Independent depressor and register effects in Wu dialect tonology: Evidence from Wenzhou tone sandhi

This paper presents an analysis based on new acoustic data from tones and tone sandhi in Wenzhou dialect. The data provide evidence for the independent existence of a Depresssor as well as the Tonal Register and Tonal melodic component in the tonology. For example, a convex [343 or 342] pitch is shown to result from a depressor effect on a tone with high falling pitch. Comparisons are drawn with acoustics of other Wu dialects and Zulu. It is suggested that 'murmur' in many Wu dialects is actually Depression, but that Depression is not associated with non-vocalic segments, as it typically is in some African tone languages.