Abstract
The present study investigates the effect triggered by five-syllable focused constituents upon the pitch and durational patterns in mandarin. Results of experiment demonstrate that focus raises the H tones of each focused syllable and the magnitude of such rising is largest in the final syllable. For the durational adjustment of the constituents, although all the syllables observe lengthening, the greatest change lies in the final syllable. Based on the pitch and durational patterns of the five-syllable words, we propose that the effect of focus in mandarin is sensitive to the metrical structure of the focused constituents, specifically, metrically strongest position deserves greatest pitch risings and durational changes.
| Keywords: | focused constituents; five-syllable constituents; pitch pattern; durational pattern |
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