The Morphology of Cantonese “Changed Tone”: Extensions and Limitations

Abstract

Cantonese substitutes a base tone with either a high-level or high-rising tone in certain derived environments, a kind of process morphology dubbed pinjam (變音) “changed tone”. We develop a comprehensive analysis of Cantonese pinjam morphology that predicts this tonal change as the realization of a tonal affix that is shaped by both language particular patterns and universal constraints. The predictions of this core analysis are then used to explore a range of morphological and syntactic constructions that also have a pinjam, but have not been fully analyzed in prior research. This investigation also makes an empirical contribution by showing how the core analysis can extend naturally to many under-studied constructions, as well as documenting some of the limits of this analysis.