本論文以構音的角度探討台灣華語CV、GV、CGV音節之時間上交互關係，並試圖解決華語音節結構上元音前滑音（亦即「介音」）的音韻及語音地位之爭議。本論文有六位台灣華語語者。錄製構音數據的實驗儀器使用電磁構音儀（Electromagnetic Articulography，EMA）。我們錄製及分析了華語的六組音節配對，其中每一組有使用相同的C、G、V的CV、GV、CGV三種不同的音節。我們首先計算各組CV、GV、CGV之C–C、G–G及C–G時間差。我們以構音的角度證實：（一）CGV音節中台灣華語G–V時間上關係較之於C–V時間上關係還要來得緊密；（二）GV較CV短。另外，關於台灣華語滑音的地位，本研究結果顯示滑音並非聲母的次要發音（secondary articulation）。撇除一些能以構音的角度解釋的「異常」數據，本研究支持介音不屬聲也不屬韻。

In this thesis, we examine the articulatory timing patterns of CV, GV and CGV in Taiwanese Mandarin, aiming at exploring the issue of phonetic and phonological status of the prenuclear glides (or, the “medial”). Six monolingual speakers of Taiwanese Mandarin were recruited to the Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) experiments. Six triads of CV, GV, and CGV, differing in segmental contents are collected and analyzed. The C–C, C–G, G–G timing relationships within and between CV, GV and CGV are calculated for each triad. Some of our major findings are as follows. (i) Taiwanese Mandarin favors a sequential C–G relation in CGV, and (ii) GV is shorter than CV from an articulatory point of view. As for the affiliation of the prenuclear glides, the results of our EMA study suggest that G cannot be a secondary articulation, as is widely accepted. Instead, the prenuclear glides, with some “aberrant” patterns, are better understood as a distinct unit on its own right, at least in terms of articulatory timing relationships.

ABSTRACT I
摘要 III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT V
LIST OF FIGURES IX
LIST OF TABLES XIII
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 BACKGROUNDS 5
2.1 Mandarin syllable structure 5
2.1.1 Phonotactics regarding medials 5
2.1.2 Hypotheses on the Mandarin medials 10
2.2 Temporal organization in other languages 13
2.2.1 The C-center pattern in English syllable onsets 13
2.2.2 The right-aligned pattern in Moroccan Arabic onsets 16
2.2.3 Application and limitations in Taiwanese Mandarin 17
3 METHOD 19
3.1 Experimental designs 19
3.1.1 Speakers 19
3.1.2 Materials 19
3.1.3 Data acquisition 20
3.1.4 Experimental procedures 22
3.2 Measurements 23
3.3 Quantifying temporal patterns 27
3.3.1 Temporal intervals 27
3.3.2 Temporal differences 29
3.3.3 Possible temporal patterns 32
3.3.4 Statistical models 35
4 RESULTS 37
4.1 Temporal patterns 37
4.1.1 [ka~wa~kwa] 38
4.1.2 [kei̯~wei̯~kwei̯] 41
4.1.3 [pei̯~jɛ~pjɛ] 44
4.1.4 [tei̯~wei̯~twei̯] 48
4.1.5 [ta~ja~tja] 51
4.1.6 [tou̯~jou̯~tjou̯] 54
4.1.7 Summary 58
4.2 The syllable structure of Mandarin CGV 64
4.3 Effects of unequal rime length on temporal pattern 67
5 CONCLUSION 69
REFERENCES 71

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