CHINESE SPEAKERS IN THE UNITED STATES USUALLY SPEAK CHINESE WITH ENGLISH WORDS INSERTED. IN MANDARIN CHINESE, A TONE-SANDHI RULE CHANGES A THIRD TONE PRECEDING ANOTHER THIRD TONE TO A SECOND TONE. THE THIRD TONE IS LOW--THE THREE OTHER TONES ARE HIGH. IT IS THE (-HIGH) FEATURE THAT PROVOKES CHINESE TONE SANDHI. USING THE TONE-SANDHI RULE, THE AUTHOR DESIGNED THIS EXPERIMENT TO FIND OUT HOW ENGLISH STRESSES ARE INTERPRETED IN CHINESE SENTENCES. TWO KINDS OF CHINESE SENTENCES WERE CONSTRUCTED FOR FIFTEEN SUBJECTS TO READ--IN TYPE A, CHINESE THIRD-TONE WORDS PRECEDE ENGLISH WORDS WITH DIFFERENT STRESSES ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE. IN TYPE B, ENGLISH WORDS WITH DIFFERENT STRESSES ON THE LAST SYLLABLE PRECEDE CHINESE THIRD-TONE WORDS. THE RESULTS ARE VERY NEAT--ONLY THE ENGLISH WEAKEST STRESS CAUSES THE PRECEDING CHINESE THIRD-TONE WORDS TO UNDERGO TONE SANDHI. THE ENGLISH PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY STRESSES ARE INTERPRETED AS HAVING A (PLUS HIGH) FEATURE, WHILE THE WEAKEST STRESS IS REGARDED AS (-HIGH). IT IS THE INTERPRETED (-HIGH) FEATURE THAT ALLOWS THE CHINESE TONE-SANDHI RULE TO APPLY. (AUTHOR/AMM)