Songzi: Falsetto Rusheng

Chapter 3 introduces the tone systems and their evolution in Songzi. Songzi tone systems fall into three types: the di-phonational five-tone Weishui Type including a falsetto Rusheng and the other two uni-phonational four-tone Nanhai Type and Songzihe Type involving a tonal flip-flop between Yinping and Qusheng. The acoustic and perceptual data and the present state of their MC groups support their strong evolutionary correlations: consecutive evolution from Weishui Type to Nanhai Type; gradual and/or sudden changes responsible for the tonal flip-flop. In addition, the acoustics of falsetto tones and two tests on the perception of falsetto and modal-high tones suggest the distinction between falsetto and modal-high tones.