Fanqie
Fǎnqiè ( 反切 ) is a historical method of indicating the pronunciation of Chinese characters . Two other characters were used to explain the pronunciation of an unknown character.
system
The initial and final of the syllable to be explained are given separately by a different syllable. The tone of the syllable is transported via the final sound according to the classic concept.
Due to various sound changes within the last millennium, the Fǎnqiè spellings are mostly not congruent with today's pronunciation in standard Chinese .
The following example gives the pronunciation for 荒 , huāng :
- 呼 , hū for initial h and
- 光 , guāng for final -uāng with a high note (first note).
The system is still right here for today's debate. The classic pronunciation was actually χuo + ꜀kuâng = ꜀χuâng.
The modern pronunciation is no longer correct for the following example: The pronunciation for "East" ( Chinese 東 / 东 , Pinyin dōng ) was given as follows:
- 德 , dé today stands for the initial d ,
- 紅 / 红 , hóng today stands for the final -óng .
In terms of today's pronunciation, this system is no longer correct, as there is no syllable dóng . The classical pronunciation was given correctly with ꜀tung = tək + ꜀γung.
The characters used for explanation were not specified, so they did not form a basis for describing other characters. In practice, however, it can be seen that certain characters are high-frequency, i.e. a quasi-standard can be recognized in habit.
Usage today
The system of paraphrase using Fǎnqiè has become superfluous through the use of pinyin , other Latin transcriptions, and Zhuyin , but knowledge of this system still has the status of a cultural technique and traditional dictionaries using the Fǎnqiè system are still needed.
In addition, the sounds given in Fǎnqiè are valuable working material for linguistic studies.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Yuen Ren Chao : A Grammar of Spoken Chinese. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968, ISBN 0-520-00219-9 .