The sounds of Chinese

Abstract

This chapter introduces the phonology of Sinitic languages, both in a diachronic and in a synchronic perspective. It first proposes an overview of the peculiar methodology for the reconstruction of earlier historical stages of Chinese, followed by a short presentation of the salient phonological features of Old Chinese, Middle Chinese, and Early Mandarin. It then discusses some general issues concerning Sinitic phonology, including the relevance of syllables and the representation of tones, and presents the phonology of Modern Standard Chinese and of each dialect group. Specifically, it provides a more extensive presentation of the national standard, while for dialects it is limited to a discussion of the most relevant features which characterize each group (and major subgroups).