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Eastern Han Chinese
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Eastern Han Chinese
Later Han Chinese
Native toChina
EraEastern Han dynasty
Sino-Tibetan
Early form
Clerical script
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologlate1251  Late Han Chinese
Provinces of the Han dynasty c. 189 AD
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese晚期上古漢語
Simplified Chinese晚期上古汉语
Literal meaningLate Old Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWǎnqí shànggǔ hànyǔ
Southern Min
Tâi-lôĀu-kî siōng-kóo Hàn-gú

Eastern Han Chinese, or Later Han Chinese, is the stage of the Chinese language attested in poetry and glosses from the Eastern Han period (1st–3rd centuries AD). It is considered an intermediate stage between Old Chinese and the Middle Chinese of the 7th-century Qieyun rime dictionary. Min varieties are thought to be descended from southeastern dialects of this period.

Sources

[edit]

The rhyming practice of Han poets has been studied since the Qing period as an intermediate stage between the Classic of Poetry of the Western Zhou period and Tang poetry. The definitive reference was compiled by Luo Changpei and Zhou Zumo in 1958. This work identifies the rhyme classes of the period, but leaves the phonetic value of each class open.[1]

During the Eastern Han, Confucian scholars were bitterly divided between different versions of the classics: the officially recognized New Texts, and rediscovered versions written in a pre-Qin script known as the Old Texts. To support their challenge to the orthodox position on the classics, Old Text scholars produced many philological studies. Many of these works contain remarks of various types on the pronunciation of various words.[2] The sources with the most glosses are the Shiming, a dictionary of classical terms, Xu Shen's Shuowen Jiezi (c. 100 AD), a study of the history and structure of Chinese characters, and Zheng Xuan's commentaries on various classics.[3]

Buddhism also expanded greatly in China during the Eastern Han period. Buddhist missionaries, beginning with An Shigao in AD 148, began translating Buddhist texts into Chinese.[4][5] These translations include transcriptions in Chinese characters of Sanskrit and Prakrit vocabulary, which were first systematically mined for evidence of the evolution of Chinese phonology by Edwin G. Pulleyblank.[6]

The Shiming glosses were collected and studied by Nicholas Bodman.[7] Weldon South Coblin collected all the remaining glosses and transcriptions, and used them in an attempt to reconstruct an intermediate stage between Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, both represented by the reconstructions of Li Fang-Kuei.[8] Axel Schuessler included reconstructed pronunciations (under the name Later Han Chinese) in his dictionary of Old Chinese.[9][10]

The customary writing style of the period was strongly modelled on the classics, and thus provides only occasional glimpses of contemporary grammar.[11] Some works, while generally following the conventional archaizing style, contain passages in a more colloquial style thought to reflect contemporary speech, at least in part. any such examples are found in translated Buddhist literature, particularly direct speech.[12][13] Similarly, Zhao Qi's commentary on Mencius includes paraphrases of the classic written for the benefit of novice students, and therefore in a more contemporary style.[14] Similar passages are also found in the commentaries of Wang Yi, Zheng Xuan and Gao You.[15]

Dialects

[edit]
Major Han-period dialect groups inferred from the Fangyan

Several texts contain evidence of dialectal variation in the Eastern Han period. The Fangyan, from the start of the period, discusses variations in regional vocabulary. By analysing the text, Paul Serruys identified six dialect areas: a central area centred on the Central Plain east of Hangu Pass, surrounded by northern, eastern, southern and western areas, and a southeastern area to the south and east of the lower Yangtze.[16][17][18] Distinct rhyme systems of the Han period poets identified by Luo and Zhou broadly correspond to these dialect areas.[19]

The most influential dialect was the Qin–Jin dialect, from the western group, reflecting the ascendancy of the state of Qin. Second was the Chu dialect, from the southern group, which spread both to the south and to the east. These two dialects were also the principal sources of the Han standard language. The central dialects of the area of former states of Lu, Song and Wei were the most conservative. The dialects of the eastern area, which had been more recently and slowly sinified, include some non-Chinese vocabulary.[20]

The Eastern Han glosses come from 11 sites, all to the north of the Huai River.[21] They often show marked phonological differences. Many of them exhibit mergers that are not found in the 7th-century Qieyun or in many modern varieties. The exception is the Buddhist transcriptions, which were made in the region of Luoyang (in the western part of the central dialect area), suggesting that the later varieties descend from Han-period varieties spoken in this area.[22]

The southeastern dialects are not reflected in Eastern Han texts. They were known as Wu (吳) or Jiangdong (江東) dialects in the Western Jin period, when the writer Guo Pu described them as quite distinct from other varieties.[23][24] Jerry Norman called these Han-era southeastern dialects Old Southern Chinese, and suggested that they were the source of common features found in the oldest layers of modern Yue, Hakka and Min varieties.[25]

Phonology

[edit]

Eastern Han Chinese syllables consisted of an initial consonant, optional medial glides, a vowel and an optional coda.

Initial consonants

[edit]

The consonant clusters postulated for Old Chinese had generally disappeared by the Eastern Han period.[26][27]

Initial consonants in Eastern Han dialects[28]
Labial Dental Sibilant Palatal Velar Laryngeal
Stop or
affricate 		voiceless p t ts (tɕ) k ʔ
aspirate pʰ tʰ tsʰ (tɕʰ) kʰ
voiced b d dz (dʑ) ɡ
Nasal voiceless (m̥) (n̥) (ŋ̊)
voiced m n ŋ
Lateral or
fricative 		voiceless (l̥) s (ɕ) x
voiced l z (ʑ) (ɣ)

One of the major changes between Old Chinese and Middle Chinese was palatalization of initial dental stops and (in some environments) velar stops, merging to form a new series of palatal initials. Several Eastern Han varieties show either or both of these palatalizations.[29] However, Proto-Min, which branched off during the Han period, has palatalized velars but not dentals.[30] The retroflex stops and sibilants of Middle Chinese are not distinguished from plain stops and sibilants in the Eastern Han data.[31]

There is some uncertainty whether the Middle Chinese initials g-, h- and hj- can all be derived from a single Old Chinese initial *ɡ-, or whether an additional fricative initial *ɣ- or *ɦ- must be reconstructed.[32] Most Eastern Han dialects have a single initial *ɡ- in such words, but some of them distinguish *ɡ- and *ɣ-.[33]

Some Eastern Han dialects show evidence of the voiceless sonorant initials postulated for Old Chinese, but they had disappeared by the Eastern Han period in most areas.[28] The Old Chinese voiceless lateral and nasal initials yielded a *tʰ initial in eastern dialects and *x in western ones.[34][35] By the Eastern Han, the Old Chinese voiced lateral had also evolved to *d or *j, depending on syllable type.[36] The gap was filled by Old Chinese *r, which yielded Eastern Han *l and Middle Chinese l.[37] In some Eastern Han dialects, this initial may have been a lateral tap or flap.[38]

Medial glides

[edit]

Most modern reconstructions of Old Chinese distinguish labiovelar and labiolaryngeal initials from the velar and laryngeal series. However, the two series are not separated in Eastern Han glosses, suggesting that Eastern Han Chinese had a *-w- medial like Middle Chinese. Moreover, this medial also occurs after other initials, including syllables with Old Chinese *-u- and *-o- before acute codas (*-n, *-t and *-j), which had broken to *-wə- and *-wa- respectively.[39][40][41] Most OC reconstructions include a medial *-r- to account for Middle Chinese retroflex initials, division-II finals and some chongniu finals, and this seems to have still been a distinct phoneme in the Eastern Han period.[42]

Since the pioneering work of Bernhard Karlgren, it has been common to project the palatal medial of Middle Chinese division-III syllables back to an Old Chinese medial *-j-, but this has been challenged by several authors, partly because Eastern Han Buddhist transcriptions use such syllables for foreign words lacking any palatal element.[43] However, Coblin points out that this practice continued into the Tang period, for which a -j- medial is generally accepted.[44] Scholars agree that the difference reflects a real phonological distinction, but there have been a range of proposals for its realization in early periods.[45] The distinction is variously described in Eastern Han commentaries:[46]

  • He Xiu (何休; mid 2nd century) describes syllables that gave rise to Middle Chinese -j- as 'outside and shallow' (外而淺 wài ér qiǎn), while others are said to be 'inside and deep' (內而深 nèi ér shēn).[47]
  • Gao You (early 3rd century) describes the former as 'urgent breath' (急氣 jíqì) and the latter as 'slack breath' (緩氣 huǎnqì).[48] Pan Wuyun and Zhengzhang Shangfang interpreted this as a vowel length distinction, but a more literal reading suggests a tenseness contrast.[49]

Vowels

[edit]

Most recent reconstructions of Old Chinese identify six vowels, *i, *ə, *u, *e, *a and *o.[50] Eastern Han rhyming practice indicates that some of the changes found in Middle Chinese had already occurred:

  • The vowels *i and *ə had merged before *-n, *-t and *-j.[51][52]
  • The finals *-ra and *-raj had merged (Middle Chinese -æ).[52]
  • The following splits and mergers of finals had occurred:[52]
Old Chinese Middle Chinese
*-ja -jo
-jæ
*-jaj
-je
*-je

The Middle Chinese finals -jo and -je occur with finals of all kinds, while -jæ occurs only after plain sibilant and palatal initials, with no known conditioning factor.[53]

Codas

[edit]

The Middle Chinese codas -p, -t, -k, -m and -ng are projected back onto Eastern Han Chinese.[54] The Middle Chinese coda -n also appears to reflect *-n in most cases, but in some cases reflects vocalic codas in some Eastern Han varieties.[55] Baxter and Sagart argue that these words had a coda *-r in Old Chinese, which became *-j in Shandong and adjacent areas, and *-n elsewhere.[56]

Middle Chinese syllables with vocalic or nasal codas fell into three tonal categories, traditionally known as even, rising and departing tones, with syllables having stop codas assigned to a fourth "entering tone" category.[57] André-Georges Haudricourt suggested that the Middle Chinese departing tone derived from an Old Chinese final *-s, later weakening to *-h.[58] Several Buddhist transcriptions indicate that *-s was still present in the Eastern Han period in words derived from Old Chinese *-ts.[59] Other departing tone syllables may have become *-h by the Eastern Han period, as suggested by a slight preference to use them to transcribe Indic long vowels.[60] Based on Haudricourt's analysis of Vietnamese tones, Edwin Pulleyblank suggested that the Middle Chinese rising tone derived from Old Chinese *-ʔ.[58] Syllables in this category were avoided when transcribing long vowels in the Eastern Han period, suggesting that they were shorter, possibly reflecting this final glottal stop.[60]

Grammar

[edit]

In comparison with Warring States texts, colloquial Eastern Han texts display a massive increase in compound content words in clearly distinguished word classes.[61][62] They also make much less use of function words in favour of periphrasis.[61][63]

The monosyllabic words of the classical period were largely replaced by disyllabic compounds with clearly defined syntactic roles:[64]

  • verbs, such as bēi'āi 悲哀 'mourn', huānxǐ 歡喜 'rejoice', shūhǎo 姝好 'be beautiful' and fādòng 發動 'activate';
  • nouns, such as shězhái 舍宅 'house', zhīshì 知識 'acquaintance', chùsuǒ 處所 'place', xíngtǐ 形體 'body' and rénmín 人民 'people';
  • adverbs, such as dōulú 都盧 'all', shēnzì 身自 'personally', 'together' and ěrnǎi 爾乃 'then'.

The widespread use of measure words between numerals or demonstratives and nouns, a characteristic of the modern language, began in the Han period and became more extensive in the following Northern and Southern dynasties period.[65]

Old Chinese had a range of personal pronouns, including case distinctions. In the Eastern Han, these were reduced to first person wǒ 我 and second person rǔ 汝.[66][67] Similarly, the demonstratives were almost exclusively reduced to shì 是 'this', ěr 爾 'such' and bǐ 彼 'that'.[68] Both kinds of pronouns were often used with plural suffixes -děng 等, -bèi 輩 and -cáo 曹.[66] Most of the interrogatives of Old Chinese were replaced with periphrastic forms.[69]

The demonstrative shì 是 also came to be used as a copular verb in sentences of the form A 是 B (as in modern Chinese), replacing the typical classical pattern A B 也 (yě).[70][71][72] Unlike any other verb, shì 是 was not negated with bù 不 – the negative copula fēi 非 was retained from the classical language.[73]

In classical texts, the particle qǐ 豈 marked a rhetorical question, for which a negative answer was expected, but in the Eastern Han it was a general question marker.[63][74] At the same time, a new question marker níng 寧 appeared.[63][75]

References

[edit]
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Eastern Han Chinese

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Eastern Han Chinese, also known as Later Han Chinese, is the stage of the Chinese language attested during the Eastern Han dynasty from 25 to 220 CE. This variety represents a critical transitional phase between and , characterized by the consolidation of phonological features such as the emergence of tones and palatalization of velar initials, while preserving many archaic elements like the absence of initial consonant clusters. It reflects the linguistic environment of a period marked by imperial stability, scholarly , and the influx of Buddhist influences from . The primary evidence for reconstructing Eastern Han Chinese derives from diverse textual sources of the era, including rhyme patterns in anonymous poetry collections like the Nineteen Old Poems and the appendices, as well as phonetic glosses (dúruò) in the dictionary compiled by Xu Shen around 100–121 CE. Additional insights come from early Buddhist translations, which feature Chinese transcriptions of Indic terms, providing over 300 examples of contemporary pronunciation. These materials, analyzed through modern comparative methods including modern Min dialects and Northwest Chinese varieties, enable detailed phonological reconstructions that highlight regional variations across central and eastern dialects. Key phonological traits include the retention of final -s (merging into sibilants in some contexts), medial glides leading to diphthongization, and the onset of tonal distinctions, often marked in reconstructions with categories like level (A), rising (B), and departing (C/D) tones. Lexically, the period saw the expansion of disyllabic compounds and the incorporation of loanwords from via , contributing to semantic and phonetic innovations that influenced subsequent . Eastern Han Chinese thus holds enduring significance in for illuminating the evolution of and the interplay between spoken vernaculars and classical literary forms.

Historical Background

Period Definition

The Eastern Han period, spanning from 25 to 220 AD, marks the latter phase of the and corresponds directly to the stage of the Chinese language known as Eastern Han Chinese. This era followed the Western Han (206 BC–9 AD) and the brief interregnum of the (9–23 AD) under the usurper , during which the Han imperial line was temporarily disrupted. The restoration of Han rule began with Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu), who ascended the throne in 25 AD after defeating rival warlords and reestablishing dynastic continuity. As a linguistic stage, Eastern Han Chinese is attested primarily through , glosses, and lexical works from this time, distinguishing it from earlier forms due to evolving phonological and regional features amid political stability and cultural consolidation. Politically, the period was defined by the shift of the capital from in the west to in the east, a strategic move by Guangwu to distance the from the power bases of former rivals and integrate eastern regional elites more fully into . This relocation, occurring in 25 AD, facilitated greater influence from eastern dialects and cultural traditions on the , as became the center of administration and intellectual activity. The move also reflected broader efforts to unify the empire after the chaos of Wang Mang's reforms, which had included failed economic policies and natural disasters that weakened central authority. Throughout the Eastern Han, imperial control relied on a bureaucratic system that promoted linguistic standardization for official records and communication across diverse regions. Culturally, the era saw increased literacy driven by the emphasis on Confucian classics as the foundation of and recruitment, with administrative needs further promoting widespread script use in and scholarship. The Imperial Academy in expanded, training thousands in classical texts, which reinforced a shared while vernacular influences began to appear in glosses and poetry. No major script reforms occurred during this period; the transition from to , initiated in the Qin and Western Han, had already stabilized, with dominating official and everyday writing for its efficiency. This cultural stability allowed Eastern Han Chinese to emerge as a distinct stage, evidenced in works like the lexicon compiled in 121 AD, which documented contemporary character forms and pronunciations. Key events delineating the period's endpoints include the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 AD, a widespread peasant uprising fueled by famine, corruption, and Daoist millenarianism, which severely undermined imperial authority and accelerated decentralization. The rebellion, led by Zhang Jue, spread across eastern and central China, forcing the court to rely on regional warlords for suppression and foreshadowing the dynasty's fragmentation. The Eastern Han concluded in 220 AD when Cao Pi, son of the powerful general Cao Cao, coerced the last emperor, Xian, into abdication, establishing the Wei kingdom and ushering in the Three Kingdoms era. These crises marked the transition from unified Han rule to divided polities, influencing the linguistic divergence seen in later stages.

Linguistic Transition from Western Han

Eastern Han Chinese maintained substantial continuity with Western Han Chinese in its core vocabulary and basic syntax, preserving the classical structures evident in foundational texts such as the Shijing (Book of Odes), which served as a canonical model for literary and linguistic norms across the dynasty. This continuity is reflected in the retention of monosyllabic word forms, flexible word class shifts (e.g., adjectives functioning as verbs), and topic-comment sentence structures that characterized throughout the Han era. Such stability ensured that administrative, philosophical, and poetic writings from the Western Han remained accessible and influential in the Eastern period, with minimal disruption to the standardized literary language used by elites. Initial divergences began to emerge in the Eastern Han due to political fragmentation following the reign of Emperor Wu and subsequent instability, which prompted large-scale migrations southward. These movements, driven by economic pressures, interference, and regional power struggles, carried speakers into southeastern regions, where interactions with indigenous non-Sinitic populations fostered the early development of distinct southeastern dialects. This process of linguistic contact and adaptation marked the onset of regional variations, setting the stage for later dialectal diversification without yet fragmenting the overarching classical norm. Northern lexicon experienced subtle influences from non-Han languages during Eastern Han conquests and border interactions, particularly with the and Qiang peoples. Contact through campaigns and introduced loanwords related to nomadic life and Central Asian goods, such as terms for items like grapes (putao) and lions (shizi), which entered via northwestern routes. Qiang interactions in the northwest similarly contributed to lexical borrowings in frontier contexts, though these remained peripheral to the core vocabulary and did not significantly alter syntax. A notable shift in literary style from the Western Han's elaborate fu (rhapsody) poetry to the Eastern Han's emerging shi ( also impacted linguistic usage, particularly rhyme patterns. While fu employed complex, descriptive rhymes to showcase rhetorical flourish, shi favored concise five-syllable lines with simpler, more consistent end-rhymes, as seen in the "Nineteen Old Poems," which bridged folk yuefu traditions and literati expression. This evolution reflected broader cultural changes toward direct emotional conveyance, subtly influencing and poetic conventions in Eastern Han texts.

Sources and Evidence

Literary and Lexical Sources

The primary literary and lexical sources for Eastern Han Chinese are and glossaries that elucidate word meanings, character structures, and classical terminology. The Shiming (釋名, "Explaining Names"), compiled by Liu Xi around the late AD, serves as the earliest known Chinese , featuring over 1,500 entries organized into 27 chapters that trace word origins through phonetic similarities and semantic connections, often drawing on everyday and technical . This work emphasizes "explanation by sound" (shēng xùn), linking terms via homophones to aid memorization and understanding in line with Confucian principles of rectifying names. Another foundational text is the (說文解字, "Discussing Writing and Explaining Characters"), authored by Xu Shen and completed in 100 AD before its presentation to the imperial court in 121 AD. This dictionary systematically analyzes 9,353 characters (plus 1,163 variants) under 540 radicals, prioritizing the six categories of script formation (liù shū), with approximately 90% classified as phono-semantic compounds (xíng shēng) that highlight phonetic components alongside semantic indicators. By focusing on small seal script forms from the Qin era, it provides insights into the phonetic and graphic evolution of characters as understood in Eastern Han scholarship. The Erya (爾雅, "Approaching Correctness"), a glossary dating to the Han period, includes Eastern Han-era glosses and commentaries by scholars such as Liu Xin and Mao Rong, offering definitions and synonyms for over 4,000 terms across 19 semantic categories like kinship, flora, and fauna. These explanations support the interpretation of pre-Han classics and reflect efforts to standardize lexical usage in scholarly and administrative discourse. Historical compilations like the (後漢書, "Book of the Later Han"), assembled by Fan Ye in the AD from contemporary Eastern Han records, memorials, and edicts, preserve authentic examples of official prose and administrative terminology from the era (25–220 AD). This text, structured in and biographies, captures the formal register of court language and regional documentation. Despite their value, these sources exhibit limitations in reconstructing the spoken language, as their archaic classical style—rooted in pre-Han literary traditions—often obscures contemporary oral forms and prioritizes canonical lexicon over evolving colloquial expressions.

and Transcription Evidence

Phonological insights into Eastern Han Chinese are derived from rhymes in poetic texts and phonetic transcriptions of foreign terms, providing evidence for syllable structure and sound changes. The Wenxuan anthology, compiled in the but drawing on Eastern Han poetry, features rhymes that reflect contemporary practices, such as distinctions in that later merged in . patterns are also evident in anonymous collections like the Nineteen Old Poems and appendices to the . Similarly, commentaries on the Shijing () from the Eastern Han period, including those by Zheng Xuan (127–200 AD), preserve patterns from earlier Western Han traditions while showing Eastern Han innovations, like the broadening of certain groups. These sources were systematically analyzed in the , notably by Luo Changpei and Zhou Zumo in their 1958 study of Han to evolution, which identifies distinct Eastern Han categories based on poetic attestations. Early Buddhist translations offer additional transcription evidence through Sino-Xenic readings, where approximated Indic sounds, revealing Eastern Han . , active from 148 to 170 AD, produced the earliest known translations in , including texts like the Yin chi ru jing (T 603), rendering terms such as śariputra as 舍利弗 (shè-lì-fú), which suggests sibilant initials and vowel qualities consistent with Late Han distinctions. These transcriptions, often matching Gandhari Prakrit more closely than , provide data on initials, medials, and finals, as explored in compilations of Han-period Buddhist terms. Reconstruction methods for Eastern Han phonology integrate these rhymes and transcriptions using . The Baxter-Sagart system (2014) employs rhyme evidence from the Shijing and Wenxuan, alongside phonetic series in characters and Sino-Xenic data, to posit syllable structures with pre-Middle Chinese features; it distinguishes 31 refined rhyme groups and reconstructs codas via Middle Chinese tone reflexes (e.g., -H for checked tones from stops). Coblin's 1983 handbook analyzes Eastern Han sound glosses and Buddhist transcriptions, focusing on initials like voiceless stops and , deriving forms from texts by and others to map evolutions from Western Han. Rhyme groups in Eastern Han and transcriptions indicate the presence of coda stops -p, -t, -k, which were lost by , creating checked tones. For instance, Baxter-Sagart reconstruct *pˤra-s for 敗 (MC phaeH, "defeat"), grouping it with rhymes showing -at or -ap finals in Shijing-style ; similarly, *kə.nˤewk-s for 尿 (MC newH, "urine") reflects -ewk codas in Han attestations. These stops are evidenced by rhyme pairings, such as words ending in -ek (e.g., 敵 *ˤek, MC dek, "oppose") rhyming with open finals in Eastern Han texts, before merging into tone categories.

Dialectal Variation

Major Regional Dialects

During the Eastern Han period, the Chinese language exhibited significant regional variation, with historical linguists identifying six broad dialect areas based on geographical distribution and textual evidence from works like the Fangyan. These included the central area around , which served as the prestige standard influenced by the capital's administrative and cultural dominance; the northwestern Qin-Jin region, characterized by extensions from Western Han speech patterns; the central-southern area, incorporating southern substrates; southern regions encompassing early Wu-Yue influences along the lower and coastal areas, with emerging varieties in places like and . Phonological evidence for these variations comes from Eastern Han glosses, which provide localized pronunciations of characters. Analysis of glosses from 11 sites north of the reveals initial consonant mergers and simplifications not attested in the later rime dictionary or modern northern varieties, such as the loss of certain distinctions in stops and . In contrast, evidence from patterns and comparative studies of southern dialects indicates early palatalization processes, where non-palatal initials developed palatal counterparts, foreshadowing divergences in later southern varieties. The southeastern dialects, encompassing areas that would influence Wu and early Min, showed notable divergence due to geographical isolation and retention of features. These varieties preserved complex initial consonant clusters and voiced stops that were simplified in the north, as evidenced by later Jin dynasty references to "Jiangdong" speech and comparative reconstructions. This conservatism likely stemmed from limited Han expansion into rugged terrains, allowing substrate influences from pre-Han populations to persist. Northern dialects, particularly in Qin-Jin and frontier zones, were shaped by contact with steppe nomadic groups like the and early Xianbei. This interaction likely introduced some loanwords related to and warfare, reflecting cultural exchanges during Han campaigns and .

Connections to Modern Chinese Varieties

The dialects spoken in the Jiangdong region during the Eastern Han period, encompassing areas around modern and , represent a key southeastern branch that evolved into the modern , Gan, and Xiang varieties. These dialects, often termed Old Southern Chinese by linguists, developed in relative isolation from northern standards due to geographic barriers like the River, preserving certain archaic features while incorporating local substrates. For instance, retains final velars such as *-ŋ, as seen in words like "" (fēng), which trace back to Eastern Han pronunciations distinct from central forms. This retention highlights the continuity from Han-era southeastern speech to contemporary , spoken by over 80 million people as of 2025, with Gan and Xiang emerging as transitional varieties in adjacent and regions through later migrations and admixture. In , Eastern Han isolates contributed to the Min branch, which split early and retains significant archaisms, including voiceless stops like *p, *t, *k in initials that were lenited elsewhere in Chinese. Schuessler's reconstructions show Min preserving Later Han forms such as *pak for "" and *kak for certain verbs, contrasting with voiced developments in northern varieties. These features underscore Min's divergence from mainstream Sinitic evolution, with (e.g., ) spoken by around 50 million as of 2025, reflecting minimal influence from post-Han northern standards. The Central Plains dialects of the Eastern Han, centered on , formed the prestige standard that directly influenced and, subsequently, modern Mandarin. This northern variety, characterized by innovations like of final *-m in some syllables, provided the phonological foundation for the rime dictionary and evolved into the Beijing-based Mandarin spoken by over a billion people as of 2025. Notably, Mandarin varieties lost the entering tone—a short, from —while retaining core syllable structures from the dialect, distinguishing them from southern branches. Southern branches like Yue (Cantonese) arose from mixed Han-Yue substrates in the region (modern and ), where Eastern Han migrations blended northern Chinese with indigenous Austroasiatic and Tai elements during the 1st–3rd centuries CE. This hybrid origin is evident in Yue's preservation of final consonants and nine tones, differing from pure Han lineages. Hakka, meanwhile, derives from successive waves of northern migrant dialects into southern enclaves, incorporating Eastern Han archaic layers but undergoing devoicing innovations in contact with non-Sinitic languages like Miao-Yao. Spoken by about 40 million as of 2025, Hakka maintains close ties to Gan through shared post-Han developments in . Recent scholarship emphasizes these : Schuessler (2007) traces etymological archaisms in Min back to Later Han isolates via comparative reconstructions, while Schuessler (2009) details phonological retentions like voiceless stops in southeastern varieties. Norman (1988) similarly highlights Wu's finals such as *-ŋ as evidence of Jiangdong's independent from Eastern Han onward. These are supported by reconstructions, though debates persist on timelines, with recent phonemic studies revealing north-south gradients from historical migrations (Zhang et al., 2018).

Phonological System

Initial Consonants

The phonological reconstruction of syllable-initial consonants in Eastern Han Chinese (ca. 25–220 CE) builds on the Old Chinese system but reflects simplifications, such as the general loss of initial consonant clusters by this period, as evidenced in Han-era glosses and phonetic components of characters. Scholars like William H. Baxter employ notations that distinguish voiceless unaspirated (*p, *t, *k), voiceless aspirated (*ph, *th, *kh), voiced (*b, *d, *g), nasals (*m, *n, *ŋ), liquids (*l), and a glottal stop (*ʔ-), with emerging distinctions in retroflex and palatal series. These reconstructions draw from rhyme patterns in texts like the Shijing and glosses in dictionaries such as the Shuowen jiezi (ca. 100 CE), which provide phonetic clues through character components indicating affricate initials, as detailed in analyses of Eastern Han sound glosses. Bilabial initials included the voiceless unaspirated *p-, aspirated *ph-, voiced *b-, and nasal *m-, maintaining distinctions similar to earlier but without preinitial clusters. For example, the negative particle "not" is reconstructed as *pə, reflecting a simple bilabial onset that evolved into Middle Chinese *p- or *pj- reflexes. Evidence from Shuowen components supports these as straightforward stops and nasals, with no labialized variants persisting into Eastern Han. Coronal (dental and retroflex) initials comprised *t-, *th-, *d-, *n-, and *l- for dentals, alongside retroflex series like *ʈ- and *ʈh-, where earlier clusters (*tr-, *thr-) had merged or simplified. The verb "know" exemplifies the retroflex *ʈəj, distinguished from dentals in rhyme evidence and supported by Shuowen phonetic series showing retroflex articulation in characters like 知. Liquids *l- remained distinct, as seen in glosses from the Shiming (ca. 200 CE), a key Eastern Han lexical source. Velar initials featured *k-, *kh-, *g-, and *ŋ-, with *ŋ- often prefixal or in nasalized contexts, evolving without major shifts in Eastern Han but showing uvular retraction in pharyngealized syllables per Buddhist transcription evidence from the period. A palatal affricate series was emerging, including *tʃ- and *tʃh-, inferred from Shuowen components where dental or velar elements combined to suggest affrication, as in reconstructions of words like *tʃhˤrew "cast aside." The glottal stop *ʔ- functioned as an initial in certain series but underwent dialectal variation, with Northern varieties losing it entirely by Eastern Han, leading to zero-initial syllables in reflexes like *ʔew "" becoming Middle Chinese ʔ- or h-. This loss is corroborated by comparative evidence from regional Han texts and rhymes.
Place of ArticulationVoiceless UnaspiratedVoiceless AspiratedVoicedNasalOther
Bilabial*p*ph*b*m-
Coronal (Dental)*t*th*d*n*l
Coronal (Retroflex)*ʈ*ʈh---
Velar*k*kh*g*ŋ-
Palatal (Affricate)*tʃ*tʃh---
Glottal*ʔ----

Medial Glides

In Eastern Han Chinese, medial glides served as semivowels positioned between the initial consonant and the vowel nucleus, contributing to the complexity of syllable structure and often participating in the formation of diphthongs. Reconstructions typically posit a labial glide *-w-, which appears prominently after velar initials, as in *kwa? for "go" (Modern Mandarin guō). This glide is evidenced by Middle Chinese reflexes showing , such as kwaB in the system, and is supported by comparative data from Hmong-Mien languages where similar forms exhibit rounded vowels. The presence of *-w- in Eastern Han is inferred from Han-period glosses and the evolution of vowel rounding in later divisions of the rhyme tables. Palatal glides, reconstructed as *-j- or occasionally *-r- functioning as a liquid medial, were also common, particularly in syllables following velars or in division III rhymes. For instance, *kjə? for "see" (Modern Mandarin jiàn, Middle Chinese kjenX) illustrates *-j- after *k-, leading to palatalized onsets in like kj-. The *-r- medial appears in clusters such as *ar-, as in Schuessler's reconstruction of *sra? for "number" (Modern Mandarin shù, Middle Chinese sraX), where it influences retroflexion or rhotic quality. Distributionally, these palatal medials were frequent after velars (e.g., *kraŋ "") and in non-pharyngealized environments, blocking or promoting palatalization depending on the context; evidence derives from Shijing rhyme groups where *-a and *-ja? mismatch slightly, indicating glide insertion for euphony. These medials played a pivotal role in the phonological evolution from Eastern Han to , notably driving palatalization processes. Velars with *-j- medials, such as *kjə > kjuwX, underwent fronting to yield palatal initials like j- in , a shift observable in Eastern Han commentaries by scholars like Zheng Xuan (127–200 CE). Similarly, *-r- clusters like *ar- contributed to retroflex developments or mergers with liquids (e.g., *rˤ- to lˤ-), as detailed in Schuessler (2009), influencing division II and III initials. Rhyme mismatches in Han poetry, such as those in the Shijing odes, further attest to these glides, where Eastern Han recitations adjusted for medial presence to resolve inconsistencies in earlier Western Han verse.

Vowels and Diphthongs

The vowel system of Eastern Han Chinese, reconstructed primarily from rhyme patterns in texts such as the Shiming (ca. 200 CE) and comparative evidence with Middle Chinese, features a set of monophthongs and diphthongs that reflect a transitional stage between earlier Old Chinese and later developments. Scholars generally agree on six monophthongs, organized by height: high *i and *u, mid *e, *ə, and *o, and low *a. For instance, the first-person pronoun "I" (吾) is reconstructed with the low vowel *a as *ŋˤa, appearing in open syllables without a following coda. The central mid vowel *ə is posited for syllables like 音 "sound," reconstructed as *qʰəm, distinguishing it from the front mid *e in words such as 善 "good" (*gənʔ). This six-vowel inventory, supported by statistical analysis of Shijing rhymes extended to Eastern Han materials, contrasts with Edwin G. Pulleyblank's earlier reconstruction, which limited the system to two vowels (*a and *ə) and debated the phonemic status of *e, often merging it with *ə in certain environments. Baxter and Sagart (2014) argue for the fuller system to better account for Eastern Han glosses and dialectal variations, such as those noted by Zheng Xuan (127–200 CE) in Shiming commentaries. Diphthongs in Eastern Han Chinese include *ai (or *aj), *au (or *aw), and *ei (or *ej), which often arose from vowel-coda interactions and are evidenced in Shiming entries. The word for "high" (高) is reconstructed as *kˤaw, exemplifying the *au diphthong, while "open" (開) appears as *kʰˤəj with *əj. Additionally, a front-rounded vowel *yə is reconstructed as deriving from earlier *ui combinations in some medial contexts, influencing later palatal developments, though its distribution remains limited. Evidence for in Eastern Han is sparse and limited to potential assimilatory effects in regional dialects, but distinctions in —longer in open syllables—appear in analyses of rhyme groups, as proposed by Pulleyblank to explain prosodic alternations in Shiming examples like 順 "follow" (*Cə.lu-s). These features highlight the evolving nature of the system during this period.

Final Codas and Tones

In Eastern Han Chinese, syllable finals retained a rich inventory inherited from , including stop codas *-p, *-t, and *-k, which closed many syllables and distinguished lexical items. For instance, the word for "answer" is reconstructed as *, exemplifying the bilabial stop coda *-p, while similar patterns appear in *tək 'virtue' with *-k and *krət 'to cut' with *-t. These stops were still phonemically contrastive during this period, though their eventual loss contributed to later prosodic developments. Nasal codas *-m, *-n, and *-ŋ provided additional contrasts, with regional variations noted in contemporary sources; for example, the word for "wind" appeared as *pʰuŋ in the Chang'an dialect but retained *-m in the Luoyang area, reflecting dialectal divergence in nasal realization. Approximant finals *-w and *-j occurred in diphthongal contexts, such as *kəw 'go' or *səj 'four,' often following vocalic nuclei, while open syllables without any coda were common in words like *ma 'mother.' This system of finals, documented through sound glosses and lexical evidence, underscores the transitional nature of Eastern Han phonology toward the more simplified coda structure of Middle Chinese. The tonal system of Eastern Han Chinese marked the onset of tonogenesis, the process by which lexical tones emerged from the phonetic conditioning of final consonants and initial voicing. Stop-final syllables began developing a short, checked pitch contour that would evolve into the entering tone (rùshēng), while open syllables and nasals exhibited level or rising pitches, laying the groundwork for the even (píngshēng) and rising (shǎngshēng) categories. By the late Eastern Han, four proto-tonal distinctions—level, rising, falling, and entering—were emerging, as pitch variations became contrastive to compensate for coda erosion. Evidence for these early tones derives primarily from Buddhist transcriptions of Indic terms, which reveal pitch-based distinctions in Chinese renderings; for example, glosses show higher pitch on syllables with voiceless initials versus lower on voiced ones, indicating the incipient role of voice quality in tonal differentiation. Recent analyses confirm that tonogenesis accelerated during the Han period, with final stops conditioning abrupt terminations that phonologized as the entering tone category.

Grammatical Features

Syntactic Structures

Eastern Han Chinese displayed a predominantly subject-verb-object (SVO) in its basic declarative , a configuration inherited from but showing signs of increasing rigidity in vernacular texts of the period. This SVO pattern facilitated clearer syntactic relations in spoken-influenced writings, as opposed to the more flexible arrangements in pre-Han classical . At the same time, the retained topic-comment flexibility characteristic of , where a topic could precede the comment for pragmatic focus, allowing structures like topic-NP followed by a comment without strict subject-predicate alignment. For instance, sentences restructured for emphasis might place a nominal topic first, followed by a verbal comment, enhancing discourse flow in narratives. The copula shì emerged as a key element in predicative constructions during the Eastern Han, linking subjects to nominal or adjectival predicates and signaling a shift toward analytic expression. By this period, shì had largely supplanted the earlier copula wéi in everyday usage, appearing in structures such as rén shì shīfū ("the is a teacher"), where it explicitly equates the subject with the predicate. This development reflected broader processes, with shì also serving existential functions, as in shì yǒu rén lái ("there is a coming"), to introduce entities or states. Unlike typical verbs, shì resisted by bù and instead paired with fēi for denial, preserving classical traits in contexts. Negation in Eastern Han Chinese relied on bù as the primary pre-verbal particle for verbs and adjectives, placed immediately before the element it negated to indicate general denial, as in bù qù ("not go"). In contrast, wú specifically denoted absence, non-existence, or lack of possession, often with verbs of perception or existence, such as wú jiàn ("not see" or "have none"). This binary system allowed precise semantic distinctions, with bù dominating affirmative negations in dynamic contexts and wú emphasizing static voids, a pattern evident in both literary and colloquial-influenced Han texts. Complex sentences in Eastern Han Chinese marked a progression toward analytic coordination, with the conjunction ér frequently linking clauses to convey sequence, consequence, or mild contrast. This usage expanded paratactic structures into more connected narratives, as seen in the Hou Hanshu, where ér integrates events like tā lái ér huì kāishǐ ("he arrived and the meeting began"), facilitating smoother transitions in historical accounts. Such constructions, more prevalent in vernacular elements than in terse classical styles, underscored the period's syntactic evolution toward explicit linkage over implicit juxtaposition.

Morphological Developments

During the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE), a notable morphological shift occurred with the increasing preference for disyllabic compounds, or binomes, which reduced the reliance on monosyllabic forms prevalent in . This development is evidenced by corpus analyses showing disyllabic compounds comprising over 50% of lexical items in texts from this era, with some collections reaching up to 78.2%. For instance, the compound bēi'āi (悲哀, "sad") exemplifies this trend, combining two near-synonyms to form a single lexical unit for expressive nuance. Such compounds arose to disambiguate homophones amid ongoing phonological mergers, marking a transition toward the analytic structure of later Chinese varieties. Personal pronouns underwent simplification in Eastern Han Chinese, consolidating forms and eliminating dual distinctions and case markings from earlier periods. The first-person singular stabilized as wǒ (我), used in both subject and object roles, as seen in examples from Eastern Han texts like the Hou Hanshu. Second-person pronouns simplified to rǔ (汝), losing accusative fronting that had been obligatory in Late Old Chinese; by Early Middle Chinese, pronouns like wǒ and rǔ appeared post-verbally without morphological alternation. This loss of dual forms (e.g., no distinct "we two") further streamlined the pronominal system, reflecting a broader trend toward invariance. Derivational morphology saw the emergence of suffixes like -zǐ (子) as a or nominalizer, particularly in Han texts, where it attached to nouns to denote smallness or endearment. This , originally meaning "child," began fusing with bases during the (206 BCE–220 CE), as in early compounds resembling wáwa-zǐ precursors for diminutives. also gained prominence for emphasis or iteration, applied to verbs and adjectives (e.g., xiao-xiao for "small-small," intensifying size), building on patterns but becoming more productive in Eastern Han vernacular. These processes contributed to without inflectional complexity. Measure words, or classifiers, became increasingly common and more standardized in numeral-noun constructions during the Eastern Han, evolving from optional quantifiers in Late toward obligatoriness in later periods. Early examples include gè (個) for counting individuals, as in phrases denoting "one person" (yī gè rén), which standardized categorization by , , or function. This system marked a key analytic feature, with classifiers like gè appearing frequently in Han to specify noun classes, enhancing precision in quantification.

Lexical and Semantic Shifts

During the Eastern Han period, the influx of Buddhism from Central Asia introduced numerous loanwords into the Chinese lexicon, marking a key innovation in vocabulary. Translators rendered Indic terms through phonetic transcription, creating disyllabic compounds that enriched the language with foreign concepts. A prominent example is fó (佛), a transcription of "Buddha," which first appeared in Eastern Han translations and quickly became the standard term for the enlightened figure central to Buddhist doctrine. Similarly, púsà (菩薩) for "bodhisattva" emerged in the same era, illustrating how these loans filled gaps in native terminology for religious and philosophical ideas. These borrowings not only expanded the lexicon but also promoted the use of disyllabic words, with Eastern Han texts like Wang Chong's Lunheng containing over 2,300 such forms, many influenced by Buddhist sources. Administrative lexicon also developed to accommodate the sophisticated bureaucracy of the Han empire. Terms like guān (官), denoting an "official" or government position, gained prominence in official documents and edicts, symbolizing the hierarchical structure of imperial service. This word, rooted in Old Chinese but semantically specialized during the Han, exemplified how vocabulary adapted to describe roles in the expanding civil service system. Semantic shifts occurred in core Confucian concepts, broadening their meanings in response to philosophical elaboration. The term rén (仁), originally denoting "person" or "manliness" in pre-Han texts, evolved during the Eastern Han to encompass "" or "benevolence" as an overarching moral virtue. In works like Wang Fu's Qianfulun (ca. 82–167 CE), rén is linked to cosmic harmony and ethical governance, shifting from a literal human reference to a principle of universal humaneness tied to ai (愛, "love") and social order. This broadening is evident in its frequent pairing with yì (義, "righteousness"), emphasizing internal moral cultivation over external actions, as seen in Wang Fu's Qianfulun (ca. 82–167 CE). Regional variations in the southeastern dialects contributed unique lexical elements, particularly for local flora and fauna, which were retained in later Min varieties. In the Eastern Han, southeastern speech incorporated terms reflecting the subtropical environment, such as words for regional wildlife that preserved older phonetic forms. For instance, the term lâng for "wolf" in Min languages reflects a retention of Eastern Han-era southeastern pronunciation, distinct from northern shifts and highlighting dialectal diversity in naming animals. Lexical losses were also notable, with archaic terms gradually fading from common usage amid social changes. Pre-Han elaborate designations, such as specific terms for extended relations, diminished in Eastern Han texts as the model gained emphasis under imperial standardization. Recent studies highlight innovations in quantifiers during this period, where words like ge (個) began evolving from measure words to general classifiers, adapting to the needs of a more complex society (Mei 2012).

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