Miscellanea II. Reconstructing Tangut Phonology: An Analysis of Gong Hwang-cherng's Symbols

Gong Hwang-cherng’s reconstruction of Tangut phonology is widely accepted in the international academic community, but it still shows significant divergence from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and many of his symbols remain unfamiliar. Today, attempting to read them feels quite difficult. Here, I make some tentative correspondences.

The sounds that can be confidently identified are $/j/$ and $/i/$, which should correspond directly to their IPA equivalents. For $/S/$ and $/tS/$, however, it is more complicated. Based on “舍利” (Shělì, written as 𗞔𘝿) being transcribed as $/Sja\ lji/$, I hypothesize that $/S/$ corresponds to $/ʃ/$ — i.e., the Chinese pinyin “sh”.

Additional Notes:

• $/S/$: In Gong Hwang-cherng’s transcription system, the uppercase $S$ represents the voiceless retroflex fricative (IPA $/ʂ/$ or $/ʃ/$), which phonetically corresponds to the Chinese pinyin “sh”.
• “舍利”: The Tangut word “舍利” (𗞔𘝿) is transcribed as $sja\ lji$ or $Sja\ lji$, which is an accurate approximation.

Then, $/tS/$ should analogously correspond to “$ch$”, but from “魏征” (Wèizhēng, written as 𗔬𗑃), which is transcribed as $/we\ tSj\tilde{i}/$, it seems to correspond to “$zh$”. However, “赵” (Zhào, written as 𘕹) is transcribed as $/tShji/$, suggesting that “$zh$” and $/tS/$ might correspond.

Additional Notes:

• $/tS/$: My confusion arises from the difference between pinyin and IPA in representing aspirated and unaspirated consonants.
  • Pinyin “zh” is the unaspirated retroflex affricate (IPA $/tʂ/$).
  • Pinyin “ch” is the aspirated retroflex affricate (IPA $/tʂʰ/$).
• Gong’s Symbols: Gong Hwang-cherng uses $tS$ for unaspirated sounds (heard like “zh”) and $tSh$ for aspirated sounds (heard like “ch”).
• “魏征”: The Tangut word “魏征” (𗔬𗑃) is transcribed as $ngwə\ tSjɨ̃$, where $tS$ is unaspirated — matching the pronunciation of “征” (Zhēng) in Mandarin, which was very perceptively captured.

Based on my own interpretation, $/tSh/$ should correspond to “$ch$”. If we treat the $h$ in $/tSh/$ as an aspiration marker, then its IPA equivalent becomes $/tʃʰ/$ — which neatly resolves the relationship with other sounds. Thus, $h$ represents aspiration $/ʰ/$, and $/ph/$ corresponds to $/pʰ/$ — i.e., the Chinese pinyin “p”. Consequently, $/p/$ corresponds to “$b$”.

Additional Notes:

• Core Insight: This is the key to understanding Gong Hwang-cherng’s system and many other Tibeto-Burman phonological reconstructions.
  • $/p/$ = IPA $/p/$ = pinyin b (unaspirated)
  • $/ph/$ = IPA $/pʰ/$ = pinyin p (aspirated)
  • $/t/$ = IPA $/t/$ = pinyin d
  • $/th/$ = IPA $/tʰ/$ = pinyin t
  • Similarly, $/tS/$ = pinyin zh, $/tSh/$ = pinyin ch. I successfully decoded this correspondence.

“鲁班” (Lǔbān, written as 𗥡𗜑) is transcribed as $/lu\ pia/$, and “盘禾” (Pán hé, written as 𗦺𗰂) is transcribed as $/phia\ xwo/$. Similarly, the symbol $/\tilde{ }/$ likely represents nasal vowels, while $/ \underset{.}{} /$ (a dot below the vowel) probably corresponds to IPA’s breathy voice $/ \underset{..}{} /$. For example, $/ \underset{.}{a} /$ corresponds to $/ \underset{..}{a} /$, i.e., the pinyin “a”. Additionally, the placeholder $/·/$ likely indicates a glottal stop $/ʔ/$.

Additional Notes:

• Examples:
  • “鲁班”: Contains $p$ (unaspirated), corresponding to “班” (Bān).
  • “盘和”: Contains $ph$ (aspirated), corresponding to “盘” (Pán).
• In fact, the Tangut character “𗜑” is not a phonetic transcription but a semantic rendering; the character itself means “craftsman,” and it corresponds to the sound for “八” (Bā), so this does not affect the conclusion.
• Symbol Interpretation:
  • $\tilde{}$: Indeed represents nasal vowels (e.g., $/ã/$).
  • $\underset{.}{}$ (dot below): In Tangut phonology, this typically denotes tense vowels. My hypothesis that it represents “breathy voice” or a special phonation type is directionally correct — tense vowels are often associated with increased laryngeal tension, producing a tighter or higher-pitched quality compared to lax vowels.
  • $·$ (placeholder): Represents the glottal stop $/ʔ/$. In Tangut, glottal stops are commonly found at the beginning of vowel-initial syllables.

Other symbols that match IPA are interpreted according to IPA conventions, such as $/x/$ corresponding to pinyin $/h/$. With this system, most pronunciations become clear. If read according to this framework, one finds that Tangut and its Chinese transliterations often sound quite similar — from which one can derive some quite interesting hypotheses. I will elaborate on these next time.

Additional Notes:

• $/x/$ and $/h/$: In pinyin, “h” (e.g., in “hao”) is typically the velar fricative $/x/$, not the glottal fricative $/h/$ found in English “hat”. Gong Hwang-cherng’s use of $x$ for this sound is a precise IPA representation.
• Conclusion: Through comparative analysis of Sino-Tangut transcriptions, the basic phonological rules of Tangut — including aspiration distinctions and phonation types — have been successfully decoded. This is a reasonably successful linguistic decoding process.