denasalization_vocalic nasalization and related issues in southern Min

Denasalization, Vocalic Nasalization and Related Issues in Southern Min: A Dialectal and Comparative Perspective Chinfa Lien National Tsing Hua University Abstract The paper will be mainly concerned with issues related to denasalization of initials and vocalic nasalization in Southern Min. In particular, we will address the issues of chronology of phonological rules involving these two historical processes. A dialectal and comparative perspective will be adopted to tackle the complicated problems involved. It appears that denasalization goes hand in hand with vocalic nasalization in that there are patterns of interaction between initial and final specifically the coda in the syllable structure. Albeit diachronical processes they are very much alive in the intuition of native speakers as manifested in their set behavior in coping with the learning of a foreign or second language. There is evidence in support of transfer of rules involving source language agentivity. We then examine the interaction between segmentals in a syllable in conjunction with stratum distinction. In terms of tripartite distinction of finals a much clearer picture emerges and it now becomes possible to solve some puzzling and seemingly paradoxical problems about stratum distinction of phonological procesess. Next we discuss in some detail patterns of denasalization in the subgrouping of Southern Min. Xiamen and Chaozhou as two important subgroup dialects are compared and it is found that the former is the leader in the denasalization of initials and the latter is the lagger or rather beginner of such a development. It has become quite obvious that denasalization of initials and vocalic nasalization can be used as diagnostic tests to establish Xiamen and Chaozhou together as a distnct and separate group of Min dialects as well as the subgroup distinction between them. Key word word文档格式规范word作业纸小票打印word模板word简历模板免费word简历 s: vocalic nasalization, densalization, co-occurrence restriction, initial and coda, transfer of rules, dialectal subgrouping, interaction, Southern Min, chronology, stratum distinction Hommy 线条 Hommy 线条 Hommy 线条 Hommy 附注 Chinfa Lien. 2000. Denasalization, Vocalic Nasalization and Related Issues in Southern Min: A Dialectal and Comparative Perspective. In Ting & Yue (eds.) Essays of Linguistic Change and the Chinese Dialects. Academic Sinica, Taipei. Denasalization, Vocalic Nasalization and Related Issues in Southern Min: A Dialectal and Comparative perspective* Chinfa Lien National Tsing Hua University 1. Chronology of Phonological Rules Denasalization and vocalic nasalization in Southern Min reveal a fairly complicated picture. Tung et al (1967: 7) make some insightful remarks about the relative chronology of denasalization of nasal initials and vocalic nasalization summarized as follows: (1) There were first of all only b-, l-, g-, but no m, n, N, and there were no nasalized vowels, either. (2) Then the yang-sheng finals underwent nasalization of vowels changing the non- nasal initials b-, l-, g- to nasal initials m-, n-, N-. The distinction between the two series (viz., syllables with nasal initials and those with non-nasal initials) is manifested in finals. (3) Later on nasalized elements were occasionally lost due to dissimilation, and there is no phonemic difference between vowels that experienced the loss of nasalized elements and those that kept them. (4) The finals that take m-, n-, N- initials are nasalized vowels or syllablic nasals. They are distinguished from the finals that take b-, l-, g- , solely in terms of initials. (5) After the genesis of m-, n-, N-, the words with m-, n-, N- initials were borrowed into Southern Min. The loan words will or will not undergo nasalization by analogy with the native Southern Min words with m-, n-, N- initials. Take the surname . It has two pronunciations: (1) be2, and man2. The first one is a native Southern Min word or an earlier loan, and the second one is a later loan. Let us first consider the relative chronology of the two phonological rules as follows: a. The devoicing of MC voiced obstruents b. The denasalization of MC nasal initials Rule a. should occur before Rule b. Otherwise, if the order is reversed, all the MC nasal initials will merge with the MC voiced stops. Take MC *b- and *m-. If *m- had been denasalized as b-, the secondary b- would have merged with the primary *b-, before the latter was devoiced as p- or p’-. In other words, all the reflexes of MC nasal initials would emerge as modern voiceless stops. However, modern reflexes in Southern Min are incompatible with such an end result. M/b, n/l and N/g as reflexes are still in existence attesting to the fact that devoicing of MC voiced stops must have occurred before the denasalization of initials took place. The situation becomes more complicated when the following two rules enter the picture: * This paper was presented at International Symposium on Linguistic Change and the Chinese Dialects dedicated to the Memory of the late Professor Li Fang-kuei held on August 17-19, 1998, in Seattle. I am indebted to Victor Mair, Jerry Norman, Ken Takashima and William S-Y Wang as well as two anonymous reviewers for very illuminating comments. Needless to say, none of them should be held responsible for my views or shortcomings. 2 c. The nasalization of vowels in yang-sheng finals (regressive assimilation) d. The nasalization of vowels in yin-sheng finals (progressive assimilation) Only Southern Min dialects underwent Rules c and d, but they shared with other Min dialects such as Fuzhou, an Eastern Min dialect, a common colloquial stratum dating back to the Han dynasty, and furthermore, Fuzhou does not experience nasalization. This shared innovation argues against the possibility that northern Chinese ancestral to proto-Min had developed nasalized vowels before it migrated to the Min region.1 What would be the relative order of Rule b and Rule c? Since the common stage of Min in the colloquial stratum had not experienced Rule c, viz., the nasalization of vowels, it is tempting to assume that the nasal initials m-, n-, N- of yang-sheng finals were first denasalized as b-, l (