The Phags-pa letter(e)is regularly used in the transcription of the Yuan dynasty Chinese pronunciations in Mengguziyun(Mongyoltshi'uin in the Phags-pa script).In this paper,we summarize five usages of(e)within a unified view,and the conclusions are drawn as(1)the letter(e)stands for the Division Ⅳ medial[j]with the feature[+tense],which is distinct from the DivisionⅢ medial[i],when there is opposition between Division Ⅲ and Division Ⅳ rhymes with velar initials in the Rhyme Table;(2)it stands for the medial[j],where Division Ⅱ rhymes with unrounded vowels and velar initials converge with those of Division Ⅳ;(3)it stands for the palatal medial,irrespective of whether the medial is[i]or[j],when there is no opposition between Divisions Ⅲ and Ⅳ;(4)it indicates subsequent vowel assimilation,which can be understood as increasing in tenseness;and(5)it indicates the tense timbre of the voiceless initials,especially the aspirated voiceless initials(and the initial[h]).
Phags-pa letter(e)medial in Division ⅣDivision Ⅱ rhyme with unrounded vowel and velar initialvowel assimilationtenseness
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