Volume 14, No 1
Article 文章
Abstract 摘要
This paper describes the microhistory of the change 
→
(syllabic velar nasal becomes syllabic bilabial nasal) by focusing on the following aspects: first, the phonetic origin of , which is traced to labial assimilation of in particular phonetic environments; second, lexical diffusion and the role of variation between and in the propagation of the change; third, differential implementation of the change within the speech community, e.g. older speakers over age 49 have been bypassed by the change while young males in their teens and early 20’s are the most advanced group of speakers in their use of ; fourth, the effect of the change on lexical items of the SC -class – ‘five’ is most affected by the change in terms of the number of speakers who use the -pronunciation and other items are found to be less affected; and fifth, the time when the change entered Cantonese, which appears to coincide with the period of World War II.
Abstract 摘要
Drawing on the Zen dialogues of the Tang dynasty, this study presents an antigrammaticalization thesis for the emergence of the ba sentence, and suggests that the jiang sentence may have served as the guiding model for the development of the ba sentence in its modern form, the mechanism of change being one of lexical replacement. The bei construction is suggested as the ultimate trigger for the evolution of the disposal characteristics in the jiang and thus also the ba constructions. This study of the history of the disposal constructions is thus instructive in that it confirms the general idea of syntactic change as a surface phenomenon–either grammaticalization or lexical replacement originates in contexts that do not distort surface form.
Abstract 摘要
In this article a method of analyzing and describing the acoustic properties of fricatives is developed and is applied to the fricatives and to the fricative components of the affricates of Standard Chinese. The method consists of making frequency spectra using the Fast Fourier Transform and then analyzing the spectra in terms of critical bands. Three measures are proposed for characterizing the fricative spectra: the center of gravity, the dispersion, and the mean intensity level. The six fricatives of Chinese, and the fricative components of the six affricates are analyzed by this method, and comparison with other languages is made. There is also some discussion of the significance of the results for the perception of Standard Chinese fricatives, and of the relation of the method to distinctive feature theory.
Abstract 摘要
The Zhangpu dialect, a variety of Southern Min, is spoken by the people who live in Zhangpu xian, Fujian province. Like other Southern Min dialects, the Zhangpu dialect shows parallel phonological systems of literary and colloquial readings. Basically, its phonological system is very close to the Zhangpu dialect, but the aspirated affricate /ts’-/ in Zhangzhou and most of the other Southern Min dialects is the voiceless fricative /s-/ in Zhangpu. This aspect suggests that Southern Min might have evolved from a proto-language that had at least four types of affricates.
Abstract 摘要
“Haudricourt’s theory of the origin of Chinese tones states that Rising tone originated in a final glottal stop, and Departing tone in a final -h, itself derived from an earlier -s. While abundant evidence has accumulated in support of Haudricourt’s – and -s (in particular the existence of a series of conservative dialects at the peripheries of Chinese, preserving final – In Rising-tone words), no evidence at all has been adduced in support of an -h stage in the development of the Departing tone. Middle Chinese appears furthermore to have had no final -h, as the Sanskrit visarga was transliterated by means of Middle Chinese -k. It is suggested that Departing tone arose not through the loss of final -h, but through a glottalized phonation stage, still observable in a series of dialects of the periphery. The reconstruction of a glottalized phonation stage agrees well with the historical sources, and provides a solution to the long-standing problem of Chinese-Vietnamese tonal correspondences. Based on that reconstruction, an account of the development of Middle Chinese tones into Mandarin is proposed, which explains the shift of quan zhuo shang words into yang qu, and the aspiration pattern of the quan zhuo initials in a simple way. Parallel developments from -s to glottalized phonation in Vietnamese and Tibetan open inquiry into the tonogenetics of these languages.”
Abstract 摘要
The salient segmental features in the speech of 10 Singaporean informants are summarized as follows: Retroflexive sibilants were extremely rare. 57.0% of the palatal series were replaced by their dental counterparts, which resulted in combinations of dental sibilants before high front blade vowels, clear violations of Mandarin phonotactics. Initial x [] was particularly apt to be mispronounced. The reading of the retroflexed liquid r involved variations both between full phonemenes (/r/~/l/, and occasionally, ~/n/) and within the phoneme ([r~dz~j]). Only [r], not the incorrect variants [dz, j], varied with /l/ and /n/. The Hokkien Group showed the greatest difficulty in differentiating /r/ from /l/. The lateral l was occasionally replaced by r. Lateral l and nasal n occasionally replaced each other in the environment of a nasal ending. The velar fricative h [x] when occurring before the vowel u was sometimes read as [f] or [w]. The semi-vowel initials y and w were sometimes omitted, especially when the high vowels functioned as the main vowel rather than a medial. Confusion between i and ü was found to be a prominent feature. The informants’ readings of such syllables were strikingly unstable. About 13.6% of the i vowels were either replaced by or in variation with ü. The percentage for the reverse was 52.4%. The performance of the Cantonese Group, whose dialect is the only one among the five that has the [ü] sound, was decidedly superior. The Teochew Group, whose dialect does not have the -n ending, showed a greater difficulty in differentiating between -n and -ng. Gradual deviations from the norms on vowel qualities have also been described.
New Publication 新书
Volume 14, No 2
Abstract 摘要
Although the Yin/Yang dichotomy of tones created by the loss of voicing of syllable initial consonants in general manifest as a higher tone (Yin) in syllables that had voiceless initials and a lower tone (Yang) in syllables that had voiced initials in the majority of Chinese dialects, in a significant number of modern dialects it manifests as the opposite pitch pattern for one or more categories of tones in citation forms. It is only in this minority of dialects that tonal flip-flop is found and reversal of pitch value is common. In addition, the synchronic sandhi behavior of these dialects suggests the following sequence of change diachronically: Yin/Yang split of tones followed by a pitch reversal change probably caused by prejunctural stress.
Abstract 摘要
The riming practices of Sima Xiangru and Wang Bao, early and mid Western Han poets of the Shu area, reveal details about the finals of their languages. On the one hand, their dialects are found to have had much in common with that of their later compatriot, Yang Xiong. On the other, there are clearly points of difference. Comparison of the languages of Sima and Yang, which were earlier and later stages of the same dialect, reveal a progressive loss of final *-n and a shift of *-p and *-m to *-k and *-ng, respectively. Another feature, shared by Wang Bao’s language, is a tendency towards merger of the Western Han geng and yang rime categories. All of these developments may have been ongoing sound changes in the Western Han dialects of Shu.
Abstract 摘要
Contrary to the widely held view that the copula shi 是 developed from the demonstrative pronoun shi 是 ‘this’, there is strong evidence that the copula in question originally came into the language as a particle of affirmation. Shi came to be used as an affirmative particle, because speakers of the language felt that is would be natural to use it as the antonym of the negative particle fei 非. Such a feeling apparently arose from the frequent association of shi 是 ‘right’ and fei 非 ‘wrong’ as a pair of antonyms. Shi thus came to be used as an affirmative particle in exactly the same syntactic environments where the negative fei could be used. Since the negative fei was most commonly used before a nominal predicate to negate it, its affirmative counterpart shi naturally began to appear before a nominal predicate, just like a copula. This theory of the origin of the copula shi accounts very well also for the contrastive and assertive use of shi introduced into the language in the same period.
Abstract 摘要
The object of this study is to deepen our understanding of the mechanism of tone change in the dialects of northern Chinese by looking into the geographical distribution of tone features manifested in 480 dialects. It is based on a thesis of tone merger initiated by William Wang, a theoretical departure from the traditional split theory. A look into the geographical distribution of tone patterns fortified by philological evidence on historical tone behavior has revealed a clear picture of relative chronology of tonal development. To account for the diachronic aspects of tone behavior we identify two parameters: vertical tone merger and horizontal tone merger. With respect to the vertical tone merger an implicational hierarchy has been obtained: III > I, and another implicational hierarchy is also arrived at for the horizontal merger: I/IV > III/II. Of particular interest is the behavior of Tone III: as a merging tone category it never undergoes horizontal merger to other tone categories. The horizontal migration into Tone III started as early as Archaic Chinese, and most likely it has since become a most salient merging tone category. A set of prototypical tone patterns are also proposed to form a basis for dialectal subgrouping as well as the reconstruction of tone development.
Abstract 摘要
After an introduction to the geography of the Penghu Islands and a discussion of research techniques employed, the dialect of Magong, the capital, is described in detail as to initials, finals, and tones. Next, the seven major subdialects are compared on the basis of transcriptions of fifty items showing the greatest amount of variation that were recorded in 88 villages. The conclusions are: (1) the Penghu dialects belong to Southern Min; (2) Variation within the dialects is considerable, in fact almost as great as within the whole Southern Min dialect group; (3) the features in which there is the greatest variation include changed tones, certain finals and a small number of lexical items; (4) by comparing these features, the Penghu dialects can be divided into two large groups, of which the second can be further divided into six subgroups. A sample text completes the article.
Abstract 摘要
Surnames in China have a history over 3000 years long. The number of Chinese surnames collected from literature is over 6000. Among these the Han surnames used today might number around 2000. The overwhelming majority of today’s surnames have their root-stock in shi 氏, not xing 姓 in ancient times. The implications of surnames are related to dynasty or state name, residential place, official position, occupation, posthumous title, style, an event, etc. Factors of selection on surnames in China are not clear. There are two kinds of mutation of surname: one produces new surnames while the other only changes surnames into other previously existing ones and thus influences the frequencies of surnames; the latter happens much more frequently than the former. Among 55 national minorities in China, about 30 have surnames while the others have only given names, or given names plus father’s, grandfather’s or tribe’s name–but some people, especially cadres and pupils, are now adopting surnames from the Han ethnic group.
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