This chapter discusses the impact of syllable structure on tone loss, tone spreading, and tonal inventory. When a syllable-tone language loses complex rhymes, it undergoes massive tone loss, tone spreading, and reduction in tonal inventory, as seen in Shanghai Chinese, which stands out against typical syllable-tone languages, such as Standard Chinese.
Keywords: complex rhyme, simple rhyme, Weight-Stress Principle, Tone-Stress Principle, tone loss, tone spreading, tone-bearing ability, tonal inventory