Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Taxonomy (general)
- 3 Taxonomy (Sino-Tibetan)
- 4 Tibeto-Burman classification
- 5 Tibeto-Burman reconstruction (history)
- 6 Tibeto-Burman primary sources
- 7 Tibeto-Burman consonants (general; final)
- 8 Tibeto-Burman consonants (initial)
- 9 Tibeto-Burman consonant clusters
- 10 Tibeto-Burman vowels (finals; diphthongs)
- 11 Tibeto-Burman vowels (medials)
- 12 Tibeto-Burman tones
- 13 Tibeto-Burman morphology (history)
- 14 Tibeto-Burman morphology (categories)
- 15 Tibeto-Burman pronouns
- 16 Tibeto-Burman numerals
- 17 Tibeto-Burman morphology and syntax (general)
- 18 Tibeto-Burman affixes (special)
- 19 Tibeto-Burman affixes (general)
- 20 Tibeto-Burman dental suffixes
- 21 Tibeto-Burman prefixes (general)
- 22 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *s-
- 23 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *r-
- 24 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *b-
- 25 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *g-
- 26 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *d-
- 27 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *m-
- 28 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *a-
- 29 Tibeto-Burman alternation (consonantal, vocalic)
- 30 Karen (general)
- 31 Karen morphology (categories) and syntax
- 32 Karen pronouns
- 33 Karen numerals
- 34 Karen prefixes
- 35 Karen initial consonants and clusters
- 36 Karen final consonants and medial vowels
- 37 Karen final vowels and semi-vowels
- 38 Karen tones
- 39 Chinese (general, history)
- 40 Chinese morphology (prefixes, suffixes, alternation)
- 41 Chinese pronouns
- 42 Chinese numerals
- 43 Chinese phonology (history)
- 44 Chinese consonants (initials, finals)
- 45 Chinese consonant clusters
- 46 Chinese vowels and diphthongs
- 47 Chinese tones
- 48 Résumé (Chinese)
- Appendix I Tibeto-Burman roots
- Appendix II English–TB index
- Appendix III Primary Tibeto-Burman sources
- Appendix IV Author's and editor's bibliography
46 - Chinese vowels and diphthongs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Taxonomy (general)
- 3 Taxonomy (Sino-Tibetan)
- 4 Tibeto-Burman classification
- 5 Tibeto-Burman reconstruction (history)
- 6 Tibeto-Burman primary sources
- 7 Tibeto-Burman consonants (general; final)
- 8 Tibeto-Burman consonants (initial)
- 9 Tibeto-Burman consonant clusters
- 10 Tibeto-Burman vowels (finals; diphthongs)
- 11 Tibeto-Burman vowels (medials)
- 12 Tibeto-Burman tones
- 13 Tibeto-Burman morphology (history)
- 14 Tibeto-Burman morphology (categories)
- 15 Tibeto-Burman pronouns
- 16 Tibeto-Burman numerals
- 17 Tibeto-Burman morphology and syntax (general)
- 18 Tibeto-Burman affixes (special)
- 19 Tibeto-Burman affixes (general)
- 20 Tibeto-Burman dental suffixes
- 21 Tibeto-Burman prefixes (general)
- 22 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *s-
- 23 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *r-
- 24 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *b-
- 25 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *g-
- 26 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *d-
- 27 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *m-
- 28 Tibeto-Burman prefixed *a-
- 29 Tibeto-Burman alternation (consonantal, vocalic)
- 30 Karen (general)
- 31 Karen morphology (categories) and syntax
- 32 Karen pronouns
- 33 Karen numerals
- 34 Karen prefixes
- 35 Karen initial consonants and clusters
- 36 Karen final consonants and medial vowels
- 37 Karen final vowels and semi-vowels
- 38 Karen tones
- 39 Chinese (general, history)
- 40 Chinese morphology (prefixes, suffixes, alternation)
- 41 Chinese pronouns
- 42 Chinese numerals
- 43 Chinese phonology (history)
- 44 Chinese consonants (initials, finals)
- 45 Chinese consonant clusters
- 46 Chinese vowels and diphthongs
- 47 Chinese tones
- 48 Résumé (Chinese)
- Appendix I Tibeto-Burman roots
- Appendix II English–TB index
- Appendix III Primary Tibeto-Burman sources
- Appendix IV Author's and editor's bibliography
Summary
The Arc. Ch. vowel system, as reconstructed by Karlgren, comprises some 10 vowel phonemes, half of which are distinguished quantitatively:
Front vowels: i; ĕ∼e; ε
Back vowels: ŭ∼u;
Central vowel: ǝ
Low vowels: â; ӑ∼a
It is apparent that this vowel system is far richer than anything to be found in Tibeto-Burman, and indeed serious difficulties arise in comparative analysis. In final position only the following vowels (all long) are found: a, â, å, o, and u. Final i appears only as the first member of a diphthong, while e, ε, ô, and ǝ appear only before final stop, nasal, or -r. The dissimilarity of the two systems, then, extends even into the features of distribution.
Diphthongization, as already pointed out by the writer (Benedict, 1940), is the keynote of the development of vowels in Ar. Ch. This feature is best revealed in the Ar. Ch. treatment of original medial *i before surd stops and nasals (*i>-įĕ-):
sįĕn ‘firewood’; TB *siŋ ‘tree, wood’ (Trung also ‘firewood’).
sįĕn ‘bitter’; TB *m-sin ‘livery’ <*sin ‘bitter, sour’.
mįĕn ‘order, command’ (this earlier reading for mįӑng is revealed in several Shih Ching rimes); cf. B mín, id.
įĕt ‘1’; cf. Kanauri id.
ńįĕt ‘sun, day’ (with suffixed -t); TB *niy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sino-TibetanA Conspectus, pp. 179 - 193Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1972