Yuan Lin

Sound correspondence can also form between loanwords and their origins in language-contact situation. This paper selects the pronunciations of the Chinese loanword “chá 茶” (tea) [t∫h ε:] (Zhenglan Banner, the standard Mongolian in China) and [tsh ae] (Ulaanbaatar, the standard Mongolian in Mongolia) as the research objects in order to investigate the historical source and borrowing period of this loanword and to conclude how the phonetic form of loanwords changes when different types of language are in contact.

Given diphthongs in Modern Mongolian are derived from the combinations of the type Vowel +ji in Written Mongolian, we believe that [t∫h ε:] and [tsh ae] are borrowed from the word “chá yè 茶叶” , not the single word “chá 茶”, since the rhyme of “chá 茶” has been a short vowel [a] which could not create any conditions for the derivation of Mongolian diphthongs /ɑi/.

 

 The time when “chá yè 茶叶” was borrowed into Mongolian should not be earlier than the time when 中原音韵 Zhōngyuán yīnyùn (Rhymes of the central plain) was compiled in 1324. During that period, the initial consonant of the Chinese character “chá 茶” had changed from a stop to an aspirated affricate in Chinese and Mongolian matched it with a native sound [t∫h -]. At the same time, the initial consonant of the Chinese character “ yè 叶” had become a semi vowel and its ending [-p] had also dropped. The rhyme of the Chinese character “chá 茶” combined with the phonetic form of “yè 叶” to form a combination [-aiɛ] which fitted the condition for the derivation of Mongolian diphthong /ɑi/.

 

After “chá yè 茶叶” was borrowed into Mongolian, its phonetic form continued to change under the influences came from different dialects. In Inner Mongolian dialect, the initial affricate [t∫h -] has maintained while the diphthong /ɑi/ has monophthongized and lengthened as a front high vowel [-ε:]. But in Khalkha, the initial affricate [t∫h -] has split into [t∫h -] and [tsh -] while the diphthong /ɑi/ has not changed. Therefore, we find that there is no difference in the way of sound change between loanwords and cognates when language contact is fully considered. In other words, the phonetic system does not distinguish between loanwords and cognates. As long as the phonetic conditions are met, the words will have the same changes.