Thanks very much for your explanation and doubts about "sēng"/"sīng" (= "indulge, spoil; e.g. a child"). Indeed, many morphemes without an agreed punji are often non-Sinitic.
Nevertheless, I'm often in awe of your knowledge of Chinese linguistics! One day, I hope to get there too. I think a good mastery of spoken and written Mandarin (and an improvement in my level of Hokkien) will be two (self-imposed) pre-requisites, before I embark on getting a better grip on historical Chinese phonology though. For the moment, I'm happy enough to have mastered the concepts of the original 4 Middle Chinese tones splitting into upper and lower, to give the "modern 8".amhoanna wrote:I will pass on passing judgment till I've had a chance to better study Sino-Hokkien phonology.
Yes, indeed, and even within that context, I wasn't thinking of a composite, but more of individuals, some of whom could be very dark (some of my Baba ancestors), but would otherwise be "very Chinese". In any case, I take your point as well.amhoanna wrote:Point taken. But maybe U mostly have in mind Penang and Malaya?
