Introduction
There are still some people who refused to accept that Mandarin is a Chinese language that was heavily influenced by the Manchu language even after many pieces of evidence were given.
This article continues the origin of Mandarin language by giving more pieces of evidence and comparisons. However, this article uses quite a number of linguistic terms which might be confusing for many people.
We will also show some differences between Northern Mandarin and Southern Mandarin.
Middle Chinese phonology
Voiced consonants
Middle Chinese and Old Chinese phonology contain many voiced consonants and three way distinction of voiceless unaspirated, voiceless aspirated and voiced as shown in the Middle Chinese table below.
Note: The retroflex column in some western books is just a theory and is not substantiated because none of the current non-Mandarin Chinese languages and Sino-Vietnamese language have this set of sounds.
Furthermore, Qieyun, the Middle Chinese dictionary, has only five main columns of sounds (labial, alveolar, palatal, velar, glottal) as shown below. The last (sixth) column (approximant, lateral approximant) consisting of the 'l' and 'y' initial consonants is a minor addition to the five main ones.
The four main rows of Qieyun are the four tones (flat, rising, falling, entering/stop) of Chinese phonetics which can be further split into Yin - high pitch and Yang - low pitch each (as shown in the minor rows below) making a total of eight tones.
Mandarin languages have lost all the voiced consonants leaving behind only the unaspirated voiceless and aspirated voiceless consonants. For example, the 'b','d','g' in Mandarin Pinyin are actually voiceless unaspirated [p][t][k] respectively in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).
Many native Mandarin speakers have difficulty pronouncing the voiced consonants such as 'boy' in English which is incorrectly pronounced as 'poy'.
Ending consonants
Middle Chinese and Old Chinese also have the six ending consonants [k,t,p,m,n,ng] which Mandarin has mostly lost except for [n,ng].
English |
Chinese |
Cantonese |
Nanjing Mandarin |
Beijing Mandarin |
Color |
色 |
Sik |
Sih |
Se |
Wade |
涉 |
Sip |
Sih |
She |
Tongue |
舌 |
Sit |
Sih |
She |
Heart |
心 |
Sam |
Sin |
Sin |
New |
新 |
San |
Sin |
Sin |
Start |
星 |
Sing |
Sing |
Sing |
Southern Mandarin
Southern Mandarin |
The Wu language spoken in Nanjing gradually combined with the northern proto-Mandarin dialects brought in by these newer migrants to form Jiang-Huai (江淮) Mandarin during the Ming and Qing dynasty. This is why the people in Nanjing today became Mandarin speakers and are not Wu speakers anymore.
Northern Mandarin
When the Manchu ruled China during the Qing dynasty, further sound changes happened in Beijing caused by the Manchu rulers which resulted in Northern Mandarin.
The glottal stop [h] of Southern Mandarin disappeared altogether into an open vowel in Northern Mandarin. This is the so-called 'entering tone' in Chinese phonology.
The vocabulary of Northern Mandarin has also changed. The vocabulary of Southern Mandarin is closer to the vocabulary of traditional Chinese languages as shown in the table below.
English |
Northern Mandarin |
|
Southern Mandarin |
|
Cantonese |
|
Spoon |
Shao Zi |
勺子 |
Tiao Geng |
調羹 |
Chi Gang |
匙羹 |
Broom |
Tiau Zhou |
笤帚 |
Shao Ba |
掃把 |
Sou Ba |
掃把 |
Tomato |
Xi Hong Shi |
西紅柿 |
Fan Qie |
番茄 |
Fan Ke |
番茄 |
To speak |
Shuo |
說 |
Jiang |
講 |
Kong |
講 |
Very |
Chen |
沉 |
Zhong |
重 |
Chong |
重 |
Maternal grandfather |
Lao Ye |
姥爺 |
Wai Gong |
外公 |
Ngoi Gong |
外公 |
Maternal grandmother |
Lao Lao |
姥姥 |
Wai Po |
外婆 |
Ngoi Po |
外婆 |
While Southern Mandarin also use shuo (to speak), but it is more formal/literary than jiang.
English |
Northern Mandarin |
|
Southern Mandarin |
|
Southern Min |
|
What |
Sha |
啥 |
Shen
Me |
甚麼 |
Sim
Mit |
甚物 |
Quite
good |
Ting
Hau |
挺好 |
Man
Hau |
滿好 |
Hou |
好 |
|
Southern Mandarin languages do not have the retroflex sounds of [sh, ch, zh] of Northern Mandarin which is a later development by the Manchu people.
The third group of Central Mandarin is an intermediate between Northern and Southern Mandarin with vocabulary from both groups.
Non-Mandarin Chinese languages
The Non-Mandarin Chinese languages can be roughly grouped into two groups based on its distance from northern China and influence from Mandarin language.
First group
The first group consists of the Wu, Northern Min, New Xiang, Gan languages which are closest to the Mandarin speaking regions.
Wu languages have lost all its ending consonants which is reduced to a glottal stop [h] due to close proximity with Southern Mandarin.
Some sound changes due to influence from Mandarin can also be seen in certain words like the word for ten-thousand 萬 'Man' to 'Wan' in some dialects.
Second group
The second group consists of the Southern Min, Old Xiang, Hakka, Yue Chinese languages which are further away from the Mandarin speaking regions.
These languages still preserve the voiced consonants and ending consonants but in varying degrees.
Manchu phonology similarity with Mandarin phonology
Conclusion
Related links
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/07/origin-of-mandarin-language-part-1.html
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/07/origin-of-mandarin-language-part-2.html
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