Published: 2015
Total Pages: 465
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This study aims to examine the origin of Modern Sino-Korean, namely the pronunciation system of Chinese characters in the present day Korean. In order to have a better understanding of the adaptation strategy in SK, we introduced the theory of loanword phonology and conducted a case study on the Mandarin loanwords in Modern Korean in Chapter 2. The result of this case study shows that both the perception and phonology of the borrowing language play a role in the process of adaptation. Furthermore, different borrowers may adopt different adaptation strategies in the process of borrowing, including different constraints and different rankings of the same constraints. In Chapter 3, 4 and 5 we examined the initials, rhymes and tones in Hunmong jahoe (1527), the earliest Hangul notated character dictionary in Korea. The SK system presented in this book provides the following valuable hints regarding the origin of Modern SK. (1) The labial-dental fei initial group has not occurred. (2) The yun initial is separated from the xia initial. (3) The zhi initial group has not become affricative or fricative. (4) The chan initial and the chuan initial belong to the same category. (5) The ri initial has lost its nasality. (6) Chongyun (double rhymes) are distinguished in some pairs of rhymes. (7) Fourth division rhymes have -j glide. (8) The distinction of Middle Chinese -p, -t and -k codas are preserved. In order to identify the time and place that Modern SK borrowed from Chinese, we compared these eight features with the phonological system in different works of Chinese. The comparison shows that the mainstream SK is a reflection of Chinese later than Xuanying's (?-661) Yiqie jing yinyi (c. 650) (abbr. XYYY) but earlier than Huilin's (737-820) Yiqie jing yinyi (810) (abbr. HLYY). Given the fact that the fanqie in XYYY and HLYY is based on the pronunciation of the Chang'an dialect, this study concludes that the matrix of Modern SK is borrowed from the Chang'an dialect between 650 AD and 810 AD.