Tone 4 and Tone 3 discrimination in Modern Standard Chinese

Productions of tone 4 & tone 3 (mai/mai 'sell'/'buy') in comparable sentences suggests that although the two tones are realized in different ways by different speakers in different speech acts, some features are constant. Tone 3 is connected with a low pitch level throughout the second half of the vowel & tone 4 with a gradual fall over the main part of the vocalic segment. These observations were tested in a series of manipulations of pitch movements over mai from tone 4 to tone 3 in the sentence Song Yan mai niurou 'Song Yan sells beef'. The manipulated sentences were presented in a test, in which listeners (N = 18 native speakers) were asked if they heard mai or mai. The result confirmed the observed constant features & indicated in addition that it was important for both tones to have a clear reference. The identification of tone 4 was favored by an introductory rising or level part, & for tone 3 an introductory fall seemed to be important. Creaky voice is a concomitant but not a necessary feature of tone 3.