Author(s)

Jie Gao ¹, Zenan Hu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China

Corresponding Author

Jie Gao

ABSTRACT

Building on previous dialectological research, this study investigates the tonal patterns of monosyllabic tones in the Shaoxing dialect through acoustic experiments and extraction of fundamental frequency parameters. The experimental results show that: (1) the Yin-register tones exhibit a tendency toward falling contours, while the Yang-register tones undergo complex restructuring; (2) the overall complexity of tonal patterns tends to simplify, though localized complications are observed; (3) the Ru tones retain their characteristic brevity, yet their tonal values undergo systemic simplification; and (4) gender differences are significant in tonal variation, displaying a pattern of modern generational change.

KEYWORDS

Shaoxing Dialect; Monosyllabic Tones; Tonal Evolution; Acoustic Analysis

CITE THIS PAPER

Jie Gao, Zenan Hu, An Experimental Study on the Tones of the Shaoxing (Keqiao) Dialect in Zhejiang. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2025) Vol. 8: 87-96. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2025.080512.

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