Options
New probe on the pronunciation transmutation of the Chinese character er
Author(s)
Date Issued
1997
ISSN
1016-4464
Citation
Journal of Chinese Studies, 1997,vol. 37, pp.493-512.
Type
Peer Reviewed Journal Article
Abstract
The suffixation of the nonsyllabic "" is the only particular phenomenon in the Chinese phonetic system. This "r" is not an independent syllable like all Chinese characters, and is just an auxiliary element belonging to the preceding syllable. Its pronunciation is totally different from the Chinese phonetic system, and has become a retroflex vowel.
The pronunciation of the character er has greatly diversified since ancient times: it went through a lot of changes to become the new pronunciation in Putonghua today.
Why did the character change its pronunciation in northern dialects? How did it happen? When did the new pronunciation complete its change? Was it transformed abruptly or gradually?
This article attempts to explore these questions which have been discussed by many Chinese and foreign scholars for a long time.
This article argues that the pronunciation of er [] began in China since the time of the Mongolian Empire. In other words, it had emerged in northern Chinese dialects at least in the middle of the thirteenth century. A large number of data collected from ancient documents can prove that the pronunciation of er [ ] came from directly translating the "r" of a tail vowel in loan words. Therefore the pronunciation was changed suddenly, because the change was caused by the input of an external language.
兒 was read as "" in the tail vowel first, then the character became the er [] as an independent syllable. The order in this process had not been the other way around as some early academic circles had contended. 學 The transmutation of the pronunciation of er [] underwent a process of lexical diffusion. It ran the course of hundreds of years and did not end until the Qing dynasty. After that. the pronunciation of was taken over by er [ ] in the northern Chinese dialects.
The pronunciation of the character er has greatly diversified since ancient times: it went through a lot of changes to become the new pronunciation in Putonghua today.
Why did the character change its pronunciation in northern dialects? How did it happen? When did the new pronunciation complete its change? Was it transformed abruptly or gradually?
This article attempts to explore these questions which have been discussed by many Chinese and foreign scholars for a long time.
This article argues that the pronunciation of er [] began in China since the time of the Mongolian Empire. In other words, it had emerged in northern Chinese dialects at least in the middle of the thirteenth century. A large number of data collected from ancient documents can prove that the pronunciation of er [ ] came from directly translating the "r" of a tail vowel in loan words. Therefore the pronunciation was changed suddenly, because the change was caused by the input of an external language.
兒 was read as "" in the tail vowel first, then the character became the er [] as an independent syllable. The order in this process had not been the other way around as some early academic circles had contended. 學 The transmutation of the pronunciation of er [] underwent a process of lexical diffusion. It ran the course of hundreds of years and did not end until the Qing dynasty. After that. the pronunciation of was taken over by er [ ] in the northern Chinese dialects.
Loading...
Availability at HKSYU Library
