A Study On Some Phonologic Issues In Gujin Yunhui Juyao

Gujin Yunhui Juyao(古今韵会举要),Yunhui(韵会)for short,was compiled by Huang Gongshao(黄公绍)and abridged by Xiong Zhong(熊忠)between Song and Yuan Dynasties.On the one hand,Yunhui followed the structure of Libu Yunlue(礼部韵略),but on the other hand,there were a series of improvements based on the then spoken sounds.This paper studies some questions of the oral sounds and some basic relevant concepts such as Zimuyun(字母韵)and Qiyinyun(七音韵).Different from relatively uni-perspective researches in the past,this paper focuses on the historical perspective and is based on the historical contexts,thus placing Yunhui in a reasonable status in the history;the phonologic phenomena found in Yunhui,treated in this paper in a historically-developmental and globally-systemic manner,are described intensively and comprehensively,and explained closely within the history of Chinese phonology.Zimuyun(finals of the oral sounds)of Yunhui were originated from the book Qiyinyun.By means of a historical trace-back of the concept Zimuyun,we conservatively speculate that Qiyinyun had been a book at the turn of Northern and Southern Song Dynasties.Zimuyun was the product of Dengyunxue(等韵学).Although its name appeared only in Yunhui,its actual connotation had initiated in the Five-Dynasties Qieyun(切韵).And that was due to the development of Dengyunxue during the Late Tang and Five Dynasties.Qiyinyun,which absorbed the phonological theory of Dengyunxue into a rhyme book,did develop from Five-Dynasties Qieyun.There in Yunhui were plentiful phonological changes after middle times.Especially,some changes are so particular that cannot be seen in any rhyme book other than Yunhui,which provides very precious materials for compiling Chinese historical phonology.The third and fourth grade rhymes in Yunhui are very special in terms of their changes and variations.By comprehensive and systematic observation and historical traceback of the two kinds of rhymes,we found the fact that after mediaeval times,the third grade of Chongniu(重纽)had merged with the ordinary third grade rhyme,and the fourth grade of Chongniu had mixed with the ordinary fourth,so the evolutionary states of these Grade Three and Four rhymes in Yunhui were the remains of this change of the rhyme-system structure.As well,it is uniquely special that the pronunciation of glottal and velar initials were independent as a rhyme,which originally came from Jue(觉)rhyme with second-grade and opening-mouth characteristics.The fact behind this representation is that the primary vowel of Yao(药)rhyme was turning into another vowel with a higher position of the tongue.Additionally,this fact proves that the sounds recorded in Yunhui were actually the canonical sounds spoken in central plains as its author believed.But beyond that,Yunhui also recorded regional variants of apical vowels spoken in south China.Yunhui and Zhongyuan Yinyun(中原音韵)represented different evolutionary types of apical vowels in south and north China.Influenced by their counterparts in the north,apical vowels came into being in the south,and just stopped wherein at the pronunciation of initial groups of Jing(精)and Zhuang(庄).But in the north,apical vowels continued to develop within the pronunciation of initial groups of Zhang(章)and Zhi(知).Initial Groups of Zhi,Zhuang and Zhang had merged into one group in Yunhui,which was a generally acknowledged phenomenon of Chinese historical phonology.However,the pronunciation of initial groups of Zhi,Zhuang and Zhang divided into two kinds of Zimuyun,one with the medial-i-and the other without that medial,and with a careful analysis,this phonological fact arouses our reflection on the evolutionary process of the third-grade pronunciation of the initial group of Zhuang.By comparatively analyzing related materials in Qieyun(切韵)and Guangyun(广韵),we found that even prior to Qieyun(切韵)the third-grade pronunciation of the initial group of Zhuang had been losing the medial-i-firstly in Chiyin(侈音)rhymes,and at Qieyun(切韵)times,this phonological change was spreading into Yanyin(弇音)rhymes firstly from Zhen(真)rhyme.