Proto-Hakka
| Proto-Hakka | |
|---|---|
| Common Neo-Hakka | |
| Reconstruction of | Hakka Chinese |
| Region | Southern China |
Reconstructed ancestors | |
Proto-Hakka (also called Common Neo-Hakka) is the reconstructed proto-language from which all Neo-Hakka varieties descend. Proto-Hakka is difficult to reconstruct through the comparative method due to its multistratal lexicon, and the variety of forms in the proto-language has only been accounted for recently. There are two major reconstructions of Proto-Hakka, by O'Connor (1978) and Coblin (2019) respectively. O'Connor's earlier reconstruction only utilizes data on Moiyan-like Hakka varieties, called "Mainstream Hakka" by Coblin, while Coblin's utilizes a wider range of Neo-Hakka varieties, as classified by dialectologists.
Neo-Hakka varieties
The following critera are used to determine Neo-Hakka varieties:[1][2]
- Sonorant-initial syllables corresponding to the Light Rising tone in Qieyun system appear in the Dark Level and Light Rising tones, and which tone they occur with are lexically determined.
- The copula should be a form of 係 *hei6.
- The first-person singular pronoun should take the form /ŋai/ in the popular register, or be derivable from an earlier */ŋai/.
- The verb "to eat" should be a form of 食 *šik8.
It is believed that Neo-Hakka is the sister branch to Shehua, forming a bifurcating tree from their common ancestor.
Phonology
Here the phonology of the Common Neo-Hakka reconstruction by Coblin (2019) will be presented.
Initials
| Labial | Dental | Postalveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ň/ | /ŋ/ | ||
| Plosive | tenuis | /p/ | /t/ | /k/ | (ʔ) ⟨∅⟩ | |
| aspirated | /pʰ/ | /tʰ/ | /kʰ/ | |||
| Affricate | tenuis | /ts/ | /tš/ | |||
| aspirated | /tsʰ/ | /tšʰ/ | ||||
| Fricative | /f/ | /s/ | /š/ | /h/ | ||
| Approximant | /v/ | /l/ | ||||
Glides
Common Neo-Hakka glides consist of /i/, /u/, or a combination thereof.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | (ə) (ɚ) | o |
| Open | a |
Vowels in parentheses appear in loanwords from some Northern Chinese variety, likely some Northern Ming or Qing Mandarin koine or even early Modern Standard Mandarin.[3]
Finals
The following chart lists all of the finals in Common Neo-Hakka, which are a combination of glide, nucleus, and coda. Syllables reconstructed with the final are written to the left, in parentheses if multiple variants with different finals can be reconstructed to the proto-language.
| Nucleus | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /i/ | /ɨ/ | /u/ | /e/ | /ə/ /ɚ/ |
/o/ | /a/ | /ŋ̩/ | ||
| Coda | ∅ | *-i 移 *-ui 未[a] *-iui (銳) |
*-ɨ 思 | *-u 烏 *-iu 於 |
*-e (事) *-ie[b] (鋸) |
*-ə[c] (而) *-ɚ 爾 |
*-o 多 *-io 茄 *-uo 火 |
*-a 啞 *-ia 夜 *-ua 花 |
*ŋ̩ (女) |
| /i/ | *-ei[d] (買) | *-oi (海) *-ioi[e] (歲) *-uoi[f] 灰 |
*-ai 帶 *-iai 低 *-uai 淮 |
||||||
| /u/ | *-eu *-ieu |
*-ou | *-au *-iau |
||||||
| /m/ | *-im | *-em | *-om | *-am *-iam |
|||||
| /n/ | *-in | *-un *-iun |
*-en | *-on *-ion *-uon |
*-an *-ian *-uan |
||||
| /ŋ/ | *-iŋ | *-uŋ *-iuiŋ |
*-eŋ *-ueŋ |
*-oŋ *-ioŋ *-uoŋ |
*-aŋ *-iaŋ *-uaŋ *-uiaŋ |
||||
| /p/ | *-ip | *-ep | *-op | *-ap *-iap |
|||||
| /t/ | *-it | *-ut *-iut |
*-et | *-ot *-iot *-uot *-uiot |
*-at *-iat *-uat |
||||
| /k/ | *-ik | *-uk *-iuk |
*-ek *-uek |
*-ok *-iok *-uok |
*-ak *-uak |
||||
- ^ This syllable has variants with the same final.
- ^ This final occurs exclusively in variant forms with *-iu
- ^ This final occurs only in some varieties exclusively in the form *lə
- ^ Frequently occurs as a variant of *-ai
- ^ This final is tentative, and appears as a variant of *-oi for certain syllables.
- ^ Many syllables reconstructed with this final has variant readings.
Notes
- ^ Norman, Jerry Lee (1989). "What is a Kèjiā dialect? In Editorial Board of Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sinology (ed.)". Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sinology. Taipei: Academia Sinica. p. 323-344.
- ^ Coblin, W. South (2015). "VI Varia and Concluding Remarks". A Study of Comparative Gàn. Language and linguistics Monograph Series 58. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica. ISBN 9789860459265.
- ^ Coblin 2019, p. 270.
References
- Coblin, W. South (2019). Common Neo-Hakka: A Comparative Reconstruction. Language and linguistics Monograph Series 63. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica. ISBN 978-986-54-3228-7.