Chinese Phonetics

This class uses the actual phonetic situation of Mandarin Chinese to explore basic concepts and research methods in phonetics.

The specific content in this course includes the biology of phonetics, the physics of phonetics, psychological foundations, an introduction to the real manifestations of Chinese phonetics’ syllabic structure, tones, vowels, consonants, rhythm and intonation. The instructor will detail the procedures for using phonetic experiments to analyze tones, vowels, consonants and intonation. In addition, the course will also cover the process of acquisition of Chinese phonetics for both first- and second-language learners, contact and development between languages and dialects, and other topics, building extensions upon the foundation of basic research.

If prerequisites are met, students may choose one to two themes and undertake an experiment and analysis. This will give students the opportunity to gain real experience with phonetic research, and through involving themselves in the process, they will gain enthusiasm about the topic, and will also develop and strengthen their academic research abilities.