轻声的宏观历史发展

On The Development of The Neutral Tone

异地共时的各方言轻声构成了一个历时的轻声序列。音段的弱化将导致音节的缩短变质,并融合进前音节中,声调的发展则由独立的特定变调转为短调,最终彻底失落本调。轻声起于声调退化,是声调的消亡而非新增。

This article expounds the macro development of the Neutral Tone at the two levels of segments and tones, and reconstructs the diachronic sequence of the Neutral Tone with synchronic dialects. Thus Beijing Dialect （the base of Mandarin） is put into a dynamic system. The Neutral Tone comes from the degragation instead of the increasing of tones.