W. South Coblin

Abstract :In his earlier Proto-Mǐn reconstructed phonological system the late Professor Jerry Norman posited three guttural fricative initials, i.e., *x-, *h-, and *-h-. In early unpublished manuscripts dealing with this system, *x- was classed as velar, while *h- and *-h- were described as laryngeals. Initial *x- was characterized as voiceless and *h- and *-h- as voiced. In Norman (1974), however, *h- was transcribed as phonetic [ɣ], a voiced velar (rather than laryngeal) fricative, while *-h- was interpreted as [ɦ], a voiced laryngeal. In his much more recent Common Mǐn system, as represented in certain of his final dialectological publications and posthumous papers, Norman posited one voiceless velar fricative, *x-, and two laryngeals, *h-, and *ɦ-, the former voiceless and the latter voiced. Additionally, he reconstructed a rounded semivowel, Common Mǐn *w-, which had not been explicitly mentioned in his published presentations of Proto-Mǐn but was posited without comment in manuscript materials in a single word, i.e., huáng 黃 “yellow”. In the Common Mǐn system, on the other hand, this *w- plays a more prominent role and is also associated with the guttural fricatives in certain ways. The purpose of the present paper is to exemplify and compare Norman’s new Common Mǐn *x-, *h-, *ɦ-, and *w-.