| Issue No. |
Vol.04 |
| Title |
Word Frequency and Sound Change: The Analysis of [ə] Vowel of Tainan Southern Min |
| Author |
Hsu, Hui-ju |
| Page |
87-107 |
| Abstract |
This study analyzed the [ə]-rhymed words in the spontaneous speech of 8 speakers in the Tainan dialect of Taiwan Southern Min. The results indicated that among the 42 observed [ə]-rhymed words, [ə]/[ɔ] fee variation was practiced on 19 words, indicating the ongoing collapse of the phonemic contrast between these two vowels in Tainan dialect. In addition, statistical analysis displayed significant correlation between the [ə]/[ɔ] free variation and word frequency. Words of high frequency tends to perform [ə]/[ɔ] free variation. |
| Keyword |
Taiwanese, Southern Min, dialectology, sound change, Tainan dialect, word frequency, Southern Min dialect |
| Attached File |
File download |
