|
Title:
|
A Study of Sino-Thai Chronological Strata (in Chinese: Hanyu Taiyu Guanxici De Shijian Cengci Yanjiu)
|
|
Author:
|
Qunhu Gong
|
|
Email:
|
click here to access email
|
|
Degree Date:
|
2001
|
|
Linguistic Subfield(s):
|
Historical Linguistics
|
|
Subject Language(s):
|
Chinese, Mandarin
|
|
Director(s):
|
Pan Wuyun
|
|
|
Abstract:
|
|
This dissertation is a study of the chronological strata of Sino-Thai corresponding lexical items. After sorting up the corresponding lexical items identified by other scholars and the writer himself, with the aid of sound laws of correspondences and chronology-specific sound changes from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese, the writer identifies and analyzes the 3 distinctive strata reflected in the Chinese and Thai corresponding lexical items: Old Chinese (OC) stratum, Middle Chinese (MC) stratum and the recent stratum from southern Chinese dialects, together with some minor identifiable strata.
In part 1, the writer introduces the aim of this research, Thai and its position in the relationship of Asian languages, earlier studies by other scholars in this area. The principle, approach and procedure of this research are also introduced in this part.
In part 2, tables are used to illustrate Zhengzhang-Pan's reconstruction systems of OC and MC, Fang Kuei Li's Proto-Tai reconstruction system, Thai transcription convention and Modern Thai phonological system.
In Part 3, the writer discusses the sound laws concerning initials, finals and tones between the Chaozhou-Shantou loanwords in Thai and the Shantou dialect, the semantic categories of the loanwords, a comparison of the words with loanwords from the South Min dialects in Indonesian, the localization of the loanwords. In addition to this, the writer also discusses to some length the chronology and stratification with regard to the loss of -n -t codas in Chaozhou-Shantou dialects.
In Part 4, the writer uses Thai doublets(or triplets) to prove the identification of the two significant strata, OC and MC strata, of Sino-Thai. Some doublets reflect clearly the distinctions of OC and MC phonological forms in a minimal pair. Some even seem to reflect the features of word families.
Part 5 is about the identification of initial strata. The writer first lists and discusses briefly the overall sound laws and the stratifications reflected in the set of lexical items with regard to MC initials, then lays the emphasis on the detailed discussion of OC stratum along the line of Written Thai (WT) initial forms: WT CL- initial cluster vs. MC Division-II (Erdeng), MC Division-III of Chongniu (Chongniu Sandeng), MC Division-III of the Geng rhyme class (Gengyu sandeng), MC Laimu *l (initial Laimu), MC Yusi *j (initial Yusi) and MC dentals, etc.; WT hN- vs. MC nasals or fricatives; WT r- vs. MC *l or *j-, WT l- vs. MC *j- etc.. Questions such as the nature and sound change features of such initial types, the chronologies of the loss of initial consonant clusters and hN- initials in Chinese are also addressed respectively in this part.
The identification of strata in finales and tones are discussed in part 6. Topics in this part include: Old strata of Departing Tone(Qusheng) reflected in Sino-Thai, Old strata of Sino-Thai corresonding to the OC rhymes such as Yu, Duo, Yang, or Ge, the /o/ and /E/ strata in OC rhymes with b n -t -b -m codas, whether the MC Yinsheng rhyme classes (Yinshengyun) had codas of voiced stops in OC, whether the Entering Tone(Rusheng) ending stops were voiced or voiceless in OC, and the possibility of a reconstructible Proto-Tai 6 vowel system, the strata of tones, etc.
In part 7, the writer discusses some relevant questions: the nature of Old Yue language(s), which is believed to be the ancestor of Tai or Kam-Tai languages, early territories of the Tai languages, substratum of old Yue in Southern Chinese dialects, Sino-Thai in the perspective of Thai-related languages, etc.; questions such as synonymouso< polysemous and disyllabic correspondences in Sino-Thai are also addressed in this part.
|
|
|
|
|
E-mail this message to a friend
