What exactly is the 仄声

[opper567]

I am currently studying the linguistic characteristics of Xiang dialects and I came across a strange term 仄声, has anyone ever heard of this term?

[skylee]

Yes. AFAIK if a tone is not a 平聲, then it is a 仄聲 (including 上聲, 去聲, and 入聲). For example, in Mandarin tone 1 is 平聲, tones 2, 3 and 4 are 仄聲. In Cantonese, tones 1 and 4 are 平聲, tones 2, 3 and 5 to 9 are 仄聲.

Take a look -> http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/cgi-bin/agrep-lindict?query=%a4%b7&category=wholerecord

[zhwj]

For example, in Mandarin tone 1 is 平聲, tones 2, 3 and 4 are 仄聲.

Actually, In Mandarin, tones 1 and 2 are 平声; they are 阴平 and 阳平, respectively, and represent a split in the older, single 平声.

Tones 3 and 4 are 仄声; they are 上声 and 去声, respectively. The 入声 (the entering tone) no longer exists in modern Mandarin; it is distributed among the other tones. This fact, and the split in the 平声, means that the 平仄 rules for poetry behave differently in modern and classical contexts.

[skylee]

Actually, In Mandarin, tones 1 and 2 are 平声; they are 阴平 and 阳平, respectively, and represent a split in the older, single 平声.

Yes, thanks for the correction.

PS - Looks like the Lin Yutang Dictionary also needs a correction. ha ha.

[hbuchtel]

To the OP,

Would you mind mentioning why you are studying the Xiang dialect? You wouldn't happen to be living in Changsha, would you?

You might find this useful- http://www.pearstories.org/changsha/changsha.htm (from a post on plecoforums.com). It has many recordings and transcriptions of Changsha folks telling a 'pear-story'.

Henry