Prosodic properties on monosyllabic function words with lexical tone (cliticoids) in Standard Chinese

thesis This thesis focuses on prosodic behavior of tonal monosyllabic function words (cliticoids) in contemporary Chinese, using linguistic material from the Textbook of Chinese conversation (Učebnice čínské konverzace, Uher et al. 2007), which contains recordings of native speakers. The aim will be to capture the regularities in the accentuation of different categories of cliticoids, defined on a word-class basis, and to examine the distinct prosodic properties of individual words within these groups. The main variables that will be studied as factors influencing the prosodic behaviour of the respective units and explaining any differences are (a) the prosodic and syntactic context and (b) the frequency of the word in question. As a researcher, I will also take into account theories of formulaic language, specifically with regard to the prosodic and syntactic context of cliticoid occurrence in general and in Standard Chinese. Key words Chinese, prosody, accentuation, function words, cliticoids, clitics, formulaic language