The Labiodentalization of the Palatal Initial j

The homophony of the words wēi 微 and wei 維 ( wei wei tong yin 微維同音, hereafter WWTY ) recorded in the Zhongyuan Yinyun 中原音韻 ( Rhymes of the Central Plain ) actually reflects the phenomenon of the labiodentalization of the palatal initial [j-] into the voiced fricative [v-]. This merger of phonological classes can be dated back to the Hexi dialect 河西 in the tenth century C.E . It is thus clear that the merger of the words wei 惟 , wei 維 and wēi 微 could have occurred earlier in the history of the Chinese language. The northern dialect of the Eastern Jin dynasty 東晉 (317–420) reflected in Chinese transcriptions of Sanskrit and the relevant record in the Jingdian shiwen 經典釋文 ( Explanatory Glosses on the Classics ) may share superficial similarities with this merger, but their phonological characteristics are in fact different, an issue that needs to be discussed separately. This phonological change can be formalized into *j- > v- /__V [+back,-low]. In addition to the materials on the history of the Chinese language, the analysis of materials on Chinese dialects, minority languages in China as well as phonetic experiments further show that this merger constitutes a natural phonological change consisting of a typologically significant articulatory basis. (This article is in English.) 提要 《中原音韻》「微維」同音的記錄實際上反映的是前齶音聲母 j- 唇齒化為濁擦音 v-，這種音類合併可以追溯至10世紀的河西方音，可見漢語史上「惟維」和「微」字讀音混同的發生年代可以提前。而更早時期梵漢對音所反映的東晉北方話和《經典釋文》的有關記錄與其只有表面上的類似，其語音性質實有不同，需要另作解釋。(2)該音變可以形式化為 j->v-/__V[+back,-low] 除了漢語史資料，漢語方言、民族語等材料以及語音實驗的分析都可以表明，該音是具有生理基礎和類型學意義的自然音變。