HUANG Xianjun^1,2 YANG Yufang² LU Shinan³

(1 State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100101)

(2 Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences   Beijing 100039)

(3 Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences   Beijing 100080)

 Received Nov.1, 2006

Revised Mar.20, 2007

Abstract  Downstep in pitch contour of Chinese Putonghua is examined using subtly designed sentences by controlling tone combinations. The results show both automatic and non-automatic downstep phenomena exist in Chinese. In non-automatic downstep, low tones compress downwards the pitch range of the following syllables, and the main influence of downstep is on topline. Low tone not only lower the topline behind it, but also raise the high tones before it, the effects are compatible with each other. In automatic downstep, the topline of pitch contour in intonational phrase is presented as a linear downtrend, but it differs among speakers due to the effect of personal stress practice. In comparison with downstep phenomenon in other tone or non-tone languages, the downstep ratio in Chinese is not constant, and the domain of downstep is not limited within the adjacent tones.

PACS numbers: 43.70