ChnStdChinese Studies2168-5428Scientific Research Publishing10.4236/chnstd.2014.31005ChnStd-43317ArticlesBusiness&Economics Social Sciences&Humanities Research on the Time When Ping Split into Yin and Yang in Chinese Northern Dialect aChuandong1*TanLunhua2Sichuan Science and Technology University for Employees, Chengdu, ChinaCollege of Fundamental Education, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China* E-mail:machuandong2006@163.com(AC);1202201403011923January 7th, 2014February 8th, 2014 February 18th, 2014© Copyright 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. 2014This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The phonetic phenomenon “ping split into yin and yang” 平分阴阳 is one of the most important changes of Chinese tones in the early modern Chinese, which is reflected clearly in Zhongyuan Yinyun 中原音韵by Zhou Deqing 周德清 (1277-1356) in the Yuan Dynasty. The authors of this paper think the phe-nomenon “ping split into yin and yang” should not have occurred so late as in the Yuan Dynasty, based on previous research results and modern Chinese dialects, making use of historical comparative method and rhyming books. The changes of tones have close relationship with the voiced and voiceless initials in Chinese, and the voiced initials have turned into voiceless in Song Dynasty, so it could not be in the Yuan Dynasty that ping split into yin and yang, but no later than the Song Dynasty.

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