Chinese Historical Phonology
A Compendium of Beijing and Cantonese Pronunciations of Characters and their Derivations from Middle Chinese
John Newman & Anand V. Raman
Massey University; John Hopkins University
This volume is an explicit summary of the phonological histories of Beijing and Cantonese dialects, based on earlier accounts proposed by Matthew Chen and John Newman and which appeared in the Journal of Chinese Linguistics (1976, 1984/1985). Approximately 2,700 characters appear here with their Middle Chinese reconstructions (the 'Simplified Middle Chinese' reconstructions proposed by Chen) and arranged by their Middle Chinese rime, initial, and tone class. For each character, the complete derivations (as sequences of rule labels) from Middle Chinese to Beijing pronunciation and from Middle Chinese to Cantonese pronunciation are given, including indications of exceptional application or non-application of rules. A full statement of the regular phonological rules referred to in the derivations is provided. The meanings of the characters (in English) are also included. A Hanyu Pinyin-Middle Chinese index enables the reader to determine the Middle Chinese reconstruction from the Hanyu Pinyin representation. The detail of Beijing and Cantonese phonological histories is here made accessible to linguists outside the specialist field of Sinology. The material is explicit, comprehensive, and transparent in a way which will be appreciated by Sinologists and non-Sinologists alike.
LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 27. 300pp. 1999.
ISBN 9783895865435 (paperback).
