<p>That is a good question. I searched a bit and here is what I found:</p>
<p>In 1922, 趙元任's 國音新詩韻 listed 俘 as 阴平:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cLFTf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/cLFTf.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Note that 孚 was also 阴平 there.</p>
<p>1922 中華民國發音字典 also listed them as 阴平:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/yrIlG.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/yrIlG.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>In 1932, 國音常用字彙 listed both 俘 and 孚 as 阳平:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/2Lkmx.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2Lkmx.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Something probably happened during the 10 years. (It was a time of change and turmoil).</p>
<p>I would say these two characters have undergone some irregular changes in Mandarin.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-03T18:37:24.333Z
Very interesting. Quite funny to see the pronunciation suddenly change over ten years.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-03T08:00:48.980Z
2021-12-03T08:22:10.457Z
2021-12-03T08:22:10.457Z
Betty
<p>There is no one definitive answer to this question. It is possible that the tonal evolution of 俘 differed depending on the dialect or topolect in question.</p>
<p>Here is one possible scenario: In proto-Mandarin, 俘 was pronounced with a 3rd tone. However, over time, the 3rd tone gradually shifted to a 2nd tone in some dialects but remained a 3rd tone in other dialects. This is why we see two different tones (2nd and 3rd) in modern Mandarin dialects for this word.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-27T16:27:37.120Z
2021-11-27T16:27:37.120Z
Sasbadi Wan
<p>Looking at the character『俘』</p>
<ul>
<li>In Soutwestern Mandarin it takes 阴平:</li>
</ul>
<p>《现代汉语方言音库 • 成都话音档》</p>
<blockquote>
<p>俘<br />
fu⁵⁵</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>In Cantonese it looks to also take 阴平:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>(Jyutping): fu1</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Hokkien, also, maybe 阴平: /hu⁴⁴/.</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm seeing some transcriptions of Middle Chinese &amp; Old Chinese:</p>
<ul>
<li>phju</li>
<li>/pʰɨo/</li>
<li>/*pʰuw/</li>
</ul>
<p>But I'm struggling to make much sense of how the 阴平 pk. 阳平 split came about in topolects vs. MSM.</p>
<p>Any ideas on the tonal evolution of 俘?</p>

<tones>
Tonal evolution of 俘?
# Tonal evolution of 俘?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-25)

Looking at the character『俘』

* In Soutwestern Mandarin it takes 阴平:

《现代汉语方言音库 • 成都话音档》

> 俘  
> fu⁵⁵

* In Cantonese it looks to also take 阴平:

> (Jyutping): fu1

* Hokkien, also, maybe 阴平: /hu⁴⁴/.

I'm seeing some transcriptions of Middle Chinese & Old Chinese:

* phju
* /pʰɨo/
* /\*pʰuw/

But I'm struggling to make much sense of how the 阴平 pk. 阳平 split came about in topolects vs. MSM.

Any ideas on the tonal evolution of 俘?

**Tags:** tones


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-12-03. Score: 2

That is a good question. I searched a bit and here is what I found:

In 1922, 趙元任's 國音新詩韻 listed 俘 as 阴平:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/cLFTf.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/cLFTf.png)

Note that 孚 was also 阴平 there.

1922 中華民國發音字典 also listed them as 阴平:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/yrIlG.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/yrIlG.png)

In 1932, 國音常用字彙 listed both 俘 and 孚 as 阳平:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/2Lkmx.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/2Lkmx.png)

Something probably happened during the 10 years. (It was a time of change and turmoil).

I would say these two characters have undergone some irregular changes in Mandarin.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Very interesting. Quite funny to see the pronunciation suddenly change over ten years.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-11-27. Score: 0

There is no one definitive answer to this question. It is possible that the tonal evolution of 俘 differed depending on the dialect or topolect in question.

Here is one possible scenario: In proto-Mandarin, 俘 was pronounced with a 3rd tone. However, over time, the 3rd tone gradually shifted to a 2nd tone in some dialects but remained a 3rd tone in other dialects. This is why we see two different tones (2nd and 3rd) in modern Mandarin dialects for this word.


---

