Contour Tone Licensing and Contour Tone Representation

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that the positional restrictions of contour tones do not result from their bimoraicity requirement for licensing. The arguments come from the licensing advantage of syllables in positions that are not moraically privileged, the extra levels of markedness distinction in contour tones that go beyond the maximum mora count allowed in the theory, the differences among contour tones with the same number of pitch targets, and the long lasting problem of moraic inconsistency. I propose a theoretical apparatus that allows more phonetic detail in both the tonal shape and rime duration to enter into phonological representations and show that it on the one hand provides a better account for the cross-linguistic behavior of contour tone licensing, but on the other hand does not endanger the predictive power of phonological theory.

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