Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin [Paperback]

Edwin G. Pulleyblank (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1991 | ISBN-10: 0774803665 | ISBN-13: 978-0774803663

Known for his work in Chinese historical phonetics, Edwin Pulleyblank has compiled this lexicon to present in the result of his researches on the phonology of Middle Chinese and its evolution to Mandarin. The lexicon complements Pulleyblank's earlier book, "Middle Chinese" by providing reconstructed pronunciation for approximately 8000 Chinese characters at three historical stages. Early Middle Chinese is the language of the "Qieyun" rhyme dictionary of AD 601, which codified the standard literary language of both North and South China. Pulleyblank's reconstruction is a thorough reworking of that of Bernhard Karlgren, completed in the twenties, and in some respects differs radically from it. Late Middle Chinese is the standard language of the High Tang Dynasty, based on the dialect of the capital, Chang'an. It has not been reconstructed previously as a separate stage but is of special importance, since it is the ancestor of most modern dialects. Early Mandarin represents the speech of the Yuan capital, Dadu (present Beijing), around the year 1300, for which Pulleyblank's reconstruction differs considerably from that of Hugh M. Stimson. The sources and methods used in these reconstruction were fully discussed in "Middle Chinese", but recent developments in phonological theory have led to some modifications in detail. The entries are arranged alphabetically according to the Pinyin system with an index by the traditional Kangzi radical and stroke numbers. The Morohashi number is also given for each character, facilitating easy reference to this important Chinese thesaurus. Another useful feature of the Lexicon is the inclusion of the numbers in Karlgren's "Grammata Serica" for characters that are included in that work. Concise English equivalents for the Chinese words are also provided. Reconstructed forms are given in the International Phonetic Alphabet. Though this requires a number of phonetic signs and diacritical marks, these are carefully explained in the introduction. Every effort has been made to provide a useful tool for students of Chinese literature and China's relations with foreign countries as well as for specialists in Chinese linguistics.

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Text: English, Chinese

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Product Details

• Paperback: 488 pages
• Publisher: Univ of British Columbia Pr (May 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0774803665
• ISBN-13: 978-0774803663
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,023,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars indispensable - but to be taken with a grain of salt, August 31, 2006

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J. Dempsey - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin (Paperback)

I have used this book almost every day for 15 years. As a researcher in Chinese historical phonology, I find it to be the most handy tool available when I need to quickly find out some basic, historical information on any of the 8,000 Chinese words listed. It is ordered by Pinyin spelling and then by tones, and also has a radical index. Each entry, besides supplying concise definitions, includes Pulleyblank's reconstructed pronunciations for three different eras: EMC (early Middle Chinese), LMC (Late Middle Chinese), and Yuan. The last is based essentially on the Zhong-yuan yin-yun, but since the old Chinese manual lists categories, not actual sounds, one might disagree with some of Pulleyblank's ideas. In most respects, however, I think it is more "on the money" than some earlier attempts at Yuan-era reconstruction. As we proceed further back in time, PB's reconstructions become more and more controversial; formal reviews of his work, as well as that of "competing" systems (Baxter, Li Fang-kuei, Wang Li etc.) should be consulted. No matter whether you accept his ideas or not, if you are familiar with his EMC "system", it is not too hard to convert each word to its more traditional category in the old rime dictionaries (Guang-yun, Ji-yun), and that is why this book is so handy -- no counting of strokes, no searching through long character lists under various radicals; if you know the modern pronunciation, "bang!" you find the word. The book also has useful information on irregular developments, which, along with other topics, are discussed in a fascinating introduction to the dictionary proper. Detracting from the book's usefulness are the rather large number of errors, especially in the EMC transcriptions. Also, despite its high price, the binding fell apart after only a few months' usage, and I am not the only person this has happened to. Caveat emptor.