Questions tagged [phonology]
Phonology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in languages. It has traditionally focused largely on study of the systems of phonemes in particular languages, but it may also cover any linguistic analysis either at a level beneath the word or at all levels of language where sound is considered to be structured for conveying linguistic meaning.
58
questions
0
votes
0
answers
75
views
Why Pinyin's "声母" and "韵母" were translated as "initials" and "finals"?
Why Pinyin's "声母" and "韵母" were translated as "Initials" and "Finals", but not as "sound-mother" and "rime-mother"? What is the meaning of &...
- 3,241
2
votes
0
answers
28
views
Discrepancies between the rimes of a character and its lower character in Guangyun?
𥏙 and 䂕, for instance, are classified into 去聲十三祭韻 according to Guangyun, while their lower characters, 吠, are classified into 去聲二十廢韻. Is there any research that provides a list of (hopefully) all ...
- 149
1
vote
1
answer
117
views
Can 徐 develop a sound mo1?
徐 has initial 邪, which I don't immediate see the connection with [m]. 徐 has rhyme 鱼, which mostly developed into u(ü) and a. I cannot think of how the mo1 sound can be developed.
徐 is 形声字 (Phono-...
- 4,101
1
vote
2
answers
214
views
What’s the deal with the xing-type readings for 行?
How come did the readings of the xing-category appear for 行?
They make no sense. The Early Middle Chinese for “to walk” is γæng, which should give héng – and so it does, in 胻, 蘅, 桁 – even with the ...
- 934
0
votes
1
answer
91
views
How can learner distinguish 察館 vs. 茶館 in Mandarin phonetically?
I like to practice my Mandarin with staff at a 茶館 (tea house). After my months of trying, and after their months guffawing at me, they advise me that my pronunciation of 茶館 STILL sounds like 察館 (...
- 103
1
vote
1
answer
115
views
erhua in loanwords — 模特兒 mótèr?
OK, so I was browsing Wiktionary — as one does — and found out about the word 模特兒 'model', which is apparently pronounced mótèr, with just 2 syllables. there's also an alternative pronunciation, mótè'...
- 11
4
votes
4
answers
259
views
How to create a Chinese sentence using multiple different meanings of the same sounding word?
I just realized that Chinese can have several unrelated meanings under the same sound (though often they are given different Chinese characters/symbols).
For example, gān can be:
干 (to interfere, dry,...
- 1,146
2
votes
1
answer
265
views
jiu3 pronounced as jiu4 ; linked speech feature or slip of the tongue?
Here is the intonation that is recorded in an instructional video for the clause 我已经很久都不过中秋节了 (wǒ yǐjīng hěn jiǔ dōu bú guò zhōngqiūjié le).
久 is very prominently pronounced with a descending ...
- 165
4
votes
1
answer
155
views
A Cantonese-influenced Old National Pronunciation (老國音) system
I need advice/help on creating a system similar to the Old National Pronunciation system/language for a worldbuilding project called Roses, Tulips, and Liberty.
Some background: Imagines, it's a world ...
- 41
3
votes
2
answers
162
views
Yue/Min/Wu/Gan/mandarin phonetic correspondance
I am looking for a table of the regular phonetic correspondances between the different chinese varieties (Yue, Wu, Gan, Min, Mandarin...). For instance I noted a g (Yue)/j(mandarin) correspondance (e....
- 131
4
votes
4
answers
380
views
Why does "yin" (陰) comes first in "yin-yang" (陰陽)?
In the yin-yang dynamic, yang is pretty much always the dominant force: it represents the sun (the "great yang", 太陽), brightness, positivity (陽性), masculinity (the penis, 陽物), the living (陽間,...
- 330
3
votes
3
answers
397
views
Reconstruction of Old Chinese "少"
There are many characters that have the initial "m-" and contain "少" as a phonetic element at the same time, such as 妙, 秒, 眇, 竗, etc. I thought this was a good reason to judge that ...
- 149
5
votes
1
answer
418
views
Pronunciation of 什么
什么 (shénme) sounds to my ears more like (shéme).
Assuming I'm hearing correctly, is this just a common contraction of this word, or is the sequence "-n" + "m-" generally contracted ...
- 504
1
vote
0
answers
96
views
Does 䁤=香季切 and 侐=火季切 being separate 小韻s in 廣韻 imply anything?
Link
Is it something related to 重紐? If not, how can I interpret this?
- 149
3
votes
1
answer
185
views
Why are 端母 and 知母 considered as distinct initials in Early Middle Chinese even though they share same 上字's such as 都 or 丁, while 幫母 and 非母 are not?
There are some examples such as 樁=都江, where the initial of the original character is 知母 (in modern classification) while the one of it's upper character is 端母. Meanwhile, Chen Li considered the ...
- 149
3
votes
1
answer
178
views
What's the exact realization of Chinese glides (in medial position)?
While in some transcriptions you might encounter the IPA [j], [ɥ], and [w] for the medial glides, there are also transcriptions with IPA [ʲ], [ʷ] and [ᶣ].
Glides can have many interpretations ...
- 31
2
votes
1
answer
173
views
What does the inital /dⁿ/ stand for?
While answering @Qiangong2's question here: Are Characters customized in different provinces due to dialectal differences? I was looking through the table on 四川方言字.
On the table the following initial ...
Mou某♦
- 35.9k
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Why does Mandarin Chinese have a smaller inventory of unique syllables?
From How languages compare with the number of different syllables from all words?, considering the 20,000 most frequent words in each language, Mandarin Chinese has 1274 different syllables (see also ...
- 2,142
3
votes
2
answers
316
views
How do Chinese call the sound "i"
In the Chinese language, we have a "clean i" sound (for example, when linked to "ji", "li", "pi") and a "dirty i" sound (for example, when linked to &...
- 2,529
2
votes
1
answer
140
views
What do the /pf/ & /pfʰ/ initials sound like in Central Plains Mandarin?
I was flipping through the Xi'an dialect volume of the Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects.
On p. 206 I came across:
and on p. 207 there is:
There is the /pf/ initial and the aspirated ...
Mou某♦
- 35.9k
1
vote
4
answers
504
views
How to distinguish between homophone words 再 and 在 zài
I wonder how one can distinguish in an oral conversation between homophone words: 再 and 在, as both have the same pronunciation zài.
For example, in the sentence
Wǒ zài kàn diànyǐng.
how one can ...
- 2,142
0
votes
5
answers
468
views
How to pronounce 學 "shwehh", "shoo-ehh", or "xüüehh"?
According to pinyin pronunciation guides, 學 should be pronounced x + ü + e with a rising tone. This should verbally sound something like
1) a shh- with tip of tongue close to your bottom teeth ...
5
votes
2
answers
217
views
Taiwanese Guoyu vs. Putonghua 阴平/阳平 tone split?
I might be reading too much into this and seeing things that aren't there. But, I think, I'm seeing a pattern between some dialects and Mandarin. The following characters seem to have some sort of ...
Mou某♦
- 35.9k
3
votes
2
answers
149
views
How to read these vowel diagrams?
I've come across a couple of vowel diagrams. Here one:
Here's another:
I'm not really sure how to interpenetrate these charts. Any ideas?
Mou某♦
- 35.9k
4
votes
2
answers
218
views
Are there northern dialects which still preserve velars before front vowels?
It's well known that Modern Standard Mandarin has merged what were historically velar stops and alveolar silibants when followed by front vowels. For instance, 京 is "jing" rather than "ging", and 津 is ...
- 6,783
-1
votes
2
answers
117
views
Hi. what chinese or Mandarin word sounds phonetically like the word omniyat
what chinese or Mandarin word sounds phonetically like the word omniyat. And what is the meaning of that chinese word?
- 7
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Can Chinese words start with a vowel?
I've been searching around for random words. Dragon = long, green = lǜsè, river = he... I can't seem to find any words that start with a vowel.
Do any Chinese words start with a vowel?
- 163
1
vote
0
answers
177
views
Tone contours along diphthongs [closed]
I'd like to know as much as possible about how tone contours (T2, T3, T4) are distributed along Mandarin/standard rhyme diphthongs, especially ai ei ao ou, with references to academic articles if ...
- 381
4
votes
1
answer
212
views
Can a neutral tone appear on a non-final syllable?
Can a neutral/fifth tone appear in a word syllable other than the last one?
If so, as a lexical tone, a sandhi tone or both? Adding a few examples would be helpful.
- 381
2
votes
3
answers
205
views
What is the right spelling, 乌兹别克 or 乌孜别克?
China is a country of multiple ethnicities, some of which can also be found in its neighboring countries, like Russia and Koreas. So the same ethnic groups are named the same as that in such other ...
- 2,366
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What's the difference between voiced and "unaspirated" consonants and how can I check if I got it correct?
I heard from somewhere that there are no voiced consonants in Mandarin. Wikipedia says that consonants like the pinyin "d", "b", "g" are "unaspirated", whatever that means...
Although my first ...
- 318
2
votes
1
answer
154
views
What is the 平仄 rule in 無情對
I am fascinated by 無情對,
It is two of my attempts:
四川特產北菇 (Sichuan specialty mushroom)
三洋通用東芝 (Sanyo, GM, Toshiba)
~
今朝書店晚開 (Bookstore open late today)
現代本田日產 (Hyundai, Honda, Nissan)
(All in ...
- 76.1k
3
votes
2
answers
781
views
Is Cantonese a better choice in studying classic of poetry (詩經)?
Again, I ask this question, and provide my opinion as an answer, to reply to the comment of another thread in Stack Exchange:
Pronunciation of Tang Dynasty Poetry
Now, I ask again: in studying ...
- 14.8k
2
votes
1
answer
187
views
Is Cantonese a better choice in looking for characters in rime dictionary (韻書)?
I ask this question, and provide my opinion as an answer, to reply to the comment of another tread in stack exchange:
Pronunciation of Tang Dynasty Poetry
The rationale is that it is difficult to ...
- 14.8k
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Are `sh` and `x` really different phonemes, or just different realizations of the same phoneme?
I can't think of any minimal pairs; like shu vs. xu probably shouldn't count as a minimal pair since the vowel is different.
- 163
1
vote
2
answers
168
views
Are there any pre-modern/non-romanization examples of attempts to alphabetize Chinese?
Were there any attempts to alphabetize Chinese that did not involve writing systems existing in other languages already? This would be something like a Chinese analogue to the development of the ...
- 81
2
votes
1
answer
135
views
What is this “XX” 開 “#” “上/平/入/去” “XX” method for describing character pronunciation?
Here is an incredibly horrible quality excerpt (read: screenshot) from 《四川邛崍油榨方言記》:
here's the highlights from 2 ər that I wanted to point out:
爾 止開三上紙日
兒 止開三平支日
而 止開三平之日
二 止開三去至日
and for contrast ...
Mou某♦
- 35.9k
1
vote
1
answer
461
views
Is Chinese really that ambigous in oral communication?
"I still am super grateful that all TV shows in China have subtitles (in Chinese) because even Chinese people will get a bit confused as to what's being said without the characters specifying which of ...
- 21
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is there a chart of all possible Chinese syllables using Hanzi?
I have been able to find many charts that describe all possible Initial and Final combinations in pinyin, but I'm wondering if there is anything available like that that uses Hanzi only?
I made ...
- 21
5
votes
1
answer
377
views
Help with pronouncing 道 precisely
Practical conclusion from the responses: No digital media currently focus on the precise pronunciation of Pinyin Dao, or Beijing for English speaking students of Chinese. You must look to sources on ...
- 3,283
4
votes
3
answers
834
views
Does Cantonese or Mandarin contain the voiced or voiceless velar fricative?
Update: I apologise effusively for writing ɤ instead of ɣ, which I had intended all along.
Preface: I represent the voiceless velar fricative with its IPA phone [x],
and the voiced velar fricative ...
user11787
8
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Which is the most frequently used tone?
The most difficult for me in learning Chinese is memorizing the correct tone.
I tried to find on web what the most frequently used tones are, but it seems to be hard to find.
I suppose if one tone is ...
- 540
10
votes
3
answers
13k
views
How many syllables does Chinese have?
I'm just reading a book about China and Chinese customs from Heike Barai. She says that Chinese only has around 300 different syllables, whereas modern German has about 10 000 and I suppose English is ...
- 17.2k
8
votes
2
answers
505
views
Neutral tone and erhua (儿化) working as a word distinguisher
I know there are some words in which the use of neutral tone distinguish them the word from their non neutral equivalent, like：
东西 - dong1xi1 - from east to west
东西 - dong1xi - thing
虾子 - xia1zi3 - ...
- 2,529
7
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Chinese views on Erhua
I'm already well acquainted with erhua (儿化) in putonghua, essentially appending 儿 to the ends of words (or reading it when 儿 isn't written, as sometimes people do with 花 or 八点 etc). Many of these ...
- 1,435
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How is non-standard Cantonese spoken by some mainland Chinese speakers different from "standard" pronunciation?
As someone who's more or less a native Cantonese speaker, I've noticed that some speakers from mainland China (from Cantonese speaking areas) sound "weird", in that I could clearly notice a difference ...
user5714
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Macau Cantonese, any differences from HK?
Does anyone know how Cantonese from Macau differ from HK if there are any? Any slangs or terms used in Macanese Cantonese that is rarely used or heard in HK? Maybe some sinicised portuguese words? ...
- 183
6
votes
1
answer
433
views
Is 勺 really the phonetic component of 的?
The etymology of 的 is described here. Is this resource correct is saying that 勺 is this character's phonetic component? I ask because it doesn't seem to hint at the correct pronunciation at all. 勺 is ...
- 749
14
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Did ancient Chinese have tones (声调)?
This question has puzzled me since I have no training in ancient Chinese and ancient phonetics. What is puzzling me are the following facts:
The tones in different regions are quite different. If ...
- 1,268
3
votes
3
answers
243
views
Phonetic clue of characters in languages or dialects other than Mandarin?
Many characters are made up of a semantic and a phonetic part.
Is the phonetic part only valid with regards to Mandarin pronunciation?
Or not even for Mandarin in all cases?
Or does it work with for ...
- 31