Abstract
This paper first summarizes some recent approaches to onset weight, including both syllable-based theories (e.g., “moraic onset” couched in moraic theory) and non-syllable-based theories (e.g., Interval Theory of Weight, ITW). Subsequently, the perceptual and articulatory bases of onset weight are examined in some detail, including P(erceptual)-center and the Coupled Oscillator Model in Articulatory Phonology. The general consensus is that consonant clusters are one of the key motivations for onset weight. Consequently, I am of the opinion that the medial (pre-nuclear glides) of Chinese may contribute to phonological weight since the temporal organization of the onset consonants and the glides exhibits the typical timing pattern of consonant clusters in Standard Chinese (i.e., C-center effect), according to the recent Electromagnetic Articulography results reported in Hsieh et al. (2016). In the same vein, it is therefore not impossible that the medial also contributes to phonological weight in Old Chinese. Finally, this paper is concluded with a conjecture that the medial may not be weightless in the AABB reduplication pattern of Modern Chinese onomatopoeias.