Re: Origin of Chinese spoken languages - 6th evidence

From: SJ (donot_at_send.spam.net)
Date: 10/25/04 

Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 23:35:13 +0000 (UTC)

I post the remaining part of the review. I will welcome any dicussion on
this book, especially from Geoff who read it.

"The book is radical also in the stricter sense, that it operates with a
principled and constrained theory of the OC root (minimally: *CV(C)(q)),
which holds that, with the possible exception of final resonant + glottal
stop clusters, lexical clusters were not licensed in OC at all, so that
structural positions extending the root (prefixes, infixes, suffixes;
maximal word: *[(P)(-I-)C(-I-)V(C)(q)(-s)]A/B) did invariably encode
grammatical, paradigmatic-semantic, or functional information. Moreover,
it is possible that a limited number of single final consonants (besides
suffixal *-s) did also have derivational functions (*-ng, *-n ?), and even
the idea of apophonic nuclei is occasionally entertained (cf. pp. 134-36).
Sagart remedies the skewed distributions of initial *h-, *hj-, *z- and
*h~- in Baxter's (1992) reconstruction, and rejects Benedict's (1996) *sK-
clusters, Pulleyblank's (1991) initial *ngj-, as well as the lateral
affricate series posited by Starostin (1989), in favor of various new
prefix interpretations. Crucially, he proposes a new theory of initial
cluster simplification, along the lines attested in several Mon-Khmer
languages, which distinguishes between 'fused' and 'iambic' clusters. The
latter loosely attaching type is characterized by epenthesis of a reduced
vowel (schwa) into the prefixal template, thereby creating a moraic slot
extending the monosyllable. Ample evidence for this type of development
from word-families and xiesheng-series, variant readings and remnants in
several peripheral modern dialects is supplied. The enigmatic origins of
the MC division distinction are not finally settled. Sagart notationally
assigns a/b superscripts to Pulleyblank's 'A/B' syllable types, whatever
suprasegmental interpretation they might have entailed. He adds the
observation that several homo(io)phonophoric series are strictly A/B-
segregating, which is sterling evidence for the further study of the
phonetics involved. In the realm of rhymes, he argues against positing
rounded vowels before labial endings, and offers several other important
readjustments of Baxter's system.

The core of the book is a very detailed analysis of the 12 affixes (*s-,
*n-, *m-, *p-, *t-, *N-, *k-, *q- // *-r- // *-s, *-n, *-N) proposed and
their 25 odd functions in OC (pp. 63-138). The new theory of OC
morphonology thus provided is then applied to an extremely interesting
lexical testing ground, including personal pronouns, numerals, body parts,
the physical world, wild animals, mankind & kinship, cereal names and
other cultivated plants, domesticated animals, food, metals,
transportation commerce, and writing. This long section (pp. 139-215) is a
treasure trove for everyone interested in Chinese culture history, and the
implications of ancient loanwords for early connetions of China with the
outside world. The book is rounded off with an index verborum, a general
index and a copious list of reconstructions.

This is easily the most important book on the OC lexicon since Karlgren's
Word-Families (BMFEA 1934), and the most challenging contribution on OC
morphology ever written. It deserves to be taught and tested, applied or
amended, by whoever reads Old Chinese texts. "

>From http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556199619/qid%3D/104-
4303960-6755949

SJ