絕非若有似無：卓克基嘉戎語的缺性聲調系統

By No Means Marginal: Privative Tone in Zhuokeji Rgyalrong

卓克基嘉戎語長久以來都被歸類為無聲調語言，也有學者稱其聲調「若有似無」。本文廣泛援引詞彙及形態結構的豐富證據，論證卓克基嘉戎語的聲調系統絕非若有似無，其功能也不囿限於局部少量的語意對立。相反地，卓克基嘉戎語的聲調貫穿詞彙與語法的層次，不但能區別詞彙語意，更是所有語法範疇在構建時不可或缺的組成部件。本文主張卓克基嘉戎語是不折不扣的聲調語言，其系統為缺性聲調系統，呈現出降調 /HL/ 與零聲調 /Æ/ 相對的格局。此語言聲調對立的基本定義域為詞，至於每個詞的表面調型如何體現調節，則取決於其所處之形態結構與範疇。從聲調類型學的角度來剖析，卓克基嘉戎語的聲調是「亞洲」與「非洲」聲調系統的特質兼而有之。

This paper presents a wealth of evidence from lexical distinctions and from a wide range of morphological constructions, establishing that Zhuokeji is by no means atonal, nor are tonal modifications restricted to a small range of uses. Instead, in addition to being employed to contrast lexical meanings, tones also serve as an essential device in the formation of all sorts of grammatical categories. This paper demonstrates that Zhuokeji Rgyalrong is a tone language that exhibits a privative system in which /HL/ contrasts with /Ø/. The basic domain of the tonal contrast is the word, and the surface phonological representation of every word is sensitive to the morphological contexts it is situated in. With respect to typology of tone systems, Zhuokeji tone bears both “Asian” and “African” tonal properties.