《馬拉語粵音譯義》中粵方言音譯語音之考察兼論入聲韻尾對譯情況

An Investigation into the Phonetic Transcription of Cantonese Dialects in“Malay Cantonese Phonetic Translation and Interpretation”—With a Focus on the Correspondence of Entering-Tone Codas

《馬拉語粵音譯義》是一部由廣東順德籍商人馮穗滋（字兆年）編撰的粵方言漢馬辭典，刊刻於清光緒十六年（1890），收錄1600餘條，內容多為當時日常生活與商業貿易用語，亦兼及會話短句。全書以粵語、漢字書寫馬來語讀音，雖説是一部馬來語辭典，卻全書沒有一個馬來語單詞，其所記錄的粵語語音，保留了大量十九世紀末粵語語音現象與變化，是珍貴的語音材料。
本文從歷時語音演變的角度，從時間性與地方性兩方面分析文獻中的粵馬對譯特徵，並對比同期傳教士所編粵英教材，藉以探討本書與十九世紀廣州方言及順德方言間的語音關係。經筆者整理發現，《馬拉語粵音譯義》中粵語精組與知莊章組聲母已合流；韻母方面，元音u、y、i尚未分裂為複元音，且-om、-op韻已消失，符合十九世紀末廣州方言的語音發展。另，疑母一、二等字仍保留舌根鼻音聲母，顯示其與順德方言並無直接連繫。
此外，本文探討書中以入聲韻尾字對譯馬來語音節的特殊現象，包括：其一，以入聲字對譯馬來語詞尾弱化的-h、-r、-l，依據其收尾時的聲音相似性，利用入聲音短促、閉塞的特質再現這類尾音的弱化效果；其二，詞彙連讀時入聲字與下一音節聲母的重複音譯，亦是為了呈現語流節奏與輕重變化。這兩種音譯方式均以聲音相似性為判準，凸顯本書重在傳達實際口語語音，展現出作為馬來語會話教材的性質。

“Malay-Cantonese Phonetic Translation and Interpretation”(1890) is a Cantonese-Malay dictionary compiled by Mr.Feng Suizi, a merchant from Shunde, Guangdong. The work contains over 1,600 entries, primarily covering daily life and commercial trade expressions, along with short conversational phrases. Its unique feature lies in using Cantonese to transcribe Malay pronunciation with Chinese characters. Although it’s a Malay dictionary, it does not include any single Malay word in its original script. As such, the book preserves a wealth of late 19th-century Cantonese phonological features and developments, making it a valuable source of historical phonological data.
From the perspective of diachronic phonology, this paper analyzes the Cantonese–Malay correspondences in terms of temporal and regional linguistic features, and compares them with contemporary Cantonese–English pedagogical materials compiled by missionaries. The analysis shows that in“Malay-Cantonese Phonetic Translation and Interpretation”, the Jing (精) group and the Zhi–Zhuang–Zhang (知莊章) groups initials have already merged. In the vowel system, the monophthongs u, y, and i have not yet undergone diphthongization, and the finals -om and -op have disappeared—patterns consistent with the phonological developments of late 19th-century Cantonese in Guangzhou. Meanwhile, characters belonging to the initial ng- in the first and second division of the Yi (疑) group still retain a velar nasal onset, showing no direct alignment with the Shunde dialect.
This study further examines two special uses of entering-tone characters in representing Malay syllables:(1)entering-tone finals are used to transcribe weakened Malay final consonants -h, -r, and -l, relying on auditory similarity to reproduce their brief, weakened closure through the short and abrupt quality of entering-tone codas; (2) in connected speech, the apparent duplication of entering-tone characters and the following onset reflects the rhythmic flow and stress patterns of spoken language. Both strategies prioritize phonetic resemblance over strict syllabic segmentation, highlighting the compiler’s intent to reproduce real spoken pronunciation. These features reveal that the work functions essentially as a Malay oral conversation manual rather than a conventional dictionary.