Contextual and paradigmatic effects on suspended contrast across generations

The case of Cantonese pinjam revisited

Bibliographic Data

ID4579255
AuthorsAlan C L Yu (0000-0002-1953-5502, University of Chicago), Vivian Guo Li (Yale University), Peggy Mok (0000-0002-9284-6083, Chinese University of Hong Kong, corresponding author), Peggy P K Mok
Year2025
Volume110
Pages101412
Publication date2025-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Phonetics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0095-4470 • E-ISSN: 1095-8576
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.wocn.2025.101412
OpenAlexW4409321393
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited42

This study reports an apparent-time study of the suspended contrast between lexical and morphological high rising tones in Hong Kong Cantonese. • While suspended tonal contrast has been in circulation for almost a century, our findings suggest that the distinction might be disappearing among females as well as the younger speakers of both genders. • Older speakers still maintain an F0 distinction between the lexical vs. derived rising tones, albeit in restricted tonal contexts. • This merger-in-progress is sensitive to contextual and morphological influences. Suspended contrast refers to the phenomenon whereby sound change brings two phonemes into such close approximation that semantic contrast between them is suspended for native speakers of the language, without necessarily leading to complete merger or neutralization. The existence of suspended contrasts not only raises questions about the nature of the phonetics-phonology interface, but also for theories of sound change that assume sound change is biased toward selective maintenance of phonemes that contribute more to distinguishing existing lexical items in usage. Small differences supporting a suspended contrast are expected to disappear quickly given that they do not serve any apparent communicative functions. It remains a question whether a contrast can be suspended for a considerable period of time. This study revisits a case of suspended contrast in Cantonese between the lexical high rising tone and the high rising tone derived through morphological tone change ( pinjam ). We use an apparent-time approach to investigate the diachronic trajectory of this neutralization by comparing the distribution of this suspended contrast along both F0 and durational dimensions across two generations of Hong Kong Cantonese speakers. While this case of suspended tonal contrast has been in circulation for almost a century, our findings suggest that the distinction might be disappearing among the younger speakers. Only older speakers maintain a distinction between the lexical and derived rising tones, albeit in very restricted tonal contexts. The fact that this suspended tonal contrast exhibits great sensitivity to contextual and morphological influences may help explain the progression of this case of merger-in-progress

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