Abstract
The monograph is dedicated to the Vietnamese lexical tone. The background knowledge is built in two domains.
First, it is the general use of pitch in languages with special focus on lexical tone principles. Second, the essential segmental, syllabic and prosodic features of the Vietnamese language are introduced.
The core of the monograph comprises original analyses of lexical tone production and perception that contrast Hanoian and Saigonese tone systems. Thousands of individual instances of tones in various speech styles are examined to uncover commonalities and differences between the two dialects.
The unprecedented extent of the material should provide a solid basis for further experimenting with Vietnamese tones, whether in the area of cognition, language structure or acoustics.