| It is well known that nasal endings in Archaic Chinese contain threetypes:-m,-n and-. The evolution of Chinese nasal endings is not only aphenomenon of great importance, but also a basic ingredient in Chinesehistorical phonology. Based on former researches, this essay discovers a clueof the evolution of the blending of nasal finals in both diachronic andsynchronic approaches, by building up a database of blending. In addition,the study summarizes the distribution of Chinese nasal finals by deepanalysis of the individuality and commonness in dialect materials. Besides,we explain the mechanism of the distribution and evolution of nasal finals inlanguage interior as well as exterior.The study can be divided into five parts. Chapter one is the introduction,which offers a brief overview of the field and the theories and methods used.Chapter two describes the blending types of different dialect zones in sixperiods separately, including Pre-Qin, Qin and Han Dynasties, Wei-Jin,South and North Dynasties, Tang and Five Dynasties, Yuan Dynasty andMing and Qing Dynasties. We state characteristics of nasal endings changeand associate the traces. Chapter three researches the similarities anddifferences of the evolution of nasal finals in different dialect zones,combined with the spatial patterns in modern Chinese. Chapter four focus onthe dialect nasal endings, containing the commonness and mechanism of theevolution of nasal endings, the imbalance of evolution coverage and spatialpatterns. Chapter five is the conclusion; the deficiencies and innovation ofthis essay are also mentioned. |
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