An Optimality Theory Perspective on Mandarin Tone 3 Sandhi

In analyses of the Mandarin tonal system, the voice range is divided into five levels: upper, upper middle, middle, lower middle and lower. The numbers from 1 to 5 can be used to designate these levels, where 1 represents the lowest comfortable pitch of the vocal range and 5 represents the highest. The first tone (55) is high and level. It is pitched near the top of the comfortable voice range. The second tone (35) starts around the middle of the voice range 3 and rises straight towards the level of the first tone 5. The third tone (214) begins near the bottom of the comfortable voice 2, proceeds to the bottom 1, and then upward to end above the middle 4. The fourth tone (51) begins at the top of the comfortable range 5 and falls quickly to the bottom 1 (Ch‟en et al., 1994).