Cantonese nasal-stop alternation
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.(June 2011) |
This article is part of Cantonese language |
Yue Chinese |
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Grammar |
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Phonology |
In
The phonological alternation
Apart from phonetical association, the homorganic pairs are also semantically related. For some characters (or words) with syllables ending in nasals, there are
Regarding the initial consonants, a few items may alternate between aspirated and unaspirated initial stops, e.g. “kim4” 拑 ‘to pinch’ and “gip6” 挟 ‘to squeeze together’. As for tones, high or low tones on syllables with nasal codas usually (but not always) correspond to high or low tones on syllables with stop codas, e.g. “ngam4” 吟 ‘to grumble’ has a low tone whereas “ngap1” 噏 ‘to babble’ has a high tone.
Many of these characters are
As for their semantics or usage, the paired characters are not completely equivalent or interchangeable in every case. The colloquial verb “kam2” 冚 seems to be more commonly used than the corresponding “kap1” 扱, both meaning ‘to cover on top’. On the other hand, “fiŋ6” 捹 and “fik6” 扐 both mean ‘to throw away; to swing an object in the hand’ and are interchangeable; the same is also true for “niŋ1” 拎 and “nik1” 搦 ‘to carry in the hand’.
Different theories
Most
Other linguists regard the alternation between homorganic final consonants in pairs of semantically-related words as a feature widely found among languages of
Some examples
In the Cantonese syllabary, there are about 50 pairs of such characters that show alternation between homorganic nasal and stop codas. The following is a list of some examples for reference:
Nasal codas | Stop codas | ||||
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laam5 | 覽 | look at | laap3 | 䁽 | glance at |
dam3 | 揼 | to hang down, sag | dap1 | 耷 | to hang down, droop |
kam2 | 冚 | to cover on top | kap1 | 扱 | to cover on top |
ŋam4 | 吟 | to grumble | ŋap1 | 噏 | to babble, gossip |
jim1 | 腌 | to pickle in salt | jip3 | 醃 | to pickle in salt |
saan3 | 散 | to disperse, spread | saat3 | 撒 | to scatter, sow, spill |
ŋan3 | 䟴 | to stand on tiptoes | ŋat6 | 趷 | to stand on tiptoes |
bin6 | 辨 | to distinguish | bit6 | 別 | to identify |
kin2 | 掀 | to open up (book); remove | kit3 | 揭 | to open up (book); unveil |
fun1 | 寬 | spacious | fut3 | 闊 | wide |
ciŋ3 | 掅 | to lift up (luggage) | cik1 | 摵 | to pull up (trousers) |
fiŋ6 | 捹 | to fling away; swing (a limb) | fik6 | 扐 | to fling away; swing (a flag) |
niŋ1 | 拎 | to carry by hand | nik1 | 搦 | to carry by hand |
toŋ3 | 趟 | to slide open (a door) | tok3 | 托 | to push up (a bar) |
doeŋ1 | 啄 | to peck | doek3 | 剁 | to cut |
References
- ^ 陳伯煇:《論粵方言詞本字考釋》. Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Bookstore, 1998, p.89
- ^ Tsou, Benjamin: “Homorganic Nasal/Stop Alternations in Cantonese”, University of Hong Kong
- ^ Zhan Bohui: 廣東粵方言概要 “(An Outline of Yue Dialects in Guangdong)”, Guangzhou: Jinan University Press, 2002, pp 19-20
- ^ Chan, Marjorie: Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale (1999) 28.1:101-112
- ^ Bauer, Robert: “Modern Cantonese Phonology”, London: Routledge, 1997, pp 92-93
External links
- Modern Cantonese Phonology by Robert S. Bauer and Paul K. Benedict (Ohio State University)
- Homorganic Nasal/Stop Alterations in Cantonese by Benjamin K. T'sou (University of Hong Kong)