Towards a New Definition of Mandarin Rhyme: Evidence from Contemporary Popular Lyrics

1. Towards a New Definition of Mandarin Rhyme: Evidence from Contemporary Popular Lyrics CHRIS WEN-CHAO LI SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

2. Questions • Rhyme as used in spontaneous, living language (Mandarin) • What rhyme can tell us about the phonological structure of Mandarin

3. Disambiguation • Prescriptive rhyme • Verse composition for official examinations • Rhyme dictionaries; opera manuals (e.g., 切韻 Qieyun; 廣韻Guangyun; 中原音韻 Zhongyuan Yinyun; 中華新韻 Zhonghua Xinyun) • Descriptive rhyme -- rhyme as seen in literary and artistic work • spontaneously composed • without consultation of references • without adherence to formal regulations • contemporary • rhyming verse • popular lyrics

4. Why rhyme? • Rhyme detection as an innate cognitive ability (7.5 months) (Hayes et al 2000) • Rhyme detection ⇒ phonemic awareness ⇒ reading proficiency (Bryant et al 1990)

5. Defining rhyme • Domain: What is the subsyllabic domain on which equivalence is defined? • Level: What is the level at which equivalence applies?

6. Domain • Mandarin syllable — subsyllabic components

7. Domain • Mandarin syllable – constituent structure ONSET-RIME (Duanmu 1990) INITIAL-FINAL (Cheng 1973; Kuo 1994) • σ σ • final • onset rime • rime • initial medial nucleus coda initial medial nucleus coda

8. Domain • Traditional (prescriptive) rhyme: identical RIME constituent ONSET-RIME (Duanmu 1990) INITIAL-FINAL (Cheng 1973; Kuo 1994) • σ σ • final • onset rime • rime • initial medial nucleus coda initial medial nucleus coda • E.g., 鳥 [njaw] and 高 [kaw]

9. Level (underlying vs surface) • Test cases – low vowel series

10. Level (underlying vs surface) • Test cases – mid vowel series (1)

11. Level (underlying vs surface) • Test cases – mid vowel series (2)

12. Level (underlying vs surface) • Theories • Underlying level (Chen 1984) • Evidence: Mid-vowel test cases • Source: Traditional poetry and nursery rhymes [Jablonski (1935)] • Surface level (Li 1999; Duanmu 1990; Manaster Ramer 1996) • Evidence: (a) mid-vowel test cases; (b) low-vowel test cases • Source: Contemporary popular lyrics

13. Methodologies • Native speaker judgment (Kuo 1994; Cheng 2001) • Textual analysis / structuralism (Cheung 1996; Li 1999)

14. Methodology – native speaker judgement • Example from Kuo (1994) • TEXT: • 千里結良緣 • 不負識此番 • 紅娘一線牽 • 月佬來成全 • QUESTIONS: • Which words rhyme? • What is the rhyme?

15. Methodology – native speaker judgement • Example from Cheng (2001)

16. Methodology – native speaker judgement • SHORTCOMINGS: • Native speakers are not trained linguists, and should not be asked to identify linguistic structures (e.g., rhyme [Kuo 1994]) • Speakers are asked to make a bivalent judgment on what may possibly be a gradient phenomenon

17. Methodology – textual analysis / structuralism (Cheung 1996; Li 1999) • Look for parallels between text and musical structure • Rhyming syllables posited as appearing at the end of musical phrases • Look for similarities between all syllables appearing in targeted positions • Exceptions: • Rap lyrics (non-melodic) • Historical themes / archaic language (e.g., 霍元甲，黃金甲etc) • Tendency to use classical/archaic language • Tendency to use historical rhymes (that no longer rhyme in the present-day language),[e.g., blood/stood, go/do, maid/said (Marlowe); crown/own, owl/soul (Keats)]

18. Results from Li (1999) • LEVEL • surface level agreement (not underlying) • E.g., 門 and 民 do not rhyme • DOMAIN • consonantal coda need not agree (same or similar nucleus is sufficient) • E.g., 你 and 情 can rhyme • AGREEMENT • vowel height and frontness only (rounding and rhoticity need not agree) • E.g., 我 and 歌 can rhyme

19. LEVEL: low vowel test cases • [an] and [wan] rhyme with each other ([jen] and [yen] do not take part) • 你不過給了一點溫暖 [nwan] • 我就忘了問別的冷淡 [tan] • 有時候心軟是一種悲慘 [tsʰan] • 推自己跌入遺憾 [xan] • 也許會擁抱這種情感 [kan] • 和最開始的抉擇有關 [kwan] • 有時候敏感是一種負擔 [tan] • 害思緒凌亂不安 [an] (周蕙：風鈴/精選 (1999) 詞：姚若龍 曲：陳建寧 / 陳政卿)

20. LEVEL: low vowel test cases • [jen] and [yen] rhyme with each other ([an] and [wan] do not take part) • 我也願意幫你打掃房間 [tɕjen] • 把牌技好好演練 [ljen] • 陪你母親打八圈 [tɕʰyen] • 為你寫下盈淚詩篇 [pjen] • 感覺就像觸電 [tjen] • 才會對我想念 [njen] • 非常想念 [njen] (無印良品：身邊/想見你 (1999) 詞：于光中、李宗盛 曲：品冠)

21. LEVEL: mid vowel test cases (1) • [ən] and [wən] rhyme with each other ([in] and [yn] do not take part) • [in] and [yn] rhyme with each other ([ən] and [wən] do not take part) -- see explanation in next section

22. LEVEL: mid vowel test cases (2) • [je] and [ye] rhyme with each other ([ə] and [wo] do not take part) • [ə] and [wo] rhyme with each other ([je] and [ye] do not take part) -- see explanation in next section

23. LEVEL: Conclusion • Conclusion -- rhyme occurs at the surface level (or at least not the underlying level) • Duanmu (1990: 29): two syllables rhyme if they have the same surface nucleus and coda; two syllables whose nuclei and codas are identical underlyingly but different at the surface may or may not rhyme. • Manaster Ramer (1981): Rules of versification may not be sensitive to representation deeper than phonemic

24. LEVEL: multilingual rhyme • Different languages cannot possibly share underlying structures, therefore rhyme must occur at the surface level • 就重來一遍 [pjen] • 想讓自己try again • 在落幕之前 [tɕʰjen] • 來得及學會 [xwej] • 笑著說再見 [tɕjen] • 假裝在無意之間 [tɕjen] • 拉開了膠卷 [tɕyen] • 曝光的昨天 [tʰjen] • 留下空白的畫面 [mjen] (梁靜茹：轉圈圈/一夜長大 (1999) 詞：余致明 曲：戚小戀)

25. DOMAIN -- Consonantal coda need not agree (same or similar nucleus is sufficient) • Example 1 (vowel [i]) • 嗚啦啦啦火車笛 [ti] • 隨著奔騰的馬蹄 [tʰi] • 小妹妹吹著口琴 [tɕʰin] • 夕陽下美了剪影 [iŋ] • 我用子彈寫日記 [tɕi] • 介紹完了風景 [tɕiŋ] • 接下來換介紹我自己 [tɕi] (周杰倫：我很忙/牛仔很忙（2007）作曲：周杰倫 作詞：黃俊郎)

26. DOMAIN -- Consonantal coda need not agree (same or similar nucleus is sufficient) • Example 2 (vowel [o]) • 沒有弧度的笑容 [ɻoŋ] • 沒有溫度的手 [ʂow] • 慢慢傾斜的天空 [kʰoŋ] • 正迅速壓垮著我 [wo] (S.H.E.: 愛呢/美麗新世界（2002）作詞：施人誠 作曲：Roberto Rosan/Heiko Schmidt 編曲：鍾興民)

27. DOMAIN -- Consonantal coda need not agree (same or similar nucleus is sufficient) • Comparison with Cantonese lyrics (Cheung 1996: 1) • Many words rhyme because they share the same vowel even though they may differ in their consonantal endings

28. AGREEMENT: Nucleus need agree in only height and backness (rounding and rhoticity agreement optional) • Example 1 ([i] and [y]) • 當我們唱著一些無聊的歌曲 [tɕʰy] • 談著愛與不愛的問題 [tʰi] • 幻想是林黛玉愛著賈寶玉 [y] • 或是牛郎織女約在七夕 [ɕi] (周治平: 青梅竹馬/青梅竹馬（1990） 作詞：周治平　作曲：周治平)

29. AGREEMENT: Nucleus need agree in only height and backness (rounding and rhoticity agreement optional) • Example 2 ([ə] and [o]) • 你在懷裡藏什麼 [mə] • 擠得抱不緊我 [wo] • 在你胸口找溫柔 [ɻow] • 只找到一片沙漠 [mo] (S.H.E.: 愛呢/美麗新世界（2002）作詞：施人誠作曲：Roberto Rosan/Heiko Schmidt　編曲：鍾興民)

30. Interpreting the results • Rhyme as a prototype phenomenon (Li 1999) • Implications for Mandarin syllable structure • Mandarin vocalic phonemes • Phonemic reinterpretation

31. Rhyme as a prototype phenomenon (Li 1999) • C.f. Ravid and Hanauer 1998 (Hebrew) • MANDARIN: degrees of rhyme (gradience) V1≠V2 V1=V2 / Co1≠Co2 V1=V2 / Co1=Co2

32. Implications for syllable structure • VG diphthongs behave differently from VC rimes • Diphthongs [aj] and [aw] do not participate in rhyming with [a] • VC sequences [an] and [aŋ] do participate in rhyming with [a] • But distinction does not hold at the mid vowel level – • [ej] participates in rhyming with [je], [ye], [jen] and [yen]; [ow] participates in rhyming with [wo]

33. Implications for syllable structure • Possible explanations • Alternative syllable structure (Chung 1989; Lin 1989; Wan 2006) • σ final • rime • nucleus • initial medial vowel glidecoda • Nasal "endings" as features (Jenny Wang 1993)

34. Mandarin vocalic phonemes (How many underlying vowels?) • 6 vowels (Hashimoto 1970; Cheng 1973; Hsueh 1986; Lin 1989; Duanmu 1990; Kuo 1994): • 1 LOW: /a/, • 1 MID: /ə/, • 4 HIGH: /i/, /ɨ/, /u/, /y/ • 4 vowels (Wu 1994) • 1 LOW: /a/, • 1 MID: /ə/, • 1 HIGH: /i/, /u/ • 3 vowels (Hartman 1944) • 1 LOW: /a/, • 1 MID: /ə/, • 1 HIGH: /ɨ/

35. Mandarin vocalic phonemes (Based on rhyming phenomena) • 9 vowels (including diphthongs) • 3 LOW: • monophthongal /a/ (includings rimes [a], [an], [aŋ]) • diphthongal /aj/ • Diphthongal /aw/ • 2 MID: • monophthongal /ə/ (includings rimes [ə], [ən], [əŋ], [əɹ]) • monophthongal /e/ (includings rimes [e], [ei], [en]) • monophthongal /o/ (includings rimes [o], [ou], [oŋ], [əɹ]) • 3 HIGH: • monophthongal /i/ (includings rimes [i], [in], [iŋ], [y], [yn]) • monophthongal /ɨ/ (includings apical and retroflex vowels) • monophthongal /u/

36. Phonemic reinterpretation • Traces of underlying forms in northern pronunciation (absent in south) • PINYIN "-ing" pronounced as [jəŋ] • PINYIN "-ian" pronounced as [jæn] • Children learning Mandarin phonetic symbols (注音符號) in Taiwan • trouble spelling yen as ㄧplusㄢ

37. Phonemic reinterpretation • Conclusion: North vs South • superficially similar, underlyingly different (c.f. convergent evolution)

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39. THANK YOU! Chris Wen-chao Li San Francisco State University wenchao@sfsu.edu