Supplementary data for “Tones of Beijing dialect since 1900 and their evolution: Evidence from early recordings”

This repository provides raw data of citation tones of Beijing dialect extracted from recordings and experimental results since 1900.

Data sources

Early recordings

• Azoulay, Léon (ed.). 1900. Exposition Universelle de Paris, 1900.
  • Unpublished recordings on wax cylinders.
    The first take of citation tones of Beijing dialect is on item No. 78 (cylinder No. 115), and the second take is on items Nos. 76 & 77 (cylinders Nos. 109 & 110).
  • Digitized by the Centre de recherche en ethnomusicologie, Laboratoire d’ethnologie et de sociologie comparative. (Nos. 76, 77 & 78)
  • Extracted data: 1900 Azoulay, 1st take.csv and 1900 Azoulay, 2nd take.csv.
• Wang, Pu 王璞. 1920. Zhonghua Guoyin liushengjipian 中華國音留聲機片 [Chinese National Phonetic record]. Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company.
  • Six 11.5-inch 80 rpm vertical-cut phonograph records produced by Pathé Records in Paris.
    The demonstration of citation tones (Lesson 6) is on Disc 3, Side B, catalog number 34001⁶.
  • Partially digitized by the National Taiwan University Library. (Disc 3)
  • Extracted data: 1920 Wang.csv.
• Chao, Yuen Ren 趙元任. 1922a. Guoyu liushengji pian 國語留聲機片 [National Language record]. Shanghai: The Commercial Press.
  • Eight 10-inch 78 rpm phonograph records produced by Columbia Phonograph Company in New York, catalog number W1.
    The demonstration of citation tones (Lesson 7) is on Disc 4, Side A, matrix number 93282.
  • Digitized by the National Taiwan University Library. (Disc 4)
  • Also digitized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Library. (Discs 1–8) (not used in this study)
  • Extracted data: 1922a Chao.csv.
• Shu, Chien Chun. 1930. Chinese (Linguaphone Language Courses). London: Linguaphone Institute.
  • Sixteen 10-inch 78 rpm phonograph records.
    The demonstration of citation tones is on Disc 1, Side A, catalog number C.1.E. (titled “Chinese course: Lesson No. 1”), and Disc 16, Side A, catalog number C.S.1.E. (titled “Chinese sounds: No. 1”).
  • Digitized by Beijing Dianji yu Jingdian Lao Changpian Shuzihua Chuban Xiangmu 北京典籍与经典老唱片数字化出版项目 [Beijing Classics and Old Records Digital Publishing Project]. (Discs 1 & 16)
  • Also digitized by the Great 78 Project. (Discs 1 & 16) (not used in this study)
  • Extracted data: 1930 Shu.csv.
• Pai, Ti-chou 白滌洲 1933. Biaozhun Guoyin 標準國音 [Standard National Pronunciation]. Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company.
  • Four 10-inch 78 rpm phonograph records produced by Great China Record Company in Shanghai.
    The demonstration of citation tones (Side 5) is on Disc 3, Side A, catalog number 18-A.
  • Partially digitized by the National Taiwan University Library. (Disc 3)
  • Extracted data: 1933 Pai.csv.

Early experiments

• Karlgren, Bernhard. 1915. Études sur la Phonologie chinoise (Archives d’Études Orientales 15), vol. 1. Leyde: E. J. Brill. (Brittle Books | Internet Archive)
  • Extracted data: 1915 Karlgren.csv (from pp. 253–259).
• Chao, Yuen Ren 趙元任. 1922c. Zhongguo yanyu zidiao di shiyan yanjiufa 中國言語字調底實驗硏究法 [The methods for investigation of the intonation of Chinese language]. Kexue 科學 7(9). 871–882.
  • Extracted data: 1922c Chao.csv.
• Liu, Fu. 1925. Étude expérimentale sur les tons du Chinois. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. (Gallica)
  • Extracted data: 1925 Liu.csv (from Pl. XI).
• Obata, Jûichi 小幡重一 & Tesima, Takehiko 豊島武彦. 1934. Shina-go no butsuri onseigakuteki kenkyū: Shisei no seishitsu 支那語の物理音聲學的研究：四聲の性質 [Physicophonetic study of Chinese language: Properties of the four tones]. Nippon Sugaku-Buturigakkwaishi 日本数学物理学会誌 8(1). 1–10. (DOI: 10.11429/subutsukaishi1927.8.1)
  • Extracted data: 1934 Obata & Tesima.csv (from speaker Xiangyin Bao 包象寅 in Figures 2a and 2e).
• Pai, Ti-chou 白滌洲. 1934. Beijingyu shengdiao ji bianhua 北京語声調及变化 [Tones and changes of Beijing dialect].
  • Manuscript.
  • Partially published in Luo, Changpei 羅常培 & Wang, Jun 王均. 1957. Putong yuyinxue gangyao 普通語音学綱要 [Outline of general phonetics], 125–127. Beijing: Science Press.
  • Extracted data: 1934 Pai.csv.

Modern data

• Lin, Tao 林焘 & Zhou, Yimin 周一民 & Cai, Wenlan 蔡文兰. 1998. Beijinghua yindang 北京话音档 [Phonetic archive of Beijing dialect] (Xiandai Hanyu Fangyan Yinku 现代汉语方言音库 [Phonetic Database of Modern Chinese Dialects] 1). Shanghai: Shanghai Education Publishing House.
  • Includes sound recordings on the accompanying tape.
  • I directly cite extracted data (mean and standard deviation) from Shi, Shaowei 石少伟. 2007. Xiandai Hanyu Fangyan Yinku danzidiao shiyan yanjiu 《现代汉语方言音库》单字调实验研究 [Experimental study on monosyllabic tones in Phonetic Database of Modern Chinese Dialects]. Nanjing: Nanjing Normal University. (Master’s thesis.) (DOI: 10.7666/d.y1116983)
  • Data: 1998 Lin et al..csv.
• Sanders, Robert & Shi, Feng 石锋. 2003. Hanyu Yuyin Shujuku 汉语语音数据库 [Chinese Phonetic Database].
  • Unpublished speech corpus.
  • Extracted data: 2003 Sanders & Shi.csv (from Speakers 39, 41, 42 & 45).

Non-citation tones recordings

• Li, Deyang 李德鍚 & Zhang, Dequan 張德泉. 1909. Dengmi yinyu 燈謎隱語 [Lantern riddles]. Paris: Pathé Records.
  • 11.5-inch 90 rpm center-start vertical-cut phonograph record, catalog number 32573.
  • Reissued in Shanghai in the 1920s on 11.5-inch 80 rpm outside-start vertical-cut discs, under the same catalog number.
  • The reissue was remastered in the 2007 documentary Xiangsheng Dashi 相声大师 [Xiangsheng masters], Episode 1, produced by China Central Television.
• Wang, Yonghong 王永宏 (dir.). 1956. Zhengyi de shenpan 正義的審判 [Justice trial]. Beijing: Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio.
  • Documentary film.
  • A reproduced excerpt of Puyi Aisin-Gioro’s 愛新覺羅‧溥儀 speech in the film is available at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1704549093159403.
• Shu, Ji 舒济. 1999. Lao She jiangyan ji 老舍讲演集 [Lao She’s lectures]. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company.
  • Includes a sound recording on the accompanying CD.

Data structure

Each .csv file contains the following fields:

• Item: This field has values when samples are from different sections (items/chapters/speakers) of the source.
• Character: Chinese character corresponding to each syllable (if applicable).
• Pinyin: Pinyin (without tone mark) of each syllable (if applicable). Note that some readings differ from today’s standard Putonghua.
• Tone: Tone number of each syllable.
• Duration: Duration (in ms, except Chao 1922c) of each syllable.
• P1 to P30: Fundamental frequencies (in Hz) of 30 evenly distributed measurement points over the duration of each syllable.

Notes

• Karlgren (1915) used original units for duration and fundamental frequency. They have been converted into general units (ms and Hz).
• Chao (1922c) and Pai (1934) used semitones as the unit of pitch. For consistency, their data have been converted to Hz based on the standard pitch A = 435 Hz at the time.
• Chao (1922c) did not include absolute duration. Duration values in 1922c Chao.csv represent the duration ratio of each tone to T2.
• In each syllable in Liu (1925), 4 or more points at the start and 6 or more points at the end should be discarded as they are superfluous pitch bends rather than parts of the actual pitch contour. Liu (1925: 76–78) also disregarded these bends. The durations should also be reduced by one third or more.
• Data of Lin et al. (1998) are already averaged from multiple syllables for each tone, and have only 10 points of fundamental frequency per tone.
• In Sanders & Shi (2003), half of Tone 3 syllables are with creak and a noticeable pitch contour disconnect in the middle. Such samples are marked as 3C in Tone for reference.