Accent in Chinese. The problem of stress. How to pronounce tones correctly

There are no letters or alphabet, which plunges people accustomed to the opposite state of affairs into a stupor. Instead, there are a huge number of hieroglyphs, each hieroglyph representing one syllable. Some words consist of one hieroglyph, that is, they are pronounced with one syllable.

Other words include two or more hieroglyphs and the presence of several syllables. You won’t know how to use this or that hieroglyph unless you memorize it first. There are really thousands of hieroglyphs, but they are repeated.

There are hieroglyphs that are more common in everyday speech; they are usually the first to be remembered. To remember a hieroglyph, you need to write it many times. Only in this way will the hand reach automaticity in its reproduction.

You also need to remember the pronunciation and hieroglyph. Especially for those who want to learn their language, the Chinese came up with an equivalent called “Pinyin”. At the same time, not everyone in China knows pinyin, mainly education workers.

New characters in Chinese textbooks are signed in pinyin in parentheses after themselves. It is also necessary to remember the tone that the vowel has in the hieroglyph. Usually there are 4 tones, but upon closer examination a fifth one can also be identified.

4 tones in pronunciation

Tone refers to the intonation with which a particular vowel is pronounced. In words of two or more hieroglyphs, each vowel has a different tone, which can cause confusion for beginners. You can briefly look at each of the tones.

The first tone is indicated by a straight line, the intonation is even. This tone can be sung on one note. The second tone looks like a Russian accent; it gives the word a slightly interrogative intonation.

The third tone is one of the most difficult to pronounce. It has the appearance of a tick and conveys a sound reminiscent of immersion in a sound hole. It is not easy to describe in words the subtleties of pronunciation of the third tone, so it is better to listen to the audio for clarification.

The fourth tone looks like a mirror image of the stress, and it gives the word a kind of affirmative intonation. Many also distinguish the fifth tone, which is an incomplete third. In this case, the third tone is pronounced halfway.

Same pronunciation

Another problem in learning Chinese: without knowing the context by ear, it is very difficult to understand what is being said. Many characters with different spellings have the same pinyin. Tones may vary, but few Chinese people are scrupulous about maintaining distinct pronunciation.

Thus, spoken Chinese is very difficult to understand. It is necessary to master a fairly rich arsenal of hieroglyphs and related contexts. To successfully master all the nuances and subtleties, it is best to immerse yourself in the natural language environment.

Stress in the Chinese language with its tonal system is expressed mainly in the duration of the final and its intensity as an accompanying factor (N.A. Speshnev, “Introduction to the Chinese Language,”

With. 82). It is traditionally believed that in the Chinese language there are strongly stressed, weakly stressed and unstressed syllables. According to N.A

Speshnev, a light, unstressed tone, which is sometimes called the fifth, is not a special tone. (“Introduction to Chinese,” p. 85). This is a reduced tone, that is, a full tone realized in an unstressed syllable. During its acoustic implementation, a light tone acquires its characteristics of height and direction depending on the previous tone, and also loses its intensity and is reduced by

duration, and the vowel in it is often reduced (ibid.).

Light tone pitch table from page 57 of T.P.’s textbook. Zadoenko “Fundamentals of the Chinese language. Introductory course:

As N.A. points out. Speshnev (p. 86 of the textbook), according to research conducted by T.P. Zadoenko (“ Brief essay tone system of modern Chinese"), after the third and fourth tone, the light tone is perceived by ear as the first and fourth tone, respectively. Therefore, pronouncing the first or fourth tone in this situation instead of the light one is not considered an error. It is important that the duration of the unstressed syllable is noticeably shorter than the previous one.

Mastering the correct stress for Chinese is just as important as learning tones. Words pronounced with incorrect stress can lead to a distortion of the meaning of the statement.

For example, such pairs of words and phrases as don1gxi1 east-west and dong1xi0 thing, la1shou0 pen and la1shou3 shake hands differ precisely in the presence of a stressed or unstressed second syllable.

Above we talked about two-syllable words, which are the majority in modern Chinese. The following combinations of stressed and unstressed tones are possible in them:

1. Stressed-unstressed combination: yi1fu,0 gan1jing0, zhuo1zi0, xue2sheng0, xi3huan0.

2. Combination of a strongly stressed syllable with a weakly stressed one: fu4mu3, zhong1guo2.

3. Combination of low-impact and high-impact: li3tang2, shou3tao4, zuo4wan2, kai1hui4, ke3pa4, zhong1jian1.

4. Combination of equally stressed syllables: da4xiao3, chang2duan3.

The bulk of the examples are the first and third options; the least common type is the equal-stress type (“Introduction to the Chinese language, p. 87). In polysyllabic words, the stress usually falls on the first or last syllable, and the rest are pronounced with light stress.

Complete or partial change in tones

After studying all the sounds, tones and the problem of stress, you can begin to study more subtle nuances. Here we need to talk about a complete or partial change in the sound of tones in the stream of speech.

YY 5 OD - 3 MAR 1997

As a manuscript

Jiang Yaming

WORD STRESS AS A FRAGMENT OF THE ETHNOTYPE OF SPEAKERS OF RUSSIAN II CHINESE LANGUAGES (EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH)

Specialty - 02/10/19 - general linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics

Moscow - 1996

The work was carried out in the laboratory of psycholinguistics and communication theory of the Institute of Linguistics Russian Academy Sci.

Scientific supervisor - Doctor Philolo! scientific sciences,

Professor Yu.A. SOROKIN

Official opponents - Doctor of Philology,

Professor A.L. SEMENAS - Doctor of Philology, Professor V.A. VINOGRADOV

Leading organization - Military University

The defense will take place "/¿ ¿German 1997 at the meeting of the dissertation council D 002.17.01. but the defense of dissertations for the degree of Doctor of Science at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences< 103009, Москва, Б. Кисловский пер., д. 1/12).

The work can be found in the library of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Scientific secretary of the dissertation council, candidate of philological sciences

Z.G. Isaeva

general description of work

National linguistic cultural speech behavior is a formal and substantive integrity, closely related to educational stereotypes, social norms and cultural-aesthetic (value) orientations.

The phonetic structure of an utterance in a non-native language, in our opinion, is also an element of the national-cultural specificity of verbal behavior, being at the same time the result of the mechanism of interaction between the phonetic systems of two languages.

Segmental and suprasegmental units are equally involved in the formation of the phonetic appearance (structure) of an utterance. Erroneous perception of both and their incorrect implementation in oral speech lead to violations of pronunciation norms and complicate the communication process, lead to distortion of information, and a utterance containing prosodic (suprasegmental) violations is perceived much worse than a utterance containing violations of the segmental structure, because when perceiving a y-saying information about stress, tone, intonation and rhythm are processed by the listener first and relatively independently of information about the specific segmental content of the utterance [Chistovich et al. 1965,119].

The prosodic design of speech units “suffers” to the greatest extent during the production and perception of speech in a non-native language, since the auditory pronunciation skills of the prosodic design of an utterance are the most unconscious. On the one hand, stereotypes developed in the native language are difficult to “break”, and, on the other hand, the formation of skills and abilities in learning another language is complicated. Thus, violations of the prosodic structure of an utterance are most stable in speech in a foreign language [Metlyuk 1988].

The Chinese language is a language with a special syllabic system, which presupposes a rhythmic pattern of speech utterances, which is the focus of the interaction of phenomena of a segmental and suprasegmental nature.

Our work presents an attempt to study word stress as an element of the ethnic type of speakers of Russian and Chinese languages, taking into account the fact that the Chinese language is characterized by a special syllabic structure and special rhythmic features.

At the same time, we set the task of analyzing the phenomena of word stress and tone using an experiment and identifying violations by the Chinese of the prosodic design of Russian utterances.

This determines the relevance of this work.

The purpose of the work is to study verbal stress as an element of the ethno-type of speakers of the Russian and Chinese languages, and, thereby, to study a fragment of the national and cultural specificity of the verbal behavior of Russians and Chinese.

To achieve this goal, the following specific tasks were solved.

1. In theoretical terms:

Consider the relationship between language and culture, cultural tradition and socialization of the individual;

Describe the prosodic system of the Chinese language and all its basic elements (syllabic structure and rhythmic characteristics of the Chinese language);

Compare the prosodic systems of Russian and Chinese languages;

To establish typical violations of the prosodic design of Russian words by the Chinese when studying the Russian language;

Give them a theoretical interpretation.

2. In experimental terms:

Consider the phonetic features of stressed and unstressed syllables of the Russian and Chinese languages, compare their similarities and differences, establish the proportions of stressed and unstressed syllables in terms of duration, intensity and height in two- and three-syllable words.

Consider the quality of stressed and unstressed syllables of the Russian and Chinese languages, as well as verbal stress in the flow of speech.

Test statements about the prosodic specificity of the Chinese language using objective data;

Give an interpretation of violations of the prosodic design of Russian words and phrases by the Chinese using experimental results and theoretical analysis;

Draw some conclusions regarding the national and cultural specifics of the verbal behavior of native speakers of Russian and Chinese.

Scientific novelty:

The work for the first time gives an overview of the relationship between the Chinese national cultural tradition and the prosodic system of the Chinese language and asserts that: 1) the syllabic structure of the Chinese language is a basic component that specifies the linguistic and cultural behavior of a native speaker of the Chinese language; 2) speakers of different cultural traditions perceive the prosodic characteristics of language differently; 3) between the sound shell and the meaning there is some fixed or unfixed correspondence; 4) the sound shell of the language has some potential connection with national music, and,

The factors influencing the prosodic design of words and phrases in the production of Russian speech by the Chinese have been identified,

The subintonation prosody of two typologically different languages ​​is described - Russian (phenomenal) and Chinese (syllabic),

Experimental data have been analyzed that make it possible to judge the nature of word stress in the Russian and Chinese languages,

Violations characteristic of the prosodic design of Russian utterances by the Chinese have been identified and interpreted.

The practical value of the work is determined by the fact that the main provisions and conclusions of the study can be used in courses in general phonetics, methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language at the initial stage of education, in advanced training courses for Chinese teachers, in compiling teaching aids on practical phonetics, aimed at speakers of Chinese or other syllabic languages. The results of the study can serve as a linguistic basis for further research into the verbal behavior of the Chinese ethnotype and the development of methods for teaching Chinese to Russian audiences.

Approbation of work. The main provisions and results of the experimental study were reported and discussed at an interuniversity meeting of the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Faculty foreign languages Nanjing University (1988), at the 6th international conference "Current issues of Chinese language knowledge" (Moscow, 1992) and at a meeting of the Sector of Psycholinguistics and Communication Theory of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1996).

The dissertation consists of an Introduction, two main chapters, a Conclusion, bibliography(91 titles in Russian, 31 titles in Chinese and 5 titles in English) and Appendixes, incl.

The torus presents the materials used and other materials. It contains 136 pages of typewritten text, 15 drawings and 27 tables.

The introduction substantiates the relevance of the research undertaken, defines the goals and objectives of the work, its purpose and practical value.

The first chapter - "Interaction of language and culture. The specificity of the speech behavior of the Chinese, influencing the prosodic design of the Russian language (theoretical analysis)" - examines the main factors that determine the national-cultural specificity of speech behavior, and, in particular, cultural traditions and their influence on socialization of the individual. The role of language in mastering culture, in “shaping” the specifics of thinking with it is discussed; the concept of the prosodic system and its cultural value is introduced and the specifics of its manifestation in the Chinese language are revealed. The same chapter compares the prosodic systems of the Chinese and Russian languages ​​and provides an analysis of the violations by the Chinese of the prosodic design of Russian words.

With the development of science, it is becoming increasingly obvious that it is impossible to consider a number of the most important linguistic phenomena in isolation from the conditions of the functioning of society, the development of its culture and cultural tradition, which is defined as “group experience expressed in socially organized stereotypes, which accumulates and reproduced in various human groups" [Markaryan 1981,1983].

Like a cultural tradition, a national linguistic and cultural tradition is a formal and substantive integrity: “In terms of content, the structure of a national linguistic and cultural tradition includes: I) educational stereotypes (thinking and behavior), 2) social norms and 3) a social-value attitude (cultural-value orientation), which determines cognitive and behavioral stereotypes, and since the attitude is conscious, it is an object of need not only of a collective subject (ethnic group), but also of a specific individual. This is the most stable component of the national linguistic and cultural tradition" [Bobrysheva 1996, 13].

In any attempt to understand the relationship between culture and cognitive processes, it is necessary, first of all, to consider the problem of language, since it occupies first place among the nationally specific components of culture, "... is a means of transmission social experience individuals, and within the framework of this experience, social norms of behavior, being one of the stable fragments of culture, represent a specifically national form of manifestation of the universal and “organizational” function of culture" [Sorokin, Leontyev, Tarasov 1977, 18]. Language is not only a means of with the help of which we obtain most of the information about culture and cognitive processes, but, according to some theories, also the main factor determining thought processes.In turn, the dynamics of the formation of the national specificity of a particular culture is well explained by A.N. Leoitiev’s theory of the formation personality and its thinking in the process of “appropriating” the culture of society [Leontiev 1972]: “Only when mastering a language does a child receive in ready-made form some ways of understanding and categorizing objective and objective reality characteristic of society, i.e. his cognitive style is formed" [Leontyev 1974]. In other words, while mastering his native language, a person simultaneously assimilates a certain ethnotypical experience, which exists not only in verbal, but also in non-verbal form. The Chinese ethnotype in this regard is no exception. The logic of traditional Chinese thinking strives to function not according to the principle of linear sequence (starting position - conclusion), but concentrically - by isolating central concept and adjusting a number of comparisons to it. Such thinking is characterized by intuitiveness, associativity, holism, and an orientation towards analogy. But, in our opinion, there is another important element of the Chinese ethnotype, namely stress. Therefore, we considered it necessary to compare the prosodic structures of the Russian and Chinese languages ​​in order to show its difference from the Russian ethnotype in this regard.

The phonological component of language is a system of means that form the material appearance of an utterance. It consists of two subsystems - segmental and suprasegmental. Units of the segmental system - phonemes (in non-syllabic languages) and syllabems (in syllabic languages) - are isolated as segments of the structural linear organization of the speech flow. They are "building"

(form) a statement. Prosodic units organize segmental units, beginning with a syllable, through melodic, temporal, or timbral changes. The main prosodic phenomena include stress, tone and intonation.

The prosodic system of the Russian language is characterized by a number of specific features that provoke violations of the prosody of words by foreign language recipients. speech activity in Russian. As is known, the main prosodic indicator in it is stress, which in terms of its phonetic characteristics is defined as quantitative, and in terms of paradigmatic parameters - as free and mobile. In the Russian language, stress performs a constitutive, organizing, distinctive and emotional function. Accent is recognized the most important means formation of the phonetic appearance of the Russian word.

“Chinese stress is expressed primarily in increasing the duration and expanding the range of the stressed vowel” [Zhao Yuanren 1979], and “... in the Chinese language there are three degrees of stress of a syllable: a strong stressed slot,” which is pronounced with the greatest duration and the tone of which heard most clearly; a weakly stressed syllable, which is pronounced with less duration, but the tone of which is heard, although with less distinctness, and an unstressed slot-, which is pronounced most briefly and the tone of which is completely leveled" [Speshnev 1980,71].

So, the main prosodic phenomenon for the Russian language is stress, and for the Chinese language it is tone (stress in the Chinese language is controlled by the musical tone of the syllable). When studying the stress of the Chinese language, it is necessary to study its syllabic structure, which is not only prosodic and semantic, but also the basic unit of the rhythm of Chinese speech.

The Chinese syllable is characterized by a very rigid structure. Each syllable consists of two intersecting classes of “sounds” (V.B. Kasevich’s term) - initials and finals. In Chinese syllabic structure, the basic elements are nnitsnal and central.

"The prosodic feature of a syllable, which makes it the main unit of the Chinese language, is the individual top. This is an important difference between the Chinese syllable and the syllables of European inflectional languages. In European languages, prosodic features

Whole words have poppies, in Chinese a polysyllabic word, but also each syllable individually. The tone of a syllable is a semantic feature. When pronouncing a syllable separately, precise pronunciation of the tone is mandatory. Without the correct pronunciation of the tone, an individual syllable will not be understood. There are four tones in the Chinese national language Pu Tonghua. Each of them has its own height, duration, and intensity. This means that in the prosody of a single syllable, more precisely, a syllabic morpheme of the Chinese language, all members of the accent triad are represented simultaneously" [Sofronov 1996, 8-9].

Thus, in the Chinese language, tone is as essential a component of the phonetic appearance of a syllabic morpheme as the sounds that make it up. Contour tones as suira-segmental means are prosodic markers of syllabic-fsm.

In ancient Chinese, a word usually consisted of a one-syllable morpheme and almost every syllable had a semantic meaning. "Due to the fact that each syllable retains semantic meaning, as well as the need to fully realize tonal characteristics, the interval between syllables is perceived as longer and more regular than in European languages. In ancient Chinese, each syllable is identical to one moan, and the syllable consists of of one, two or three syllables, with the most euphonious foot consisting of two syllables. Thus, a pause every two syllables is the basic unit of rhythmic beat of the Chinese language. The basic framework of rhythmic beats is as follows:

Two rhythmic measures, in which one measure is formed from one syllable (two feet);

Two rhythmic measures, in which each measure is formed from two syllables;

Days of rhythmic beats, in which the nort beat is formed from two syllables, the second - from one syllable;

The bottom of the rhythmic beat, in which the first is formed from one syllable, the second from two syllables.

Among them, the beat can be divided into +[M]. These types of bars are represented in both ancient Chinese and modern poetry and prose. In modern Chinese rhyming works

(folk songs, operas and dramas, children's songs, ditties, riddles, paired inscriptions, etc.) the above considered types of measures of the metric structure also remain the same" [Shi Yuwei, 1995].

Another important point, which cannot be ignored - this is the tone that plays a decisive role in the creation of rhymed works. Old poems, as we know, are also songs, and their melodies are based on the tonal structure of the words. In other words, a certain alternation of tones (pingze, ÍJX) is widely used in versification. Pingshen (3ftPf) includes yinping and yashshn, i.e. the first and second tone, in tsze1shn (L) *) - shanshen and quisheng, i.e. third and fourth tone. For Chinese rhymed works, the obligatory alternation of pingsheng and zesheng allows one to avoid monotony in poetic speech. Thus, it turns out that the syllable and top should be considered as basic (ethnotypical) elements that specify Chinese linguistic and cultural in relation to Russian.

The above, in turn, makes it possible to make a comparative analysis of the structure and functional load of the syllable and word, as well as the features of the prosodic system in the Russian and Chinese languages.

Syllable structure:

1) in the Russian language, a syllable acts as a minimal pronunciation unit. In Chinese, the syllable is the basic structural unit of the language;

2) quantitative composition Russian elephant is quite wide: from one to ten syllables and even more. In Chinese, one character represents one syllable. And in modern Chinese, one word can consist of one, two, three or four syllables, but no more. Most layers are disyllabic. It is disyllabicity that is the main feature of the syllabic structure of a modern Chinese word;

3) hedgehogs are not related to the morphological division of the Russian language, but in the Chinese language most syllables are identical to morphemes;

4) in the Russian language there is no rigid scheme for constructing syllables (they can be open and closed); it is most characterized by open syllables consisting of a consonant and a vowel. As part of a Russian syllable, both diphthongs and consonantal combinations are possible, but the latter are excluded in the structure of the Chinese atora.

5) a syllable in Russian is not a prosodic unit, but a carrier of prosodic characteristics. A syllable in Chinese is a unit of sound and meaning. Almost every syllable has a certain tone.

Word structure:

1) The main method of word formation in the Russian language is affixation. The lexical meaning is contained in the root; affixes modify this meaning or, along with inflections, perform a formative function. The main method of word formation in Chinese is the addition of syllables (for example, doubling syllables with their tonal characteristics);

2) The most typical rhythmic patterns in the Russian language are 3 and 5 complex; in Chinese, the main part of the vocabulary is two-syllable words;

3) In the Russian language, the prosodic structure of a word is formed by the ratio of stressed and unstressed syllables. In Chinese, the prosodic structure of a word is the sum of the tones of the syllables included in its composition with possible modifications of tonal characteristics determined by the patterns of implementation of tones in a given position.

A comparative analysis of the prosody of words in the Russian and Chinese languages ​​allows us to conclude that the prosodic system of the Chinese language is highly specific in comparison with the Russian language, which, of course, determines the qualitative and quantitative nature of violations of the prosodic design of words by the Chinese.

Firstly, “for Chinese students of the Russian language, what is new is the very inequality of the subsegmental characteristics of syllables in a word: the concentration of differential signs of Russian stress on the stressed syllable and the reduction of unstressed syllables (the culminating function of Russian stress). As a result, the Chinese may find it difficult to determine the place of the stressed syllable syllable in the perception of Russian speech. This discrepancy in the way of designing the prosodic shell of words in the Russian and Chinese languages ​​during speech production can manifest itself as “chopped speech”, a desire for syllable-by-syllable design of the sound chain" [Ivanova 1994,67].

Secondly, the spontaneous layering of a speaker of the Chinese language is characterized, on the one hand, by a significant number of open syllables within morphemes, although open syllables are not predominant (right, then), and, on the other hand, by the desire to avoid clusters consonants by isolating individual sounds as independent syllables. This is explained by the influence of two language systems - native and foreign - on the features of intuitive syllable division: the Chinese language is characterized by open-type syllables and morphemes (moreover, consonantal combinations are prohibited).

Thirdly, the implementation of differential features of Russian accent is a barrier for the Chinese, i.e. highlighting a stressed syllable by increasing the duration of the sound, since the duration feature is a constant feature of each syllable, as shown in our experiment. In this regard, the Chinese may not experience quantitative reduction in Russian unstressed syllables. In other words, in their pronunciation the intervals between syllables are the same in duration.

Fourth, the Chinese shift the stress to the beginning of the word, because in Chinese the first syllable of a polysyllabic word tends to retain its tonal characteristics, while other syllables may modify them. This violation is explained by the fact that in Chinese an unstressed syllable is not possible at the beginning of words.

Fifthly, the free and flexible nature of Russian stress can cause a large number of violations in the oral speech of the Chinese associated with incorrect placement of stress in words. This may be explained by the absence of various kinds of peripheral associations that spontaneously arise when using their native language: the Chinese “rely on the idea of ​​a “typical” stress, i.e., most characteristic of a particular structure” [Trofimova 1996, 182].

The second chapter, “The Phonetic Nature of Russian and Chinese Word Stress (Experimental Research),” outlines the methodology, material and results of the experiment, aimed at analyzing the phonetic features of stressed and unstressed syllables in the Russian and Chinese languages ​​and establishing the proportion of stressed and unstressed syllables in terms of sound duration, intensity and height in two- and three-syllable words. In the same chapter we will compare

gel apalnch of the quality of stressed and unstressed syllables of the Russian and Chinese languages ​​and changes in word stress in the flow of speech.

Both Russian and Chinese words are divided into two groups - stressed and unstressed. In the Russian language, stress, as a rule, characterizes every full-valued word (with the exception of some stable prepositional-reliable constructions such as iz home, across the sky, takes by the soul, etc.), and stress is not a possible, but an obligatory constitutive feature of the word. Except for one stressed syllable, in a Russian full-valued word all other syllables are unstressed. But in the Russian language, stressed words, in addition to their own stressed words, also include an elephant with a secondary stress, although there are few such words.

Unlike the Russian language, in the Chinese language stress is closely related to the etymological tone, and syllables are contrasted not only with untoppedness, but also with unstressedness. According to the opinion of I GA.Sisshn, ""in the Chinese language there are stressed and unstressed syllables, and stressed syllables are divided into strongly stressed and weakly stressed" [("Peshnev 1980.71]*.

Basic concepts of the degree of stress in Russian and Chinese languages

for the Russian language according to stress but;uiiiic;n. ness percussive AlliriCJIMIMfl unaccented short

by intensity intense weak

for Chinese according to stress stressed unstressed

sksh, when£NYL low-impact

by duration long intermediate short

but intensity strong medium weak

in height poly-tinted (full) tinted (incomplete) light (zero)

“In understanding the terms “duration, intensity and height” we follow N.A. Speshnev, T.N. Zadoenko and L.T. Zubkova (Spishsv 19X0, Zadoenko 19X0, 19X3, Zubkova 1985]. They described the acoustic signs of word stress in Russian and Chinese languages. At the same time, in our work we also used other terms: “long, intermediate and short syllable”, which denote the relative size of the sound of syllables in time (longitude).

Since our experimental analysis involves taking into account three physical characteristics: duration, intensity of sounds and pitch of the fundamental tone, let us clarify some concepts again.

Our research was conducted in the Speech Analysis Laboratory of the Acoustics Research Institute at Nanjing University (PRC) under the direction of Professors Zhuguo Ying and Bao Ziwei.

A phonetic oscilloscope and a sound analyzer were used. The installation diagram is presented on rns.2.

Microphone^» Mshnshofop

Phonetic osshiiknraf

[ IU and FF -----

I ChNU KO- ​​I Lillich

"Zyaukosnsktroshishgmtor

-----"(IU and FF]

1" [MDCHH j

(.ChP"HRC) |

7!*___(~pevm 1

Recorder (printer)

(monitor)) Fig. 2 Scheme of the experimental setup.

After control listening, the source materials were fed through a microphone or tape recorder to a 7800 type phonetic oscilloscope and a sound spectrum analyzer, and through them to an instrumentation amplifier (IA), a frequency filter (PF) and an amplitude modulator.

frequency characteristics (MAFC), which made it possible to process signals that were input into the central parts of the instruments - “Sound Analysis” and “Spectroanalysis”, which made it possible to establish their phonetic characteristics and produce results in the form of sound graphics and spectrographs. These results were then displayed on the recorder and screen. Using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), audio signals were converted into digital ones, which, in turn, were processed by a computer (PC).

Acoustic analysis was carried out on three physical characteristics: by duration, intensity of sounds and pitch of the fundamental tone. For duration and frequency characteristics, both absolute and relative values ​​were taken into account, while for intensity, only the relative value was taken into account.

Fragments from the books “Sound and Intonation of Russian Speech” [Bryzgunova 1981, 12-79], “Russian Language for Everyone”, “Rhythmic Organization of the Flow of Chinese Speech” [Zadoenko 1980, 211-258] were used as source materials. and “Phonetics of the Chinese language” [Speshnev 1980, 120141]. These materials were read in such a way that each word was repeated at least 3 times, and each type of syllable was repeated 16~25 times (this increased the reliability of the results obtained). Materials in Chinese, read by Zhuguo Ping and Wang Enyoi, who have experience as announcers, were also used. The total number of words used in the experiment is 409.

In our experimental study we obtained the following results:

By duration of sound

Russian stressed syllables predominate over unstressed syllables in terms of sound duration (ratio 1:0.18 - 1:0.95), although there are unstressed syllables in disyllabic words that are longer than stressed syllables. In Russian disyllabic words with a final stressed syllable like - - the ratio of the sound duration of unstressed and stressed syllables is 0.4:1 ~ 1:1. Words whose final stressed syllable is longer than the initial one account for 66%. In disyllabic words with an initial stressed syllable tina - - the ratio stressed: unstressed is 1.5:1 ~ 2.14:1. Almost all stressed beginnings are longer than unstressed endings.

In almost 90% of three-syllable Russian words, stressed syllables are pronounced longer than unstressed ones, and the ratio of stressed to unstressed syllables in duration is as follows:

A. type - - ^ 1: 1.47: 2.7

b. type -"-- 2.12:1:1.168

V. type--- 1:1.715:1.419

A. 78% of the initial syllables of all disyllabic words are shorter than stressed, 11% are equal to stressed. The remaining 11% are longer drums.

b. The initial syllable in disyllabic words (on average 311 ms) is longer than in three-syllable words (on average 178 ms), apparently because in disyllabic words the initial syllable is located immediately before the stressed one, i.e. it is the initial syllable , on the one hand, and the first pre-stressed syllable, on the other hand.

V. Half of the overstressed syllables are shorter than the final ones - 50%; 31% equals final. There are also syllables that are longer than the final -20%.

d. The duration of the sound of the final syllable is longer than the duration of the initial syllable. The sound duration of the first pre-stressed syllable and the post-stressed syllable are similar.

Among Russian words with side stress, 56% of stressed syllables are longer than syllables with side stress (their ratio is 1.3:1 -2:1). In 22% of cases, syllables under secondary stress are longer than stressed ones (their ratio is 0.5:1 ~ 0.8:1). And in the remaining 22% of words, the duration of stressed syllables under secondary stress is the same (their ratio is 1:1).

So, “duration is the most stable prosodic feature of Russian verbal stress” [Zubkova 1985,103].

To analyze the length of sound in Chinese disyllabic words, we used the results of Lin Tao and Wang Lijia (Peking University), who believe that “disyllabic words with a weakly stressed final syllable gradually leads to a reduction in the duration of the final syllables. The shorter the weakly stressed syllable becomes, the more it approaches unstressed, the more auditors (listeners) confuse it with an unstressed syllable" (Lin Tao, Wang Lijia, 1994, 178]. That's why auditors read

ua1 1oi2 ("A; duck's head) and ua1 1oi° (girl);

ta1 1oig horse's head) and ta5 1oi° (YA; port).

In two-syllable words, where both syllables are considered stressed, they can be divided into strongly stressed and weakly stressed, and their difference in sound duration is not significant, and unstressed syllables are represented in them in a very limited number. In most Chinese disyllabic words, final stressed syllables take longer to read than initial ones, although the difference is not very large. High-impact final ones are quite clearly distinguished from low-impact initial ones.

The results of Lin Tao's experiments show that the Chinese stressed syllable in disyllabic words is almost 1.5 times longer than unstressed ones [Lin Tao, Wang Lijia, 1985,167].

Different durations of tones (3>2>1>4), as well as the sequence of syllables, affect the frequency and duration of the tone. Many people write about this, and therefore we will consider the status of only the third tone.

The third tone, combined with another tone, changes according to certain patterns: under the influence of the subsequent syllable, it becomes a semitone ( - or ). This means that a syllable with a third tone precedes syllables with the first, second and fourth tones and is pronounced with a semi-third tone: ->. If two syllables with the same third tone are combined, then in the first syllable the third tone turns into a fourth: ->.

Changing the final part of the third tone shortens its length. But even after the change, the third tone remains the longest lasting. Consequently, the relative duration of the sound of a syllable is determined not by the combination of tone, but by the place of the syllable in the word. In turn, the duration of the sound of a syllable in a three-syllable word varies depending on the place of the syllable in the word. The results of our experiment show:

1. If there is no unstressed syllable in a word, then the following ratio is observed: strongly stressed: weakly stressed: More weakly stressed -1.78:1.35:1 ~ 1.15:1.1:1. The distance between strongly stressed and weakly stressed syllables is not too significant (1.78-1.35), as is the distance between weakly stressed and weaker stressed syllables (1.35-1). Sometimes they turn out to be almost equal (1.1-1).

2. If an unstressed syllable is in the middle of a word, then the following ratio is observed: strongly stressed: weakly stressed: unstressed - 1.97:1.75:1 ~1.13:1.09:1. The distance between fully stressed and weakly stressed syllables (1.97-1) is greater than in words that do not have an unstressed syllable (1.78~ 1).

3. If the third syllable is unstressed, then the following relationship is observed: strongly stressed: weakly stressed: unstressed -

2.33:1.76:1 ~ 1.44:1.01 . A strongly stressed syllable and a bottom are more than times longer than an unstressed one. The range between high-impact and unimpacted is wider. The distance between high-impact and low-impact is significant (2.32-1.76).

4. Not all unstressed syllables are the shortest in a three-syllable word. In other words, unstressed “tsnn shen” are coordinated mainly with tone.

5. An unstressed syllable is more common in everyday words:

yayap (kai" kai° men2; open the door), a*" (mci2 ben3 shi°; no skill).

And it rarely appears in book speech and in the terms: zliuo2 mu4 niao3; woodpecker), 8t*K(qian2 shui3 ting3 ; submarine).

6. If in a three-syllable word a two-syllable word is distinguished, in turn, then a long syllable in a two-syllable word remains long in a three-syllable word:

(lbf fang0 ; example),* (da3 + bi3 lang0 ; give an example),

7. Long onset is almost characteristic feature words with a middle unstressed syllable.

i^* (ber£ shi° + da4; capable) -(284, 141,214),"

(baoJ bu0 zhun3; not guaranteed) - (241, 125, 217).

8. Three-syllable words consisting of a modifier and a qualifier are characterized by a long ending:

cai4 tang1 ; soup with cabbage) - (114, 163, 234), ShM (hong2 ze2 hu2; Lake "Hupze") - (245,140, ​​265).

9. In a word or combination like “verb + object”, the verb is usually continuous (it is more informative):

Ш-tt (dian) hong2 deng1 ; light a lantern) - (213, 200,192), (mai4 xi1 gua°; trade watermelons) - (244, 224, 100).

10. Those words that contain new information and that serve as “predicate” and “addition” are usually continuous.

^±(xue2 de « _huil ; can be learned) - (129, 142, 212), (jin1 lian0 zou3 ; leave today) - (155,181,190).

* A syllable with an underline is a long syllable.

"The numbers indicate the lengths of syllables obtained in chksnsrnmsnts (unit - ms).

By intensity

According to the traditional point of view, stress in Russian literary language defined as quantitative and dynamic (power).

According to our observations, in Russian two-syllable words, stressed vowels are sometimes pronounced more strongly than unstressed ones. This phenomenon is especially typical for words with an initial stressed syllable.

There is also the opposite relationship: unstressed ones are pronounced more strongly than stressed ones with a ratio of 1:1 - 1.22:1. This phenomenon often occurs in words with a final stressed syllable. Despite this, the vast majority of Russian syllables are pronounced more strongly than unstressed ones. Therefore, sound intensity is considered an important feature of Russian stress, although it is not the leading one.

So, the following is typical for Russian three-syllable layers:

1) in most cases the stressed syllable is the strongest in the word (58%);

2) the first pre-stressed syllable (except for the initial one) can be more intense than the stressed syllable (60%);

3) the intensity of most initial and final syllables is very close (57%);

4) the initial syllable is stronger than the stressed one (37.5%);

5) the overstressed syllable is not the weakest in the word. Most overstressed syllables (except those that are both overstressed and final) are stronger than final ones (75%).

Thus, the intensity of the stressed syllable is not the leading component of Russian stress.

If for Russian word stress the intensity of the syllable does not play very well important role, then it is even less important for the Chinese syllable. As evidenced by the results of experiments conducted by Lin Tao and Wang Lijia [Lin Tao, Wang Lijia 1985, 98], among the phonetic components of Chinese stress, the leading one is duration, not intensity. In other words, Chinese stress is mainly expressed by increasing the duration of the stressed vowel. For example, if you increase the strength of the unstressed (“qing shen” YY) final syllable in disyllabic words, then the quality of the unstressed syllable remains almost unchanged. The results of experimental studies conducted in the phonetic laboratory of the Academy of Social Sciences of the People's Republic of China [Wu Zhongji, Lin Maotsan 1989, 100] indicate that the difference in intensity between stressed and unstressed

stressed syllables in disyllabic words turn out to be small, and the stressed syllable is predominant. The ratio of stressed and unstressed syllables is 0.92:1-1.16:1. The intensity between the strong and middle syllables is almost the same. Data from the phonetic laboratory of Peking University show! that “in Chinese disyllabic words, the difference in intensity between strong and medial syllables is not very clear. Unstressed ones with a light top and intensity predominate” [Lnsh. “Gao, Pan Litchya 1CHH5, 170]. “)n> and There is one reason why a large number of Chinese syllables are read very clearly, clearly and strongly. The licrui vowel is more open and is pronounced with more intensity. For example, Lin Maotsan and Wu Zhongji, having analyzed 103 disyllabic words, found that “more than 70% of the initial syllables are pronounced with greater intensity, and they are open” [Wu Zhoshpi, Lin Maotsash. 1989, 100].

In other words, in the speech stream, the difference in the intensity of strong, middle and weak syllables in disyllabic words turns out to be imperceptible. This indicates that the difference in meaning - along with tone - involves the duration of the vowel, and not its intensity. Therefore, the Chinese do not notice the strengthening of Russian drums; they focus primarily on the tone of the syllable, and not on its duration or intensity. But it cannot be stated unconditionally that for Chinese two- and three-syllable words intensity is an absolutely insignificant factor.

Let's summarize some results:

1) Sound intensity is not a leading phonetic feature in both Russian and Chinese.

2) In Russian stress, intensity occupies a more important place than in Chinese. Russian stress is both quantitative and dynamic.

3) The most important phonetic features of Chinese accent are the etymological tone and duration of the sound. Intensity is a secondary factor. Strengthening the middle or unstressed syllable does not change lexical meaning words.

sheng" ji2 escalation), hepg min1 (AR.; people),

zhan4 dou* (öt^b; to fight), lao2 doag4 (^И; labor).

4) The intensity in Chinese three-syllable words is decreasing: a strong beginning and a weak ending.

5) The Chinese hear only the tone, and the duration and intensity of the syllable are outside the field of their consciousness. The sequence is long

The meaning of the four tops is as follows: 3>2>1>4, since syllables with third and second tones are pronounced longer and are perceived as stressed. For example:

liane3 ge4 ren2 (WtA). zhuo* mu* niao^

By pitch

Pitch is one of the components of stress. If the stress is based primarily on tone, then it qualifies as musical (tonic) stress. Russian verbal stress is not musical. Raising and lowering pitch (melody) are a component of intonation, not stress, and are correlated with the type of utterance, the syntactic structure of the phrase or its modality.

Let's consider the intonation structure (IS) of the Russian language and its deviations among the Chinese (frequency IC-1 - IC-4), explained by the fact that the Chinese mix the intonation structures of the Russian language with the tonal, rhythmic and intonation characteristics of their native language.

In both Russian and Chinese there are Various types stress: verbal, syntagmatic, phrasal and emphatic (logical and ■emotional). The main type of stress is verbal. The change in verbal stress in the speech stream, in our opinion, depends on: 1) strengthening the last stress in the syntagm; 2) lengthening the last stress in the syntagma; 3) melodic characteristics of the syntagma.

The tone of Russian verbal stress, which is not at the same time syntagmatic stress, does not play a role in distinguishing meaning. But when the verbal stress coincides with the syntagmatic one, it turns out to be the center of the syntagma and will acquire a certain melodic characteristic.

Syntagma in the Chinese language, as in Russian, is formed from groups of words that represent a single semantic whole and have a phonetic design.

Since the division of a phrase into syntagms is closely related to its grammatical structure, syntagmatic stress is closely related to the grammatical structure of the phrase:

1) Syntagmatic (phrasal) stress often falls on the predicate, since the predicate is the rheme of the utterance (the carrier of a new message).

2) The circumstance before the predicate verb or adjective is marked with syntagmatic (phrasal) stress.

3) The addition after a predicate verb or adjective is marked with syntagmatic (phrasal) stress.

4) Syntagmatic stress is also characteristic of interrogative and demonstrative pronouns.

Based on the results of experimental studies, we will try to give an interpretation of the Chinese violations of the phonetic nature of the Russian word, as well as its prosodic system.

Firstly, a great difficulty for the Chinese is the implementation of differential features of Russian accent, i.e. highlighting the stressed syllable by increasing the duration of the sound and increasing the intensity, which are important components of Russian stress. But to our observation, this difficulty arises from a specific reference point, according to which duration is the main prosodic feature of the Chinese language. Chinese vocabulary consists mainly of heavily stressed and weakly stressed syllables, between which there is a slight difference in duration. There are relatively few words with a final unstressed syllable (with a light tone) (this means two-syllable words with a final nominative). Statistical analysis disyllabic words consisting of significant morphemes, which was carried out according to the data of the "Phonetic Dictionary of the Chinese Language", showed that among 33295 disyllabic words, 1084 words are pronounced with a final unstressed syllable (3.25%) ["Phonetic Dictionary of the Chinese Language" 1964]. The vast majority of words (96.75%) refer to words in which both syllables are either strongly stressed or weakly stressed. They retain full tone and clearly defined sound composition.

Over the past decade, the Chinese language has seen a trend towards less use of light-tone syllables. Many syllables pronounced by the older generation with a light tone are pronounced by the youth with full realization of their tonal characteristics.

Putonghua is spreading throughout the country. More and more Nspekians speak with an accent. Moreover, they pronounce them based on their spelling (almost all syllables and they have stress).

Secondly, the Chinese, out of habit, strengthen unstressed syllables in the flow of Russian speech: 1) Many Russian stressed syllables are pronounced more strongly than others. The difference in intensity between percussive and non-percussive

stress in the flow of Chinese speech is not very large. Parade with tone, the main phonetic means is duration, not intensity (and this feature is, in our opinion, a characteristic ethnotypical element of Chinese verbal behavior). 1 (this is why the Chinese almost do not notice the increase in the strength of stress. 2) Each Russian word has one stressed syllable, and unstressed syllables are perceived as almost homogeneous. Chinese words are not "limited" to one stress, and they very rarely combine unstressed syllables. Therefore, the Chinese strengthen and lengthen unstressed syllables, highlighting them within the aisles of one Russian word.

Thirdly, during the perception and production of speech, one can expect a shift of stress to the beginning of the word, since in Chinese the first syllable of words can be strongly stressed, weakly stressed, but in no case unstressed. In many Chinese disyllabic words, the final stressed syllables are longer than the initial ones, but the difference in duration is not very large. And three-syllable words are characterized by a long beginning and end. In this regard, the Chinese get used to lengthening and strengthening the initial syllables of any Russian word, despite the fact that they may be unstressed.

Fourthly, in a Russian phrase there is only one intonation center (core), which stands out against the background of other vocal stresses. According to our observations, the Chinese raise the tone of Russian stressed and even unstressed syllables and form a stream of Russian speech with many peaks of the same height and intensity.

The reasons for this violation, in our opinion, are closely related to the tonal features of the syllabary structure of the Chinese language. The fact is that each Chinese syllable retains its tonal characteristic, and stress in the Chinese language is expressed both by an increase in the duration of the stressed vowel and by the fullness of the frequency contour. In the flow of speech, the syllabic tone changes constitutively, but this change is limited by the tone. The syllabic top is present in both stressed and unstressed syllables. The Chinese are unusual in lowering the tone of Russian drums, which leads to the appearance of an elephant with several accents.

The Conclusion summarizes the results of the study.

Language ranks first among the nationally specific components of culture and is the main ethno-differentiating feature of an ethnic group.

Being the result of the internal mechanism of interaction between the phonetic systems of two languages, the phonetic appearance of an utterance in a non-native language also reflects the national and cultural specifics of verbal (speech) behavior.

The main prosodic characteristic that organizes words in the Russian language is stress, and in the Chinese language it is gon, which forms the speech rhythm of Chinese speech.

The Chinese language is characterized by a strict syllabic structure. The strict sequence and norms of mutual compatibility of the constituent elements of a syllable also indicate that syllabs are not mutually opposed, but differ from each other in the elements of their sound structure.

Chinese words and phrases are organized according to certain rhythmic patterns and patterns of alternation of tones. The special syllabic structure and rhythmic characteristics of the language form among the Chinese a special “syllabic feeling” of speech and are the basic reason for violations of the prosodic formation of Russian words due to the “desire for syllable-by-syllable formation of the sound chain” [Ivanova, 1994, 67]. In other words, the “syllabic feeling” among the Chinese is an important specific element of Chinese ethos.

In our opinion, it is 1) the syllabic structure of the Chinese language that is the basic component that specifies the cultural behavior of a native speaker of the Chinese language; 2) speakers of different cultural traditions perceive the prosodic characteristics of language differently, and it is precisely this perception that indicates their cultural orientation in the environment of verbal behavior.

The results of our experiments can also be considered in favor of the fact that the violation of the prosodic design of Russian words by the Chinese is due to the specifics of the Chinese syllabary system and its rhythmic features.

The main provisions of the dissertation are reflected in the following publication;

Comparison of Russian and Chinese word stress. "Current issues of Chinese linguistics" (6th All-Russian Conference). Moscow, 1992, pp. 161-162.

Pech. l. Circulation -///^

Printing house MPEI, Krasnokazarmennaya. 13.

*Note: For those who are just starting to learn Chinese, we advise you to return to this lesson after completing the basic course, since the main objective This lesson is to provide theoretical knowledge on correct intonation and stress in Chinese. This assumes that the listener already knows some basic Chinese, so many words are given without translation or transcription.

Pronunciation and intonation

Despite the fact that we give this lesson immediately after the phonetic one, we want to immediately warn that for beginners it may seem quite difficult. Here we will describe the norms of pronunciation and intonation of words, phrases and sentences in the Chinese language, as well as the correct placement of stress. We advise you to return to this lesson at different stages of language acquisition as often as possible in order to improve your speech and try to speak as correctly as possible.

Let's start the conversation with word stress.

Syllables in Chinese, as we already know, have a certain tone. But in addition to tone, they can be emphasized in speech. According to the strength of stress, syllables are divided into strongly stressed, weakly stressed and unstressed.

1. In an unstressed syllable there is a loss of the fundamental tone (we already talked about this earlier). In most two-syllable words in Chinese, both syllables are stressed. But there are many words with different stresses on syllables. There are, of course, words in which the second syllable is pronounced without stress.

For example:
1. Low impact first, strong impact second: 汉语, 老师
2. High-impact first, weak-impact second: 什么，大夫，你们
3. When doubling a syllable in nouns, the first syllable will be stressed and the second will be unstressed:

For example:
妈妈，爸爸，爷爷

3．A similar situation occurs in words with the suffix “子”：
孩子，孔子，筷子

4. When doubling a one-syllable verb, the first syllable becomes stressed and the second unstressed, and when doubling a two-syllable verb, the first syllable of each verb is pronounced under stress.

For example:
看看, 帮助帮助，介绍介绍

5．When combining a numeral with a counting word, the numeral will be stressed and the counting word will be unstressed.

For example:
二本书 - two books
三辆车 - 3 cars
十张桌子 - 10 tables

The numeral 十 (10) is worth talking about separately. When used independently, 十 is stressed, but if another numeral 十三 (13) is added to it, then 十 becomes unstressed, and 三 becomes stressed. Conversely, if 十 is the second component of the numeral, as, for example, in 三十 (30), then 十 is stressed and 三 is unstressed.

If after it there is also a counting word 三十张桌子, then the counting word will be stressed, and 十 will be weakly stressed.

6．Stress in polysyllabic words

As a rule, in words consisting of three syllables, last syllable will be stressed, and the first and second will be weakly stressed and unstressed, respectively.

For example:
中文系
留学生
图书馆

7．Modal particles （呢，啊，哦, etc.）are pronounced in a neutral tone.

8. “一” between verbs is read almost unstressed. In this case, only the first verb is stressed.
看一看，找一找，谈一谈

We seem to have sorted out the stress in words. Now let's talk about intonation in Chinese sentences.

In Chinese exists two main types of intonation in sentences: decreasing intonation (weakening of the voice at the end of the sentence) and rising intonation (the voice does not decrease at the end of the sentence).

Interrogative sentences They are mainly pronounced with rising intonation, and narrative ones with falling intonation. It is worth noting that the Chinese language has a lot different types interrogative sentences (we will talk about this later), so different intonation is also possible in them.