Abstract
This work focuses on two issues. (1) It is found that final stop codas are more subject to deletion if the nucleus vowel is phonetically longer. Coda deletion in turn leads to neutralization between entering and non-entering tones. (2) Studying another important but understudied aspect of the loss of entering tone syllables, we have used population and geographical distance to quantify the degree of intensity of language contact with the help of GIS technology. Our conclusion is that the (gradual) loss of entering tone syllables in the Lingshi Highlands was attributable to the various degrees of influence from the central area in Houzhou (where no entering tone syllables are found), while language-internal factors such as vowel duration should also be taken into consideration.
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Notes
- 1.
The loss of stop codas and the merger of the entering and non-entering tones are not the same thing. For example, in Hejin Beipo dialect, the Yin entering tone remains a distinct tone type (i.e. no merger with non-entering tones) even after the loss of stop codas (Shi 2004). Nonetheless, this possibility is not attested in the dialects of the Lingshi Highlands.
- 2.
In Wang (2008), a re-published version of The history of Chinese phonology (revised version, 1985), he points out that “in the beginning, the difference was minor. People did not notice that. So they did not differentiate Yin and Yang. Qie Yun normally used syllables with a voiced obstruent onset for syllables with a voiceless onset in Fanqie, e.g., dong is “spelt” as de-hong, dong as duo-dong, etc. Conversely, syllables with a voiceless onset are used for syllables with a voiced obstruent onset in Fanqie, e.g., qiong → qu-gong, dong → tu-zong, etc. Later, the difference became larger and larger. People realized that syllables with different voicing status have to be divided into Yin and Yang registers (p. 698) (Translation ours).”
- 3.
- 4.
The Jin dialects spoken in Xinding Basin (Northern Shanxi) also have the entering tone. No tone split has been found, however. There are two competing analyses. Shen (2009) proposes the hypothesis that Yin and Yang merged. According to this hypothesis, after the loss of stop codas, the Yin and Yang entering tones have merged with three other non-entering tones since the Yuan Dynasty. Entering tones in these dialects form an independent tone type, resisting neutralization. An alternative analysis is the “non-split” hypothesis for the entering tone (Shen et al. 2011b). Under this hypothesis, entering tones did not split into Yin and Yang, depending on the voicing status of the onsets before the Sui/Tang Dynasties. If the entering tone did not undergo a tone split, this would be a very conservative feature in the history of Chinese tonal development, which may be preferentially preserved in the peripheral areas, away from the origin of new sound changes. So it is reasonable to say that the dialects in Xinding Basin are more conservative and resistant to new sound change because Xinding basin is located in a remote, peripheral area of Shanxi. Of course, more research is needed to determine which hypothesis is correct.
- 5.
In general, MC entering tone syllables with a voiced obstruent onset became long entering tone syllables in this dialect, with the exceptions of “督 (du)^”. MC entering tone syllables with a sonorant onset became short entering tone syllables, with the exceptions of “浊 (zhuo)*、迪 (di)*、宅 (zhai)*、局 (ju)*”.
- 6.
We set these variables into 0.72, 6.0, 1.9998, −1.9998, respectively. These numerical values are provided by Langmuir (1984) based on the energy for an adult walking under an ideal condition.
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Acknowledgement
I wish to thank the audiences for comments. I am especially indebted to Masahiro Shogaito, Mitsuaki Endo, Re Iwata, Fengfan Xie, Ressy Ai for stimulating comments and discussions. Needless to say, all mistakes are my own.
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Shen, L., Nakano, N. (2015). A Gradual Path to the Loss of Entering Tone: Case Studies of Jin Dialects in the Lingshi Highlands Shanxi. In: Xu, D., Fu, J. (eds) Space and Quantification in Languages of China. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10040-1_5
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