Title

The Spirantization of High Vowels in Hakka and Rule Change Resulting from Contact with Min

Author

Chen, Xiao-qi  

Genre

Article  

Pages

733-775  

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese  

Key words

Hakka, fortition, syllable, sonority distance, language contact between Min and Hakka

Abstract

         In Hakka, the high vowels [u] and [i] after a zero-initial onset became voiced fricatives due to fortition. The sound change of [u] was earlier than that of [i]. High vowels became voiced stops because stops in Min are more active than fricatives. This occurred in dialects spoken where Hakka and Min had been in contact for a long period of time, such as Fulau Hakka 福佬客, She 畲, and West Southern Min 閩語西片. The rhymes changed in a particular order, depending on two factors. The primary factor was the distance between syllable components: The distance between vowels was more important than the distance between vowels and consonants. The other factor was whether the syllable consisted of only one vowel. Due to language-internal reasons, the order of sound change in West Southern Min rhymes was different from that of Hakka and She.