亮度原则与临摹顺序--汉语异韵拟声词的语音规律与成因

Brightness Principle and Iconicity Order:Phonological Characteristics and Origins of Onomatopoetic Words with Different Finals in Chinese

不少研究指出,以北京话为主的某些拟声词(如"滴答"、"叮咚"、"叽里咕噜"、"乒零乓啷"、"扑通"、"唧里咯当"等),前面韵母往往用[i]类元音,后面韵母往往用[a]、[u]类元音。前面韵母可以没有鼻音韵尾,但如有鼻音韵尾,则后面韵母必有鼻音韵尾,等等。文章重新分析了拟声词的这些语音规律,认为支配这些语音规律的应该是亮度(brightness)原则,即拟声词前一二分单位的亮度不能低于后一二分单位的亮度。文章进一步分析讨论了亮度原则的客观原因,认为这一原则是与人耳的听觉感知特性相适应的,而人耳的听觉感知特性又是由人耳客观的生理基础及外在声音的客观声学属性决定的。

Many studies pointed out that [i] type vowels tend to present themselves in the first part of onomatopoetic words, while [a],[u] type vowels are tend to in the second part in Chinese, such as ＂dida＂, ＂clingdong＂, ＂jiligulu＂ and ＂pinglingpanglang＂, etc. This paper argues that this actually relates to the brightness principle： the brightness of the vowels in the firstt part should not be lower than those in the second part in onomatopoetic words. This is because the hearing of human beings is more sensitive to the sounds with higher frequencies, which is then decided by the length and resonance characteristics of the ear canal. That is to say, the brightness principle of the onomatopoetic words has its physiological basis.