本論文旨在以韻律音韻學(Prosodic Phonology)探討漢語複合名詞裡的音節縮減(syllable contraction)現象。音節縮減指的是一種藉由省略或弱化聲音、音節邊界，進而縮減音節的現象(例如：在英文裡，代名詞“I”和助動詞“have”能縮成“I’ve”；而在漢語裡，“這樣子”能縮成“醬子”)。在漢語音節縮減上，前人已做了很多研究。例如，Chung (1997)衍伸Yip (1988)的夾擊模式(Edge-in association)，提出CVX模板來說明兩音節的詞是如何投映到單音節的結構上。Hsu (2003)跟隨Chung，進一步提出響度說(sonority model)來解釋台閩語裡兩個音節融合成一個音節的過程。另一方面，Wong (2006)從韻律音韻學的角度研究廣東話裡音節縮減的韻律範疇(prosodic domain)。
根據前人的研究，本論文探討音節縮減在漢語複合名詞裡的韻律範疇。Chung (2006)指出當名詞是三音節或四音節的時候，音節縮減易於發生。此外，音節縮減通常只發生在前兩個音節(例如：huo3che1zhan4裡的huo3che1變成huo3e1)，而非後兩個音節(也就是che1zhan4)。因此，本論文假設音節縮減的範疇是音步(foot)，並採用兩種方法來分析音節縮減的韻律範疇，分別為以自然音步為基礎的分析(natural-foot-based analysis)和以重音形式為主的分析(stress-based analysis)。前者的分析建基於前人所制定的漢語自然音步建構，當中，音步的重音並未被當成重點討論，本論文運用條列式規則(rule-based approach)來討論音步的形成，以及音節縮減發生的條件。後者的分析則是將重音納入形成音步的考慮，重新分析音步的形成。這兩種方法所分析出來的音步建構在三音節複合名詞上是類似的，但在兩音節及四音節複合名詞上有所不同。分析的結果暗示了，以自然音步為基礎的分析給予了一個較奇怪且不太自然的分析，而以重音形式為主的分析則彌補了自然音步分析法的缺點，進而提供了一個較為完整且一致的範疇建構分析。此外，本論文所提出的韻律範疇其優點在於，它不僅可解釋三音節複合名詞的音節縮減範疇，也可以用來解釋缺少句法結構的三音節音譯名詞裡的音節縮減範疇，像是“加拿大”等。

This study aims to investigate the syllable contraction of Mandarin compound nouns under the framework of Prosodic Phonology. Syllable contraction refers to a shortening of syllables by omitting or weakening a sound, sounds, or syllable boundaries (e.g., in English, the pronoun I and the auxiliary have can be contracted as I’ve and in Mandarin, zhe4yang4zi “in this way” can be contracted as jiang4zi). Several studies have been conducted on Mandarin syllable contraction. For instance, Chung (1997) proposes a CVX template, extended from Yip’s (1988) edge-in association, to account for how disyllabic words are mapped onto a mono-syllabic structure. Hsu (2003) follows Chung, further proposing a sonority model to explain the process of two syllables merging into one in Taiwanese Southern Min. On the other hand, Wong (2006) investigates the domain of syllable contraction (i.e., where syllable contraction will occur) in Cantonese from the perspective of Prosodic Phonology.
Based on these studies, this paper discusses the domain of syllable contraction in Mandarin compound nouns. As Chung (2006) points out, when nouns are trisyllabic or tetrasyllabic, the syllable contraction tends to occur. In addition, it is the first two syllables that undergo contraction (e.g., huo3che1 in huo3che1zhan4 “train station” becoming huo3e1), rather than the last two syllables (i.e., che1zhan4). Thus, the domain of syllable contraction is argued to be a prosodic foot. The formation of the proposed foot domain is analyzed in two ways, using natural-foot-based and stress-based analyses. The former follows Mandarin footing in previous studies, in which stress is not explicitly incorporated into discussion, and the domain formation is proposed in terms of rules (i.e., rule-based approach). The latter takes stress into consideration when a foot is formed, and reanalyzes the domain formation of syllable contraction. The footing in these two analyses are very similar in the interpretation of the syllable contraction of trisyllabic compound nouns, but differ to that for disyllabic and tetrasyllabic compound nouns. The results indicate that the natural-foot-based analysis offers a slightly odd and unnatural analysis, while the stress-based analysis makes up for the shortcoming of the natural-foot-based analysis, thus providing a more solid and consistent analysis of domain formation. In addition, the proposed prosodic domain can explain not only the syllable contraction of trisyllabic compound nouns but also that of translated nouns that lack internal syntactic structures such as jia1na2da4 “Canada”.

論文審定書 ......................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1
1.1 Motivation .......................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research Questions .......................................................................................... 5
1.3 Organization of this thesis ................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................. 7
2.1 Literature Review .............................................................................................. 7
2.1.1 Previous Studies on Syllable Contraction .............................................. 7
2.1.1.1 Edge-in Association and Sonority Model ..................................... 7
2.1.1.2 Prosodic Analysis ....................................................................... 14
2.1.1.3 Pattern of Syllable Contraction.................................................... 27
2.1.1.4 Factors Conditioning Syllable Contraction .................................. 31
2.1.2 Previous Studies on Foot and Stress ................................................... 33
2.1.2.1 Natural Foot ............................................................................... 33
2.1.2.2 Stress and Feet in Mandarin ...................................................... 35
2.2 Theoretical Background: Prosodic Phonology ................................................ 37
2.3 Research Questions of This Study ................................................................. 39
CHAPTER 3. THE NATURAL-FOOT-BASED ANALYSIS ............................................. 42
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 42
3.2 The Present Analysis ...................................................................................... 42
3.2.1 The Prosodic Domain of Trisyllabic Compound Nouns ........................ 42
3.2.2 The Condition of Syllable Contraction .................................................. 48
3.2.3 The Prosodic Domain of Tetrasyllabic Compound Nouns .................... 53
3.3 The Pros and Cons of the Present Analysis .................................................... 59
3.4 Summary ......................................................................................................... 63
CHAPTER 4. THE STRESS-BASED ANALYSIS ........................................................... 65
4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 65
4.2 Degrees of Stress ............................................................................................ 65
4.3 The Reanalysis of the Domain Formation of Syllable Contraction ................... 68
4.4 Summary .......................................................................................................... 76
CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .......................................................... 77
5.1 Summary .......................................................................................................... 77
5.2 Other Factors Influencing the Occurrence of Syllable Contraction .................. 82
5.3 Residual Issues ................................................................................................ 85
REFERENCE .................................................................................................................. 87

Chang, T. F. (2002). An Optimality Theory Approach to Tone Sandhi, Pre-nuclear Gliding, and Syllable Contraction in Hai-lu Hakka. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Cheng Chi University, Taipei.
Chao, Y. R. (1968). A grammar of spoken Chinese. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Cheng, C. C. (1973). A synchronic phonology of Mandarin Chinese. The Hague: Mouton.
Cheng, C. E. (2004). An acoustic phonetic analysis of tone contraction in Taiwan Mandarin. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, National Cheng Chi University, Taipei.
Cheng, C., & Xu, Y. (2009). Extreme reductions: contraction of disyllables into monosyllables in Taiwan Mandarin. Proceedings of Interspeech 2009, 456-459.
Cheng, C., & Xu, Y. (2013). Articulatory limit and extreme segmental reduction in Taiwan Mandarin. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 134(6), 4481-4495.
Cheng, C., & Xu, Y. (in press). Mechanism of disyllabic tonal reduction in Taiwan Mandarin. Language and Speech.
Cheng, C., Xu, Y., & Gubian, M. (2010). Exploring the mechanism of tonal contraction in Taiwan Mandarin. Proceedings of Interspeech 2010, 2010-2013.
Chung, K. S. (2006). Contraction and backgrounding in Taiwan Mandarin. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics, 32(1), 69-88.
Chung, R. F. (1996). The Segmental Phonology of Southern Min in Taiwan. Taipei: Crane Publishing Co., Ltd.
Chung, R. F. (1997). Syllable contraction in Chinese. In F. F. Tsao & H. S. Wang (Eds.), Chinese Languages and Linguistics III: Morphology and Lexicon (pp. 199-235). Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.
DailyView網路溫度計（2014）。打醬油-神嗎-超洗腦大陸網路用語入侵。線上檢索日期：2014年10月20日。網址：https://tw.news.yahoo.com/打醬油-神嗎-超洗腦大陸網路用語入侵--042822000.html
Duanmu, S. (2007). The phonology of standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Feng, S. L. (1997). Prosodically Determined Word-Formation in Mandarin Chinese. Social Science in China, 4, 120-137.
Feng, S. L. (1998). Lun Hanyu de “ziran yinbu”. Zhongguo Yuwen, 1, 40-47.
Goldsmith, J. (1976). Autosegmental phonology. Doctoral Dissertation, MIT. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
Goldsmith, J. (1990). Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology. Cambridge, MA.: Basil Blackwell.
Halle, M., & Vergnaud, J. R. (1987). An essay on stress. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
Hashimoto, A. Y. (1987). Tone sandhi across Chinese dialects. In Chinese Language Society of Hong Kong (Ed.), Wang Li memorial volumes: English volume (pp. 445-474). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co.
Hayes, B. (1994). Metrical Stress Theory: Principles and Case Studies. Chicago: The Univ. of Chicago Press.
Hsiao, Y. E. (2002). Tone contraction. Chinese languages and linguistics, 8, 1-16.
Hsu, H. C. (2003). A sonority model of syllable contraction in Taiwanese Southern Min. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 12(4), 349-377.
Hsu, H. C. (2005). An Optimality-Theoretic analysis of syllable contraction in Cantonese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 33(1), 114-139.
Kiparsky, P. (1979). Metrical structure assignment is cyclic. Linguistic Inquiry, 10(3), 421-441.
Kuo, G. (2010). Production and Perception of Taiwan Mandarin Syllable Contraction. UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics, 108, 1-34.
Kuo, G. (2011). Syllable contraction in Taiwan Mandarin. Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 1158-1161.
Ladefoged, P. (2006). A course in phonetics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Lam, W. M. (2007). Syllable Contraction in Cantonese A-not-A Constructions: An Optimality Account. Doctoral Dissertation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Li, D. C. (2011). Vowel coupling in Mandarin syllable contraction. Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 1206-1209.
Liberman, M. (1975). The intonational system of English. Doctoral Dissertation, MIT.
Liberman, M., & Prince, A. (1977). On stress and linguistic rhythm. Linguistic inquiry, 8, 249-336.
McCarthy, J. J., & Prince, A. (1993). Prosodic morphology I: Constraint interaction and satisfaction. Manuscript, University of Massacusetts, Amherst and Rutgers University.
Nespor, M., & Vogel, I. (1983). Prosodic structure above the word. In A. Cutler & R. Ladd (Eds.), Prosody: Models and measurements (pp. 123-140). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Nespor, M., & Vogel, I. (1986). Prosodic Phonology. Dordrecht: Foris.
Nespor, M., & Vogel, I. (2007). Prosodic Phonology (2nd ed.). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Prince, A. (1980). A Metrical Theory for Estonian Quantity. Linguistic Inquiry, 11, 511-562.
Roach, P. (1983). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Selkirk, E. O. (1980). On prosodic structure and its relation to syntactic structure. Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University Linguistics Club.
Shih, C. L. (1986). The prosodic domain of tone sandhi in Chinese. Doctoral Dissertation, UCSD.
Tseng, C. C. (1999). Contraction in Taiwanese: Synchronic analysis and its connection with diachronic change. In Y.-M. In, Y.-L. Yang, & H.-Z. Zhan (Eds.), Chinese languages and linguistics V: Interactions in language (pp. 205-232). Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Tseng, S. C. (2005). Contracted syllables in Mandarin: Evidence from spontaneous conversations. Language and Linguistics, 6(1), 153-180.
Wong, W. Y. P. (2006). Syllable fusion in Hong Kong Cantonese connected speech. Doctoral Dissertation, Ohio State University.
Xu, S. R. (1980). Putonghua Yuyin Zhishi. Beijin: Wenzi Gaige Chubanshe.
Yeh, R. T. (2014). The Prosodic Domain of Syllable Contraction in Taiwan Mandarin. Paper presented at The 15th National Conference on Linguistics, Tunghai University, Taiwan.
Yip, M. (1988). Template morphology and the direction of association. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 6, 551-577.