Mandarin Chinese Syllable Structure and Phonological Similarity: Perception and Production Studies

In this chapter, we discuss the Mandarin syllable and recent innovations in its study. The focus will be on the segmentation of the syllable into phonological units, an area of research that features a proposal for the combination of segments into phonological units for almost every permutation possible. At the core of the new work in this area is the combined use of network science and psycholinguistic experimentation. We review exploratory work modeling the lexicon according to phonological networks, wherein words are the nodes of the network and the networks' edges are identified through the addition deletion or substitution of a single segment or lexical tone. We argue that lexical access viewed in light of syllable segmentation modelled through phonological networks sees the lexicon as multiple concurrent networks that, when given the demands of a specific task, activate connections most fit for the goals of the task.