A Government-phonological Account of Zhenjiang Tone Sandhi

Junjie He

Abstract: Zhenjiang dialect is deemed as typical of combining contour change and register change in the sandhi process, both of which were considered to be motivated by separate causes and therefore were two distinct processes. This paper argues that Zhenjiang tone sandhi can be explained within the framework of Government Phonology with the conclusion that register change results naturally from the regulation of licensing constraint, a fundamental constraint with the tonal system. As a result, the unwelcome integration of separate processes of contour change and register change can be avoided.