Research Between The Chinese And Japanese Consonants

The subtle relationship between the Chinese and the Japanese languages continues to arouse much scholarly interest. Many articles and monographs on the subject have been published. This thesis intends to discuss the different pronunciations of Kanji in the Chinese and the Japanese languages and their corresponding relationship from phonetic and phonological perspectives.Although it can be said Japanese is based on the Chinese language, they have very distinctive grammatical systems. The relation between the two is restricted to lexical and phonetic aspects, so the study of their phonetic connections constitutes an important research area.The Chinese language was first brought to Japan by Kikajin (Chinese immigrants who later become naturalized Japanese), and based on the radicals in Chinese characters, Hiragana was invented. Later, Japanese envoys, students, and monks who were sent to the then powerful and prosperous Tang Dynasty China brought back to Japan changed Chinese pronunciations, thus renewing the Japanese phonetic system. Though the Japanese language per se has evolved a lot, with the development of phonetic theories and research methodology, study of the relationship between the two languages has been deepened.The Japanese language contains fewer phonemes than Chinese. Besides, phonetic systems of the two languages have evolved respectively through history. All these result in some phonetic phenomena that do not fit into the rules we have summarized. Yet it is such exceptions that make the phonetic systems of the two languages fascinating. Meanwhile, Scholars in China and Japan doing researches on a same subject usually adopt different theories and methods, which leads to different outcomes. Such different research traditions, however, promotes rather than hinders research into this area.This thesis comprises three parts, namely, literature review and theoretical backup, research history of the pronunciation of Kanji and development of Chinese and Japanese consonants, corresponding relationship of Chinese initial consonants and Japanese consonants and the reasons for some special correspondences. Literature review includes research status quo and outcomes on the subject. Theoretical backup serves as the theoretical framework for the thesis. Research history of the pronunciation of Kanji introduces research status in different periods. Development of Chinese and Japanese consonants deals with the evolvement of consonants in their respective countries. Corresponding relationship focuses on the correspondence of the development of Chinese Pinyin system and Japanese Wu pronunciation, Han pronunciation, Tang-Song pronunciation, and traditional pronunciation. Finally, the reasons for the existence of special correspondences are explained by turning to the origin of the Chinese language and its evolvement in the Japanese language.The main objective of writing the thesis is to discuss the subtle relationship of Chinese and Japanese consonants in great detail and explain the reasons behind some special correspondences.