ABSTRACT
The research on Vietnamese tones reported here proposes a particular phonological model of tonal representation which assumes that markedness is reflected structurally. This model was able to account for the phonological patterning of Vietnamese tones and predicts the neutralizations that occur Phonetic evidence also shows that the well-established view of Vietnamese as a pitch register language must be abandoned; what has been called pitch is really the laryngeal features of breathiness and creakiness. An analysis of the phonetic patterning of the tones allows a simplification of the tonal phonology found in reduplication in Vietnamese; the ad hoc and unnatural flip flop rule that was required in previous models is no longer necessary. The phonological claims made in the model also prove to be well-grounded in the phonetics of Vietnamese.
