Tonal Effects on Vowel Production in Standard Chinese -- An Electropalatographic and Acoustic Study

The paper studies the tonal effects on vowel production in Standard Chinese (SC). The electropalatographic (EPG) and acoustic signals for five vowels /i, u, y, i1, i2/ in four tones were recorded. The results show: (1) the articulatory variation in vowel production was mainly induced by low tone (T3). (2) Two strategies for articulatory adjustment were identified: the tongue lowering and retraction was found for vowels in T3 syllables when the post-dorsum of tongue is involved in vowel articulation, as shown in /u, i1/, the increased tongue raising was found in T3 syllables when the pre-dorsum of tongue is involved in vowel production, as shown in /i, y, i2/. (3) The T3 influence on the articulatory measures for vowels tends to be present in the better part of the vocalic length, regardless of the pitch changes. (4) Consistent tonal effect on F1 for the vowels was found for which T4 tends to increase the F1. This tends to be attributed to the larynx raising that leads to the shortening of the vocal tract.