Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 60 | 2024
Research Article | Some Attempts at Enhancing Old Chinese Reconstructions Through the Lens of Paleography
Some Attempts at Enhancing Old Chinese Reconstructions Through the Lens of Paleography
Abstract
The available reconstruction systems of Old Chinese have proven to be indispensable tools for research in different fields, nevertheless, they remain flawed in many aspects and thus call for continuous refinement. Focusing on Baxter and Sagart’s reconstruction (2014), in this paper I will argue that a more systematic way of incorporating palaeographic data as an integral part of the methodology could enhance the reconstruction outcomes. In particular, the graphic forms preceding the kaishu 楷書 script of many characters and the frequent cases of phonetic borrowing in unearthed texts can provide considerable insightful data. Through some illustrative examples, I will contend that phonetic borrowings in excavated texts can provide insights for a) reconstructing items not included in current reconstructions; b) disentangling rhyme class mergers, and c) questioning and verifying the forms of items included in current reconstructions. A more porous boundary between the fields of palaeography and Chinese historical phonology could thus provide new data for answering many of the still open questions relating to Old Chinese.
Submitted: March 11, 2024 | Accepted: April 24, 2024 | Published July 25, 2024 | Language: en
Keywords Old Chinese • Historical Phonology • Phonological reconstruction • Excavated texts • Bamboo manuscripts • Paleography
Copyright © 2024 Michele Pulini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2024/01/010
