也谈早期粤语中的变调现象

Revisiting the Use of Changed Tones in Early Cantonese

张洪年(2000)考察Cantonese Made Easy(CME)1888和1907两版中的变调现象,发现十数年间,粤语高平变调和高升变调的使用都有相当的增长,特别是高平变调的增长更为显著。本文旨在探讨下面两个问题:(1)CME两书中所反映的增长是否单一现象;(2)CME两书之前和之后的变调现象又是怎样。考察的结果印证了张文的观察。此外,根据我们对早期材料的考察,我们推测变调应该在1870年代以前就已产生。假设早期材料所反映的变调增长速度保持不变,我们推测高平变调的扩散比高升变调早结束。这个假设得到早期材料中变调的使用和现代粤语调查结果的支持。

Zhang （2000） examined the use of changed tones in the 1888 and 1907 Cantonese Made Easy （CME）. He noted that the high-level changed tone and the changed tone, and the former in particular, had increased significantly aims to explore the following two issues： （1） Is the above significant versions of high-rising in 20 years. This paper growth of changed tones only observed in CME？ （2） What are the conditions of using changed tones before CME 1888 and after CME 1907. The result from examining other early Cantonese materials confirms Zhang~ observation above. Furthermore, based on our observation of these early materials, we believe that changed tones should have emerged before the 1870s. Assuming that the rate of growth as exemplified in the early materials remains constant, we predict that the spread of the high-level changed tone should have tone. This hypothesis is supported by completed earlier than that of the data in early materials and high-rising changed the result of our survey.