Chóngniǔ
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''Chóngniǔ'' ( zh, t=, s=, l=repeated button) or rime doublets are certain pairs of
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
syllables that are consistently distinguished in
rime dictionaries A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book () is a genre of dictionary that records pronunciations for Chinese characters by tone (linguistics), tone and rhyme, instead of by graphical means like their Chinese character radicals, radicals. ...
and
rime table A rime table or rhyme table ( zh, t=韻圖, s=韵图, p=yùntú, w=yün-t'u) is a Chinese phonological model, tabulating the syllables of the series of rime dictionaries beginning with the ''Qieyun'' (601) by their onsets, rhyme groups, tones an ...
s, but without a clear indication of the phonological basis of the distinction.


Description

Rime dictionaries such as the ''
Qieyun The ''Qieyun'' () is a Chinese rhyme dictionary that was published in 601 during the Sui dynasty. The book was a guide to proper reading of classical texts, using the '' fanqie'' method to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters. The ' ...
'' and ''
Guangyun The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rhyme dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was ''Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn'' (, literally "Great Song revised and ...
'' divided words by tone and then into rhyme groups. Each rhyme group was subdivided into
homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...
groups preceded by a small circle called a (, 'button'). The pronunciation of each homophone group was indicated by a formula, a pair of characters having respectively the same initial and final sound as the word being described. By systematically analysing the fanqie, it is possible to identify equivalent initial and final spellers, and thus enumerate the initials and finals, but not their phonetic values. Rime tables such as the ''
Yunjing The ''Yunjing'' () is one of the two oldest existing examples of a Chinese rime table – a series of charts which arrange Chinese characters in large tables according to their tone and syllable structures to indicate their proper pronunciations. ...
'' further analysed the syllables distinguished by the rime dictionaries into initial consonant, 'open' ( ) or 'closed' ( ), divisions (I–IV), broad rhyme class and tone. The closed distinction is generally considered to represent
lip rounding Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels invol ...
. The interpretation of the divisions has long been the most obscure part of traditional phonology. The finals implied by the fanqie may be divided into four broad classes based on the initials with which they co-occur. Because these classes correlate with rows in the rime tables, they are conventionally named divisions I–IV. Finals of divisions I, II and IV occur only in the corresponding rows of the rime tables, but division-III finals are spread across the second, third and fourth rows. In most cases the different homophone groups within a ''Qieyun'' rhyme group are clearly distinguished by having a different initial or through the open/closed distinction in the rime tables. Pairs of syllables that are not so distinguished are known as ''chongniu'', and occur only with certain division-III finals and with labial, velar or laryngeal initials. The distinction is reflected in the rime tables, where these pairs are divided between rows 3 and 4, and their finals are therefore known as chongniu-III and chongniu-IV finals respectively. The pairs are usually distinguished in fanqie spellings: * The finals of chongniu-III words are usually rendered with other division-III chongniu words, but sometimes with words with
retroflex A retroflex () or cacuminal () consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consona ...
initials. * The finals of chongniu-IV words are rendered with other division-IV chongniu words or with words with acute initials. Some Chinese authors refer to chongniu-III and chongniu-IV finals as types B and A respectively, so as to distinguish chongniu-IV finals, which are still division-III finals, from "pure" division-IV finals unrelated to chongniu. The Middle Chinese notations of
Li Fang-Kuei Li Fang-Kuei (; 20 August 190221 August 1987) was a Chinese linguist known for his studies of the varieties of Chinese, his reconstructions of Old Chinese and Proto-Tai, and his documentation of Dene languages in North America. Biography Li F ...
and William Baxter distinguish the chongniu-IV parts, spelt with both "j" and "i", from chongniu-III parts, spelt with only "j"; without any commitment to pronunciation: Baxter identifies some other finals that behave like ''chongniu'' finals, but do not occur paired within ''Qieyun'' rhyme groups: Each of the chongniu-IV finals falls within a single Old Chinese rhyme class, but the chongniu-III and non-chongniu parts of and span two Old Chinese rhyme classes.


Reflexes of the distinction

This distinction is generally not reflected in modern
varieties of Chinese There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the m ...
, with sporadic exceptions such as Beijing for chongniu-IV in contrast with for chongniu-III or for chongniu-IV and for chongniu-III . It is, however, reflected in the choice of Chinese characters to represent
Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Ja ...
syllables in the system, particularly the / distinction between ''i1'' and ''i2'' after velars and labials. These vowels merged as ''i'' in later forms of Japanese. In almost all cases, Old Japanese syllables with ''i1'' were transcribed with chongniu-IV words, while syllables with ''i2'' were transcribed with chongniu-III words or other division-III words. For example, was written with chongniu-IV words , or , while was written with chongniu-III words or . There is little independent evidence of the pronunciation of these Old Japanese syllables, but
internal reconstruction Internal reconstruction is a method of reconstructing an earlier state in a language's history using only language-internal evidence of the language in question. The comparative method compares variations between languages, such as in sets of co ...
suggests that ''i1'' reflects
Proto-Japonic Proto-Japonic, also known as Proto-Japanese or Proto-Japanese–Ryukyuan, is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed language ancestral to the Japonic languages, Japonic language family. It has been reconstructed by using a combination of int ...
, while ''i2'' reflects or . The distinction is reflected most clearly in some Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Korean readings: In Sino-Vietnamese, labial initials have become dentals before division-IV chongniu finals, possibly reflecting an earlier palatal element. Even so, the labial initials of some Chongniu-IV words remained labials in Sino-Vietnamese instead of becoming dentals; for instances: "narrow" EMCh ''pjianʼ'' > Beijing ''biăn'' vs. SV ''biển'', "stab, quick" EMCh *''pʰjiawʰ'' > Beijing ''piào'' vs. SV ''phiếu'', "gourd" EMCh ''bjiaw'' > Beijing ''piáo'' vs. SV ''biều'', and "cotton" EMCh. ''mjian'' > Beijing ''mián'' vs. SV ''miên''. This phenomenon can be explained as resulting from "chronological and possibly also stylistic differences": some words might have been borrowed early, when chongniu-III vs. chongniu-IV distinction did not manifest yet as palatisation in Chinese or could not yet be represented as palatalisation in Vietnamese; others might have been borrowed late, when the distinction had been lost. Sino-Korean shows a palatal glide where division-IV chongniu finals follow velar or laryngeal initials.


Interpretations

The nature of the distinction within
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
is disputed, with some scholars ascribing it to a medial and others to the main vowel. Most linguists now accept the proposal of Sergei Yakhontov that Middle Chinese syllables in division II had a medial *''-r-'' in
Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
. William Baxter, following earlier ideas of
Edwin Pulleyblank Edwin George "Ted" Pulleyblank (August 7, 1922 – April 13, 2013) was a Canadian sinologist. He was a professor who taught at the University of British Columbia. He was known for his studies of the historical phonology of Chinese. Life and ...
, suggested that ''chongniu''-III syllables had medials *''-rj-'' in Old Chinese, while their ''chongniu''-IV counterparts had a medial *''-j-'' before a front vowel. The later revision by Baxter and
Laurent Sagart Laurent Sagart (; born 1951) is a senior researcher at the Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l'Asie orientale (CRLAO – UMR 8563) unit of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Biography Born in Paris in 1951, he earned ...
elides the *''-j-'' medial, treating such "Type B" syllables as unmarked, in contrast to "Type A" syllables, which they reconstructed with
pharyngealized Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound. IPA symbols In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pharyngealization can be indicate ...
initials. In this system, Middle Chinese ''chongniu''-III or ''chongniu''-IV syllables are all Type B syllables, which were distinguished by the presence or absence, respectively, of a medial *''-r-'' in Old Chinese.


Notes


References

Works cited * * * * * * * * * * * {{cite conference , title = Cách đọc Hán Việt và tính hư cấu trong Thiết Vận – Nhìn từ góc độ hiện tượng trùng nữu , trans-title = Sino-Vietnamese readings and Qieyun's fictionality - viewed from the angle of the chongniu phenomenon , given = Masaaki , surname = Shimizu , publisher = Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities , date = 2012 , conference = Linguistic and Cultural Problems , lang = Vietnamese , url = https://www.academia.edu/19225476 , access-date = 28 September 2020 Middle Chinese