Chinese Phonological Structure Constraints in Transliteration from the Perspective of Optimality Theory

XIAO+Rui-zhu)

Chinese Phonological Structure Constraints in Transliteration from the Perspective of Optimality Theory

XIAO Rui-zhu

（Foreign Languages Dept. Jishou University， Zhangjiajie Hunan 427000，China）

【Abstract】Transliteration aims to adapt loanwords to perfect sound patterns and structures. With the guidance of Optimality Theory， this paper elaborates on the constraints that must be observed in transliteration to achieve Chinese phonological harmony from phonological structure. It analyzes the ranking of constraints for structural acceptability of the loanwords.

【Key words】Transliteration；Optimality theory；Phonological structure

0 Introduction

Transliteration refers to a method of translation based on pronunciation rather than meaning. As a time-honoured method of translation， it came into being as translation appeared， and has been developing with evolvement of translation. Transliteration has a history of over one thousand years. According to the way loanwords were introduced into Chinese， loanwords can be classified into five types. The first one is transcription， namely transliteration or complete phonetic loan. The second one is that a generic morpheme is added to a phonetic loan to indicate attributes. The third one is half-phonetic half-semantic loan， which means that part of a loanword （usually compounds） is transliterated and the rest of it employed free translation. The fourth one is translation loan. Components in a loanword are semantically translated into Chinese characters separately， and then a new compound word is formed according to Chinese morphological rules. The fifth one is complete semantic loan. Among these five methods， the first one is pure transliteration， while the second and third one combine transliteration with free translation. In other words， three out of five methods are related to transliteration. This article only deals with the first method， namely pure transliteration.

1 Chinese Phonological Structure Constraints

With different kinds of syllables in different languages， phonological structures are very different. In English， the position of onset can be blank or at most three consonant clusters and at most four consonant clusters are in the position of coda. As a result， English syllable can be demonstrated by （（（c）c）c）v（（（（c）c）c）c）. On the contrary， Chinese is non-morphological language. The basic syllable structure in Chinese is （c）v（c）， for example， fan 反，ha 哈，en 恩，a 啊. The basic structure indicates the following requirements of Chinese syllables：

a Consonant clusters are prohibited in the syllable；

b Onset and coda are optional；

c Syllables may end in a vowel；

d Coda can be occupied only by nasal consonant.

Markedness constraints for the transliteration are given below according to the above requirements of Chinese syllables.

（1） *COMPLEX： Consonant clusters are prohibited in the syllable；

（2） CODA-CON（*-nasal，*+labial）： Chinese syllables may not end in non-nasal consonant or labial consonant. So consonant /n/ and /？濁/ are only allowed in the position of coda.

In transliteration， rhyme beauty and accuracy of language are produced not only by phonemic equivalents， but also harmony of Chinese phonological structure. In general， the loanwords which are transliterated into Chinese are adapted under the framework of Chinese syllables with deletion and epenthesis. Deletion and epenthesis are the most common ways to transliterate loanwords into local language. Correspondently there are two faithfulness constraints.

（3）MAX-IO： Input segments must have output correspondents （'no deletion'）.

（4） DEP-IO： Output segments must have input correspondents （'no epenthesis'）.

Any English word， violating either markedness constraint （1） or （2）， could not be the right representation of Chinese borrowing language. For example， English word Benz /benz/ （奔馳） cannot be borrowed by Chinese language directly as it violates both constraints （1） and （2）. Deletion and epenthesis are two optional methods to solve the problem. That is to say， both deleting coda /z/ and adding vowel to transform monosyllable Benz /benz/ into disyllable /benzV/ satisfy constraints （1） and （2）. Which is the optimal output depends on the hierarchical priority of completely contrary constraints （3） MAX-IO and （4） DEP-IO.

The feature of modern Chinese syllables is that disyllable words are in the majority and three syllables words are less， which is for neat and uniformity. Because disyllable plays an important role， monosyllable loanwords usually become disyllable ones at the process of becoming native language to comply with the harmony of Chinese phonological structure. At this point of view， （3） MAX---IO is prior to （4） DEP-IO at the process of transliteration. When monosyllable words are transliterated into Chinese， three constraints are ranked：

*COMPLEX / CODA-CON >> MAX-IO >>DEP-IO

The optimal output of Benz is shown in table 1.

Table 1

（V stands for vowel.）

Tableau 4 shows that /nz/ of a./benz/ violates the first constraint ，also violates the second constraint， it is the most unlikely candidate structure. b./ben/ violates the constraint MAX-IO. c./benzV/ violates the constraint DEP-IO. （The shaded cells denote no need for further evaluation by the rest part of the hierarchy.）

2 Conclusion

That loanwords are translated into Chinese are complicated. It is necessary to not only analyze the phonemic equivalents of phonemes according to the Faithfulness constraints and adapt the phonological structure， but also consider the cultural psychology and the history factors. Sometimes we follow the principle that the first impressions are better than others and the accepted transliteration expression forms cannot be changed. The theoretical framework of optimality theory provides model which includes all kinds of factors. Reasonable constraints adapt loanwords which become reasonable， simple and harmonious. （下轉(zhuǎn)第53頁）

【References】

[1]Prince，Alan & Smolensky，Paul.Optimality Theory：Constraint Interaction in Generative[M].

[2]Xiao，R-Z.Applications of Optimality Theory to Syllables Adaption in Standard Chinese Transliteration from English[D].Guizhou Normal University， 2007，9-24.

[3]馬秋武.優(yōu)選論的表層制約以及制約條件的普遍性：從普通話的音節(jié)組構(gòu)談起[J].外語學刊，2004（2）.

[4]吳禮權(quán).漢語外來詞音譯的特點及其文化心態(tài)探究[J].復(fù)旦學報：社科版， 1994（3）.

[5]肖瑞珠.優(yōu)選論在音譯詞米奇中的運用[J].新疆石油教育學院學報，2007（6）.

[責任編輯：孫珊珊]

（V stands for vowel.）

Tableau 4 shows that /nz/ of a./benz/ violates the first constraint ，also violates the second constraint， it is the most unlikely candidate structure. b./ben/ violates the constraint MAX-IO. c./benzV/ violates the constraint DEP-IO. （The shaded cells denote no need for further evaluation by the rest part of the hierarchy.）

2 Conclusion

That loanwords are translated into Chinese are complicated. It is necessary to not only analyze the phonemic equivalents of phonemes according to the Faithfulness constraints and adapt the phonological structure， but also consider the cultural psychology and the history factors. Sometimes we follow the principle that the first impressions are better than others and the accepted transliteration expression forms cannot be changed. The theoretical framework of optimality theory provides model which includes all kinds of factors. Reasonable constraints adapt loanwords which become reasonable， simple and harmonious. （下轉(zhuǎn)第53頁）

【References】

[1]Prince，Alan & Smolensky，Paul.Optimality Theory：Constraint Interaction in Generative[M].

[2]Xiao，R-Z.Applications of Optimality Theory to Syllables Adaption in Standard Chinese Transliteration from English[D].Guizhou Normal University， 2007，9-24.

[3]馬秋武.優(yōu)選論的表層制約以及制約條件的普遍性：從普通話的音節(jié)組構(gòu)談起[J].外語學刊，2004（2）.

[4]吳禮權(quán).漢語外來詞音譯的特點及其文化心態(tài)探究[J].復(fù)旦學報：社科版， 1994（3）.

[5]肖瑞珠.優(yōu)選論在音譯詞米奇中的運用[J].新疆石油教育學院學報，2007（6）.

[責任編輯：孫珊珊]

（V stands for vowel.）

Tableau 4 shows that /nz/ of a./benz/ violates the first constraint ，also violates the second constraint， it is the most unlikely candidate structure. b./ben/ violates the constraint MAX-IO. c./benzV/ violates the constraint DEP-IO. （The shaded cells denote no need for further evaluation by the rest part of the hierarchy.）

2 Conclusion

That loanwords are translated into Chinese are complicated. It is necessary to not only analyze the phonemic equivalents of phonemes according to the Faithfulness constraints and adapt the phonological structure， but also consider the cultural psychology and the history factors. Sometimes we follow the principle that the first impressions are better than others and the accepted transliteration expression forms cannot be changed. The theoretical framework of optimality theory provides model which includes all kinds of factors. Reasonable constraints adapt loanwords which become reasonable， simple and harmonious. （下轉(zhuǎn)第53頁）

【References】

[1]Prince，Alan & Smolensky，Paul.Optimality Theory：Constraint Interaction in Generative[M].

[2]Xiao，R-Z.Applications of Optimality Theory to Syllables Adaption in Standard Chinese Transliteration from English[D].Guizhou Normal University， 2007，9-24.

[3]馬秋武.優(yōu)選論的表層制約以及制約條件的普遍性：從普通話的音節(jié)組構(gòu)談起[J].外語學刊，2004（2）.

[4]吳禮權(quán).漢語外來詞音譯的特點及其文化心態(tài)探究[J].復(fù)旦學報：社科版， 1994（3）.

[5]肖瑞珠.優(yōu)選論在音譯詞米奇中的運用[J].新疆石油教育學院學報，2007（6）.

[責任編輯：孫珊珊]