{"id":51,"date":"2015-04-06T10:33:38","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T02:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/?p=51"},"modified":"2016-07-31T21:11:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-31T13:11:00","slug":"cantonese-phonology-and-japanese-onyomi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/?p=51","title":{"rendered":"Cantonese phonology and Japanese On’yomi"},"content":{"rendered":"

On’yomi \u97f3\u8aad\u307f refers to the Japanese approximation (or even transliteration in some cases) of the pronunciation of the Chinese characters at the time they were imported to Japan.<\/p>\n

Cantonese is a language of the Chinese languages. There are several observable patterns in modern Cantonese phonology that correspond to On’yomi readings. It should be noted that Chinese characters were imported separately at different eras. There is no one general rule that governs the transliteration. Also, some characters may bear more than one On’yomi readings. Nevertheless,\u00a0the below\u00a0may serve for pedagogical purposes, or as mnemonics for Cantonese-speaking Japanese learners\/\u00a0Japanese-speaking Cantonese learners.<\/p>\n

This entry will be kept updated according to the author’s own Japanese study.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Since generally each Chinese character has only one syllable, an On’yomi reading will not have more than 2 moras.<\/li>\n
  2. The consonant ng-<\/em> at the beginning becomes g-<\/em> e.g. \u725b ngau4<\/em> > gyuu<\/em>, \u85dd ngai6<\/em> > gei<\/em>, \u5cb8 ngon6<\/em> > gan<\/em>, \u984d ngaak9<\/em> > gaku<\/em>, \u764c ngaam4<\/em> > gan<\/em>. An On’yomi starting with a “g” may suggest the character used to have a beginning “ng” consonant in Middle Chinese e.g. \u7fa9 yi6<\/em> > gi<\/em>, \u5100 yi4<\/em> > gi<\/em>, \u8b70 yi5<\/em> > gi<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  3. Generally the consonant in modern Cantonese reading can be transliterated to the Japanese approximation\u00a0 e.g. s-<\/em> > s-\/sh-<\/em>, t-<\/em> > t-\/ch-<\/em>, l-<\/i>\u00a0> r-<\/em>, z-<\/em> > z-\/ch-\u00a0<\/em>etc. But h-<\/em> in Cantonese may become\u00a0k\/g-,\u00a0<\/em>as in \u6c23(\u6c17) hei3<\/em> > ki<\/em>,\u00a0\u6d77 hoi2<\/em> > kai<\/em>, \u5b78(\u5b66) hok9<\/em> > gaku<\/em>, \u6821 hau6<\/em> > kou<\/em>, \u5ba2 haak8<\/em> > kyaku<\/em>; f-<\/em> may become k-<\/em>, as in \u82b1 faa1<\/em> > ka<\/em>, \u706b fo2 > ka; m-<\/em> may become b-<\/em>, as in \u6bcd mou3<\/em> > bo(u)<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>\u665a man3<\/em> > ban<\/em>, \u7269 mat9<\/em> > butsu. <\/em>These represent sound change that happened in Cantonese after Japanese had adopted the On’yomi.<\/li>\n
  4. A short vowel in Modern Cantonese is generally also a short vowel in On’yomi, e.g. \u4e3b zyu2<\/em> > ju<\/em>, \u96e8 yu5<\/em>\u00a0> u<\/em>, \u706b fo2<\/em> > ka<\/em>, \u66f8 syu1<\/em> > syo<\/em>, \u6240 so2<\/em> > syo<\/em>, \u8655(\u51e6) cyu5<\/em>\u00a0> syo<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  5. A short “o” may become “a” e.g. \u963f o1<\/em> > a<\/em>, \u6211 ngo5<\/em>\u00a0> ga<\/em>, \u706b fo2<\/em> > ka<\/em>,\u00a0\u5de6 zo2<\/em> > sa<\/em>, \u53ef ho2<\/em> > ka<\/em>, \u904e gwo3<\/em> > ka<\/em>, \u9b54 mo1<\/em> > ma<\/em>, \u7f85 lo4<\/em> > ra<\/em>,\u00a0\u502d wo1<\/em> > wa<\/em>, \u5b89 on1 > an. It has been argued<\/a> that there has been an “a > o” vowel shift in Chinese.<\/li>\n
  6. -iu<\/em> becomes -you<\/em> e.g. \u9ce5 niu5<\/em>\u00a0> chou<\/em>, \u5c3f niu6<\/em> > nyou<\/em>, \u6a19 biu1<\/em> > hyou<\/em>, \u8868 biu2<\/em> > hyou<\/em>, \u5c0f siu2 > syou,<\/em> \u8d85 ciu1<\/em> > chou<\/em>, \u671d ziu1<\/em> > chou<\/em>, \u5996 yiu2<\/em> > you<\/em>, \u8981 yiu3<\/em> > you<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  7. -ng<\/em> becomes a long vowel of either “u”, “e”, or “o” in On’yomi (there are no diphthongs in Modern Japanese. “ou” is just a long “o”, and “ei” is just a long “e”) e.g. \u98a8 fung1<\/em> > huu<\/em>, \u7a7a hung1<\/em> > kuu<\/em>, \u6e2f gong2<\/em> > kou<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  8. But if the On’yomi was adopted during or after the Tang Dynasty, -ng<\/em> becomes -n<\/em> e.g. \u660e ming4<\/em> is read myou<\/em> (Go’on) or mei<\/em> (Kan’on) (both with a long vowel), but min<\/em> for the meaning “Ming Dynasty” (this On’yomi was of course adopted during the time of the Ming Dynasty, which was after Tang).<\/li>\n
  9. Generally, -m<\/em> becomes -n<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  10. Unlike Mandarin, checked tones in Middle Chinese are preserved in both Modern Cantonese and Japanese On’yomi. -k<\/em> in Cantonese will become -k(i\/u)<\/em> e.g. \u5f0f sik7<\/em> > shiki<\/em>, \u5915 zik9<\/em> > seki<\/em>, \u570b(\u56fd) kwok8<\/em> > koku,<\/em> \u5b78(\u5b66) hok9<\/em> > gaku<\/em>; -t<\/em> will become -chi\/tsu<\/em> e.g. \u4e00 yat7<\/em> > ichi,<\/em> \u65e5 yat9<\/em> > nichi,<\/em> \u6708 yuet9<\/em> > g(a\/e)tsu<\/em>, \u5207 cit8<\/em> > setsu<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  11. -p<\/em> in Cantonese, on the other hand, is irregular in On’yomi. It may\u00a0become a long vowel in On’yomi e.g. \u96c6\/\u7fd2 zaap9<\/em> > syuu,<\/em> \u5341 sap9<\/em> > juu,<\/em> \u7d1a kap7<\/em> > kyuu,<\/em> \u8449 yip9<\/em> > you,<\/em> \u5408 hap9<\/em> > gou,<\/em> \u5854 taap8<\/em> > tou<\/em>, \u7532 gaap8<\/em> > kou<\/em>, \u881f(\u874b) laap9<\/em> > rou<\/em>, \u5354\/\u8105 hip8<\/em> > kyou; or -tsu<\/em> e.g. \u7acb laap9<\/em> > ritsu<\/em>, \u96dc(\u96d1) zaap9<\/em> > zatsu<\/em>, \u63a5 zip8<\/em> > setsu <\/em>[This has something to do with a phonologically phenomenon called \u30cf\u884c\u8ee2\u547c]<\/li>\n
  12. Different pronunciations to differentiate meanings represented by the same character can also be seen in both, e.g. \u91cd is read zung6<\/em>\/chou<\/em> in \u8cb4\u91cd\/\u5c0a\u91cd\/\u73cd\u91cd\/\u614e\u91cd\/\u838a(\u8358)\u91cd (meaning precious\/respect\/important\/prudent\/respect); but read cung5<\/em>\/jyuu<\/em> in \u91cd\u8907\/\u91cd\u91cf (meaning duplication\/weight)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On’yomi \u97f3\u8aad\u307f refers to the Japanese approximation (or even transliteration in some cases) of the pronunciation of the Chinese characters at the time they were imported to Japan. Cantonese is a language of the Chinese languages. There are several observable patterns in modern Cantonese phonology that correspond to On’yomi readings. It should be noted that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85,"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geld.hkto.net\/document1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}