Title

An Interpretation of Voiceless Sonorants in Sinitic and Tai

Author

Yü-hung Chang

Genre

Article  

Pages

1-26

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Language

English

Key words

Abstract

    It is generally maintained that both Tai and Sinitic used to have voiceless sonorants historically in addition to a voiced series. The evidence is primarily the upper register tones and fricative initials. However, neither the upper tonal register nor the fricative initials necessarily mean that the syllables had voiceless sonorant initials. There are other possibilities. As a matter of fact, the voicelessness of sonorant initials in Tai an Sinitic may turn out to be secondary development. The primary contrast is in phonation types, of which aspiration is responsible for devoicing. Data from other languages confirm that aspiration, in turn, can be a result of consonantal deletion. If these languages are tonal, their aspirated sonorants syllables normally have an upper register tone. Analogy, if permissible in historical linguistics, will motivate a quest for initial clusters whose reflexes are voiceless sonorants.