A Study of Nasal Voices

This book presents some of the results of the author's decade-long research into Chinese nasal sounds and nasalization. Some of its content has been published in major journals, including Contemporary Linguistics, Language Studies, Nankai Linguistics, Chinese Journal of Phonetics, and Experimental Linguistics. Other parts were presented by the author at academic conferences in China and abroad. The research covers Mandarin, dialects, child language, and minority languages. First, it systematically analyzes the degree of nasalization in Mandarin speech, measuring and calculating the inherent and composite nasalization of vowels, as well as that of nasal initials, nasalized vowels, and nasal codas. It establishes the thresholds distinguishing oral sounds, nasalized sounds, and nasal sounds, maps their static distributions, and identifies the patterns of contrast between nasal sounds and related speech sounds. It then examines dynamic changes in connected speech, such as quantitative distinctions between the weakening, nasalization, and deletion of nasal codas; the effects of initials on vowel nasalization in coarticulation; the influence of tones on nasalization; and gender differences in nasalized sounds. Second, it studies the patterns of contrast between nasal and non-nasal sounds in Chinese dialects, identifies what dialects share with Mandarin and what distinguishes them, analyzes in depth the nature of /n-l/ mergers in dialects, and summarizes their different types. Third, it investigates the characteristics and manifestations of nasal sounds and nasalization in child language and minority languages. The book also explores the perceptual characteristics of Mandarin nasal and lateral initials, as well as front and back nasal codas. This research broadens and deepens our understanding of nasal sounds.