Yang Zhuang phonology in the mid-eighteenth century revisited

Abstract

<p>This paper reports further research findings on the phonology of the mid-eighteenth-century Yang Zhuang based on our previous study (Tai and Liao 2015). The Yang Zhuang records of that time come from two sources: First, the phono-semantic Zhuang characters and the Chinese characters that serve as phonetic glosses in the imperial Yang Zhuang glossary Guǎngxī Zhèn’ān Tǔsī Yìyǔ (Language Translation of Zhen’an Native Chieftain in Guangxi) complied around 1750 CE. Second, the Chinese characters that gloss Yang Zhuang words phonetically in the 1756 CE edition of Zhèn’ān Fǔ Zhì (Chronicle of Zhen’an Prefecture). We propose to first reconstruct the proto-Yang Zhuang phonology based on the comparison of contemporary Yang Zhuang varieties. Then the phonetic glosses in Chinese characters can serve as “anchors” to indicate which phonetic changes had been completed in the mid-eighteenth century and which had not yet occurred, making it possible to describe the phonology of Yang Zhuang of that time. Generally speaking, the phonology of Yang Zhuang core varieties in the mid-eighteenth century was closer to that of the peripheral varieties today. For example, /*ɰ-/ was still /ɰ-/ at that time, which has now evolved into /j-/ in most places in Debao and Jingxi, and becomes /h-/ in Napo and Tiandeng. These records also prove that the phonological “Lingnanization” was completed in the mid-eighteenth century in the core varieties of Yang Zhuang. “Lingnanization” refers to the fundamental change in the phonological structures of the majority of the Zhuang languages triggered by the monophthongization of the original opening but falling diphthongs (proto-Tai *-iə̯, *-uə̯, and *-ɯə̯) (Liao2023). This trait was later diffused into the dominant Lingnan Sinitic languages, mainly Cantonese and Pinghua, in the next two to three centuries, becoming one of the most distinctive phonological traits in this region.<br></p><p>Keywords: Central Tai, Yang Zhuang, Lingnanization<br></p><p><br>References<br>Liao Hanbo. 2023. The Formation of Lingnan Linguistic Areal Traits: Typological Structure<br>and Diachronic Issues. PhD Thesis. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong.<br>Tai Chung-pui & Liao Hanbo. 2015. Linguistic features of mid-18th century Yang Zhuang as<br>reflected in the “Sino-Foreign Translated Words”. Paper presented at The 25th Annual<br>Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS 25). Payap University,<br>Chiang Mai, Thailand. 27–29 May 2015.<br></p>