone and intonation, which have different functions, are materialized simultaneously by the use of pitch variation, interaction between the two is expected to occur. To explain the effect of intonation on tone in Standard Chinese, Chao (1933, 1968) uses the analogy of small ripples (tone) gliding on large waves (intonation) and…

Four types of apical vowels occur in the Chinese dialects: the unrounded and rounded alveolar apical vowels symbolized as [ɿ ʮ] and the unrounded and rounded post-alveolar or retroflex apical vowels symbolized as [ʅ ʯ ]. The [ɿ ʮ ʅ ʯ ] are widely used by dialectologists in China. Phonologically, the apical vowels occur only in CV syllables and function as syllable nucleus. In an overwhelmingly large number of the Chinese dialects, the apical vowel is obligatorily preceded by a homorganic sibilant. In a limited number of …