A Study On Dengyun Xue

Dengyun Xue is a book of phonology written by Xu Hui, who lived in late Qing Dynasty. The book was finished during the last two decades of 18th century, which explains why few scholars paid attention to it. It was published in 1882, ten years before the scholars formulated the table of alphabet for standard pronunciation, which means it witnessed and reflected the last stage of"Guanhua"system. A study on the phonology recorded in this book will enable us to look through the development of"Guanhua"system and contribute much to our store of historical research of Chinese language.This paper investigates the phonological system recorded in this book through an overall analysis of the systems of initial consonants, vowels and tones and comparison with some other books of phonology written in the same period and with modern dialects.Chapter one is an introduction of the author, the time he wrote this book, and terms he mentioned and created.Chapter two is a study on the initial consonant system.Chapter three is an analysis of the vowel system.Chapter four is an explanation of the tone system. There are five tones, including rusheng (ru tone).Chapter five is the summary. Through comparison with dialects and other books written in Xu's time, and with the reference of previous study, we reach the conclusion that the language reflected in this book can be categorized into the standard pronunciation spoken in late Qing Dynasty, although it also demonstrated some features of dialects spoken in Jiang-huai areas (areas along Yangtze river and Huai river).Conclusion: The phonology recorded in this book was that of Mandarin Chinese spoken in late Qing Dynasty, though combined with some elements from dialects spoken in Jiang-huai areas.