A note on the pronunciation of the Manchu vowel e.

AuthorCoblin, W. South

The pronunciation of the Manchu vowel now usually transcribed as e has been the subject of much discussion. (1) A recently published reading manual for the language characterizes e as follows: (2)

As in English bed. After labials b, p, m, and f, e is usually pronounced like a short o. In contemporary Sibe all e sound like the e in bed. In a review of this work Jerry L. Norman offers the following observations: (3)

In teaching Manchu, the most common practice has been to pronounce the language according to the native habits of one's own native language. In Japan I have heard Japanese students read Manchu more or less as if it were Japanese. Europeans and Americans generally carry over their native habits when reading Manchu likewise. An example of this is pronouncing the letter e as a front vowel as in English "met." There is considerable evidence that for the Manchus e was either a central or back unrounded vowel; this is the case in the modern vernaculars and several related Tungusic languages; it can also be seen from the Manchu transcription of Chinese and other languages. Interesting light is shed on the pronunciation of Manchu e by a rather unexpected source, i.e., the "Vocabulario de la Lengua Mandarina," a Spanish-Guanhua dictionary compiled by the Dominican missionary Francisco Varo (1627-1687). (4) In this work we find the following entry: (5)

Secretario, o assesor de los Mandarines [secretary or counselor of the mandarins], gan kung [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] gan teu' [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] chu vuen [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. Delos Tartaros [of the Tartars]. pie ta xe. The "Tartar" term given here is in fact the Manchu word bithesi 'scribe, secretary, clerk'. The official Chinese transliteration of this term in later times was [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], which in Varo's romanization would have...

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