A/B Type segregation in mixed-onset phonetic series is the key to early Chinese onset complexity

There is still little agreement regarding the most important evidence for Old Chinese (OC) onset complexity—Middle Chinese (MC) mixed-onset phonetic series. This study explores a remarkable feature of this evidence first noticed by Sagart (1999). Within series such as those involving mixture of MC labials and velars with l-, x- with m-, velars with hj- (/y/), and d- with y- (/j/), MC onset and so-called A/B (syllable) Type fail to vary independently of one another. An unrecognized but inescapable implication of this association is that these MC onset results and A/B Type require a unified explanation in early Chinese. In light of the phonetic series material, I demonstrate that pre-OC Type involved two contrasting onset configurations. A number of phonetic specifications are conceivable; here, based on ideas of Ferlus (1998), I show how the data can be explained in terms of an early contrast between minor syllable forms **CǝR- (“Type A”) and tautosyllabic clusters **CR- (“Type B”) where R is a sonorant.