Entering tone (Simplified Chinese: 入声; Traditional Chinese: 入聲; pinyin: rùshēng) is one of four tones in the phonology in Middle Chinese. The tone is described as relatively short and sharp, which continues to be true for many (but not all) of the variants of Chinese that keeps this tone. In modern times, the entering tone has disappeared from most of the dialects of Mandarin (a broad group spoken in northern and southwestern China), but the tone is well-preserved in some southern Chinese groups such as Yue, Min, and Hakka. Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiÇŽntǐzì; also Simplified Chinese: 简化字; Traditional Chinese: 簡化字; pinyin: jiÇŽnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets. ... Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell(ing) and yin means sound(s)). This article describes the most common variant called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ... Middle Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; Pinyin: zhōnggÇ” HànyÇ”), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ... Min (閩方言 in pinyin: min3 fang1 yan2) is a general term for a group of dialects of the Chinese language spoken in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian as well as by migrants from this province in Guangdong (around Chaozhou-Swatou, and Leizhou peninsula), Hainan, three counties in southern Zhejiang... Hakka (Simplified Chinese: 客家话, Traditional Chinese: 客家話, Hakka: Hak-ka-fa/-va, pinyin: Kèjiāhuà) is a Chinese dialect/language spoken predominantly in southern China by the Hakka ethnic group and descendants in diaspora throughout East and Southeast Asia and around the world. ...

Tones are an indispensable part of Chinese literature, as characters in poetry and prose were chosen according to tones and rhymes for their euphony. This use of language helps in reconstructing the pronunciation of Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, since the Chinese writing system is logographic. Euphony describes flowing and aesthetically pleasing speech. ... Old Chinese (formerly called Archaic Chinese) (Simplified Chinese: 上古汉语; Traditional Chinese: 上古漢語; pinyin: ), refers to the Chinese spoken during the Zhou Dynasty (10th century BC – 256 BC). ... Middle Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; Pinyin: zhōnggǔ Hànyǔ), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ... The Chinese logogram for glyph or logogram. A logogram, or logograph, is a single grapheme which represents a word or a morpheme (a meaningful unit of language). ...

Phonetics

From a phonetic perspective, the entering tone is simply a syllable ending with a voiceless plosive [p], [t], or [k]. In some variants of Chinese, the final plosive has become the voiceless glottal plosive [ʔ]. Some linguists have also proposed reconstructions of Old Chinese that include voiced plosive consonants, or consonant clusters involving plosives. A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... Old Chinese (formerly called Archaic Chinese) (Simplified Chinese: 上古汉语; Traditional Chinese: 上古漢語; pinyin: ), refers to the Chinese spoken during the Zhou Dynasty (10th century BC – 256 BC). ...

History

It is now generally believed that the voiceless plosives that typify the entering tone have existed since Book of Songs in the Zhou Dynasty (1027–771 BC). In addition, there is a hypothesis that before the mid-Han dynasty, there were two kinds of entering tones, a long entering tone (which end in clusters like [ps], [ts], and [ks]) and a short entering tone. The long entering tone became the departing tone after the final consonant cluster was lost, while the short entering tone remained the entering tone. Shī Jīng (詩經), translated variously as the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Songs or the Book of Odes, is the first major collection of Chinese poems. ... The Zhou Dynasty (Chinese: 周朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: chou chao; 11th century BC to 256 BC) followed the Shang (Yin) Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China. ... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 漢朝; Simplified Chinese: 汉朝; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Han Chau; 206 BC–AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ...

The first Chinese philologists began to describe the phonology of Chinese during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, between 400 to 600, under the influence of Buddhism and the Sanskrit language that arrived along with it. There were several unsuccessful attempts to classify the tones of Chinese, before the establishment of the traditional four-tone description between 483 and 493. It is based on the Vedic theory of three intonations (聲明論). The middle intonation, Udātta, maps to the level tone (平聲); the upwards intonation, Svarita, to the rising tone (上聲); the downward intonation, Anudātta, to the departing tone (去聲). The distinctive sound of syllables ending with a plosive did not fit the three intonations and was categorised as the entering tone (入聲). The use of four-tone system flourished in the Sui and Tang dynasties. An important rime dictionary, Qieyun was written in this period. This article is about China. ... Events First invasion of Italy by Alaric (probable date). ... For other uses, see number 600. ... Buddhism is a religion, philosophy, and arguably a psychology, focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama). ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... The pitch accent of Vedic Sanskrit, or Vedic accent for brevity, is traditionally divided by Sanskrit grammarians into three qualities, udātta raised (acute accent, high pitch), anudātta not raised (grave accent, low pitch) and svarita sounded (circumflex, falling pitch). ... The Sui Dynasty (Chinese: 隋朝; Hanyu Pinyin: 581-618) followed the Southern and Northern Dynasties and preceded the Tang Dynasty in China. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... A rime dictionary or a rime book is a type of Chinese dictionary that was used in ancient times. ... Qieyun (Chinese 切韻) is a Chinese character rime dictionary, published in 601 AD during the Sui Dynasty. ...

It has been hypothesized that the entering tone was lost due to the influence of invading northern nomads such as the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). The Zhongyuan Yinyun, a rime book of 1324, already shows signs of the disappearance of the entering tone and the emergence of the modern Mandarin tone system in its place. The precise time at which the entering tone was lost is unknown, though it was likely gone by the time of the Qing Dynasty. Honorary guard of Mongolia. ... The Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝; pinyin: Yuáncháo; Mongolian: Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus) lasting officially from 1271 to 1368, occasionally known as the Mongol Dynasty. ... For broader historical context, see 1270s and 13th century. ... Events Timur ascends throne of Samarkand. ... Zhongyuan Yinyun (Chinese 中原音韵) is a rhyme book from the Yuan Dynasty compiled by Zhou Dequing (周德淸) in 1324. ... A rime dictionary or a rime book is a type of Chinese dictionary that was used in ancient times. ... Events Publication of Defensor pacis by Marsilius of Padua Mansa Kankan Musa I, ruler of the Mali Empire arrives in Cairo on his hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: 清朝; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China, expanded into China and the surrounding territories, establishing the Empire of the Great Qing...

Example

Middle Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; Pinyin: zhōnggÇ” HànyÇ”), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ... Min (閩方言 in pinyin: min3 fang1 yan2) is a general term for a group of dialects of the Chinese language spoken in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian as well as by migrants from this province in Guangdong (around Chaozhou-Swatou, and Leizhou peninsula), Hainan, three counties in southern Zhejiang... Standard Cantonese is a variant, and is generally considered the prestige dialect of Cantonese Chinese. ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Singapore. ...

Entering tone in Chinese

Cantonese

Like most other variants of Chinese, Cantonese has changed initial voiced plosives, affricates and fricatives of Middle Chinese to their voiceless counterparts. To compensate for the lost of this difference, Cantonese has split each of the Middle Chinese tones into two, one for Middle Chinese voiced initial consonants (Yang) and one for Middle Chinese voiceless initial consonant (Yin). In addition, Cantonese has split the Yin-Entering tone into two, with a higher tone for short vowels and a lower tone for long vowels. As a result, Cantonese now has three entering tones:

• Upper (Short Yin)
• Middle (Long Yin)
• Lower (Yang)

The entering tone in Cantonese has retained its short and sharp character.

Hakka

Min

Southern Min has two entering tones:

• Upper (Yin)
• Lower (Yang)

Words with entering tones end with either a glottal stop, p, t or k (all unaspirated). There are many words that have different finals in their literary and colloquial forms.

Entering tone in Sino-Xenic

Many Chinese words were borrowed into Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese during the Middle Chinese period, so these languages preserve the entering tone to varying degrees. Middle Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; Pinyin: zhōnggǔ Hànyǔ), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ...

Japanese

Because Japanese does not allow a syllable to end with a consonant, the endings -k, -p, -t were rendered as separate syllables -ku or -ki, -pu, and -ti (-chi) or -tu (-tsu) respectively. Later phonological changes further altered some of the endings: Sound change or phonetic change is a historical process of language change consisting in the replacement of one speech sound or, more generally, one phonetic feature by another in a given phonological environment. ...

• In some cases where the ending is immediately followed by an unvoiced consonant in a compound, the ending is lost, and the consonant becomes geminate.
  • Examples: gaku + kou becomes gakkou (school), and shitsu + hai becomes shippai (failure)

• The -pu ending changes into -u.
  • Example: jipu (ten) becomes jū

It is possible to recover the original ending by examining the historical kana used in spelling a word. In phonetics, gemination is when a spoken consonant is doubled, so that it is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a single consonant. ... Kana is a general term for two types of syllabic Japanese script: hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ). ...

Korean

Korean keeps the -k and -p endings, while the -t ending has changed into -l.

Vietnamese

Reconstruction of the entering tone from Mandarin

Although it is hard to distinguish words of entering tone origin based on Mandarin pronunciation only, it is possible to do so to an extent with the help of the phonetic component of each Chinese character. For example, if one already knows that 白 (white) is of the entering tone, then one can conjecture that 拍 (beat), 柏 (fir), 帛 (white cloth), 迫 (urgent) are also of entering tone. Although this method is not completely accurate, it is a quick way to identify characters of the entering tone.

See also

• Historical Chinese phonology
• Sino-Japanese
• Sino-Korean
• Sino-Vietnamese
• Tone name

Historical Chinese Phonology deals with reconstructing the sounds of Chinese from the past. ... Sino-Japanese refers to that portion of the Japanese vocabulary that originated in the Chinese language or has been created from elements borrowed from Chinese. ... Sino-Korean describes those elements of the Korean language that come directly or indirectly from Chinese — namely, Hanja and the words formed from them. ... Sino-Vietnamese (Hán Việt) are the elements in the Vietnamese language derived from Chinese. ... Tones in Chinese derive from the traditional Middle Chinese tone classes, known as Ping Sheng (平聲), Shang Sheng (上聲), Qu Sheng (去聲), and Ru Sheng (入聲), which in English in the linguistic literature, are sometimes called the level, rising, departing and entering tones. ...

External link

• Chinese Universal Tone Tutorial