Cover not available
Article published In:
Journal of Historical Linguistics
Vol. 13:1 (2023) ► pp.82–114

Phonological features of Caijia that are notable from a diachronic perspective

ORCID logo | The Chinese University of Hong Kong

This study sets out several phonological features in Caijia that are notable from a diachronic point of view. The Caijia language is an endangered language spoken in northwestern Guìzhōu, China. It was first formally documented in the early 1980s and is generally viewed as a Sinitic language. Some aspects of Caijia phonology are noteworthy from the perspective of historical phonology. There exist features which cannot be accounted for in terms of Middle Chinese (MC), such as the retention of the contrast between Old Chinese (OC) T-type and L-type onsets in words with d- or dr- in Middle Chinese. Moreover, Caijia also demonstrates features which are observed or preserved in Middle Chinese, but absent in mainstream modern Sinitic varieties, including the retention of bilabial stops in words with initials Fēi/Fū/Fèng. This study will also explore the implications certain phonological features have for the classification of Caijia in the Sinitic clade and examine the relationship between Caijia and Bai.

Keywords: Caijia, phonology, diachronic, Sinitic, Old Chinese, Middle Chinese, historical linguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Phonology of Caijia
  • 3.The phonology of Caijia from a diachronic perspective
    • 3.1Features which cannot be accounted for in terms of Middle Chinese
      • 3.1.1 Distinction between OC T-type and L-type onsets in words with d-/dr- in Middle Chinese
      • 3.1.2 Reflex of OC *ɡˁ- in the presence of a loosely attached preinitial
      • 3.1.3 Distinction between OC *ST- and voiceless sonorants in words with sy- in MC
      • 3.1.4 Fricative reflex of *r-
      • 3.1.5 Features confined to one word
        • 天 ‘sky’ – OC *l̥ˤin MC then Caijia khəŋ33
        • 風 ‘wind’ – OC *prəm MC pjuwng Caijia paŋ33
        • 食 ‘to eat’ – OC *mə-lək MC zyik Caijia ʑu21/33
        • 葉 ‘leaf’ – OC *lap MC yep Caijia ɕeɪ55
        • 嫂 ‘elder brother’s wife’ – MC sawX Caijia tsho55
        • 痛 ‘pain(ful)’ – OC *l̥ˤoŋ-s MC thuwngH Caijia sʊŋ22
        • 鹽 ‘salt’ – OC *ɢrom MC yem Caijia ɕaŋ33
    • 3.2Features observed/retained in Middle Chinese but lost in mainstream modern Sinitic varieties
      • 3.2.1Retention of bilabial stops in words with initials Fēi/Fū/Fèng
      • 3.2.2Preserving OC *Tr- as a coronal stop
      • 3.2.3 Distinction between finals -jo and -ju (in certain environments)
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Supplementary Material
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 26 September 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.21025.lee
References
Baxter, William H.
1992 A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baxter, William H. & Laurent Sagart
2014 Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benedict, Paul K.
1982 Sinitic and Proto-Chinese, Part II: Bai and Loans to Proto-Tai. Paper presented at the 15th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Beijing.
Bo, Wenze
2004 Càijiā huà gàikuàng 蔡家話概況 [An Overview of the Caijia Language]. Mínzú yǔwén 民族語文 [Minority Languages of China] 21.68–81.Google Scholar
BZYJ (Běidà zhōngwén xì yǔyán xué jiàoyán shì 北大中文系語言學教研室)
2003 Hànyǔ fāngyīn zìhuì 漢語方音字匯 [Dictionary of Dialectal Pronunciations of Chinese Characters]. Beijing: Language & Culture Press.Google Scholar
Ding, Feng
1995 Bóyǎ yīn yīnxì yánjiū 《博雅音》音系研究 [A Study of the Phonological System of Bóyǎ Yīn ]. Beijing: Peking University Press.Google Scholar
Dong, Tonghe
1968 Hànyǔ yīnyùn xué 漢語音韻學 [A Study of Chinese Phonology]. Taipei: Kwangwen Book Company.Google Scholar
Downer, Gordon B.
1973 Strata of Chinese Loanwords in the Mien Dialect of Yao. Asia Major 18:1.1–33.Google Scholar
1981 Dialect Information in the Jiyun . Proceedings of the International Conference on Sinology: Section on Linguistics and Paleography, 1–17.Google Scholar
GMSGY (Guìzhōu shěng mínzú shíbié gōngzuò duì yǔyán zǔ 貴州省民族識別工作隊語言組)
1982a Càijiā de yǔyán (tǎolùn gǎo) 蔡家的語言(討論稿) [The Caijia Language (Discussion Paper)]. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
1982b Nánjīng–Lóngjiā yǔ diàochá bàogào 南京–龍家語調查報告 [A Survey on the Nanjing–Longjia Language]. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Gong, Xun
2015 How Old is the Chinese in Bái? Reexamining Sino-Bái under the Baxter-Sagart Reconstruction. Paper presented at Recent Advances in Old Chinese Historical Phonology Workshop, London, November 5–6, 2015.
Greenberg, Joseph H.
1953 Historical Linguistics and Unwritten Languages. Anthropology Today ed. by Alfred L. Kroeber, 265–86. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Handel, Zev
2010 Old Chinese and Min. Chuugoku gogaku 中国語学 [Bulletin of the Chinese Language Society of Japan] 2571.34–68.Google Scholar
Hölzl, Andreas
2021a Longjia (China) – Language Contexts. Language Documentation and Description 201.13–34.Google Scholar
2021b Prenasalization in Longjia. Paper presented at the 34th Paris Meeting on East Asian Linguistics, Paris, July 7–9, 2021.
Hsiu, Andrew
2018 The Niujiaojing Dialect of Caijia in Weining County, Guizhou, China. Manuscript draft.Google Scholar
Hu, Hongyan
2013 Càijiāhuà dàicí xìtǒng tànxī 蔡家話代詞系統探析 [A Study of the Pronominal System of Caijia]. Mínzú yǔwén 民族語文 [Minority Languages of China] 61.34–40.Google Scholar
Karlgren, Bernhard
1954 Compendium of Phonetics in Ancient and Archaic Chinese. Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 261.211–367.Google Scholar
Kümmel, Martin J.
2007 Konsonantenwandel: Bausteine zu einer Typologie des Lautwandels und ihre Konsequenzen für die vergleichende Rekonstruktion. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag.Google Scholar
Lee, Man Hei
2020 Càijiā huà zǎoqī hànyǔ guānxì cí xīlùn 蔡家話早期漢語關係詞析論 [A Study of Early Sinitic Related Words in Caijia]. MPhil Thesis, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Lee, Yeon-Ju & Laurent Sagart
2008 No Limits to Borrowing: The Case of Bai and Chinese. Diachronica 25:3.357–385.Google Scholar
Li, Fang-Kuei
1980 [1971] Shànggǔ yīn yánjiū 上古音研究 [A Study of Old Chinese Phonology]. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Long, Yiteng
1998 Cóng tángdài shǐshū zhùjiě fǎnqiè kàn qīng zhòng chúnyīn de fēnhuà 從唐代史書注解反切看輕重脣音的分化 [A Study of the Split into Bilabial and Labiodental Sounds through Fǎnqiè Spellings in Annotations for Tang Historical Records]. Hànyǔ shǐ yánjiū jíkān 漢語史研究集刊 [Studies on the History of Chinese Language] 11.368–383.Google Scholar
Luo, Changpei
1931a Qièyùn yú yú zhī yīnzhí jí qí suǒ jù fāngyīn kǎo 切韻魚虞之音值及其所據方音考 [On the Phonetic Values of Finals Yú and Yú in Qièyùn and the Dialects on which they are Based]. Zhōngyāng yánjiū yuàn lìshǐ yǔyán yánjiū suǒ jíkān 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 [Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology] 2:3.358–385.Google Scholar
1931b Zhī chè chéng niáng yīnzhí kǎo 知徹澄娘音值考 [On the Phonetic Values of Initials Zhī, Chè, Chéng, Niáng]. Zhōngyāng yánjiū yuàn lìshǐ yǔyán yánjiū suǒ jíkān 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 [Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology] 3:1.121–157.Google Scholar
Maspero, Henri
1920 Le dialecte de Tch’ang-ngan sous les T’ang. Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient 20:2.1–119. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matisoff, James A.
2001 On the Genetic Position of Bai within Tibeto-Burman. Paper presented at the 34th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Kumming.
Norman, Jerry
1973 Tonal Development in Min. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 1:2.222–238.Google Scholar
1981 The Proto-Min Finals. Zhōngyāng yánjiū yuàn guójì hànxué huìyì lùnwén jí (yǔyán wénzì zǔ) 中央硏究院國際漢學會議論文集(語言文字組) [Proceedings of the International Conference on Sinology (Linguistics and Paleography Section)], 35–73.Google Scholar
Pulleyblank, Edwin
1962 The Consonantal System of Old Chinese. Asia Major 91.58–144, 206–265.Google Scholar
1973 Some New Hypotheses Concerning Word Families in Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 1:1.111–125.Google Scholar
Sagart, Laurent
1999 The Roots of Old Chinese. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 Classifying Chinese Dialects/Sinitic Languages on Shared Innovations. Paper presented at Séminaire Sino-Tibétain du CRLAO, Nogent-sur-Marne, France.
2018 OC *-r in Early Chinese Loans to Buyang, and Related Issues. Paper presented at Old Chinese and Friends Conference, Jena, Germany.
Sagart, Laurent, Guillaume Jacques, Yunfan Lai, Robin J. Ryder, Valentin Thouzeau, Simon J. Greenhill & Johann-Mattis List
2019 Dated Language Phylogenies Shed Light on the Ancestry of Sino-Tibetan. PNAS 116:21.10317–10322. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shao, Rongfen
1995 Jīngdiǎn shìwén yīnxì 《經典釋文》音系 [Phonological System of Jīngdiǎn Shìwén ]. Taipei: Xuéhǎi chūbǎn shè 學海出版社.Google Scholar
Starostin, Sergei
1995 The Historical Position of Bai. МОСКОВСКИЙ ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКИЙ ЖУРНАЛ [Moscow Journal of Linguistics] 11.174–190.Google Scholar
Ting, Pang-Hsin
1983 Derivation Time of Colloquial Min from Archaic Chinese. Zhōngyāng yánjiū yuàn lìshǐ yǔyán yánjiū suǒ jíkān 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 [Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology] 54:4.1–14.Google Scholar
Wang, Feng
2006 Comparison of Languages in Contact: The Distillation Method and the Case of Bai. Language and Linguistics Monograph Series B: Frontiers in Linguistics III. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.Google Scholar
Wang, Li
1957–58 Hànyǔ shǐgǎo 漢語史稿 [History of the Chinese Language]. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
1982 Zhū xī fǎnqiè kǎo 朱熹反切考 [A Study of Zhū Xī’s Fǎnqiè Spellings]. Lóng chóng bìng diāo zhāi wénjí 龍蟲並雕齋文集 [Collected Papers of the Studio of Carved Dragons and Worms], vol. 31, ed. by himself, 257–338. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.Google Scholar
Wu, Yunji & Ruiqing Shen
2010 Xiāngxī gǔzhàng wǎxiāng huà diàochá bàogào 湘西古丈瓦鄉話調查報告 [An Investigative Report on the Waxiang Language of Gǔzhàng County, Western Húnán]. Shanghai: Shanghai Educational Publishing House.Google Scholar
Yang, Hui
2004 Xiāngxī xiānghuà yīnyùn yánjiū 湘西鄉話音韻研究 [A Phonological Study of Xianghua Dialect in West Hunan]. Doctoral Dissertation, Jinan University, Guangzhou.
Zhang, Jie
1999 Lǐ shàn yīnxì yǔ gōngsūn luó yīnxì shēngmǔ de bǐjiào 李善音系與公孫羅音系聲母的比較 [A Comparison of Initials in Lǐ Shàn’s Phonology and Gōngsūn Luó’s Phonology]. Zhōngguó yǔwén 中國語文 [Studies of the Chinese Language] 61.460–463.Google Scholar
Zhang, Jimin & Juewei Li
1982 Yǔyán diàochá dàgāng: dàfāng lóngjiā yǔ 語言調查大綱:大方龍家語 [Outline of Language Survey: Dàfāng Longjia]. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Zhang, Shilu
1938 Zhōngguó yīnyùn xué shǐ (shàng cè) 中國音韻學史(上冊) [History of Chinese Phonology (Vol. 1)]. Changsha: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Zhao, Yansun & Lin Xu
1996 Bái hàn cídiǎn 白漢詞典 [Bai–Chinese Dictionary]. Chengdu: Sichuan Minzu Publishing House.Google Scholar
Zhengzhang, Shangfang
1999 Báiyǔ shì hànbái yǔzú de yīzhī dúlì yǔyán 白語是漢白語族的一支獨立語言 [Bai is an Independent Branch of Sino-Bai]. Zhōngguó yǔyán xué de xīn tuòzhǎn 中國語言學的新拓展 [Recent Advances in Chinese Linguistics] ed. by Feng Shi & Wuyun Pan, 19–73. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.Google Scholar
2010 Càijiā huà báiyǔ guānxì jí cígēn bǐjiào 蔡家話白語關係及詞根比較 [Relationship between Caijia and Bai and Comparison of their Roots]. Yánjiū zhī lè: qìngzhù wáng shìyuán xiānshēng qīshíwǔ shòuchén xuéshù lùnwén jí 研究之樂:慶祝王士元先生七十五壽辰學術論文集 [The Joy of Research II: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor William S-Y. Wang on his Seventy-Fifth Birthday] ed. by Wuyun Pan & Zhongwei Shen, 389–400. Shanghai: Shanghai Educational Publishing House.Google Scholar
Zhou, Zumo
1966a Wànxiàng míngyì zhōng zhī yuánběn yùpiān yīnxì 萬象名義中之原本玉篇音系 [The Phonological System of the Original Version of Yùpiān as Found in Banshō Meigi ]. Wèn xué jí 問學集 [Collected Scholarly Inquiries] ed. by himself, 270–404. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.Google Scholar
1966b Sòngdài biànluò yǔyīn kǎo 宋代汴洛語音考 [A Study of Song Biànluò Dialect]. Wèn xué jí 問學集 [Collected Scholarly Inquiries] ed. by himself, 581–655. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.Google Scholar
Zhu, Jianing
1994 Jiǔjīng zhíyīn de shēngmǔ wèntí 九經直音的聲母問題 [On the Initials of Jiǔjīng Zhíyīn ]. Jìndài yīn lùnjí 近代音論集 [Collected Papers on Near-modern Phonology] ed. by himself, 97–111. Taipei: Táiwān xuéshēng shūjú 台灣學生書局.Google Scholar