Tono-types and Tone Evolution

Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive study on the phonetic characteristics of citation tones in Chaoshan Chinese. It presents the tonal patterns of 65 localities in the Chaoshan area under the “multiple-register and four-level” tonal model. Three case studies are conducted to delve into the evolutionary paths of Chaoshan tones. This book not only provides a large-scale typological study on Chaoshan Chinese, but also offers a good example of how to figure out the evolutionary paths of tones from the perspective of variation. The natural alliance of phonetics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and dialect geography is reinforced. It is also suggested in this book that the joint use of these four disciplines is very promising for the study of Chinese.