苗语川黔滇方言的历史比较研究 = A HISTORICAL COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WEST HMONGIC LANGUAGES

Abstract

THE CORPUS OF WEST HMONGIC LANGUAGES IS ESTABLISHED USING THE 608 LEXICAL ITEMS LISTED BY WANG FUSHI (1994). BASED ON THE CORPUS, THE HISTORICAL-COMPARATIVE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EARLY WEST HMONGIC LANGUAGES IS COMPLETED IN TWO STEPS: FIRSTLY, RECONSTRUCTING THE PHONOLOGICAL CATEGORIES OF LEXICAL ITEMS BASED ON PERVASIVE SOUND CORRESPONDENCES; SECONDLY, DOING THE RECONSTRUCTION BASED ON NON-PERVASIVE SOUND CORRESPONDENCES. THE FIRST STEP PROVIDES A SKETCH OF THE EARLY WEST HMONGIC LANGUAGES¿ PHONOLOGY, WITH SOME VOIDS REMAINING IN THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM. THE SECOND STEP EXAMINES THE SKETCH AND PROVIDES NEW PHONOLOGICAL CATEGORIES TO FILL THE VOIDS. DIFFERENT ROLES PLAYED BY THE PERVASIVE CORRESPONDING LEXICAL ITEMS AND THE NON-PERVASIVE CORRESPONDING LEXICAL ITEMS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION ARE OBSERVED IN THIS RESEARCH. THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SOUND CORRESPONDENCES, LEXICAL ITEMS AND PHONOLOGICAL CATEGORIES IS ALSO REVEALED. THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF THE EARLY WEST HMONGIC LANGUAGES