Middle Chinese


Middle Chinese
中古漢語
Spoken in China
Region Medieval China
Language extinction Evolved into Proto-Mandarin and other Chinese dialects apart from Min
Language family Sino-Tibetan
Writing system Seal Script, Clerical Script, Kaishu, Semi-cursive script, Grass script, Phagspa, Hangul
Official status
Official language in Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty
Regulated by No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3 ltc
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Middle Chinese (simplified Chinese: 中古汉语; traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; pinyin: zhōnggǔ Hànyǔ), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). The term "Middle Chinese", in contrast to Old Chinese and Modern Chinese, is usually used in the context of historical Chinese phonology, which seeks to reconstruct the pronunciation of Chinese used during these times.

Middle Chinese can be divided into an early period, generally called Early Middle Chinese, and a later period, Late Middle Chinese. The transition point between Early and Later Middle Chinese is thought to be during the Mid-Tang Dynasty and is indicated by phonological developments. For example, in the rime book Qieyun, bilabial initials [p pʰ b m] characters are shown, but there were no labiodental initials like f and v, which can be found in Jiyun. This indicates that a sound change in the pronunciation of Chinese occurred in the four centuries after the appearance of Qieyun.

Contents

Reconstruction

The reconstruction of Middle Chinese by different modern linguists varies slightly, but the differences are minor and fairly uncontroversial, indicating that Middle Chinese phonology is accepted in the scholarly community as being fairly well understood. (Middle) Chinese is not written using an alphabetic script, therefore, sounds cannot be derived directly from writing. The sounds of Middle Chinese must therefore be inferred from a number of sources:

  • Modern languages. Just as Proto-Indo-European can be reconstructed from modern Indo-European languages, so can Middle Chinese be reconstructed (tentatively) from modern Chinese dialects (e.g. Beifanghua (Mandarin), Wu, Min or Cantonese).
  • Preserved pronunciation of Chinese characters in borrowed Chinese vocabulary surviving in non-Chinese languages such as Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese
  • Classical Chinese poetry from the Middle Chinese period
  • Transliterations of foreign words into Chinese characters. For example, "Dravida" was translated by religious scribes into a series of characters 達羅毗荼 that are now read in Putonghua (Mandarin) as /ta˧˥ luo˧˥ pʰi˧˥ tʰu˧˥/ (Pinyin: Dáluópítú). This suggests that Mandarin /uo/ (Pinyin -uo) is the modern reflex of an ancient /a/-like sound, and that the Mandarin tone /˧˥/ is a reflex of ancient voiced consonants. Both of these can in fact be confirmed through comparison among modern Chinese dialects.
  • Rime books (or rime dictionaries). Ancient Chinese philologists devoted a great amount of effort in summarizing the Chinese phonetic system through rime or rhyme books. There was a profuse output of Chinese poetry during the Tang era, with a rigid verse structure that relied on the rime and tone of the final characters in lines of poetry. Middle Chinese as embodied in rime books were a primary aid to authors in composing poetry. The 601 AD Qieyun rime dictionary is our earliest fixed record of the phonology of Chinese pronunciation, albeit without the aid of phonetic letters, but entries that are indexed under a rigorous hierarchy of tone, rime, and onset. Only fragments or incomplete copies were known until a chance discovery of a version from the Tang Dynasty in the caves of Dunhuang. Later expanded rime dictionaries such as the eleventh-century Song Dynasty Guangyun and Jiyun survive to the present day. These are essentially extended versions of the Qieyun, and until the Dunhuang discovery, the Guangyun was the base from which Middle Chinese was reconstructed.

Reconstructed phonology

Middle Chinese had three types of stops: voiced, voiceless, and voiceless aspirated. Syllables could end with stops. Middle Chinese had more vowels than its descendants, such as /æ/, which merged into similar phonemes later on. Affricate and fricative sibilants had three levels of distinction as they do in Mandarin. Some Sinologists[who?] believe that Old Chinese or an early state of Middle Chinese originally had consonant clusters such as /dɹ/ which became retroflex sounds.

Initials

See also: 36 initials
Middle Chinese reconstructed Qieyun initials[1] Note that some columns are not in the IPA.
initial Bernhard Karlgren Li Fang-Kuei Wang Li Zhou Fagao Li Rong Shao Rongfen Edwin G. Pulleyblank Dong Tonghe Pan Wuyun William H. Baxter Hugh M. Stimson frequency in Guangyun[2]
幫 p p p p p p p p p p b 861
滂 pʰ pʰ pʰ pʰ pʰ pʰ pʰ pʰ pʰ ph p 654
並 bʱ b bʱ b b b b bʱ b b bh 1118
明 m m m m m m m m m m m 1109
端 t t t t t t t t t t d 614
透 tʰ tʰ tʰ tʰ tʰ tʰ tʰ tʰ tʰ th t 540
定 dʱ d dʱ d d d d dʱ d d dh 1022
泥 n n n n n n n n n n n 303
知 ȶ ʈ ȶ ʈ ȶ ȶ ʈ ȶ ʈ tr dj 403
徹 ȶʰ ʈʰ ȶʰ ʈʰ ȶʰ ȶʰ ʈʰ ȶʰ ʈʰ trh tj 309
澄 ȡʱ ɖ ȡʱ ɖ ȡ ȡ ɖ ȡʱ ɖ dr djh 482
娘 n ɳ n ɳ n ȵ ɳ n ɳ nr n 221
精 ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts ts tz 775
清 tsʰ ts tsʰ tsʰ tsʰ tsʰ tsʰ tsʰ tsʰ tsh ts 582
從 dzʱ dz dzʱ dz dz dz dz dzʱ dz dz dz 547
心 s s s s s s s s s s s 930
邪 z z z z z z z z z z z 224
莊 tʂ tʂ ʧ tʂ ʧ ʧ tʂ ʧ tʂ tsr jr 233
初 tʂʰ tʂʰ ʧʰ tʂʰ ʧʰ ʧʰ tʂʰ ʧʰ tʂʰ tsrh chr 246
崇 dʐʱ dʐ ʤʱ dʐ ʤ ʤ dʐ ʤʱ dʐ dzr jrh 238
生 ʂ ʂ ʃ ʂ ʃ ʃ ʂ ʃ ʂ sr sr 446
俟 dʐʱ dʐ dʒʱ ʐ ʒ ʒ ʐ ʒ ʐ zr zr 8
章 tɕ tɕ tɕ tɕ tɕ tɕ c tɕ tɕ tsy j 590
昌 tɕʰ tɕʰ tɕʰ tɕʰ tɕʰ tɕʰ cʰ tɕʰ tɕʰ tsyh ch 240
常 ʑ ʑ ʑ dʑ ʑ dʑ dʑ ʑ dʑ dzy zh 354
書 ɕ ɕ ɕ ɕ ɕ ɕ ɕ ɕ ɕ sy sh 324
船 dʑʱ dʑ dʑʱ ʑ dʑ ʑ ʑ dʑʱ ʑ zy jh 78
日 ȵʑ ȵʑ ȵʑ ȵ ȵ ȵʑ ȵ ȵ ȵ ny nj 403
見 k k k k k k k k k k g 2029
溪 kʰ kʰ kʰ kʰ kʰ kʰ kʰ kʰ kʰ kh k 1071
羣 g gʱ g g g g g gʱ g g gh 716
疑 ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ng ng 830
影 ʔ ʔ (none) ʔ ʔ ʔ ʔ ʔ ʔ ʻ q 1365
曉 x x x x x x h x h x x 1112
匣 ɣ ɣ ɣ ɣ ɣ ɣ ɦ ɣ ɦ h h 1312
云 (none) (none) ɣ j ɣ ɣ ɦ ɣ ɦ h h 335
以 (none) j j (none) (none) (none) j (none) j y (none) 966
來 l l l l l l l l l l l 1735

Finals

Middle Chinese reconstructed finals
Note that some columns are not in the IPA.
Qieyun rime Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Wang Li Edwin G. Pulleyblank William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan
Jinling pronunciation Luoyang pronunciation
歌一等開 ɑ ɑ ɑ a a ɑ ɐ
戈三等開 i̯ɑ iɑ ǐɑ ɨa ja ɑ œ
戈一等合 uɑ uɑ uɑ wa wa wɑ wɐ
戈三等合 i̯wɑ iuɑ ǐuɑ ua jwa wɑ wœ
麻二等開 a a a aɨ æ æ ɛ
麻三等開 i̯a ia ǐa ia jæ jæ jɛ
麻二等合 wa ua ǐwa waɨ wæ wæ wɛ
模一等合 uo o u ɔ u u ə
魚三等合 i̯wo iɔ ǐo ɨə̆ jo œ ø
虞三等合 i̯u io ǐu uə̆ ju ø ø
咍一等開 ɑ̌i ɒi ɒi əj oj əj əj
泰一等開 ɑi ɑi ɑi aj aj ɑj ɐj
皆二等開 ăi ɛi ɐi əɨj ɛj ɑj ɛj
佳二等開 ai ɛ ai aɨj ɛɨ ɛ ɛj
夬二等開 ai ai æi aɨj(s) æj æj ɛj
祭三等開 i̯ɛi iɛi/jɛi ǐɛi iaj/jiaj jej/jiej ej/jej ej/jej
廢三等開 i̯æi iɐi ǐɐi ɨaj joj øj øj
齊四等開 iei ei iei ɛj ej ɐj ɪj
灰一等合 uɑ̌i uɒi uɒi wəj woj ʏj ʏj
泰一等合 wɑi uɑi uɑi waj waj wɑj wɐj
皆二等合 wăi uɛi wɐi wəɨj wɛj wɑj wɛj
佳二等合 wai uɛ wai waɨj wɛɨ wɛ wɛj
夬二等合 wai uai wæi waɨj(s) wæj wæj wɛj
祭三等合 i̯wɛi iuɛi/juɛi ǐwɛi wiaj/jwiaj jwej/jwiej wej/wjej wej/wjej
廢三等合 i̯wæi iuɐi ǐwɐi uaj jwoj wøj wøj
齊四等合 iwei uei iwei wɛj wej wɐj wɪj
支三等開 iě ie/je ǐe iə̆/jiə̆ je/jie e/je i/ji
脂三等開 i i/ji i i/ji ij/jij i/ji i/ji
之三等開 i iə ǐə ɨ i i e
微三等開 ěi iəi ǐəi ɨj jɨj yj yj
支三等合 wiě iue/jue ǐwe wiə̆/jwiə̆ jwe/jwie we/wje wi/wji
脂三等合 wi ui/jui wi wi/jwi wij/jwij wi/wji wi/wji
微三等合 wěi iuəi ǐwəi uj jwɨj wyj wyj
豪一等開 ɑu ɑu ɑu aw aw ɑw ɐw
肴二等開 au au au aɨw æw ɛw ɛw
宵三等開 i̯wɛu iɛu/jɛu ǐɛu iaw jew/jiew ew/jew ew/jew
蕭四等開 ieu eu ieu ɛw ew ɪw ɪw
侯一等開 ə̆u u əu əw uw ʉ u
尤三等開 iə̆u iu ǐəu uw juw y y
幽三等開 i̯ĕu iĕu iəu jiw jiw iw iw
覃一等開 ɑ̌m ɒm ɒm əm om ɔm ɔm
談一等開 ɑm ɑm ɑm am am ɑm ɐm
咸二等開 ăm ɐm ɐm əɨm ɛm ɛm ɛm
銜二等開 am am am aɨm æm æm ɛm
鹽三等開 i̯ɛm iɛm/jɛm ǐɛm iam jem øm øm
嚴三等開 i̯æm iɐm ǐɐm ɨam jæm em/jem em/jem
添四等開 iem em iem ɛm em ɪm ɪm
凡三等合 i̯wæm iuɐm ǐwɐm uam jwom œm øm
侵三等開 i̯əm iəm/jəm ǐĕm im/jim im/jim im/jim im/jim
寒一等開 ɑn ɑn ɑn an an ɑn ɐn
山二等開 ăn ɛn æn əɨn ɛn ɛn ɛ
刪二等開 an an an aɨn æn æn æn
仙三等開 i̯ɛn iɛn/jɛn ǐɛn ian jen/jien en/jen en/jen
元三等開 i̯æn iɐn ǐɐn ɨan jon øn øn
先四等開 ien en ien ɛn en ɪn ɪn
桓一等合 uɑn uɑn uɑn wan wan wɑn wɐn
山二等合 wăn uɛn wæn wəɨn wɛn wɛn wɛn
刪二等合 wan uan wan waɨn wæn wæn wæn
仙三等合 i̯wɛn iuɛn/juɛn ǐwɛn wian jwen/jwien wen/wjen wen/wjen
元三等合 i̯wæn iuɐn ǐwɐn uan jwon wøn wøn
先四等合 iwen uen iwen wɛn wen wɪn wɪn
痕一等開 ən ən ən ən on ən ən
眞三等開 i̯ĕn iĕn/jĕn ǐĕn in/jin in/jin in/jin in/jin
欣三等開 i̯ən iən ǐən ɨn jɨn in yn
魂一等合 u̯ən uən uən wən won ʏn ʏn
眞三等合 i̯ĕn iuĕn/jĕn ǐĕn in/jin in/jin in/jin in/jin
諄三等合 i̯wĕn iuĕn ǐwĕn win win win win
文三等合 i̯uən iuən ǐuən un jun yn yn
唐一等開 ɑng ɑŋ ɑŋ aŋ ang ɑŋ ɐŋ
陽三等開 i̯ang iaŋ ǐaŋ ɨaŋ jang œŋ œŋ
唐一等合 wɑng uɑŋ uɑŋ waŋ wang wɑŋ wɐŋ
陽三等合 i̯wang iuaŋ ǐwaŋ uaŋ jwang wœŋ wœŋ
江二等開 ɔng ɔŋ ɔŋ aɨwŋ æwng ɔŋ ɔŋ
登一等開 əng əŋ əŋ əŋ ong oŋ oŋ
蒸三等開 i̯əng iəŋ ǐəŋ iŋ ing iŋ iŋ
登一等合 wəng uəŋ uəŋ wəŋ wong woŋ woŋ
蒸三等合 i̯wəng iuəŋ ǐwəŋ wiŋ wing wiŋ wiŋ
庚二等開 æng ɐŋ ɐŋ aɨjŋ æng æŋ ɛŋ
耕二等開 ɛng ɛŋ æŋ əɨjŋ ɛng ɛŋ ɛŋ
庚三等開 i̯æng iɐŋ ǐɐŋ iajŋ jæng eŋ jɛŋ
清三等開 i̯̯ɛng iɛŋ ǐɛŋ iajŋ/jiajŋ jeng/jieng eŋ/jeŋ eŋ/jeŋ
青四等開 ieng eŋ ieŋ ɛjŋ eng ɪŋ ɪŋ
庚二等合 wæng uɐŋ wɐŋ waɨjŋ wæng wæŋ wɛŋ
耕二等合 wɛng uɛŋ wæŋ wəɨjŋ wɛng wɛŋ wɛŋ
庚三等合 i̯wæng iuɐŋ ǐwɐŋ wiajŋ jwæng weŋ wjɛŋ
清三等合 i̯wɛng iuɛŋ ǐwɛŋ wiajŋ/jwiajŋ jweng/jwieng weŋ/wjeŋ weŋ/wjeŋ
青四等合 iweng ueŋ iweŋ wɛjŋ weng wɪŋ wɪŋ
東一等合 ung uŋ uŋ əwŋ uwng ʉŋ uwng
冬一等合 uong oŋ uoŋ awŋ owng uŋ uŋ
東三等合 iung iuŋ ǐuŋ uwŋ juwng yŋ yŋ
鐘三等合 i̯wong ioŋ ǐwoŋ uawŋ jowng øŋ øŋ

Tones

See also: Tone name

Qieyun classified characters in four parts according to their tone: level tone (平聲), rising tone (上聲), departing tone (去聲), and entering tone (入聲). Characters with entering tones have stop consonants [p], [t], and [k]. Because of the lack of information, it is difficult to determine the exact contours of these tones. In 《元和韻譜》 is written 「平聲哀而安，上聲厲而舉，去聲清而遠，入聲直而促。」According to this, some scholars think that the level tone does not change in pitch, and the rising tone is high or rises in pitch.

Further reading

  • Chen, C.-Y. (2001). Tonal evolution from pre-Middle Chinese to modern Pekinese: three tiers of changes and their intricacies. Berkeley, CA: Project on Linguistic Analysis, University of California.
  • Newman, J., & Raman, A. V. (1999). Chinese historical phonology: a compendium of Beijing and Cantonese pronunciations of characters and their derivations from Middle Chinese. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 27. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 3895865435
  • Ulving, T., & Karlgren, B. (1997). Dictionary of old and middle Chinese: Bernhard Karlgren's Grammata serica recensa alphabetically arranged. Orientalia Gothoburgensia, 11. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. ISBN 9173462942
  • Pulleyblank, E. G. (1991). Lexicon of reconstructed pronunciation in early Middle Chinese, late Middle Chinese, and early Mandarin. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0774803665
  • Pulleyblank, E. G. (1984). Middle Chinese: a study in historical phonology. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0774801921

See also

References

  1. ^ Baxter, William H. III 1992. A Handbook of old Chinese phonology. Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs 64. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Stimson, Hugh M. 1976. T'ang Poetic Vocabulary. Far Eastern Publications, Yale University.
  2. ^ 據polyhedron, zgheng, blankego：《廣韻》全字表，2007年4月7日。

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