本篇論文旨在利用電磁構音記錄儀研究兩種華語變體：臺灣華語及北京華語的鼻音韻尾合流現象。本文之主要目標有二。我們首先想從構音上的結果更明確地檢驗聲學上的結果，尤以臺灣華語的鼻音韻尾合流現象為主，譬如一直以來都在探究臺灣華語中的/in/與/iŋ/是否合流，以及倘若合流，何者為表層形式。另外，本文亦試圖找出VN韻母在臺灣華語及北京華語構音上的不同。本研究之最主要發現之一是，在所有臺灣華語語者中皆可發現軟顎鼻音韻尾/ŋ/在構音上有多種形式，即便在鼻音韻尾未合流的語境（例如/aŋ/）中，/ŋ/亦具備多種不同的構音形式。然而在北京華語當中，軟顎鼻音韻尾/ŋ/在構音上是非常穩定的。我們因而推論，在臺灣華語中，軟顎鼻音韻尾/ŋ/在構音上的不穩定性是導致臺灣華語鼻音韻尾合流（或趨同）的可能因素之一。此亦為本論文對更進一步理解臺灣華語鼻音韻尾所做的貢獻。

　　This thesis is an articulatory study of VN rimes in two varieties of Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Mandarin and Beijing Mandarin/Standard Chinese, using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA). The aims of this study are two-fold. Firstly, in addition to the previous impressionistic and acoustic studies, I examined the articulatory characteristics of coarticulatory patterns of VN rimes in Taiwanese Mandarin, in particular, the well-studied (in-)complete neutralization of the two coda nasals. For example, there is an on-going debate on whether /in/ and /iŋ/ is completely merged and if so, which one appears as the surface form. Secondly, a cross-dialectal study was also conducted to see if there is any is articulatory difference between the two varieties of Mandarin Chinese with respect to VN rimes. The tongue positions in various contexts were compared via a static, point-to-point comparison as well as tongue movement trajectories. One of the major findings is the velar nasal coda /ŋ/ does not often, if not always, maintain consistent articulation across all speakers in this study, even in “non-merging” environments such as /aŋ/. Importantly, this observation was not found in the results of Beijing Mandarin. It is thus concluded that the “instability” of the velar nasal coda in articulation can be regarded as one of the possible factors for the (near-)mergers of VN rimes in Taiwanese Mandarin. This thesis thus contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of coda nasals in Taiwanese Mandarin.

Table of Contents

Abstract I
Acknowledgements III
Table of Contents VII
List of Figures X
List of Tables XII
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Literature Review 5
2.1 Vowels and Consonants in Mandarin 5
2.2 Research on nasal codas in Taiwanese Mandarin 5
Chapter 3 Research Methods 8
3.1 Participants 8
3.2 Materials 8
3.3 Data collection 10
3.3.1 EMA 10
3.3.2 Procedure 11
3.4 Analysis 13
3.4.1 Transcription 13
3.4.2 Articulatory data analysis 13
3.4.2.1 Static Articulatory Data Analysis 13
3.4.2.2 Dynamic Articulatory Data Analysis 14
Chapter 4 Articulatory Patterns of Nasal Coda in Taiwanese Mandarin 16
4.1 Transcription results 16
4.1.1 Results of Beijing Mandarin speakers’ production 17
4.1.2 Results of Taiwanese Mandarin speakers’ production 18
4.2 Results for Articulatory Data 22
4.2.1 Results for Beijing Mandarin Speakers 22
4.2.2 Results for Taiwanese Mandarin Speakers 25
4.2.2.1 Articulatory Data for /an/ and /aŋ/ 25
4.2.2.2 Results of Articulatory Analyses for /ən/ and /əŋ/ 27
4.2.2.2.1 Results for /ən/ and /əŋ/ produced by Taiwanese speakers judged by the Chinese transcriber 28
4.2.2.2.2 Results for /ən/ and /əŋ/ produced by Taiwanese speakers and judged by the Taiwanese transcriber 30
4.2.2.3 Results of Articulatory Analyses for /in/ and /iŋ/ 34
4.2.2.3.1 Results for /in/ and /iŋ/ produced by Taiwanese speakers and judged by the Chinese transcriber 35
4.2.2.3.2 Results for /in/ and /iŋ/ produced by Taiwanese speakers and judged by the Taiwanese transcriber 38
Chapter 5 Dynamic Data Analysis 42
5.1 Results of Beijing Mandarin Speaker 42
5.2 Results for Taiwanese Mandarin Speakers 50
5.2.1 Results of Articulatory Analyses for ban and bang 51
5.2.2 Results of Articulatory Analyses for gen and geng 58
5.2.3 Results of Articulatory Analyses for bin and bing 65
Chapter 6 Discussion 73
6.1 Discussion for ban and bang Trajectories by Dynamic Data Analysis 73
6.2 Discussion for bin and bing Trajectories by Dynamic Data Analysis 75
Chapter 7 Conclusion 76
7.1 Summary 76
7.1.1 Static Articulatory Data Analysis 76
7.1.2 Dynamic Data analysis 76
7.2 Comparison between the results from the current study and previous studies 80
7.3 Conclusion 82
References 84
Appendix A Wordlist designed for this study 87
Appendix B Trajectories for the sensors for the SC speaker and TM speakers 89

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