Khitan studies I. the glyphs of the Khitan small script
Khitan studies I. the glyphs of the Khitan small script
3. The consonants, 3.1 Labial stops
Author(s): Yingzhe Wu, András Róna-TasSubject(s): Language studies, Translation Studies
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: Khitan language; Khitan Corpus; Khitan Small Script; Khitan orthography; Khitan – Uighur relations; Chinese in Khitan script; Middle Chinese reconstruction
Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates how the Khitan Small Script renders labial stops of the Khitan language in the initial position of words and syllables. Furthermore, it deals with the problems of alloglyphs, drawings of similar shape, and denotations of the same phoneme. The paper begins with the use of glyphs in cases where they transcribe Chinese words. Evidence permitting, this is followed by the use of glyphs in cases of Chinese loanwords and names—subjects in which we have a robust background. Finally, it examines words of Khitan origin with initial labial stops. The result of our investigation is that postaspiration was the distinguishing feature in the binary opposition of labial stops. Alternation of <b> ~ <p> writing is common in cases where a word occurs with high frequency. To demonstrate this, we used the Khitan Corpus published in 2017.
Journal: Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
- Issue Year: 72/2019
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 47-79
- Page Count: 33
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF