A Study On The Evolution Of The Entering Tones Of The Rhyming Books In Ming And Qing Dynasties

The entering tones of the ancient time belong to the scope of vowel structure and morphology. The evolution of the entering tones is a major historical Sandhi during the formation of the modern Chinese language. As an important existing research material, the ancient rhyming book reflects the actual voice system and leaving behind a path into the evolution of the entering tones. The time from Ming to Qing dynasty is very important stage in voice history. Large numbers of phonology books emerged in that time and voice system got a sound and rapid development. This paper selected the representative rhyming book of Ming and Qing Dynasties to explore the entering tones by using synchronic and diachronic research methods which combined the literature materials arid living dialects. It included studies about the entering tones in rhyming book of Mandarin, the Northern dialect, and the South dialect.The paper presented not only detailed analysis of the distribution of the mid-ancient entering tones in the rhyming book, but also analysis of the different cases of the entering tones match with positive or negative tones. Besides, it comprehensively compared the voice materials, verse materials of the same period to explore the end rhyme evolution and the merge of the entering tones. Furthermore, by comparing the rhyming books of different regions and different times, analyzing the developing trend of the mid-ancient entering tones in the Ming and Qing dynasties, exploring the evolution rules and causation of the ancient entering tones in different types of rhyme books, the paper sketched out the general context of the development of the entering tones in Ming and Qing dynasties.