Songs and rhymes: Cantonese phonology as reconstructed from popular songs
从粤语歌曲中押韵的现象来看音韵拟测的一些问题
Hung-nin Samuel Cheung 张洪年

Abstract 摘要
For many centuries, our knowledge of ancient Chinese phonology has relied primarily on the study of rhyming patterns in particular poetic corpuses. The effort is based upon the presumption that poets and lyricists share not only the same language but also a common phonological awareness that allows them to choose rhyme words with the same or similar yunmu in their compositions. Any differences in practice may be construed as indicative of dialectal variations or of new developments in language. This paper challenges that view by examining the rhyming practice in close to five hundred popular Cantonese songs. The phonological system as reconstructed on the bases of thousands of rhyme words yields twenty-four finals, nineteen short of what we find in the actual spoken language. The results are alarming. Close analysis reveals that while phonological identity remains a strong preference in rhyming, it is not the precluding factor. Many words rhyme because they share the same vowel even though they may differ in their consonantal endings. Others interact for historical reasons and do not reflect any phonological changes in modern pronunciations. Cross rhyming allows literary flexibility but can be misleading in terms of what it informs us about the language. The paper also discusses the use of bilingual rhyming in lyrics that contain English words, a phenomenon that bespeaks the hybrid nature of speech in contemporary Cantonese.

研究古韵分部大都根据古人诗歌押韵用字，归纳类推而得。材料中用韵分合有异，往往会视作音韵变化的痕迹。然而古人用韵是否一定从严？两字相押，是否一定韵母相同？本文试就香港粤语歌曲中的押韵情形，对这问题作一探讨。研究材料包括四百多首流行歌曲，押韵的字数以千计。韵脚可以利用系联的原则归纳成二十四韵部，而现代粤语共有五十三个韵母，两者之间相距甚大。细究其因，粤语歌曲除韵母相同的字可以互相押韵以外，更有两种通押的现象。一种是凡元音相同的字皆可互押，所以阳声韵本-m，-n， -ng 三分，诗歌中可以通叶，而且阴阳入通押的例子也比比皆是。另一种情形是历史遗留下来的押韵成规。江阳不分，支微通叶，这是从词曲以来已有的现象，今人填词，虽是发音不同，但仍照叶无碍。据此而言，诗歌用韵和实际语言并不完全符合。研究古音，对于材料运用，不得不严加谨慎。香港粤语歌曲中又有中西语言互相押韵的现象，文中也一并陈述。

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