Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters

Differing literary and colloquial readings for certain Chinese characters are a common feature of many Chinese varieties, and the reading distinctions for these linguistic doublets often typify a dialect group. Literary readings (文讀/文读; wéndú) are usually used in loanwords, names (geographic and personal), literary works (like poetry), and in formal settings, while colloquial/vernacular readings (白讀/白读; báidú) are usually used in everyday vernacular speech.

Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese文白異讀
Simplified Chinese文白异读

For example, in Mandarin, the character for the word "white" (白) is normally read with the colloquial pronunciation bái ([pǎɪ]), but as a name or in certain formal or historical settings it can be read with the literary pronunciation bó ([pwǒ]). This example is particularly well known due to its effect on the modern pronunciation of the names of the Tang dynasty (618–907) poets Bai Juyi and Li Bai (alternatively, "Bo Juyi" and "Li Bo").

The differing pronunciations led linguists to explore the linguistic strata.[1][2] It is generally believed that the colloquial readings represent a substratum, while their literary counterparts a superstratum. Such differences reflect a history of dialect mixing and the influence of education and instruction on the area.[3]

Characteristics

For a given Chinese variety, colloquial readings typically reflect native phonology,[4] while literary readings typically originate from other Chinese varieties,[5] typically more prestigious varieties. Colloquial readings are usually older, resembling the sound systems described by old rime dictionaries such as Guangyun. Literary readings are closer to the phonology of newer sound systems. In certain Mandarin and Wu dialects, many literary readings are the result of Nanjing Mandarin or Beijing Mandarin influence in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Literary readings are usually used in formal settings because past prestigious varieties were usually used in formal education and discourse. Although the phonology of the Chinese variety in which this occurred did not entirely match that of the prestige variety when in formal settings, they tended to evolve toward the prestige variety. Also, neologisms usually use the pronunciation of prestigious varieties.[6] Colloquial readings are usually used in informal settings because their usage in formal settings has been supplanted by the readings of the prestige varieties.[6]

Because of this, the frequency of literary readings in a Chinese variety reflects its history and status. For example, before the promotion of Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin), the Mandarin dialects of the Central Plain had few literary readings, but they now have literary readings that resemble the phonology of Modern Standard Chinese.[7] On the other hand, the relatively influential Beijing and Canton dialects have fewer literary readings than other varieties.[3]

In some Chinese varieties, there may be many instances of foreign readings replacing native readings, forming many sets of literary and colloquial readings. A newer literary reading may replace an older literary reading, and the older literary reading may become disused or become a new colloquial reading.[6] Sometimes literary and colloquial readings of the same character have different meanings.

The analogous phenomenon exists to a much more significant degree in Japanese, where individual characters (kanji) generally have two common readings – the newer borrowed, more formal on'yomi, and the older native, more colloquial kun'yomi. Unlike in Chinese varieties, which are genetically related, in Japanese the borrowed readings are unrelated to the native readings. Further, many kanji in fact have several borrowed readings, reflecting borrowings at different periods – these multiple borrowings are generally doublets or triplets, sometimes quite distant. These readings are generally used in particular contexts, such as older readings for Buddhist terms, which were early borrowings.

Behavior in Chinese

Cantonese

In Cantonese, there are regular relationships between the nuclei of literary and colloquial readings. Colloquial readings with [ɛː] nuclei correspond with literary [ɪ] and [iː] nuclei. It is also the case with colloquial [aː] and literary [ɐ], and colloquial [ɐi] and literary [i]. Of course, not all colloquial readings with a certain nucleus correspond to literary readings with another nucleus. The meaning of a character is often differentiated depending on whether it is read with a colloquial or literary reading.

Examples:

Chinese character Middle Chinese1 Colloquial reading Literary reading
IPAJyutpingMeaningIPAJyutpingMeaning
精tsiᴇŋ平tsɛːŋ˥zeng1clevertsɪŋ˥zing1spirit
正tɕiᴇŋ去tsɛːŋ˧zeng3correct, goodtsɪŋ˧zing3correct
淨dziᴇŋ去tsɛːŋ˨zeng6cleantsɪŋ˨zing6clean
驚kɣiæŋ平kɛːŋ˥geng1be afraidkɪŋ˥ging1frighten
平bɣiæŋ平pʰɛːŋ˨˩peng4inexpensivepʰɪŋ˨˩ping4flat
青tsʰeŋ平tsʰɛːŋ˥ceng1blue/green, paletsʰɪŋ˥cing1blue/green
挾ɦep入kɛːp˨gep6clampkiːp˨gip6clamp
惜siᴇk入sɛːk˧sek3cherish, (v.) kisssɪk˥sik1lament
生ʃɣæŋ平saːŋ˥saang1raw, (honorific name suffix)sɐŋ˥sang1(v.) live, person
牲ʃɣæŋ平saːŋ˥saang1livestocksɐŋ˥sang1livestock
掉deu去tɛːu˨deu6discardtiːu˨diu6turn, discard
來lʌi平lɐi˨˩lai4comelɔːi˨˩loi4come
使ʃɨ上sɐi˧˥sai2usesiː˧˥si2(v.) cause, envoy
Notes:

1. Middle Chinese reconstruction according to Zhengzhang Shangfang. Middle Chinese tones in terms of level (平), rising (上), departing (去), and entering (入) are given.

Hakka

Hakka contains instances of differing literary and colloquial readings.[8]

Examples:

Chinese characterLiterary readingColloquial reading
生saŋ˦sɛn˦
弟tʰi˥˧tʰɛ˦
家ka˦kʰa˦
肥fui˧˥pʰui˧˥
惜sit˩siak˩
正tʂin˥˧ (正宗), tʂaŋ˦ (正月)tʂaŋ˥˧

Mandarin

Literary readings in Modern Standard Mandarin are usually native pronunciations more conservative than colloquial readings.[3] This is because they reflect readings from before Beijing was the capital,[5] e.g. from the Ming Dynasty. Most instances where there are different literary and colloquial readings occur with characters that have entering tones. Among those are primarily literary readings that have not been adopted into the Beijing dialect before the Yuan Dynasty.[5] Colloquial readings of other regions have also been adopted into the Beijing dialect, a major difference being that literary readings are usually adopted with the colloquial readings. Some of the differences between the national standards of Taiwanese Mandarin and mainland Chinese Pǔtōnghuà are due to the fact that Putonghua tends to adopt colloquial readings for a character[9] while Guoyu tends to adopt a literary reading.[10]

Examples of literary readings adopted into the Beijing dialect:

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Chinese character Middle Chinese1 Literary reading Colloquial reading
IPAPinyinIPAPinyin
黑hək入xɤ˥˩hèxei˥hēi
白bɣæk入pwɔ˧˥bópai˧˥bái
薄bwɑk入pwɔ˧˥bópɑʊ˧˥báo
剝pɣʌk入pwɔ˥bōpɑʊ˥bāo
給kɣiɪp入tɕi˨˩˦jǐkei˨˩˦gěi
殼kʰɣʌk入tɕʰɥɛ˥˩quètɕʰjɑʊ˥˩qiào
露luo去lu˥˩lùlɤʊ˥˩lòu
六lɨuk入lu˥˩lùljɤʊ˥˩liù
熟dʑɨuk入ʂu˧˥shúʂɤʊ˧˥shóu
色ʃɨk入sɤ˥˩sèʂai˨˩˦shǎi
削sɨɐk入ɕɥɛ˥xuēɕjɑʊ˥xiāo
角kɣʌk入tɕɥɛ˧˥juétɕjɑʊ˨˩˦jiǎo
血hwet入ɕɥɛ˥˩xuèɕjɛ˨˩˦xiě
Notes:

1. Middle Chinese reconstruction according to Zhengzhang Shangfang. Middle Chinese tones in terms of level (平), rising (上), departing (去), and entering (入) are given.

Examples of colloquial readings adopted into the Beijing dialect:

Chinese character Middle Chinese1 Literary reading Colloquial reading
IPAPinyinIPAPinyin
港kɣʌŋ上tɕjɑŋ˨˩˦jiǎngkɑŋ˨˩˦gǎng
癌ŋam平jɛn˧˥yánai˧˥ái
殼kʰɣʌk入t͡ɕʰɥɛ˥˩ / t͡ɕʰjɑʊ̯˥˩què / qiàokʰɤ˧˥ké
Notes:

1. Middle Chinese reconstruction according to Zhengzhang Shangfang. Middle Chinese tones in terms of level (平), rising (上), departing (去), and entering (入) are given.
2.港's only attested reading is gǎng; **jiǎng is purely hypothetical.

Sichuanese

In Sichuanese, colloquial readings tend to resemble Ba-Shu Chinese (Middle Sichuanese) or Southern Proto-Mandarin in Ming Dynasty, while literary readings tend to resemble modern standard Mandarin. For example, in the Yaoling Dialect the colloquial reading of "物" (meaning "things") is [væʔ],[11] which is very similar to its pronunciation of Ba-Shu Chinese in Song Dynasty (960 - 1279).[12] Meanwhile, its literary reading, [voʔ], is relatively similar to the standard Mandarin pronunciation [u]. The table below shows some Chinese characters with both literary and colloquial readings in Sichuanese.[13]

ExampleColloquial ReadingLiterary ReadingMeaningStandard Mandarin Pronunciation
在tɛtsaiattsai
提tiatʰilifttʰi
去tɕʰietɕʰygotɕʰy
锯kɛtɕycuttɕy
下xaɕiadownɕia
横xuanxuənacrossxəŋ
严ŋanȵianstrickedian
鼠sueisuratʂu
大tʰaitabigta
主toŋtsumastertʂu

Wu

In the northern Wu-speaking region, the main sources of literary readings are the Beijing and Nanjing dialects during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and Modern Standard Chinese.[14] In the southern Wu-speaking region, literary readings tend to be adopted from the Hangzhou dialect. Colloquial readings tend to reflect an older sound system.[15]

Not all Wu dialects behave the same way. Some have more instances of discrepancies between literary and colloquial readings than others. For example, the character 魏 had a [ŋ] initial in Middle Chinese, and in literary readings, there is a null initial. In colloquial readings it is pronounced /ŋuɛ/ in Songjiang.[16] About 100 years ago, it was pronounced /ŋuɛ/ in Suzhou[17] and Shanghai, and now it is /uɛ/.

Some pairs of literary and colloquial readings are interchangeable in all cases, such as in the words 吳淞 and 松江. Some must be read in one particular reading. For example, 人民 must be read using the literary reading, /zəɲmiɲ/, and 人命 must be read using the colloquial reading, /ɲiɲmiɲ/. Some differences in reading for the same characters have different meanings, such as 巴結, using the colloquial reading /pʊtɕɪʔ/ means "make great effort," and using the literary reading /pɑtɕɪʔ/ means "get a desired outcome." Some colloquial readings are almost never used, such as /ŋ̍/ for 吳 and /tɕiɑ̃/ for 江.

Examples:

Chinese characterLiterary readingColloquial reading
生/səɲ/ in 生物/sɑ̃/ in 生菜
人/zəɲ/ in 人民/ɲiɲ/ in 大人
大/dɑ/ in 大饼/dɯ/ in 大人
物/vəʔ/ in 事物/məʔ/ in 物事
家/tɕia/ in 家庭/kɑ/ in 家生

Min Nan

Min languages, such as Taiwanese Hokkien, separate reading pronunciations (讀音) from spoken pronunciations (語音) and explications (解說). Hokkien dictionaries in Taiwan often differentiate between such character readings with prefixes for literary readings and colloquial readings (文 and 白, respectively).

The following examples in Pe̍h-oē-jī show differences in character readings in Taiwanese Hokkien:[18][19]

Chinese characterReading pronunciationsSpoken pronunciations / †explicationsEnglish
白pe̍kpe̍hwhite
面biānbīnface
書suchubook
生sengseⁿ / siⁿstudent
不putm̄†not
返hóantńg†return
學ha̍ko̍hto study
人jîn / lînlâng†person
少siàuchiófew
轉chóantńgto turn

In addition, some characters have multiple and unrelated pronunciations, adapted to represent Hokkien words. For example, the Hokkien word bah ("meat") is often written with the character 肉, which has etymologically unrelated colloquial and literary readings (he̍k and jio̍k, respectively).[20][21]

For more explanation, see Literary and colloquial readings in Hokkien.

Min Dong

In the Fuzhou dialect of Min Dong, literary readings are mainly used in formal phrases and words derived from the written language, while the colloquial ones are used in more colloquial phrases. Phonologically, a large range of phonemes can differ between the character's two readings: in tone, final, initial, or any and all of these features.

The following table uses Foochow Romanized as well as IPA for some of the major differences in readings.

Character Literary Colloquial
Literary reading Phrase Meaning Colloquial reading Phrase Meaning
行 hèng [heiŋ˥˧] 行李 hèng-lī luggage giàng [kjaŋ˥˧] 行墿 giàng-duô to walk
生 sĕng [seiŋ˥] 生態 sĕng-tái zoology, ecology săng [saŋ˥] 生囝 săng-giāng childbearing
江 gŏng [kouŋ˥] 江蘇 Gŏng-sŭ Jiangsu gĕ̤ng [køyŋ˥] 閩江 Mìng-gĕ̤ng Min River
百 báik [paiʔ˨˦] 百科 báik-kuŏ encyclopedical báh [paʔ˨˦] 百姓 báh-sáng common people
飛 hĭ [hi˥] 飛機 hĭ-gĭ aeroplane buŏi [pwi˥] 飛鳥 buŏi-cēu flying birds
寒 hàng [haŋ˥˧] 寒食 Hàng-sĭk Cold Food Festival gàng [kaŋ˥˧] 天寒 tiĕng gàng cold, freezing
廈 hâ [ha˨˦˨] 大廈 dâi-hâ mansion â [a˨˦˨] 廈門 Â-muòng Amoy (Xiamen)

Gan

The following are examples of variations between literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters in Gan Chinese.

Chinese characterLiterary readingColloquial reading
生/sɛn/ as in 學生 (student)/saŋ/ as in 出生 (be born)
軟/lon/ as in 微軟 (Microsoft)/ɲion˧/ as in 軟骨 (cartilage)
青/tɕʰin/ as in 青春 (youth)/tɕʰiaŋ/ as in 青菜 (vegetables)
望/uɔŋ/ as in 看望 (visit)/mɔŋ/ as in 望相 (look)

See also

References
  1. LaPolla, Randy J. (2010). Language contact and language change in the history of the Sinitic languages. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5), 6858-6868.
  2. LaPolla, Randy J. (2009). Causes and effects of substratum, superstratum and adstratum influence, with reference to Tibeto-Burman languages. Senri Ethnological Studies, 75, 227-237.
  3. Wang, William S.-Y.; Sun, Chaofen (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Linguistics. Oxford University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-19-985633-6.
  4. 王洪君 (2006), 層次與演變階段—蘇州話文白異讀析層擬測三例, Language and Linguistics, 7 (1)
  5. 王福堂 (2006), 文白異讀中讀書音的幾個問題, 語言學論叢, vol. 32
  6. 陳忠敏 (2003), 重論文白異讀與語音層次, 語文研究
  7. Zhang, Jie. "Evolution of Initials in TaiYuan Dialect in the Past 100 Years--《Journal of Jinzhong University》2012年05期". En.cnki.com.cn.
  8. 臺灣客家語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Common Words in Taiwanese Hakka], version 2016 (in Chinese). Ministry of Education, R.O.C.
  9. Chung-Yu, Chen; 陈重瑜 (1994). "Evidence of High-Frequency Colloquial Forms Moving Towards the Yin-Ping Tone / 常用口语字阴平化的例证". Journal of Chinese Linguistics. 22 (1): 1–39. JSTOR 23756584.
  10. Cheng, Robert L. (June 1985). "A Comparison of Taiwanese, Taiwan Mandarin, and Peking Mandarin". Language. 61 (2): 352–377. doi:10.2307/414149. JSTOR 414149.
  11. 杨升初（1985年S2期），《剑阁摇铃话音系记略》，湘潭大学社会科学学报
  12. 王庆（2010年04期），《四川方言中没、术、物的演变》，西华大学学报（哲学社会科学版）
  13. 甄尚灵（1958年01期），《成都语音的初步研究》，四川大学学报（哲学社会科学版）
  14. Qian, Nairong (2003). 上海語言發展史. Shanghai: 上海人民出版社. p. 70. ISBN 978-7-208-04554-5.
  15. Wang, Li (1981). 漢語音韻學. China Book Company. SH9018-4.
  16. 張源潛 (2003). 松江方言志. 上海辭書出版社. ISBN 978-7-5326-1391-5.
  17. Ting, Pang-hsin (2003). 一百年前的蘇州話. 上海教育. ISBN 978-7-5320-8561-3.
  18. Mair, Victor H. (2010). "Taiwanese, Mandarin, and Taiwan's language situation: How to Forget Your Mother Tongue and Remember Your National Language". 拼音/Pinyin.info. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  19. 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Common Words in Taiwanese Hokkien] (in Chinese). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2019.
  20. Klöter, Henning (2005). Written Taiwanese. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 21. ISBN 978-3-447-05093-7.
  21. "Entry #2607 (肉)". 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan]. (in Chinese and Hokkien). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011.

Further reading
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