This book conducts a thorough investigation of the variation in tone sandhi patterns of Shanghai and Wuxi Wu using quantitative rating experiments. Although Shanghai Wu has been well documented, to date there has never been any quantitative study that systematically investigates the factors that influence variability – a research gap this book fills. Further, Wuxi Wu is investigated as an additional case that demonstrates the unique phonological nature of tone sandhi, and how it changes ho...

The current book is the first systematic exposition and analysis of the structure and meaning aspects of the Chinese topic-comment structure. While early analyses of the Chinese topic (and topicalization) phenomena abound, in terms of its theoretical depth and empirical breadth the current book is unparalleled.The phenomenon of topics is a core concept in modern linguistics, and its research significance extends beyond the scope of Chinese linguistics, being a topic of common conce...