Four hu

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The four hu (Chinese: 四呼; pinyin: sì hū) are a traditional way of classifying syllable finals of Mandarin dialects, including Standard Chinese, based on different glides before the central vowel of the final. They are^[1]^[2]

kāikǒu (開口, "open mouth"), finals without a medial
qíchǐ (齊齒, "even teeth"), finals beginning with [i]
hékǒu (合口, "closed mouth"), finals beginning with [u]
cuōkǒu (撮口, "round mouth"), finals beginning with [y]

The terms kāikǒu and hékǒu come from the Song dynasty rime tables describing Middle Chinese.^[3] The Qing phonologist Pan Lei divided each of these categories in two based on the absence or presence of palatalization, and named the two new categories.^[4]

This traditional classification is reflected in the bopomofo notation for the finals, but less directly in the pinyin:^[a]

Four hu table
Kāikǒu			Qíchǐ			Hékǒu			Cuōkǒu
IPA	Bopomofo	Pinyin	IPA	Bopomofo	Pinyin	IPA	Bopomofo	Pinyin	IPA	Bopomofo	Pinyin
a	ㄚ	a	ia	ㄧㄚ	ia	ua	ㄨㄚ	ua
ɤ	ㄜ	e	ie	ㄧㄝ	ie	uo	ㄨㄛ	uo^[b]	ye	ㄩㄝ	üe^[c]
ɨ	ㄭ	-i	i	ㄧ	i	u	ㄨ	u	y	ㄩ	ü^[c]
ai	ㄞ	ai	uai	ㄨㄞ	uai
ei	ㄟ	ei	uei	ㄨㄟ	wei/-ui
au	ㄠ	ao	iau	ㄧㄠ	iao
ou	ㄡ	ou	iou	ㄧㄡ	you/-iu
an	ㄢ	an	iɛn	ㄧㄢ	ian	uan	ㄨㄢ	uan	yɛn	ㄩㄢ	üan^[c]
ən	ㄣ	en	in	ㄧㄣ	in	uən	ㄨㄣ	wen/-un	yn	ㄩㄣ	ün^[c]
aŋ	ㄤ	ang	iaŋ	ㄧㄤ	iang	uaŋ	ㄨㄤ	uang
əŋ	ㄥ	eng	iŋ	ㄧㄥ	ing	uəŋ, ʊŋ	ㄨㄥ	weng/-ong	iʊŋ	ㄩㄥ	iong
aɚ	ㄦ	er

Notes

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^ IPA of vowels from Lee & Zee (2003:110–111), Duanmu (2007:55–58) and Lin (2007:65)
^ uo is spelled as o after b, p, m and f.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ü is spelled as u after j, q, x and y.

References

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Citations

^ Norman, Jerry (1988). Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-521-29653-3.
^ Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1984). Middle Chinese: a study in historical phonology. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7748-0192-8.
^ Norman (1988), p. 32.
^ Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1999). "Traditional Chinese phonology" (PDF). Asia Major. Third series. 12 (2): 101–137. JSTOR 41645549. pp 128–129.

Works cited

Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). "Standard Chinese (Beijing)". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 33 (1): 109–112. doi:10.1017/S0025100303001208 .
Duanmu, San (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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