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This article describes the computer-based facilities developed by the Computer-Based Education Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois. The computerized system, known as PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operation), utilizes a CDC 1604 computer. The Chinese course objectives and PLATO programing procedures are described in detail. (RL)

CHINESE SPEAKERS IN THE UNITED STATES USUALLY SPEAK CHINESE WITH ENGLISH WORDS INSERTED. IN MANDARIN CHINESE, A TONE-SANDHI RULE CHANGES A THIRD TONE PRECEDING ANOTHER THIRD TONE TO A SECOND TONE. THE THIRD TONE IS LOW--THE THREE OTHER TONES ARE HIGH. IT IS THE (-HIGH) FEATURE THAT PROVOKES CHINESE TONE SANDHI. USING THE TONE-SANDHI RULE, THE AUTHOR DESIGNED THIS EXPERIMENT TO FIND OUT HOW ENGLISH STRESSES ARE INTERPRETED IN CHINESE SENTENCES. TWO KINDS OF CHINESE SENTENCES WERE CONSTRUCTED FOR FIFTEEN SUBJECTS TO READ--IN TYPE A, CHINESE THIRD-TONE WORDS PRECEDE ENGLISH WORDS WITH DIFFERENT STRESSES ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE. IN TYPE B, ENGLISH WORDS WITH DIFFERENT STRESSES ON THE LAST SYLLABLE PRECEDE CHINESE THIRD-TONE WORDS. THE RESULTS ARE VERY NEAT--ONLY THE ENGLISH WEAKEST STRESS CAUSES THE PRECEDING CHINESE THIRD-TONE WORDS TO UNDERGO TONE SANDHI. THE ENGLISH PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY STRESSES ARE INTERPRETED AS HAVING A (PLUS HIGH) FEATURE, WHILE THE WEAKEST STRESS IS REGARDED AS (-HIGH). IT IS THE INTERPRETED (-HIGH) FEATURE THAT ALLOWS THE CHINESE TONE-SANDHI RULE TO APPLY. (AUTHOR/AMM)

THIS REPORT DISCUSSES HOW NOUNS AND THEIR ADJUNCTIVES ARE USED IN MANDARIN SENTENCES IN DENOTING THE RELATION BETWEEN SETS AND THEIR SUBSETS. LANGUAGE HAS SOME MEANS OF SPECIFYING SETS OF OBJECTS, ACTIONS, OR ABSTRACT UNITS IN VARIOUS WAYS, IN ORDER TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION. LANGUAGE DOES NOT BEAR THE ENTIRE BURDEN OF SPECIFYING A CERTAIN SET UNAMBIGUOUSLY, HOWEVER. NONLINGUISTIC CONTEXTS ALSO PLAY SOME PART IN DECIDING THE REFERENCE INTENDED BY LINGUISTIC EXPRESSION, AND WITHOUT THESE CONTEXTS, AMBIGUITIES MAY BE UNSOLVABLE. THE DEGREE OF RELIANCE ON NONLINGUISTIC CONTEXTS SEEMS TO VARY FROM ONE LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER, AND CHINESE SHOULD NOT BE REGARDED AS ONE OF THOSE WHICH HAVE A LOW DEGREE OF RELIANCE UPON LIFE CONTEXTS FOR UNIQUENESS OF REFERENCE. CHINESE TEXTS ARE NOT MORE AMBIGUOUS THAN THE TEXTS OF OTHER LANGUAGES. IF THEY ARE LONG, THEY ARE USUALLY AS CLEAR AS THOSE OF ANY OTHER LANGUAGE. RELIANCE ON NONLINGUISTIC CONTEXTS IS HEAVY ONLY WHEN A TEXT IS SHORT AND SENTENCES ARE AMBIGUOUS ONLY WHEN THEY ARE TAKEN FROM LONGER TEXTS. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PRESENTATION, THE AUTHOR RECOGNIZES TWO KINDS OF MEANINGS--(1) ON THE DENOTATIVE LEVEL, IN WHICH THE NOTIONS OF THE ACTOR-OF, THE RECEIVER-OF, ACTION, TIME, PLACE, ETC., ARE RELEVANT, AND (2) ON THE DISCOURSE LEVEL, IN WHICH THE NOTIONS OF THE TOPIC-OF, THE COMMENT-OF, ETC., ARE RELEVANT. THIS IS A REVISED VERSION OF THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF THE AUTHOR'S DOCTORAL DISSERTATION ENTITLED "SOME ASPECTS OF MANDARIN SYNTAX," INDIANA UNIVERSITY, 1966. CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING POLA MATTERS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO WILLIAM S-Y. WANG, DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94720. (AMM)

THIS STUDY OF THE CANTONESE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM IS A CASE STUDY OF THE PHONOLOGICAL COMPONENT OF A GENERATIVE GRAMMAR. ATTEMPTS ARE MADE IN CHAPTER III TO SOLVE SOME OLD PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH THE ANALYSIS OF CANTONESE WITHIN THIS NEW THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. MOST OF THE PROBLEMS ARE PSEUDO-PROBLEMS, IN THE SENSE THAT THEY POSE DIFFICULTIES ONLY FOR "DISTINCTIVE SEGMENT ANALYSIS" (THE AUTHOR'S TERM FOR PHONEMIC ANALYSIS), BUT NOT FOR THIS DISTINCTIVE-FEATURE ANALYSIS. THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF CANTONESE IS PRESENTED IN CHAPTER II, IN WHICH THE SOUNDS ARE GIVEN DISTINCTIVE FEATURE REPRESENTATIONS, AND IN CHAPTER IV, IN WHICH SYLLABLE STRUCTURE IS STUDIED. SEQUENTIAL CONSTRAINTS AMONG SOUNDS ARE USED AS A CUE TO SIMPLIFY LEXICAL OR SYSTEMATIC PHONEMIC REPRESENTATIONS OF CANTONESE WORDS. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE OBTAINED BY WRITING TO WILLIAM S-Y. WANG, DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94720. (AUTHOR/AMM)