Vocalism in Chinese Dialect Classification
汉语方言分类里的元音性质
Jerry Norman 罗杰瑞

Abstract 摘要
Up until the present time consonants, particularly initials consonants, have played a major role in attempts to classify Chinese dialects. These attempts have not been wholly successful. As far as I am aware no one has attempted to use vocalism as a basis for dialect classification. The present note is an attempt to do this. It has long been recognized that the various reconstructions of medieval Chinese based on the Chiehyunn and related works have a very complex vocalism and that the vocalism underlying most modern Chinese dialects is much less complex. In the present paper I will focus my attention on dialects of the Mandarin, Wu, Gann and Shiang groups.