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From: deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: How did Korean lose the tones?
Message-ID: <1995Jan21.162226.23817@midway.uchicago.edu>
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References: <1995Jan13.001414.27898@midway.uchicago.edu> <3f5itr$r2v@news.ccit.arizona.edu> <3fhuhe$es2@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 1995 16:22:26 GMT
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In article <3fhuhe$es2@agate.berkeley.edu> patchew@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Patrick Chew) writes:

>	MOre likely those who were in charge of the official examinations 
>that required the official candidates from other parts of the country 
>affected the "standard" pronunciation.  Most likely those in charge were 
>not necessarily native speakers and carried substrate influences which 
>allowed for a speedier attrition rate leading to that attrited form being 
>established as "capital standard."

Eh?  I'd thought that the examination system was one of the aspects
of Chinese administration least affected by the conquerors.  They
might decide to chuck it, but I didn't realise any of them tinkered
with it, even to the point of allowing non-natives to be in charge.
Just curious, kye-ssi, but have you come across any accounts of non-
native judges for the imperial examinations that might have let
their 'substrate influence' affect the language of the examinees?
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
