People are always trying to exoticize things Chinese.\u00a0 Now comes this article with the sensationalistic and patently suspect headline:<\/p>\n
\"If you speak Mandarin, your brain is different<\/a>\" (2\/24\/15)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is based on the following paper:<\/p>\n Jianqiao Ge, Gang Peng, Bingjiang Lyu, Yi Wang, Yan Zhuo, Zhendong Niu, Li Hai Tang, Alexander P. Leff, and, Jia-Hong Gao, \"Cross-language differences in the brain network subserving intelligible speech\", PNAS<\/i> (1\/22\/15)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Significance<\/b>:<\/p>\n Language processing is generally left hemisphere dominant. However, whether the interactions among the typical left hemispheric language regions differ across different languages is largely unknown. An ideal method to address this question is modeling cortical interactions across language groups, but this is usually constrained by the model space with the prior hypothesis due to massive computation demands. With cloud-computing, we used functional MRI dynamic causal modeling analysis to compare more than 4,000 models of cortical dynamics among critical language regions in the temporal and frontal cortex, established the bias-free information flow maps that were shared or specific for processing intelligible speech in Chinese and English, and revealed the neural dynamics between the left and right hemispheres in Chinese speech comprehension.<\/p>\n Abstract<\/b>:<\/p>\n How is language processed in the brain by native speakers of different languages? Is there one brain system for all languages or are different languages subserved by different brain systems? The first view emphasizes commonality, whereas the second emphasizes specificity. We investigated the cortical dynamics involved in processing two very diverse languages: a tonal language (Chinese) and a nontonal language (English). We used functional MRI and dynamic causal modeling analysis to compute and compare brain network models exhaustively with all possible connections among nodes of language regions in temporal and frontal cortex and found that the information flow from the posterior to anterior portions of the temporal cortex was commonly shared by Chinese and English speakers during speech comprehension, whereas the inferior frontal gyrus received neural signals from the left posterior portion of the temporal cortex in English speakers and from the bilateral anterior portion of the temporal cortex in Chinese speakers. Our results revealed that, although speech processing is largely carried out in the common left hemisphere classical language areas (Broca\u2019s and Wernicke\u2019s areas) and anterior temporal cortex, speech comprehension across different language groups depends on how these brain regions interact with each other. Moreover, the right anterior temporal cortex, which is crucial for tone processing, is equally important as its left homolog, the left anterior temporal cortex, in modulating the cortical dynamics in tone language comprehension. The current study pinpoints the importance of the bilateral anterior temporal cortex in language comprehension that is downplayed or even ignored by popular contemporary models of speech comprehension.<\/p>\n Before critiquing the claims put forward by the investigators, let's talk about how tones really work in daily life in Chinese languages.<\/p>\n Tones are not absolute, they are not sacrosanct, they are not immutable.\u00a0 Chinese often argue among themselves about what tones certain words should be pronounced in.\u00a0 Let's take \u8457, which in most usages, but not all, can also be written as \u7740.<\/p>\n \u8457 has the following pronunciations:\u00a0 zhu\u00f3<\/span>, zh\u00e1o<\/span>, zh\u0101o, <\/span>zhe<\/span>, zh\u00f9, ch\u00fa.\u00a0 \u7740 can have the first four pronunciations but not the last two; the very last pronunciation is used for only one purpose, as the first half of an ancient astronomical term.<\/p>\n After character simplification, when \u7740 was designated as the simplified (i.e., official) form, except in a few special instances where \u8457 still had to be used, the pronunciations and related meanings of the two characters got shifted around and reassigned by the script reformers, so that there are now two different sets of usages for these two characters in Taiwan and China.<\/p>\n The six pronunciations listed above (zhu\u00f3<\/span>, zh\u00e1o<\/span>, zh\u0101o, <\/span>zhe<\/span>, zh\u00f9, ch\u00fa) have a veritable blizzard of meanings and functions associated with them (they must represent a number of different morphemes that became attached to these two characters over the centuries; the fact that three separate Middle Sinitic [about 1,400 years ago] pronunciations of \u8457 are represented by [i.e., have collapsed into] the modern pronunciation of zh\u00f9 is fair indication that the phonology of \u8457 and \u7740 was even greater a thousand and more years ago than it is now).<\/p>\n Definitions (from Wiktionary<\/b>)<\/b><\/p>\n Associated with the pronunciations zhu\u00f3 (which I consider to be more literary)<\/span>, zh\u00e1o (which I consider to be more vernacular)<\/span>, and zh\u0101o (which is<\/span> restricted to a few specialized uses at the end of this section) are the following meanings:<\/p>\n to attach<\/p>\n to touch, to contact<\/p>\n to wear, to put on, to be dressed in; clothing<\/p>\n to put, to place (dialectal Mandarin, Jin, Wu)<\/p>\n to arrange<\/p>\n to blossom or bear fruit<\/p>\n something to depend on, something to fall back on; desired end; a sense of belonging<\/p>\n to catch fire, to burn, to combust, to be ignited<\/p>\n to turn on (a light) (Cantonese)<\/p>\n to love deeply, to cling to and be reluctant to leave<\/p>\n to make (someone to), to order<\/p>\n to cost<\/p>\n to live in a fixed place<\/p>\n name of an ancient drinking vessel.<\/p>\n to need to, to ought to, should (Min, Wu)<\/p>\n to be affected by, to be troubled with<\/p>\n to get, to receive (Hakka, Min)<\/p>\n to fall asleep (dialectal Mandarin, Wu)<\/p>\n to fall into a trap, to be trapped<\/p>\n particle denoting that an action was \"appropriately done\"; \"not done in vain\".<\/p>\n particle denoting the success or continuation of an action<\/p>\n particle used after verbs to denote the severity of the event (Beijing Mandarin)<\/p>\n one by one (Cantonese)<\/p>\n correct, right (Cantonese, Hakka, Min)<\/p>\n at, in (a place) (Min Dong)<\/p>\n it's now …'s turn (Min)<\/p>\n all right; OK; that's exactly what I was thinking (dialectal Mandarin, Xiang) (zh\u0101o)<\/p>\n move (in go games), step; trick, device (zh\u0101o \u62db)<\/p>\n Associated with the pronunciation zh\u00f9:<\/span><\/p>\n notable, remarkable, striking<\/p>\n famous, well-known<\/p>\n to show, to manifest<\/p>\n to praise, to speak approvingly of<\/p>\n to write, to compose<\/p>\n literary work, composition, book<\/p>\n to record, to document<\/p>\n to establish, to set up, to build up<\/p>\n achievements; attainments<\/p>\n aboriginal, native inhabitants<\/p>\n precedence, order<\/p>\n the space between the front gate and the screens \/ shields<\/p>\n (\u4f47\uff0f\u4f2b) to remain (at a place), to be held up<\/p>\n (\u8caf\uff0f\u8d2e) to store<\/p>\n (\u891a) to stuff a lined garment with cotton<\/p>\n Associated with the pronunciation zhe:<\/p>\n particle indicating the continuation of an action or a state; often used with \u6b63\u5728 or \u6b63<\/p>\n particle used after some adjectives to denote comparison of levels<\/p>\n particle denoting a command, request or advice<\/p>\n Just within supposed Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM), I have heard literate, learned Chinese speakers argue over which of the pronunciations of \u8457 and \u7740 should be associated with which of the meanings listed above.\u00a0 An example cited by Brendan O'Kane, who is gathering notes for a piece with the working title \"A Student's Guide to the Worst Character\" (which will delve into the historical background of the problem), offers this example of uncertainty concerning the pronunciation of \u8457 in one particular instance, namely,<\/p>\n …despite what the dictionary says (and what one would expect given the meaning of \u8457 read in the second tone), I've heard \u8457\u6025 [VHM:\u00a0 \"worry; be anxious\"] much more often as\u00a0zh\u0101oj\u00ed<\/i> than as\u00a0zh\u00e1oj\u00ed<\/i>. The latter reading would actually sound weird to me — or would at least sound as if the speaker were trying to put special emphasis on the word.<\/p>\n I agree with Brendan:\u00a0 I hear zh\u0101oj\u00ed<\/i> more often than zh\u00e1oj\u00ed<\/i>.<\/p>\n Brendan also offers the following humorously illuminating example of uncertainty over how to pronounce \u8457:<\/p>\n On the topic of \u8457, the character that dare not speak its name, I recently remembered a scene in the (very funny, almost unknown) Zhang Yimou movie Keep Cool <\/i>(\u6709\u8a71\u597d\u597d\u8aaa) in which a mispronunciation is played for laughs: a migrant worker, hired by the film's main character to stand outside the window of the girl he likes and serenade her, keeps shouting \"\u6211\u7761\u4e0d\u8457\u89ba\" (wo3 shui4 bu zhuo2 jiao4).<\/p>\n VHM:\u00a0 Most people would say W\u01d2 shu\u00ec b\u00f9zh\u00e1o ji\u00e0o \u6211\u7761\u4e0d\u7740\u89c9<\/span><\/span> (\"I can't fall a<\/span>sleep\")<\/span><\/span> [Google Translate gives W\u01d2 shu\u00ec b\u00f9zh\u00e1o ju\u00e9, but that's a separate problem of distinguishing between the two MSM pronunciations of \u89c9, <\/span><\/span>ju\u00e9 (\"sense; feel; become aware\/awakened\") and ji\u00e0o (\"sleep\")].<\/span><\/p>\n Moving beyond MSM, in Cantonese the first group of definitions are variously pronounced as zau1 zau2 zoek3 zoek6.<\/p>\n In various dialects of Hakka, we have chok8 tiok8 do3, chok8, chok8 chok7, cok8 zok7, cok8, zhok7 chok8, cok8 ziok7, cok8 tiok8 do3.<\/p>\n Teochow di\u00eah4 \/ dioh4 (tieh \/ tioh) di\u00eah8 \/ dioh8 (ti\u00eah \/ ti\u00f4h)<\/p>\n Mindong ci\u014fk \/ di\u014fh <\/tt><\/p>\n Minnan tio\u030dh \/ tio\u030dk \/ to\u030dh<\/p>\n Wu tsaq (T4)<\/p>\n In Cantonese, the second group of definitions are variously pronounced as zoek3 zoek6 zyu3.<\/p>\n In various dialects of Hakka, we have chok8 tiok8 chok7 diau2 zhu5 (do3), zok7 | zu5 | cok8, cok8 tiok8 zok7 diau2 zu5 (do3), zhu5 | chok7, zhu6, zhu5, zu5, cog6 dau3 do3 zog5 zu4, zu5<\/p>\n Teochow du3 (t\u00f9) di\u00eah4 \/ dioh4 (tieh)<\/p>\n Mindong d\u00e9\u0324\u1e73<\/p>\n Minnan t\u00f9<\/p>\n Wu tsr (T2)<\/p>\n And we have only begun to scratch the surface.\u00a0 If we start to get into regional differences just within so-called Mandarin (e.g., Shandong and its subtopolects, Sichuan and its subtopolects, Gansu, Yunnan, Hunan…, and there are countless other topolects, the tonal variations among them are endless.<\/p>\n Quoting this comment <\/a>from the following post, \"The enigmatic language of the new Windows 8 ads<\/a>\" (5\/14\/13):<\/p>\n If you are a speaker of MSM (Modern Standard Mandarin) and you travel across the Mandarin-speaking areas of China, you will be astonished at the enormous variety of tonal configurations for words. My wife was from Shandong and grew up in Sichuan, so I got a liberal dose of the tonal patterns of both areas. I became so conditioned to them that, if I were upstairs and someone called who spoke Mandarin with Sichuan or Shandong tones, I could tell very quickly to which my wife downstairs was speaking, since \u2014 even though she spoke beautiful MSM \u2014 she would switch into the very different tone patterns of her interlocutor. I often said that Sichuanese tones were \"upside down\" in relation to MSM (though they are consistent within their own phonological system).<\/p>\n Other examples of tonal variation within Mandarin are given in posts such as these:<\/p>\n \"Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping: presidential language notes<\/a>\" (11\/21\/12)<\/p>\n