Segmental-Tonal Alignment Constraints in Southern Min

Zhangzhou Southern Min is theoretically assumed to have 7320 possible syllables but more than 70% of them are not attested in the empirical data, implying substantial constrains governing the segmental sequencing and segmental-suprasegmental alignment. This study investigates phonotactic constraints on tonal behaviors at the syllable level. It examines in what way tonal phonotactics occur and what mechanisms have blocked the co-occurrences between tones and syllable components (onsets and finals). The exploration is built upon an exhaustive survey on all possible combinations of tone, onset, and final to formulate attestable syllables that further perform lexical functions in this Sinitic dialect, which laid out a solid foundation for both diachronic and synchronic explanations. It substantially stretches our knowledge of tonal phonotactics as an important phonological phenomenon in Southern Min, while serving as a model for thorough investigations across Sinitic languages. It also contributes important linguistic data to the typology of phonotactics in world's natural languages, while shedding an important light on using experimental methods to model how human beings constrain speech patterns in their mental grammar and language practices.