Middle Chinese finals

In Middle Chinese, the phonological system of medieval rime dictionaries and rime tables, the final is the rest of the syllable after the initial consonant. This analysis is derived from the traditional Chinese fanqie system of indicating pronunciation with a pair of characters indicating the sounds of the initial and final parts of the syllable respectively, though in both cases several characters were used for each sound. Reconstruction of the pronunciation of finals is much more difficult than for initials due to the combination of multiple phonemes into a single class, and there is no agreement as to their values. Because of this lack of consensus, understanding of the reconstruction of finals requires delving into the details of rime tables and rime dictionaries.[1]

Finals and rhyme classes

Each final is contained within a single rhyme class, but a rhyme class may contain more than one final:[2]

Classes of finals

Karlgren noticed that classes of finals from the rime dictionaries were placed in different rows of the rime tables. As three classes of final were confined to the first, second and fourth rows respectively, he named them finals of divisions I, II and IV. The remaining finals he called "division-III finals" because they occurred in the third row of the tables. Some of these (the "pure" or "independent" division-III finals) occurred only in that row, while others (the "mixed" finals) could also occur in the second or fourth rows with some initials.[4] Karlgren disregarded the chongniu distinction, but later workers have emphasized its importance. Li Rong, in a systematic comparison of the rhyme tables with a recently discovered early edition of the Qieyun, identified seven classes of finals. The table below lists the combinations of initial and final classes that occur in the Qieyun, with the row of the rime tables in which each combination was placed:[5][6]

div. I div. II "division-III" finals div. IV
indep. mixed chongniu
Labials 1 2 3 3 3 4 4
Dental stops 1 4
Retroflex 2 3 3
Dental sibilants 1 4 4 4
Palatal 3 3
Retroflex 2 2 2
Velars 1 2 3 3 3 4 4
Laryngeals 1 2 3 3 3 4 4
Lateral 1 3 3 4

The mixed and chongniu finals, though designated as division-III finals, are spread across rows 2 and 4 as well as row 3 of the tables. To handle these cases, a distinction is made between the row that the homophone class is placed in and the "division" of its final. This article distinguishes rows by Arabic numerals 1 2 3 4 and divisions by Roman numerals I II III IV. In addition, chóngniǔ finals in division III are notated in the table of final outcomes below as III/3 or III/4, depending on the row in which they occur.

Significance of the division

There are correspondences between certain divisions and the presence or absence of medial glides in later dialects, in ways that differ depending on the class of the initial (e.g. velar, labial, retroflex, etc.). There are also clear co-occurrence restrictions between initials and divisions, in that initials from certain of these same classes can occur with finals only from certain divisions. The LMC authors of this system appear to have been aware of these classes of initials, and seem to have determined the separation into divisions partly on the basis of the co-occurrence relationships and partly on the medial glides, although it is debated how the exact classification was made. It is important to remember that the authors of this system were attempting to use LMC phonology to reconstruct EMC phonology (although they probably thought of it more in terms of trying to harmonize the way that words were normally pronounced with the rather different system of rhymes and homophones as laid out in the Qieyun).

The clearest difference is between division III and other divisions, with division III generally corresponding to palatal initials and/or finals with palatal (i.e. high-front) vowels or glides. In addition, divisions I and IV allow exactly the same set of initials in EMC, suggesting that the distinction between the two postdates the EMC period. Division-IV syllables are commonly thought to reflect a diphthong containing a vocalic glide /i/ in LMC, corresponding to an EMC mid-front monophthong, variously reconstructed as /ɛ/, /e/ or ɪ. Beyond this, there is no consensus.

Karlgren, and many authors following him, suggest that neither divisions I nor II had any medial other than /w/ or /u/, with division I corresponding to back vowels and division II to front vowels. Some authors have suggested that division II corresponded not so much to front vowels as to centralized vowels. Many authors have recently suggested that division-II syllables consistently had a medial /r/ in Old Chinese, although this appeared to have already disappeared by EMC, so it's unclear exactly how this would have been carried forward into LMC. (Some have suggested that the system of divisions dates back at least to the time of the Qieyun (c. 600 AD), and reflects a medial /ɣ/ present very early on in the EMC period.)

Table of Early Middle Chinese finals

The following table lists Early Middle Chinese (EMC) reconstructed "finals" (i.e. all of the syllable other than the initial consonant), according to different authors. It also lists the corresponding Late Middle Chinese (LMC) outcomes according to Pulleyblank, and the Standard Mandarin outcomes using Pinyin spelling. The table does not explicitly list finals ending in /p/, /t/ or /k/ (the so-called "entering tone" syllables), but these can easily be derived by substituting /p/ for /m/, /t/ for /n/, and /k/ for /ŋ/. Note also that some columns are not strictly in IPA.

Late Middle Chinese (LMC) outcomes

Codes for initial classes:

Standard Mandarin outcomes

The modern outcomes are listed using the following codes:

The outcomes are written either as individual outcomes in Pinyin, or combined outcomes in "pseudo-Pinyin" (when the outcome begins with a "-" or uppercase letter). "Pseudo-Pinyin" uses Pinyin conventions but without any of the abbreviations normally in use in Pinyin. Examples:

When not indicated, the choice of whether a velar or palatal occurs is determined by the following vowel: palatals before -i or , velars elsewhere.

Example: A listed outcome like -uo, Ge, PMo; also Ta, occ. wo means that the outcome is -e for a guttural (i.e. ge, ke, he, e); -o for a labial (i.e. po, bo, mo); -uo elsewhere; but for alveolar stops, -a also appears (i.e. either tuo, duo or ta, da), and wo occasionally appears instead of e as the outcome of MC ʔ- or ŋ- (the outcome of both is a "null initial", which is counted as a "guttural" in the modern outcomes).

These outcomes assume the normal correspondences between EMC initials and Standard Mandarin initials:

In a couple of situations where two different EMC initials have merged, the modern outcome is nonetheless different depending on the EMC initial:

Zero coda

Yunjing rhyme class Qieyun rhyme class division rounding Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Edwin G. Pulleyblank [lower-alpha 1] William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan Standard Mandarin pronunciation
EMCLMCJinlingLuoyang
(outer)Iopen ɑ ɑ a [ɑ] a [ɑ], Pua [ɑ] a ɑ ɐ -uo, Ge, PMo; also Ta, occ. wo
Iclosed wa [wɑ] ua [uɑ] wa -uo; also Ge
III-mixedopen i̯ɑ ɨa [ɨɑ] ia [iɑ] ja ɑ œ Qie
III-mixedclosed i̯wɑ iuɑ ua [uɑ] ya [yɑ] jwa Qüe
(outer)IIopen a a aɨ (ɛɨ) aː [ɑː], Gjaː [Gjɑː] æ æ ɛ -a, Jia
IIclosed wa ua waɨ (wɛɨ) waː [wɑː] -ua
III-mixedopen i̯a ia ia [iɑ] ia [iɑ] Jie, ŠRe
(inner)Iclosed uo o ɔ uǝ̆ [uɔ] u u ə -u
III-mixedclosed i̯wo ɨǝ̆ iǝ̆ [iɛ], SRəǝ̆ [SRɤ] (yǝ̆ [yɛ], SRuǝ̆ [SRuɔ]) jo œ ø -ü, Fu, ŠRu
III-mixedclosed i̯u io uǝ̆ yǝ̆ [yɛ], SRuǝ̆ [SRuɔ] ju ø ø

Palatal glide coda

Yunjing rhyme class Qieyun rhyme class division rounding Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Edwin G. Pulleyblank [lower-alpha 1] William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan Standard Mandarin pronunciation
EMCLMCJinlingLuoyang
(outer)Iopen ɑ̌i ɒi əj aj oj əj əj -ai, Pei
Iclosed uɑ̌i uɒi wəj uaj woj ʏj ʏj -uei, PMei, lei, nei
Iopen ɑi ɑi aj aj ajH[lower-alpha 2] ɑj ɐj -ai, Pei
Iclosed wɑi uɑi waj uaj wajH[lower-alpha 2] wɑj wɐj -uei
IIopen ǝ̆i ɛi əɨj aːj, Gjaːj ɛj ɑj ɛj -ai, Qie; also Pei
IIclosed wǝ̆i uɛi wəɨj waːj wɛj wɑj wɛj Kuai
IIopen ai ɛ aɨj aːj, Gjaːj ɛ (ɛɨ)[lower-alpha 3] ɛ ɛj -ai, ya < ʔ-, Qie; also Pa
IIclosed wai waɨj waːj wɛ (wɛɨ)[lower-alpha 3] wɛj -ua; also wai
IIopen ai ai aɨj(s)[lower-alpha 2] aːj, Gjaːj æjH[lower-alpha 2] æj ɛj -ai, Qie
IIclosed wai uai waɨj(s)[lower-alpha 2] waːj wæjH[lower-alpha 2] wæj wɛj Kuai
III/3open i̯ɛi iɛi iaj iaj jejH[lower-alpha 2] ej ej -i
III/4open jɛi jiaj PGjiaj jiejH[lower-alpha 2] jej jej
III/3closed i̯wɛi iuɛi wiaj yaj jwejH[lower-alpha 2] wej wej -uei
III/4closed juɛi jwiaj PGjyaj jwiejH[lower-alpha 2] wjej wjej
III-indepopen i̯æi iɐi ɨaj iaj jojH[lower-alpha 2] øj øj fei, yi
III-indepclosed i̯wæi iuɐi uaj yaj jwojH[lower-alpha 2] wøj wøj Kuei
IVopen iei ei ɛj PGjiaj, Aiaj ej ɐj ɪj -i
IVclosed iwei uei wɛj Gjyaj wej wɐj wɪj Kuei
(inner)III/3open ie iǝ̆ i, SRṛ, STẓ je e i -i, er < ny-; occ. Pei
III/4open je jiǝ̆ PGji jie je ji
III/3closed wiě iue wiǝ̆ yj, SRuj jwe we wi -uei, lei
III/4closed jue jwiǝ̆ PGjyj jwie wje wji
III/3open i i i i, SRṛ, STẓ ij i i -i, er < ny-; occ. PMei
III/4open ji ji PGji jij ji ji
III/3closed wi ui wi yj, SRuj wij wi wi -uei, lei, yi?
III/4closed jui jwi PGjyj jwij wji wji
III-mixedopen i ɨ i, SRṛ, STẓ i i e -i, er < ny-
III-indepopen ěi iəi ɨj i jɨj yj yj Ji, Fei
III-indepclosed wěi iuəi uj yj jwɨj wyj wyj Guei

Labial-velar glide coda

Yunjing rhyme class Qieyun rhyme class division rounding Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Edwin G. Pulleyblank [lower-alpha 1] William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan Standard Mandarin pronunciation
EMCLMCJinlingLuoyang
(outer)Iopen ɑu ɑu aw (u)aw aw ɑw ɐw -ao
IIopen au au aɨw aːw, Gjaːw æw ɛw ɛw -ao, ao < ʔ-, Jiao
III/3open i̯ɛu iɛu iaw iaw jew ew ew -iao, ŠRao
III/4open jɛu jiaw PGjiaw jiew jew jew
IVopen ieu eu ɛw PGjiaw, Aiaw ew ɪw ɪw
(inner)Iopen ə̆u u əw əw uw ʉ u -ou; also mu
III-mixedopen iə̆u iu uw iw, SRəw, Məw juw y y -iou, fou, mou, ŠRou; also Sou < Š-
III/4open i̯ĕu iĕu jiw jiw jiw iw iw -iou

Labial codas

Yunjing rhyme class Qieyun rhyme class division rounding Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Edwin G. Pulleyblank [lower-alpha 1] William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan Standard Mandarin pronunciation
EMCLMCJinlingLuoyang-m-p
(outer)Iopen ɑ̌m ɒm əm am om ɔm ɔm -an -a, Ke
Iopen ɑm ɑm am am am ɑm ɐm
IIopen ǝ̆m ɐm əɨm aːm, Gjaːm ɛm ɛm ɛm -an, Jian Jia, Ša
IIopen am am aɨm aːm, Gjaːm æm æm ɛm
III/3open i̯ɛm iɛm iam iam jem øm øm -ian, ŠRan -ie, Še
III/4open jɛm jiam PGjiam jiem jøm? jøm?
III-indepopen i̯æm iɐm ɨam iam jæm em em -ian, fan -ie, fa
III-indepclosed i̯wæm iuɐm uam iam jom/jwom? œm øm
IVopen iem em ɛm PGjiam, Aiam em ɪm ɪm -ian Qie
(inner)III/3open i̯əm iəm im im, SRəm im im im -in, ŠRen; also Sen < Š- -i, Še < SR-
III/4open jəm jim PGjim jim jim jim

Dental codas

Yunjing rhyme class Qieyun rhyme class division rounding Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Edwin G. Pulleyblank [lower-alpha 1] William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan Standard Mandarin pronunciation
EMCLMCJinlingLuoyang-n-t
(outer)Iopen ɑn ɑn an an an ɑn ɐn -an -a, Ge, PMo
Iclosed uɑn uɑn wan uan wan wɑn wɐn -uan -uo
IIopen an an aɨn aːn, Gjaːn æn æn ɛn -an, Jian -a, Jia
IIclosed wan uan waɨn waːn wæn wæn wɛn -uan Kua
IIopen ǝ̆n ɛn əɨn aːn, Gjaːn ɛn ɛn ɛn -an, Jian -a, Jia
IIclosed wǝ̆n uɛn wəɨn waːn wɛn wɛn wɛn Kuan Gua
III/3open i̯ɛn iɛn ian ian jen en en -ian, ŠRan -ie, ŠRe
III/4open jɛn jian PGjian jien jen jen
III/3closed i̯wɛn iuɛn wian yan jwen wen wen -uan, Jüan; also lian Jüe, lie, Šuo
III/4closed juɛn jwian PGjyan jwien wjen wjen
III-indepopen i̯æn iɐn ɨan ian jon øn øn Jian, Fan Jie, fa
III-indepclosed i̯wæn iuɐn uan yan jwon wøn wøn Jüan, fan Jüe
IVopen ien en ɛn PGjian, Aian en ɪn ɪn -ian -ie
IVclosed iwen uen wɛn jyan wen wɪn wɪn Jüan Qüe
(inner)Iopen ən ən ən ən on ən ən Gen Ke
Iclosed u̯ən uən wən un won ʏn ʏn -uen, PMen -u, PMo, ne
III/3open i̯ɛn iɛn in SRən in in in -in, ŠRen; also Sen < Š- -i, Še < SR-
III/3open i̯ēn iēn in in, SRən in in in
III/4open jēn jin PGjin jin jin jin
III/3closed i̯wēn iuēn win yn win win win -uen, Jün
III/3closed i̯uēn iuēn win yn win win win
III/4closed juēn jwin PGjyn jwin jwin jwin
欣(殷?)III-indepopen i̯ən iən ɨn in jɨn in yn Jin Ji
III-indepclosed i̯uən iuən un yn, yt, SRut jun yn yn Jün, Fen Jü, Fu

Velar codas

Yunjing rhyme class Qieyun rhyme class division rounding Bernhard Karlgren Li Rong Edwin G. Pulleyblank [lower-alpha 1] William H. Baxter Abraham Y.S. Chan Standard Mandarin pronunciation
EMCLMCJinlingLuoyang-k
(outer)Iopen ɑŋ ɑŋ aŋ [ɑŋ] aŋ [ɑŋ] ɑŋ ɐŋ -ang -uo, Ge, PMo; also lao; occ. Sao
Iclosed wɑŋ uɑŋ waŋ [wɑŋ] uaŋ [uɑŋ] waŋ wɑŋ wɐŋ Kuang Kuo
III-mixedopen i̯aŋ iaŋ ɨaŋ [ɨɑŋ] iaŋ [iɑŋ], SRaːŋ [SRɑːŋ] jaŋ œŋ œŋ -iang, Fang, ŠRang; also Šuang < SR- -üe, ŠRuo; also Jiao
III-mixedclosed i̯waŋ iuaŋ uaŋ [uɑŋ] yaŋ [yɑŋ] jwaŋ wœŋ wœŋ Kuang Qüe
(outer)IIopen ɔŋ ɔŋ aɨwŋ aːwŋ, RXLʔwaːwŋ, Gjaːwŋ æwŋ ɔŋ ɔŋ Qiang, Pang, Šuang < TR- -uo, wo < ʔ-, Jüe, Pao; also Qiao, Po
(inner)Iopen əŋ əŋ əŋ əǝ̆ŋ [ɤŋ] -eng -e, PMo; also Sei, lei
Iclosed wəŋ uəŋ wəŋ uǝ̆ŋ [uɔŋ] woŋ woŋ woŋ Kong Kuo
III-mixedopen i̯əŋ iəŋ iǝ̆ŋ [iɛŋ], iǝ̆k [iɛk], SRəǝ̆k [SRɤk] -ing, ŠReng -i, Še < SR-; also Se < SR-
III-mixedclosed i̯wəŋ iuəŋ wiŋ yǝ̆ŋ [yɛŋ] wiŋ wiŋ wiŋ unobserved
(outer)IIopen æŋ ɐŋ aɨjŋ aːjŋ, Gjaːjŋ æŋ æŋ ɛŋ Jing, -eng; also Keng -ai, Ge; also PMo, Se < Š-
IIclosed wæŋ uɐŋ waɨjŋ waːjŋ wæŋ wæŋ wɛŋ Keng unobserved
IIopen ɛŋ ɛŋ əɨjŋ aːjŋ, Gjaːjŋ ɛŋ ɛŋ ɛŋ Jing, -eng; also Keng -ai, Ge; also Se < Š-
IIclosed wɛŋ uɛŋ wəɨjŋ waːjŋ wɛŋ wɛŋ wɛŋ Kong Kuo
III/3open i̯æŋ iɐŋ iajŋ iajŋ jæŋ jɛŋ -ing, Šeng -i
III/3closed i̯wæŋ iuɐŋ wiajŋ yajŋ jwæŋ weŋ wjɛŋ Qiong unobserved
III/3open i̯ɛŋ iɛŋ iajŋ iajŋ jeŋ -ing, Šeng -i
III/4open jɛŋ jiajŋ PGjiajŋ jieŋ jeŋ jeŋ
III/3closed i̯wɛŋ iuɛŋ wiajŋ yajŋ jweŋ weŋ weŋ Qiong, ying yi
III/4closed juɛŋ jwiajŋ jyajŋ jwieŋ wjeŋ wjeŋ
IVopen ieŋ ɛjŋ PGjiajŋ, Aiajŋ ɪŋ ɪŋ -ing -i
IVclosed iweŋ ueŋ Kwɛjŋ jyajŋ weŋ wɪŋ wɪŋ Qiong unobserved
(inner)Iclosed əwŋ əwŋ uwŋ ʉŋ uwŋ -ong, weng, PMeng; occ. Seng -u; also wo
Iclosed uoŋ awŋ əwŋ owŋ
III-mixedclosed iuŋ iuŋ uwŋ iwŋ, SRəwŋ, Məwŋ juwŋ -ong, Jiong, feng; also Kong -u, Jü; also liu, ŠRou
III-mixedclosed i̯woŋ ioŋ uawŋ ywŋ jowŋ øŋ øŋ

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The table uses the notation in Pulleyblank (1991), which differs in some ways from Pulleyblank (1984).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 These finals occur only in tone 3 (the "departing tone"). This is because they come from Old Chinese finals in -ts > -js, while the corresponding Old Chinese finals in -j lost the /j/. As a result, they often appear in Pulleyblank (1962) as e.g. aɨj(s) and in Baxter (1992) as e.g. æjH, where the s and H are the respective notations for tone 3.
  3. 1 2 In Baxter (1992), these finals are indicated as ɛɨ and wɛɨ, but in Baxter & Sagart (2010), they have changed to simply ɛ and .

References

Footnotes
  1. Norman (1988), pp. 36–38.
  2. Baxter (1992), pp. 62–63.
  3. Baxter (1992), pp. 75–79.
  4. Branner (2006), p. 24.
  5. Branner (2006), p. 25.
  6. Baxter (1992), pp. 63–81.
Works cited
  • Baxter, William H. (1992), A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-012324-1. 
  • ; Sagart, Laurent (20 February 2010), Baxter-Sagart Old Chinese reconstruction, Version 1.00. 
  • Branner, David Prager (2006), "What are rime tables and what do they mean?", in Branner, David Prager, The Chinese Rime Tables: Linguistic Philosophy and Historical-Comparative Phonology, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 1–34, ISBN 978-90-272-4785-8.  See also List of Corrigenda.
  • Chan, Abraham (2004), "Early Middle Chinese Towards a New Paradigm", T'oung Pao, 90 (1/3): 122–162, doi:10.1163/1568532042523149, JSTOR 4528958. 
  • Karlgren, Bernhard (1957), Grammata Serica Recensa, Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, OCLC 1999753. 
  • Li, Fang-Kuei (1974–75), Gilbert L. Mattos (trans.), "Studies on Archaic Chinese", Monumenta Serica, 31: 219–287. 
  • 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, Munich: LINCOM Europa, ISBN 978-3-89586-543-5. 
  • Norman, Jerry (1988), Chinese, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29653-3. 
  • Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1962), "The Consonantal System of Old Chinese", Asia Major, 9: 58–144, 206–265. 
  • (1970), "Late Middle Chinese, Part I" (PDF), Asia Major, 15: 197–239. 
  • (1971), "Late Middle Chinese, Part II" (PDF), Asia Major, 16: 121–166. 
  • (1984), Middle Chinese: a study in historical phonology, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, ISBN 978-0-7748-0192-8. 
  • (1991), Lexicon of reconstructed pronunciation in early Middle Chinese, late Middle Chinese, and early Mandarin, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, ISBN 978-0-7748-0366-3. 
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