本研究分析台灣不同世代與不同族群間的華語語音變化，以回答以下兩個研究問題 – “(1) 華語在台灣是否已等化?”；“(2)若華語在台灣已等化，此等化過程如何進行?”我們分析了四項聲音變數—調域、輕聲發生的頻率、雙母音弱化、以及音節末鼻音合流現象。
研究結果顯示，外省人及本省人之間的華語口音差異，於一九五o年代，即已開始等化，並於大約三十年間完成。上述四項聲音變數，除了調域之外，皆於一九五一年至一九六O年之間出生之受試者間等化。換言之，現今(二OO五年)四十五歲至五十四歲，出生於台灣成長於台北的受試者，無論本省或外省族群，使用輕聲的頻率、雙母音弱化、以及音節末鼻音合流等現象，皆無明顯差異。調域則於下一世代受試者之間等化。
華語於台灣發展之過程與英語於紐西蘭發展之過程類似，但紐西蘭英語經過約五十年才形成，台灣華語則僅約三十年。本研究提出三項社會因素，以解釋台灣華語何以能於較短時間內形成。第一項因素為二次戰後由中國至台灣短暫但大量的移民潮；第二項因素為過去獨尊華語並壓制本土語言之政府語言政策；第三項則為日治時期已建立之社會秩序與制度。
此外，本研究亦提出，根據Siegel(1981)提出之語言與社會條件，我們可說台灣華語正在進行折衷共同化(koineization)，甚至已可將台灣華語視為一折衷共同語(koine)。
除了等化現象外，本研究亦觀察到另兩項台灣華語的現象。其中一項是音節末鼻音合流。另一項觀察則發現，輕聲應視為台灣華語的第五聲較為恰當，其調型為低降調。

This study investigates the phonological development of Taiwan Mandarin in apparent time to answer two research questions -- (1) “ Has Mandarin been leveled in Taiwan? ”; (2) “ If Mandarin has been leveled in Taiwan, how has it been leveled? ”. Four phonological variables are examined – tonal range, neutral tone frequency, diphthong weakening, and syllable-final nasal convergence.
The results of this study show that the leveling between the Mandarin varieties of Waishengren and Benshengren has started operating in Taiwan Mandarin since as early as 1950, soon after the large-scaled migration from China to Taiwan. This phonological leveling was completed in a period of 30 years.
Three Taiwanese Mandarin features reported in previous studies – reduction of neutral tone frequencies, diphthong weakening, and syllable-final nasal convergence — have diffused to the community of Waishengren in as early as the 1950s. No ethnic gaps are observed on these three variables in this study. In other words, these “Taiwanese Mandarin” features have, in fact, long been “mis-stigmatized” -- they have been cross-ethnic features of Guoyu. Tonal range is the last variable to be leveled.
Despite that both Taiwan and South Hemisphere settlements were “tabula rasa” situations as described in Trudgill (2004), the leveling of Mandarin in Taiwan takes only 30 years, compared to the 50 years of the formation of South Hemisphere Englishes. Three social factors are proposed to interpret this comparatively brief period of the new dialect formation in Taiwan. The first factor is the nature of the immigration from China after World War II. The second factor is the strong language policy that not only exclusively promoted Mandarin but suppressed local Taiwan languages. The third factor is the rather-established social system, including education system, at the time when Mandarin was officially introduced and promoted in Taiwan.
Finally, this study suggests that Taiwan Mandarin can be considered a koine, or at least in the process of koineization, according to the linguistic definitions and social conditions of koine/ koineization provided in Siegel (1985).
In addition to the finding of leveling, this study also observes the existence of syllable-final nasal convergence in Taiwan Mandarin and confirms that the neutral tone of Taiwan Mandarin is not “neutral” but a fifth tone that is realized as a low falling tone.

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