论气声、浊声与清送气的关系

On the Relationship among Breathy, Modal and Aspirated Voices

气声是汉语方言中常见的发声类型,它不仅是从中古晚期起汉语全浊声母的表现形式,也是吴语、湘语等保留“浊音”的现代汉语方言中“浊音”的主要表现形式。汉语中的浊声母往往难以维持带音性质,因此常采用声带“漏气”的方式来维持浊感。汉语方言的清送气音应该分两种:一种为普通送气,一种为强送气。强送气容易使后接元音带上气声的色彩而降低本身的送气强度。如果这些方言中的古全浊声母也是气声,二者容易产生“发声态趋同”,造成“次清化浊”现象。中古全浊声母清化后送气还是不送气,通常遵循“低送高不送”原理。

There are two essential problems worth solving in Chinese historical phonology. One is whether the voiced plosive and affricate initial consonants of Middle Chinese(MC) were aspirated or not, whereas the other is what causes those ancient voiced initial consonants to be aspirated or unaspirated after devoicing in Chinese dialects. We believe that re-examining these issues from the perspective of phonation may lead to some new insights. Breathy voice is a common phonation type across various Chinese dialects. It is not only the performance of voiced initial consonants since late Middle Chinese, but also the main performance of voiced initial consonants in modern Chinese dialects such as Wu and Xiang. It is often difficult for the speakers to maintain the laryngeal states of the voiced initial consonants because of the physiological limitation of pronunciation, so incomplete vocal cords closure is often used to maintain the auditory perception of voicing. Another point of concern is in dialects spoken at the junction of the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi. In these dialects, the initial consonants from MC aspirated voiceless category became voiced, and merged with those from MC voiced category. This unique sound change has its special causes. Breathiness in these dialects is relatively strong, and has some similarities with aspiration from both a physiological and auditory point of view, which eventually results in the merging of these two categories.There are two kinds of voiceless aspirated consonants in Chinese dialects. One is ordinarily aspirated and the other is strongly aspirated. Stronger airflow tends to make the subsequent vowels sound breathy while reducing their airflow intensity. If the ancient voiced initial consonants in these dialects are also breathy, they are likely to reach the stage of “phonation convergence”, resulting in the phenomenon of “voiceless aspirated sound turning to voiced sound”. As for what causes those ancient voiced initial consonants to be aspirated or unaspirated after devoicing, it has to do with the pitch of tones in pronunciation. In low pitch tones, the vocal cords are relatively loose. When the airflow passes through the larynx, it is easier to break through the obstruction of the vocal cords, so the flow rate is faster and relatively easy to be perceived as aspirated. However, in high pitch tones, the vocal cords need to be tightened, and the airflow is relatively difficult to break through the obstruction of the vocal cords, so it is easy to become unaspirated.