The Effect of Onset and Position in the Realization of Tone 1 in Two Dialects of Taiwan Mandarin

This study investigates how onset and sentence positioning affect the realization of Tone 1 in two dialects of Taiwan Mandarin. Results showed that the central dialect was higher in register when placed in isolation, but lower when placed in a sentential context. When there was a tonal mismatch, coarticulatory effects were more robust in the northern dialect, implying that speakers of the central dialect (nonstandard) might be more self-conscious about the standard-vernacular distinction than those of the northern dialect (standard), and overcorrection tended to occur. The effect of onset type was also significant but fairly localized. Obstruent-initial syllables had higher initial pitch than sonorant ones. The declination effect was also significant, the rate of which being higher in the central variety. In addition, sentential stress tended to raise the sentence-final H targets in both varieties. However, the PENTA model was not fully supported.