TONE.pdf

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The sounds of language can be divided into consonants, vowels and tones – the

use of pitch to convey word meaning. As many as seventy per cent of the world’s

languages may use pitch in this way.

Assuming little or no prior knowledge of the topic, this textbook provides a

clearly organized introduction to tone and tonal phonology. Comprehensive in

scope, it examines the main types of tonal systems found in Africa, the Americas

and Asia, using examples from the widest possible range of tone languages. It

provides students with a basic grasp of the simple phonetics of tone, and covers

key topics such as the distinctive feature systems suitable for tonal contrasts,

allophonic and morphophonological tonal alterations, and how to analyse them

within Optimality Theory. The book also examines the perception and acquisi-

tion of tone, as well as the interface between tonal phonology and the mor-

phosyntax.

MOIRA YIP is Professor in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at

University College London. Prior to this she was Professor of Linguistics at the

University of California, Irvine. She has published extensively on tone and is the

author of The Tonal Phonology of Chinese (1991).

CAMBRIDGE TEXTBOOKS IN LINGUISTICS

General editors : S. R. ANDERSON, P. AUSTIN, J. BRESNAN,

B. COMRIE, W. DRESSLER, C. J. EWEN, R. HUDDLESTON,

R. LASS, D. LIGHTFOOT, I. ROBERTS, S. ROMAINE,

N. V. SMITH, N. VINCENT