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October 15, 2025

The Date of the Merger of -ps and -ts in Old Chinese

Key Points

The study finds that the sound change *-ps > *-ts happened earlier than previously thought, supporting an earlier date.
Evidence from excavated Shang and Western Zhou documents suggests this change occurred during the Zhou Dynasty.
The analysis challenges the claim that rhyme patterns in the Book of Odes determine the timing of the sound change.
Earlier evidence includes specific words such as 介 and its variants, reinforcing the proposed timeline.

Abstract

Abstract Linguists generally believe the Old Chinese sound change *-ps > *-ts occurred early enough to affect rhyming in the Book of Odes during the Zhou Dynasty. However, some scholars argue rhyme patterns in the Odes alone do not confirm this change occurred in the Western Zhou, suggesting it occurred by the Warring States (Zhāng 20212019b). This paper refutes Zhāng’s hypothesis and presents evidence from excavated Shang and Western Zhou documents, supporting an earlier date for this change. This evidence includes the words 介 1 MC keajH ‘armor’, 介 2 MC keajH ‘single’, and the xiéshēng series built on 眔.

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