Reconstructing pharyngealized vowels for Qieyun Division II in Middle Chinese

Abstract

It is widely accepted that Middle Chinese Division II, a syllable category in Middle Chinese, originates from the Old Chinese medial *-r-, yet its reconstruction remains debated. Existing proposals assign Division II a palatal, velar, or r-colored feature or segment. Building on

, this study integrates comprehensive evidence to identify Division II as characterized by an additional vowel quality that exhibits vowel lowering, a -fronting, and slight e -backing effects, and is compatible with the low front vowel, uvulars, and retroflexes.

A systematic evaluation demonstrates that Division II is best interpreted as palato-pharyngealization, a type of pharyngealization observed in Northeast Caucasian languages. We reconstruct three (palato-)pharyngealized vowels [eˤ, oˤ, aˤ] as Division-II vowels for the Qieyun 切韻 system, deriving from a pre- Qieyun medial *-ʕ-, itself the outcome of decoronalization of the Old Chinese medial *-r- before fusing with the following vowel. We further outline the full development of Division II from Old Chinese to Mandarin.