Abstract：The third-tone sandhi in Mandarin， particularly in reduplicated structures， provides insight into its motivations and mechanisms. Tone sandhi in Chinese is not only conditioned by phonetics and grammar but also shaped by prosody and register. In reduplicated third-tone sandhi， the colloquial and formal registers adopt different tonal patterns， demonstrating that tone sandhi serves as a register marker. The high-level tone in AA reduplication follows this process： the second A undergoes neutralization first， and become a neutral tone. As the neutral tone undergoes retroflex suffixation， both tonal and register shifts occur—the tone changes from neutral to high-level， and the register shifts from formal to colloquial. The high-level tone requires the presence of a neutral tone， while retroflex suffixation further reinforces the register shift. These phenomena suggest that tone sandhi in Chinese result from the combined influence of prosody and register.
崔四行. 汉语普通话上声变调的韵律动因和语体机制研究[J]. 华中师范大学学报（人文社会科学版）, 2025, 64(2): 111-120.
Cui Sixing. A Study on the Prosodic Motivation and Register Mechanism of Third Tone Sandhi in Mandarin Chinese. journal1, 2025, 64(2): 111-120.
2025, Vol. 64 
