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Palatalization of Velars in the Nanking Dialect
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2009
Extract
Nankingese is today classed as a Jiānghuái Mandarin dialect. As recently reported (Liú, 1994), velar initials do not occur before high front vowels in this language except in the two vernacular words ki11
‘give’ and k ′ i
‘go’. There is, however, a series of palatal initials,
, which appear exclusively before high front vowels; and in certain instances these consonants correspond to the gutturals k-, k′-, and h- in more conservative dialect groups such as Cantonese, Hakka, and Min. This suggests that the Nanking palatals in these instances have developed from earlier velars through a process of palatalization. The present paper will attempt to trace and date this process.
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- Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 1997
References
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