Segmentless Sentence-Final Particles in Cantonese: An Experimental Study
نویسنده
چکیده
A sentence-final particle (SFP, henceforth) is an optional component for a sentence in Cantonese. Traditionally an SFP contains at least one independent segment. The present study proposes that for sentences without a segmental SFP, sentencefinal intonation can act as a segmentless SFP. Systematical acoustic experiment was conducted based on this assumption. Two cross-cutting dichotomies were compared: declarative versus declarative-question, and absence versus presence of a segmental SFP. The results show that for sentences with a segmental SFP, the SFP itself carries the function of expressing intonation. For sentences without a segmental SFP, pitch shows extraordinary patterns to express intonation of the sentence, which can be regarded as a segmentless SFP.
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