From :
https://universalalphaomega.blogspot.com/2022/11/comparative-study-on-chinese-character.html
I. The Checked Tone feature of ancient Chinese pronunciation
Chinese character pronunciations in Korean, Japanese, and Cantonese retain some important features of ancient Chinese that are lost in Mandarin. One of these features is the Checked Tone (入聲).
For example, the pronunciations of Chinese character ‘目’ in different languages are :
‘目’ is pronounced ‘mok’ in both Cantonese and Korean. The ending ‘k’ in ‘mok’ is called a Checked Tone or an Entering Tone (入聲), which is an important feature of ancient Chinese.
The Japanese pronunciation of ‘目’ is ‘moku’. The second syllable ‘ku’ is a simulation of the Checked Tone ‘k’.
Why ‘k’ becomes ‘ku’ in Japanese ? Because Japanese uses Kana(仮名)s to simulate foreign language pronunciations. A Kana is either a vowel or a consonant+vowel combination. ( The only one exception is ‘ん’ / ‘ン’ pronounced ‘n’. ) There is no Kana for a single consonant ‘k’, so the only solution is to choose a Kana of [ ‘k’ + vowel ] pronunciation to simulate the consonant-only ‘k’. In this case, Kana ‘く’ / ‘ク’, pronounced ‘ku’, is chosen.
If we say ‘moku’ in Japanese quickly, the vowel ‘u’ can be pronounced lightly or omitted, so it will sound like ‘mok’, same as the Cantonese and Korean pronunciation.
The Mandarin pronunciation of ‘目’ is ‘mu’. It also starts with the consonant ‘m’, but the following vowel changes to ‘u’, and the Checked Tone ‘k’ is lost.
Both Japan and Korea learnt ancient Chinese pronunciations from ancient China. The pronunciations of ‘目’ in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese all have the Checked Tone ‘k’, this is a proof that the ancient Chinese pronunciation of ‘目’ has a Checked Tone ‘k’, which is lost in Mandarin.
( Some dictionaries indicate that ‘目’ is pronounced ‘mog’ in Korean. Actually the ending Checked Tone can be written as ‘k’ or ‘g’, it is just a glottal stop that does not utter an actual sound. )
Another example, Chinese character ‘白’ :
We can see that all the pronunciations have a common starting consonant ‘b’, followed by similar sounds ‘aa’, ‘ae’, ‘ya’, and ‘ai’, and then the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations all end with Checked Tones, which are ‘k’ in Cantonese and Korean, and ‘ku’ in Japanese. The Mandarin pronunciation is the only one that does not have a Checked Tone.
( The ending Checked Tone ‘k’ can also be written as ‘g’. )
Another example, Chinese character ‘國’ :
All the pronunciations of ‘國’ have a common starting consonant ‘g’, followed by various sounds ‘wo’, ‘u’, ‘o’, and ‘uo’, and then the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations all end with Checked Tones, which are ‘k’ in Cantonese and Korean, and ‘ku’ in Japanese. The Mandarin pronunciation is the only one that does not have a Checked Tone.
( ‘國’ in Japanese is pronounced ‘goku’ when it is in a term constructed by two or more Chinese characters. e.g. ‘中國’, ‘外國’, ‘全國’, etc. )
( The ending Checked Tone ‘k’ can also be written as ‘g’. )
More examples :
II. The Changed Starting Consonants
Another noteworthy change from ancient Chinese pronunciation to Mandarin is that, in the pronunciations of many Chinese characters, the starting consonants are significantly changed.
For example, Chinese character ‘萬’ :
‘萬’ is pronounced ‘maan’ in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese, but ‘wan’ in Mandarin. The starting consonant changes from ‘m’ to ‘w’ in the Mandarin pronunciation.
Another example, Chinese character ‘文’ :
The Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations of ‘文’ have a common starting consonant ‘m’, which becomes ‘w’ in the Mandarin pronunciation.
Another example, Chinese character ‘武’ :
The Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations of ‘武’ have a common starting consonant ‘m’, which becomes ‘w’ in the Mandarin pronunciation.
More examples :
III. Significant Difference between Mandarin and Ancient Chinese Pronunciation
There are a lot more Chinese characters that sound similar in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese, but significantly different in Mandarin.
In some cases, Mandarin pronunciations are very different from the ancient pronunciations not only because of changed consonants or vowels, but also because of other factors.
For example, Chinese character ‘而’ :
The Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations of ‘而’ have a common vowel ‘i’, which is changed to ‘e’ in the Mandarin pronunciation. Furthermore, in the Mandarin pronunciation an ending ‘r’ is added, making the sound even more different from the ancient Chinese pronunciations.
Another example, Chinese character ‘禪’ :
The pronunciations of ‘禪’ in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese have a common starting consonant ‘s’, which becomes ‘ch’ in the Mandarin pronunciation. The Mandarin pronunciation is significantly different because the starting consonant is changed to a retroflex consonant.
( A well-known pronunciation of ‘禪’ in Japanese is ‘zen’, which is a Go-On (吳音). The pronunciation ‘sen’, actually sounds a little bit like ‘sem’, is a Kan-On (漢音). )
Another example, Chinese character ‘覺’ :
Firstly, the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciation start with similarly sounding consonants ‘g’, ‘k’, while the Mandarin pronunciation starts with a significantly different consonant ‘j’.
( Actually the starting consonant in the Cantonese and Korean pronunciation can also be written as ‘k’, and the starting consonant in the Japanese pronunciation sometimes sounds like ‘g’. )
Secondly, the Checked Tone ‘k’ is retained in the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciation, but lost in the Mandarin pronunciation.
( The Checked Tone ‘k’ can also be written as ‘g’. )
Because of these two factors, the Mandarin pronunciation is significantly different from the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciation.
More examples :
References :
https://cjkv-dict.com
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
https://www.kanjipedia.jp
https://www.romajidesu.com/kanji/
https://hanja.dict.naver.com/#/main
https://koreanhanja.app
https://universalalphaomega.blogspot.com/2022/11/comparative-study-on-chinese-character.html
I. The Checked Tone feature of ancient Chinese pronunciation
Chinese character pronunciations in Korean, Japanese, and Cantonese retain some important features of ancient Chinese that are lost in Mandarin. One of these features is the Checked Tone (入聲).
For example, the pronunciations of Chinese character ‘目’ in different languages are :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 目 | mok | mok | moku | mu |
‘目’ is pronounced ‘mok’ in both Cantonese and Korean. The ending ‘k’ in ‘mok’ is called a Checked Tone or an Entering Tone (入聲), which is an important feature of ancient Chinese.
The Japanese pronunciation of ‘目’ is ‘moku’. The second syllable ‘ku’ is a simulation of the Checked Tone ‘k’.
Why ‘k’ becomes ‘ku’ in Japanese ? Because Japanese uses Kana(仮名)s to simulate foreign language pronunciations. A Kana is either a vowel or a consonant+vowel combination. ( The only one exception is ‘ん’ / ‘ン’ pronounced ‘n’. ) There is no Kana for a single consonant ‘k’, so the only solution is to choose a Kana of [ ‘k’ + vowel ] pronunciation to simulate the consonant-only ‘k’. In this case, Kana ‘く’ / ‘ク’, pronounced ‘ku’, is chosen.
If we say ‘moku’ in Japanese quickly, the vowel ‘u’ can be pronounced lightly or omitted, so it will sound like ‘mok’, same as the Cantonese and Korean pronunciation.
The Mandarin pronunciation of ‘目’ is ‘mu’. It also starts with the consonant ‘m’, but the following vowel changes to ‘u’, and the Checked Tone ‘k’ is lost.
Both Japan and Korea learnt ancient Chinese pronunciations from ancient China. The pronunciations of ‘目’ in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese all have the Checked Tone ‘k’, this is a proof that the ancient Chinese pronunciation of ‘目’ has a Checked Tone ‘k’, which is lost in Mandarin.
( Some dictionaries indicate that ‘目’ is pronounced ‘mog’ in Korean. Actually the ending Checked Tone can be written as ‘k’ or ‘g’, it is just a glottal stop that does not utter an actual sound. )
Another example, Chinese character ‘白’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 白 | baak | baek | byaku | bai |
We can see that all the pronunciations have a common starting consonant ‘b’, followed by similar sounds ‘aa’, ‘ae’, ‘ya’, and ‘ai’, and then the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations all end with Checked Tones, which are ‘k’ in Cantonese and Korean, and ‘ku’ in Japanese. The Mandarin pronunciation is the only one that does not have a Checked Tone.
( The ending Checked Tone ‘k’ can also be written as ‘g’. )
Another example, Chinese character ‘國’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 國 | gwok | guk | goku | guo |
All the pronunciations of ‘國’ have a common starting consonant ‘g’, followed by various sounds ‘wo’, ‘u’, ‘o’, and ‘uo’, and then the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations all end with Checked Tones, which are ‘k’ in Cantonese and Korean, and ‘ku’ in Japanese. The Mandarin pronunciation is the only one that does not have a Checked Tone.
( ‘國’ in Japanese is pronounced ‘goku’ when it is in a term constructed by two or more Chinese characters. e.g. ‘中國’, ‘外國’, ‘全國’, etc. )
( The ending Checked Tone ‘k’ can also be written as ‘g’. )
More examples :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin | Checked Tone |
| 僕 | bok | bok | boku | pu | k |
| 肅 | suk | suk | suku | su | k |
| 擊 | gik | gyeok | geki | ji | k |
| 樸 | pok | pak | boku | pu | k |
| 宿 | suk | suk | shuku | su | k |
| 曲 | kok | kok | kyoku | qu | k |
| 角 | gok | gak | kaku | jiao | k |
| 易 | yik | yeok | eki | yi | k |
| 六 | lok | lyuk | loku | liu | k |
| 甲 | gaap | gaap | ko | jia | p |
| 合 | haap | haap | go | he | p |
| 及 | kaap | keup | kyu | ji | p |
II. The Changed Starting Consonants
Another noteworthy change from ancient Chinese pronunciation to Mandarin is that, in the pronunciations of many Chinese characters, the starting consonants are significantly changed.
For example, Chinese character ‘萬’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 萬 | maan | maan | maan | wan |
‘萬’ is pronounced ‘maan’ in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese, but ‘wan’ in Mandarin. The starting consonant changes from ‘m’ to ‘w’ in the Mandarin pronunciation.
Another example, Chinese character ‘文’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 文 | man | mun | mon | wen |
The Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations of ‘文’ have a common starting consonant ‘m’, which becomes ‘w’ in the Mandarin pronunciation.
Another example, Chinese character ‘武’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 武 | mou | mu | mu | wu |
The Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations of ‘武’ have a common starting consonant ‘m’, which becomes ‘w’ in the Mandarin pronunciation.
More examples :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 喬 | kyu | kyu | kyo | qiao |
| 強 | koeng | kang | kyo | qiang |
| 未 | mei | mi | mi | wei |
| 奇 | kei | ki | ki | qi |
| 技 | gei | gi | gi | ji |
| 伽 | gaa | ga | ga | qie |
| 無 | mou | mu | mu | wu |
| 聞 | man | mun | mon | wen |
| 舞 | mou | mu | mu | wu |
| 船 | syun | seon | sen | chuan |
| 舶 | pak | pak | paku (in ‘船舶’) | bo |
| 企 | kei | ki | ki | qi |
III. Significant Difference between Mandarin and Ancient Chinese Pronunciation
There are a lot more Chinese characters that sound similar in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese, but significantly different in Mandarin.
In some cases, Mandarin pronunciations are very different from the ancient pronunciations not only because of changed consonants or vowels, but also because of other factors.
For example, Chinese character ‘而’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 而 | yi | i | ni | er |
The Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciations of ‘而’ have a common vowel ‘i’, which is changed to ‘e’ in the Mandarin pronunciation. Furthermore, in the Mandarin pronunciation an ending ‘r’ is added, making the sound even more different from the ancient Chinese pronunciations.
Another example, Chinese character ‘禪’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 禪 | sim | seon | sen | chan |
The pronunciations of ‘禪’ in Cantonese, Korean and Japanese have a common starting consonant ‘s’, which becomes ‘ch’ in the Mandarin pronunciation. The Mandarin pronunciation is significantly different because the starting consonant is changed to a retroflex consonant.
( A well-known pronunciation of ‘禪’ in Japanese is ‘zen’, which is a Go-On (吳音). The pronunciation ‘sen’, actually sounds a little bit like ‘sem’, is a Kan-On (漢音). )
Another example, Chinese character ‘覺’ :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 覺 | gok | gak | kaku | jue |
Firstly, the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciation start with similarly sounding consonants ‘g’, ‘k’, while the Mandarin pronunciation starts with a significantly different consonant ‘j’.
( Actually the starting consonant in the Cantonese and Korean pronunciation can also be written as ‘k’, and the starting consonant in the Japanese pronunciation sometimes sounds like ‘g’. )
Secondly, the Checked Tone ‘k’ is retained in the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciation, but lost in the Mandarin pronunciation.
( The Checked Tone ‘k’ can also be written as ‘g’. )
Because of these two factors, the Mandarin pronunciation is significantly different from the Cantonese, Korean and Japanese pronunciation.
More examples :
| Chinese character | Cantonese | Korean | Japanese | Mandarin |
| 解 | gai | gae | kai | jie |
| 簡 | gaan | gaan | kaan | jian |
| 家 | gaa | gaa | ka | jia |
| 江 | gong | gang | ko | jiang |
| 弱 | yoek | yak | nyaku | ruo |
| 屋 | ok / ngok | ok | oku | wu |
| 堅 | gin | gyeon | ken | jian |
| 見 | gin | gyeon | ken | jian |
| 泊 | paak | paak | baku | bo |
| 講 | gong | gang | ko | jiang |
| 二 | yi | i | ni | er |
| 脚 | goek | gak | kyaku | jiao |
References :
https://cjkv-dict.com
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
https://www.kanjipedia.jp
https://www.romajidesu.com/kanji/
https://hanja.dict.naver.com/#/main
https://koreanhanja.app
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