Chongniu

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Chóngniǔ (simplified Chinese: 重纽; traditional Chinese: 重紐; literally "repeated button") or rime doublets are pairs of Middle Chinese homophone groups within the same rime group in rime dictionaries such as the Qieyun and Guangyun that are divided between the third and fourth divisions of rime tables such as the Yunjing but not distinguished in any other way.[1] The name comes the small circle (纽 niǔ) used to delimit homophone groups in the rime dictionaries.[2]

This distinction occurred only after labial, velar or laryngeal initials in the Qieyun rimes 支 zhī, 脂 zhī, 祭 jì, 宵 xiāo, 鹽 yán, 侵 qīn, 仙 xiān and 真 zhēn. It is generally not reflected in modern varieties of Chinese but is maintained in some Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Korean loans.[3] For example, each of the following pairs is separated only in one of the Sinoxenic readings, in which the grade 4 element of the pair is distinguished by palatalization:

Grade Character Beijing Cantonese Sino-Vietnamese Sino-Korean
3 珉 mín man4 mân min
4 民 mín man4 dân min
3 淹 yān jim1 yểm eom
4 厭 yān jim1 yểm yeom

In the first pair, it is assumed that Vietnamese labials became dentals in a palatal environment. The nature of the distinction within Middle Chinese is disputed, with some scholars ascribing it to a medial and others to the main vowel.[4]

According to the now prominent theory of S. E. Jaxontov the chongniu division-III syllables (together with all syllables in division II) had a medial -r- in Old Chinese. William Baxter, following earlier ideas of E. G. Pulleyblank, holds that division-III chongniu syllables had medials -rj- in Old Chinese, while their counterparts in division IV had a medial -j- before a front vowel.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Baxter, William H. (1992), A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 75, ISBN 978-3-11-012324-1. 
  2. ↑ Norman, Jerry (1988), Chinese, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 27, ISBN 978-0-521-29653-3. 
  3. ↑ Baxter (1992) pp. 75–79.
  4. ↑ Baxter (1992) pp. 282–286.
  5. ↑ Baxter (1992) pp. 280–281.
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