Shinasthana

Shinasthana
Themiclesian, Sinastani
震旦語系
Pronunciation	tjər˥˩.tɑn˥˩.ŋjɑ˩˥.geg˥˩
Native to	Themiclesia
Ethnicity	Meng
Native speakers	51,240,000 (2010)
Language family	Menghic Shinasthana
Early forms	Proto-Meng Old Meng language
Standard forms	l′ong-ngja′
Dialects	See "dialects" below
Writing system	Mengja
Official status
Official language in	Themiclesia
Recognised minority language in	Menghe, Dayashina, and Nukkumaa
Language codes
ISO 639-1	sh
ISO 639-2	tem
ISO 639-3	–

Shinasthana (震旦語系, tjerh-tanh-ngja′-′kêgh) is a group of languages most widely spoken in Themiclesia, with 22 officially-recognized dialect groups. It is a member of the Menghic language family, originally spoken in Menghe and introduced to Themiclesia by Meng merchants and settlers in several strata. The variety of Shinasthana that is the official language in Themiclesia is l'ong-ngja', or the "Common Speech". Language policy in pre-modern Themiclesia had curtailed the dialectal variety present in the country, with several now critically endangered; modern efforts to preserve them are in effect. Shinasthana has around 41 million native speakers, domestically and abroad, as well as several million second language speakers. The language is widely taught and researched in foreign educational institutions.

Etymology

The word Shinasthana is from an early transliteration of Sjing (name of a dynasty) into Old Maverican, suffixing -sthana, meaning "place"; this term was later further transliterated by Casaterran scholars into Shinasthana, Sinastana, Xinastana, Zenaktana, Shenaclana, and also Themiclesia. Though technically the same word, Shinasthana is now exclusively used to refer to the language, and Themiclesia the country.

History

Archaic

The oldest evidence of Meng language in Themiclesia dates to the Themiclesian Dark Ages and is an important source of information in reconstructing the Proto-Meng language; S. G. Mang places this layer around the 8th – 2nd c. BCE, ending at the middle of the Archaic Period. This layer is not systematically preserved in Themiclesia, but traces of its structure can be evinced in oldest texts and some irregular readings. Archaic Shinasthana is preserved in clay tablets that record business transactions, which are particularly informative as they are phonetically written using the Proto-Chikai script. The main characteristic contrasting with the Classical language is the syllable structure, which features disyllabic words in the form CVCVC and CVCV co-existing with monosyllabic words in CVC and CV. There is also phonemic stress in disyllabic words that later conditions the weakening of the penult.

Classical

The Classical language was spoken from the late Arcahic Period (c. 100 BCE – 100 CE) and was the lingua franca of learning, business, and administration from the 5th century CE. Its details are preserved through transliteration in Maverican writing. This system was used by Themiclesians as a guide to proper pronunciation. The main characteristics of this layer, as they evolve into the common dialect are:

1. Syllabic structure
   • ultima-stressed words lose the penultimate vowel, and the remaining vowel undergoes through compensatory lengthening, creating long vowels.
     • e.g. prayát > pryāt eight
   • penult-stressed words become iambic words whose first vowel is ə.
     • e.g. láŋaq > l.ŋaʔ five
2. Initials
   • clusters of two plosives in initial position lose the first obstruent, causing the following consonant to become aspirated.
     • e.g. kitár-s > *ktār-s > tʰār-s many
   • if one member of a cluster of two plosives is voiced, the remaining consonant becomes voiced.
     • e.g. dapá > *dpā > bā step
   • s- devoices the remaining nasal or approximant.
     • e.g. samə́q > *smə̄q > m̥ə̄ʔ sea
3. Nuclei
   • the Archaic combination of -əw merges with -ew.
4. Codas
   • Suffix -q assimilates to the place of articulation of the consonant preceding or weakens to -ʔ following a vowel;
   • Archaic -rl merge with -l.

Morphology

Shinasthana as a family of languages exhibits both agglutination and isolation. In the more archaic languages, as in the reconstructed ancestral language, morphology is productive, while in the more derived ones, morphology, often obscured by phonetic change, is unanalyzable and vestigial. It is assumed that loss of morphology is an innovation shared by most members of the Meng language family, though notable exceptions exist; as for the conspicuous derivational system in the Common dialect, scholars agree it has been retained mainly through conscious effort and an early bloom in linguistics, likely inspired by Maverican grammarians during the early years of Themiclesian settlement.

It should be noted that there is contrast between lexical and morphological segments that appear before r, e.g. 兢 krjang ≠ 京 k.rjang. Themiclesian grammarians consider k the root consonant in the former, but r in the latter. A comparable but imperfect contrast in Anglian is that between redress and re-dress. While prefixes can occur before any number of root consonants, confusion only arises before r; a prefix is separated from it by means of a full stop or period <.>.

Prefix *s-

The prefix *s- has multiple functions. In the Old Menghean period, scholars believe it had two allomorphs, *s- (simple) and *sə- (iambic), with no discernable difference in meaning. The existince of these allomorphs is inferred through early borrowings into Maverican and other languages that either preserve the opposition or possess differing reflexes; in Shinasthana, the opposition is closely linked to that of syllable types A and B, where A is a syllable without medial yod /j/, and B, one with. Prefix *s- is phonologically preserved in the Common dialect, but the script does not always reflect the derivational relationship. Words derived from each other may not be co-phonetic with each other, and the simple character may not be the root. The following are functions of s- that scholars have recovered through semantic comparison:

• Transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, e.g. 升 *s-təŋ > steng "raise", from 登 *təŋ > teng "rise"; 喪 *s-maŋ > smang "lose", from 亡 *maŋ "escape".
• Denominal verbs, e.g. 使 *s-rək-s > srjegh "to task", from 吏 *rək-s > rjegh "office".

Prefix N-

The prefix N- has the primary function of deriving intransitive (often stative) verbs from transitive verbs. Its effects are opposite to those of prefix s-. That both prefixes exist has been considered evidence that certain roots were inherently transitive or intransitive, thus necessitating two opposing affixes to derive them, while preserving semantic consistency. Prefix N- surfaces as a- before obstruents.

• Stative verbs from transitive verbs, e.g. 敗 *a-prāt-s > aprats "to be defeated", from 敗 *prāts > prādh "to defeat".
  • N.B. 敗 *prāt-s is itself a suffix -s derivative from 別 *prāt "break, split", where "defeated" is a derivative meaning of "break"; 別 *prāt also has its own *N- derivation in 別 *a-prāt > aprāt "to depart".
• Intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, e.g. 現 *a-kēnq-s > akens "to be present" (i.e. to be seen present), from 見 *kēnq-s > kēns "to see".
  • 見 *kēnq-s > kêns is itself a derivative of 顯 *kēnq > kēnʔ "to shine", which also has an N- derivation in 顯 *a-kēnq > akēnʔ "to be renowned".

Prefix *m-

Prefix *m- at the Old Meng level has a number of functions that may have resulted from the merger of several older prefixes, though this remains controversial amongst linguists. Phonologically, *m- is reflected in the Common dialect through the affix usually written as ‹′› in the Sylvanization scheme; different schools of traditional philology ascribe a variety of phonetic values to it, although all but one acknowledge its existence apart from *N- and *s-. The oldest Maverican transcriptions give the have the value [a], though later texts also use [e], possibly showing that the prefix was only used in literary circles and no longer saw use in daily language.

• Volitional verbs from non-volitional verbs or nouns, e.g. 學 *m-kruk > ′kruk "learn (consciously, as in education)", from 覺 *kruk > kruk "to learn (unconsciously, as in becoming aware)"; 背 *m-pək-s > ′pəgh "to betray", 背 *pək-s > pəgh "to have one's back facing".
• Nouns from verbs, e.g. 廷 *m-leŋ > mlêng "place for standing", from 定 *leŋ > lêng "stop"; 朝 *m-traw > ′trjaw "morning meeting", from 朝 *traw > trjaw "morning".
• Agent nouns from nouns, e.g. 袍 *m-pru > ′pru "robe (i.e. something which wraps the body)", from 胞 *pru > pru "seed casing".

Suffix *-s

The suffix *-s was a prolific suffix and also had a number of functions. As it generates the departing (falling) tone in all varieties of Shinasthana, it remained productive for longer, well after the suffix itself was lost. In the Common dialect, it voices the final obstruent and also gives the departing tone in all instances. There is a vestigial /h/ after obstruents, but in the sequence of *ʔ-s it is reflected as -s.

• Deverbial and agent nouns, often called the "agent *-s", e.g. 內 *nup-s > nubh "inside", from 納 *nup > nup "take inside"
• Denominal verbs, often called the "participle -s", e.g. 冠 *kor-s > korh "to crown", from 冠 *kor "crown"; 王 *ɦʷaŋ-s > ghwjangh "to rule", from 王 *ɦʷaŋ > ghwjang "king, prince".
• Transitive verbs, e.g. 好 *huʔ-s > hus "to like, prefer", from 好 *huʔ > hu′ "good"; 惡 *ʔak-s > ′agh "to dislike", from 惡 *ʔak > ′ak "bad".

Writing Systems

Menghean characters

Inherited from the Menghean language, each Menghean character is monosyllabic and morphemic. This writing system is common to all Shinasthana languages and is the standard script. Under traditional reckoning, there are six methods that govern the formation of characters:

1. Pictographic (象形, sghjangh-gêng), where the character depicts the physical appearance of an object; however, the actual meaning of the character needs not be constrained by the object depicted.
2. Pictophonetic (形聲, gêng-l′jêng), where a pictogrammatic character used determinatively is combined with another, unrelated grapheme that represents the character's pronunciation.
3. Ideographic (指事, klji′-dzrje′), similar to pictogrammatic characters, but the depiction (or at least part thereof) does not correspond to a physical attribute or object.
4. Ideosynthetic (會意, gobh-′jeh), where multiple pictogrammata are combined and meaning deduced from the relationship between them.
5. Transideographic (轉注, trjon′-tjoh), where the definition of an existing character is given to a new character.
6. Substitution (假借, krai′-tsrjaih), where a completely unrelated character acquires the definition of a word that otherwise cannot be formed according to the principles above.

There are certain differences between characters used in modern Menghe and Themiclesia. In the late 3rd to early 2nd c. BCE, a process called yebyeon (隸變; Shinasthana: rjebh-bronh) that prioritized ease of writing at the expense of fidelity. This process was not yet complete when the first non-monumnetal writing is attested in Themiclesia. As a result, the preferred character forms in both countries diverged. More than half of the characters are wholly identical, and where they differ they are usually not difficult to identify. In a few cases, the characters have become totally unrecognizable. Such changes are cumulative, since Themiclesians continued to modify the shape of the characters for artistic reasons well after the yebyeon stage was complete in Menghe.

Sylvanization

Main article: Sylvanization systems of Shinasthana

Various schemes, based on the Sylvan Alphabet, have been used by Casaterrans to notate Shinasthana since the 14th century, when the first Casaterran merchants landed in Themiclesia and began to study its language. Few Casaterran languages have the same phonemic or phonetic inventory as Shinasthana, resulting in the use of several alphabets to represent a single phoneme or the agglomeration of several phonemes into one Casaterran alphabet; the former leads to cumbersome writing and reading, and the latter, ambiguity. Between the 14th and 19th centuries, Sylvan, Sieuxerrian, Rajian, Tyrannian, and Columbian scholars each Sylvanized Shinasthana according to idiosyncratic rules. That they often draw on different dialects or even mix them further reduces intelligibility. As printing Shinasthana characters was nigh-impossible in Casaterra, academic work was hampered by this confusion.

In 1807, the first Sylvanization reference with government backing appeared, devised by Anglian scholar, George Figley, who worked for over three decades on the Shinasthana. Keenly aware of the difficulties that Casaterran scholars encountered in writing about Themiclesia, not only about its tongues, but also whenever proper terms are mentioned, they presented to and received sanction for their proposal from the Magistrate of Tonning. As he lived in Tonning, the Sylvanization plan was based on the dialect there, albeit aware of other dialects. While it found a somewhat sympathetic audience in Casaterra, other scholars, based elsewhere in Themiclesia, found their choice of dialect to generalize for Shinasthana, as a whole, unacceptable. Figley continued to defend their system and improve upon it, publishing a final revision in 1829, then presented it to the Imperial Court. Ratification was granted, but its use was not made mandatory. This standard eventually gained widespread acceptance and today is known as the Figley Transcription System, or F for short.

Revision

As phonemic theory gained prominence late in the 19th Century and crested in the early 20th, there was significant impetus to rework Figley according to phonemic lines (it was originally phonetic) and suggestions from the government to adopt a more generalist system that worked for all dialects in some way. In theory, by applying phonemic analysis to the most archaic dialect of Shinasthana then known, one can describe a set of syllables that encompass all syllable varieties in any dialect, since it was assumed that the oldest stage of the language must be the most complex, and subsequently phonemes could not be added; this was later convincingly disproven. Nevertheless, the revision was announced in 1930, known as Revised Figley or R. Though widely acclaimed by lingiusts as a successful and accurate practice of phonemic theory, phoneticians and lay persons criticized it for being distant from the actual, spoken language. The government maintained that the revision better represented all the major dialectal groups unambiguously. To demark this scheme from the previous, a drop capital R was printed ahead of the sylvanized phrase.

Meng dynasty

Initials:

IPA	p	pʰ	b	m	m̥	t	tʰ	d	n	n̥	r	r̥	t͜s	t͜sʰ	d͜z	s	k	kʰ	g	ŋ	ŋ̊	kʷ	kʷʰ	gʷ	ŋʷ	ŋ̊ʷ	q	qʰ	ɢ	ɴ	ɴ̥	qʷ	qʷʰ	ɢʷ	ɴʷ	ɴ̥ʷ	ʔ	h	ɦ	ʔʷ	hʷ	ɦʷ	l	l̥
Sylvanization	p	p′	b	m	m′	t	t′	d	n	n′	r	r′	ts	ts′	dz	s	k	k′	g	ng	ng′	kw	kw′	gw	ngw	ngw′	q	q′	ʼg	ʼn	ʼn′	qw	qw′	ʼgw	ʼnw	ʼnw′	′	h	g′	′w	hw	gw′	l	l′

Vowels and medials:

IPA	a	æ	ɛ	e	i	u	o	ɞ	ɵ	ɨ	ɯ
Sylvanization	a	ae	ea	e	i	u	o	eo	eu	i	y

Phonology

Archaic stratum

Consonants		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Uvular		Glottal
					Plain	Lab.	Plain	Lab.	Plain	Lab.
Stop	Voiceless	p	t		k	kʷ	q	qʷ	ʔ	ʔʷ
	Voiced	b	d		g	gʷ	ɢ	ɢʷ
Nasal	m	n		ŋ	ŋʷ	ɴ	ɴʷ
Affricate	Voiceless		t͡s
	Voiced		d͡z
Fricative	Voiceless		s						h	hʷ
	Voiced								ɦ	ɦʷ
Liquid		r
Approximant	w	l	j	(w)

Vowels	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open		a

Middle Meng stratum

Consonants		Bilabial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Stop	Lenis	p	t	ʈ	t͡ɕ	k	q	ʔ
	Asper	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ	t͡ɕʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	Voiced	b	d	ɖ	d͡ʑ	g	ɢ
Nasal		m	n	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ	ɴ
Affricate	Lenis		t͡s	t͡ʂ
	Asper		t͡sʰ	t͡ʂʰ
	Voiced		d͡z	d͡ʐ
Fricative	Unvoiced		s	ʂ	ɕ	x
	Voiced		z	ʐ	ʑ	ɣ
Approximant		w	l		j	(w)

Vowels	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɵ	u
Close-mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open	æ	ɞ	ɑ

Comparison

Menghean

Within the Menghic family, Shinasthana is more closely related to the Menggok-descended group of dialects. Having diverged around 2,700 years ago at the oldest stratum, differences between modern Menggok dialects and Shinasthana are considerable. An obvious example is the absence of phonemic tones in Standard Menghean, though they remain in conservative dialects of the south and west of Menghe. These dialects are more closely related to Gwanhwa, the language of the Menghean court; however, scholars do not classify them as descendants of Gwanhwa, since Gwanhwa itself lost tones between the 9th and 11th centuries. Not all these dialects retain the three tones presumed to have existed in the Old Menggok period. Moreover, under the influence of modern Standard Menghean, some of the younger generation have dispensed with tonal distinction when speaking a dialect that canonically retains it.

The collapse of a three-way distinction between between voiceless, aspirated, and voiced consonants has occurred in most of Menghe. In Themiclesia, a similar but less pervasive change occasioned the phonemization of relative pitch in the tonal system (previously only distinguishing contour), while in Menghe it seems to have simply devoiced formerly voiced consonants, merging them with their unvoiced and unaspirated counterparts.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

First person

余 / la

The most basic first person pronoun, can be used as nominative and accusative. The referent is usually singular. Genitive use is uncommon.

我 / ngai′

Meaning is similar to la, but usually used as a plural. Sometimes given the blanket translation "we". Accusative use is uncommon.

朕 / lrjem′

Called the emphatic I in some literature, use is nuanced. In nominative function, lrjem′ draws attention to oneself, which can be expressed as "I, this person". For this function, it has been characteristically used in Menghe by sovereigns, forbidden from others, but in Themiclesia the pronoun was not exclusive to the monarch. In genitive function, it tends govern inalienable, highly valued, or humanly significant things, particularly family relations; where the governor can be either alienable or inalienable, lrjem′ can provide additional information, e.g. ngar′ kra "my house", but lrjem′ kra "my household"; ngar′ kjung "my (physical) body", but lrjem′ kjung "my person, my personhood". Abuse of this pronoun may make the speaker appear arrogant or inconsiderate, e.g. lrjem′ gwrje′ "my friend (who has no choice but to be my friend)". Accusative use is uncommon.

臣 / gjên and 妾 / ts′jap

Respectively meaning "slave" and "slavewoman" originally. These two terms were only used to identify oneself when addressing monarchs (of any nationality). In modern Themiclesia, these two terms are deemed unnecessary.

民 / mrjing

Originally meaning "commoner", it was used by individuals not in public office towards those who are. It is still used by some individuals in letters to the government, though most would consider it old-fashioned.

僕 / bok

Originally meaning "groom", it is most often found in writing by men with their peers.

愚 / ngja

Meaning "ignorant", it is often found in academic writing to express circumspection or humility about the idea one is about to expound.

私 / sje

Meaning "private, personal", individuals use this term to express a non-qualified opinion.

Second person

女 / nja′

General second-person pronoun in nominative and accusative position.

乃 / ne′

Second person genitive.

爾 / nji′

Meaning "near", also used as second person pronoun.

子 / tsje′

Originally meaning the leader of a clan, it has been generalized as an honorific in second-person function.

君 / kljur

Originally meaning "lord", it is often used in the second person as an honorific to equals.

公 / klong

Originally meaning "lord", it has a similar function and semantic evolution as above.

卿 / k′rjang

Originally meaning "companion", it was used by monarchs to address their servants, acquiring honorific value when used for social inferiors bound in some sort of relationship with the speaker. However, it is also used between couples, since they are bound in an equal relationship.

郎 / rang

Originally meaning "gentleman", it is used by unmarried females to their male partners.

良人 / rjang-njing

Originally meaning "good person", it is used between couples.

陛下 / prêdh-gra′

Usually translated as "your majesty", used to address monarchs.

殿下 / denh-gras

Usually translated as "your lordship", used to address hereditary nobility.

Dialectal variation

Common dialect

Main article: Common dialect (Shinasthana)

Comparative phonology

Mengja	Menghean Sinmun Sylvanized	Middle Meng Stratum	Old Meng Stratum
國之語音 異乎中國 與文字不相流通 故愚民有所欲言 而終不得伸其情者多矣 予爲此憫然 新制二十八字 欲使人人易習便於日用耳	guk ji eo eum i ho jung guk yeo mun ja bul sang yu tong go u min yu so yo geon i jong bul deuk sin gi jeong ja da ui yeo wi cha min yeon sin je i sip pal ja yok sa in in yeo seup pyeon eo il lyong i	kwek chi ngjo' iim ih gho tiung kwek ngjo' mjun dzih' pjut sjang lju t'ung koh ngjo miin ghju' srjo' yoh ngjan nje cung pjut tek shin gje dzjeng tja ta ghwje' yo wjeh ts'i' min njen sjin c'iai njih zip peat dzje' yok srje' nin nin yik zjek pianh yo njit yungh ni	kwek tje ngja' 'rjem lis ga trjung kwek la' mjen dzje' pje sjang rju l'ung kah ngjo mrjing gwje' sk'rja' ljuk ngjan nje trjung pje tek l'jin gje dzjeng tja' tai ghwje' la gwrjarh sn'ji' mrjen' njen sjing djêdh njih gjep prêt dzje' ljuk srje' njing njing lêk sgljap prjanh gwrja njik l'ongh nje'

Scholarship

Dedicated references

The canonical anthology of ancient phonology consists of the following twelve works.

Title	Year	Compiler(s)	Status	Categorization	Notes
聲類　　 hling-rjed	2nd c.	李登　 ′rje′-teng	Fragmentary	322 rhymes extant	Compiled in Menghe
韻集　　 ghjwonh-dzjep	275	呂靜　 glja'-dzjingh	Extant	539 rhymes
釋韻 　　st'jak-ghjwonh	334	李軌　 ′rje′-krju′、徐邈 sdja-mrawk	Extant	421 rhymes
四聲 　　sjed-hleng	472	沈約 　st'jem-'jawk	Extant	252 rhymes	First work to describe tones concretely
玉篇 　　ngjowk-p'rjan	531	梁惠帝 Emperor ghwid of Rjang	Fragmentary	260 rhymes	Reflects speech in Kien-k'ang
經典音義 king-ten'-'rjem-ngjars	560	陸明　 rjuk-mrjang	Extant	212 rhymes	With definitions
切韻　　 ts'it-ghwjens	601	陸法延 rjuk-pjap-lan	Mostly extant	193 rhymes	Reflects speech in Glak-lang
廣音錄 　kwang-'rjem-rjuk	732	張常拱 trjang-djang-kjung′	Mostly extant	2,742 dialectal peculiarities
廣韻 　　kwang'-ghwjens	1001	丁重　 teng-drjong	Extant	206 rhymes	With definitions
集韻 　　dzjep-gwjens	1030	孫皓青 sun-ghu'-ts'ing	Extant	238 rhymes	With definitions
韻鏡 　　gwjenh-krjangs	1161	uncertain	Extant	3,324 syllables	A table-style summary of all known syllables in the language
簡韻略 　kren'-ghjwonh-gljak	1210	顧平水 gah-brjang-hljei′	Extant	106 rhymes	Abridged ver. of dzjop-ghjwohn

Epexegesis references

To support the study of classical literature that often possessed much philosophical and political esteem in imperial-period Themiclesia, many authors have written epexegeses (a work that explains another) that offer analyses of the canonical texts, including definitions of terms, notable contrasts with other works and other epexegeses, and correct pronunciation of words. The corpus of such explanatory literature has since accumulated, over many centuries, to be dozens, if not hundreds, of times longer than canon. Authors provide their opinion on how individual characters should be read, often reflecting the speech of their own environment and age.

Poetry analysis

In 972, Dzi-dynasty scholar Mak Mjon-ghwedh developed a method of the phonological relationship between rhyming syllables in verse. This is known as the Rhyme Identification Method (歸韻法). It stipulates:

1. If a poem has lines XXXA / XXXB / XXXC / XXXD, and if each line is known to rhyme with each other, then syllables A, B, C, and D must rhyme with each other.
2. If a second poem has lines XXXA / XXXE / XXXF / XXXG, then syllables E, F, and G must rhyme with each other and B, C, and D, since they are "connected" by syllable A.

These two principles proved incredibly potent in reconstructing the phonological structure of ancient languages based on a logical and consistent analyses. Though Mak himself did not pursue this subject much further, his students proceeded to apply this method to hundreds of poems dating to the archaic and classical eras of Menghean history. In the 1100s, scholars concluded that ancient Menghean poetry had nine "rhyme departments"; for many generations afterwards, this conclusion was refined by exhaustive studies to remove connections made by incorrect rhyme identification (i.e. connecting two words that do not actually rhyme) and glyph conflation (i.e. assuming each glyph corresponds to only one syllable). This heralded the birth of Ancient Phonology (古音學) in Themiclesia.

In 1594, it was known that ancient poetry rhymed according to 33 departments; upon this conclusion, scholar Drjen Lih (陳第) asserted that the pronunciation of some words have changed since ancient times, but a number have not. He (using methods not rigorous) identified some such syllables as "anchor rhymes" and consulted well-established analyses to assert that words, in his time not rhyming, must have been pronounced in a way that did rhyme with his so-called "anchor rhymes". The majority of modern scholars believe that Drjon's theories, though factually flawed, pioneered the assignment of phonetic values to abstract phonological structures and the principle that sound changes occurred under specific phonological conditions (i.e. not randomly).

His successors focused on the criteria under which such changes occurred, though until the modern period and the arrival of Casaterran phonology in 1757, their results have been limited. Of the types of criteria they could assert as a conditioning factor for a phonetic change, place of articulation (i.e. glottal, velar, alveolar, and bilabial), manner of articulation (i.e. plosive, nasal, approximant), voicedness, aspiration, tone, and vowel quality have all been used to explain the causes of sound change. This in turn allowed more recent scholars to describe accurately the phonological and phonetic characteristics of languages lost to time, e.g.

• What has been analyzed as two separate groups of consonants under Modern Phonology (今音學), the /t/ and /tr/ groups, were in complimentary distribution and should be the same group in Ancient Phonology, and the /tr/ group diverged under the criteria of second-division and third-division-type-B factors.
• The /pf/ group in some modern dialects diverged from /pj/ in others, and /pj/ is asserted to be the "ancient pronunciation".

Cognates and borrowings

Borrowings

As Shinasthana shares a writing system with and Menghean, terms from the latter are sometimes borrowed with their written forms intact into the former. However, since the written form of the borrowing may represent an existing term in Shinasthana, the phonetic pronunciation is sometimes borrowed together to distinguish the borrowed term in speech. The same situation occurs when homographs are introduced.

Term	Domestic reading	Domestic meaning	Alternate reading	Alternate meaning
內	nups	to enter; (of the Sun) to set	noi	royal demesne
孟	mrangh	eldest, Mrangh dynasty	mêng	Menghe (abbreviation)
東京	tong-k.rjang	Rak	tong-kjong	Donggyŏng
錢	dzjên	a unit of mass; 1/100 of one mjen	dzen	Jŏn, 1/100 of a Menghean Won

See also

• Menghean language
• Old Menghean language