NOTE: consonantS, vowelS means “Sibe consonant/vowel”, consonantM,
vowel M means “Manchu consonant/vowel”. Most Sibe letters are also used
in Manchu.
Most examples are from Manchu; if not, it is clearly stated [Sibe].
41.
SIBE E
ES is in many cases differentiated from the Mongolian A, but not in
all.
Ex. b-a ‘place’, b-e ‘we’.
In medial position it has two variants, one usual one (dotted), and
another one, undotted, after t, d, k, g, q. The final form has two
formal variants: one, the usual dotted one (with left-leaning tail
variant after BA and PA, taken care of using ligatures), and one
undotted one. The latter one has a tail to the right after TA and DA, a
tail to the left after KA, GA and HA, taken care of using ligatures.
Ex: s-e-l-e ‘iron’. The a/e opposition after t and d is taken over by
the consonantal form, not the vowel.
The second variant uses FVS1 only when talking metalinguistially.
42.
SIBE I (Not in Manchu)
I mention here both Sibe and Manchu i; the difference is only in the
behaviour of a medial i after a vowel.
The representation table gives 4 medial variants, and 3 final for
manchu i, and 3 medial and final variants for Sibe. Most occur only
with specific ligatures however as far as I can see.
Medial i with one oblique stroke occurs after consonants, medial i with
two downward strokes i Manchu occurs after vowels. This last form is
Manchu-specific, and has been replaced in Sibe with one straight plus
one down stroke. The table for Manchu seems to imply that this use
always requires a FVS2, which might be because perhaps some words do
not need it (as Mongolian naiman being different from nayiman). Even
then, in running text one would propbably only need FVS1.
Now, also in Manchu there is one medial variant given as the Sibe postvowel one(straight plus oblique. It is given a black FVS1, implying it
occurs always automatically. I wonder whether this means that, all the
while while being considered two different letters, Sibe and Manchu
have somehow been unified, so that in both cases vowel-plus-i would
result in the straight plus oblique variant, and that a FVS would
always be needed to get the correct double oblique Manchu i.
The only other possible use one could think of for a Manchu straightplus-oblique i would be at the beginning of a second part of a compound
word, as in Mongolian. But not only have I not found any example of
this, the other Manchu and Sibe vowels do not have such a variant, and
in such case also the black FVS would be incorrect, since it would
never be an automatic variant.
The Sibe and Manchu i has also a third, resp. fourth medial variant
which is the same as the first, and with a black FVS, it is meant to
occur automatically. I can therefore not see what is meant here, except
for a ligature based one (e.g., in gi-, qi-)
The second and third final variants of i also seem to me only to occur
in ligatures, after rounded consonants; I cannot find any other
possibilities for these –i forms. The second variant would be as in
isolated qi, gi; and for the third I would not know anything except
when talking metalinguistically about part of the second form.
MVS-iM/iS occurs with iM/S in the final form after MVS, although in
Sibe often Manchu n MVS-iM has become –n-iS, or –n-iS-y-eS etc.
So, my guess is that Manchu b-a-i-FVS1-m-b-i ‘search for (people)’
would need a FVS, but only FVS1. Equally Manchu s-a-i-FVS1-n ‘good’.
43.
SIBE IY
Often transcribed as y. This letter occurs only after certain special
consonants denoting sounds taken from Chinese: Sibe tsa plus iy would
be ‘ci’. S plus iy is Chinese ‘si’: ex. s-iyS-ch-ue-w-a-n ‘Sichuan’.
Often the y is also used to transcribe the ‘i’ form when it has the
same sound as above, after the Sibe ch, zh e.g. This is not followed
here as input, and one should use i, i.e., zS-ue-zhS-i-qS-eS-n
‘organization’
44.
SIBE UE
Note that this letter is usually transcribed “u”, not “ue”. It has two
variants for medial and final: one usual dotted one, one undotted one
after after t, d, k, g, q. The o/ue opposition after t and d is taken
over by the consonantal form, not the vowel. It forms ligatures with q,
g etc., loosing its final tail. The second form only occurs with FVS1
when talking metalinguistically.
45.
SIBE U
Note that this variant is often transcribed ‘u macron’. It has no
special variants, but occurs in Sibe only after k, g, h, while in
Manchu it occurs much more widely.
NOTE: I am not sure whether in Sibe there can be a distinction between
kS-ueS and kS-uS etc.; however, all tables seem to agree that the two
letters are kept separate not only for Manchu but also for Sibe, and
probably the following words are still current in Sibe: o-b-o-kM-uS
‘wash basin’, eS-r-iM-kM-ue ‘whisk broom’.
46.
SIBE ANG (Not in Manchu)
Sibe final –ng has a straight line for the –g part, while Mongolian and
Manchu have an oblique form. Manchu m-ueS-ng m-a-ng ‘(sound donkeys
make) vs. Sibe m-ueS-ngS m-a-ngS (?if the latter occurs).
47.
SIBE KA (Not in Manchu)
I have here treated Sibe KA and Manchu KA together; the latter has
dotted feminine variants, and the medial and final masculine form
before consonants differ in Sibe and Manchu (the first has one, the
second two strokes)
There are two sets of variants: masculine before a, o and u, and
feminine before e, i and ue. (Note that this uses the Unicode
transcriptions of u and ue.): kM-u-b-ueS-l-iM-m-b-iM ‘change’, kM-ueSb-ueS-n ‘cotton’, n-a-kM-a-m-b-iM ‘stop’, eS-kM-iM-s-a-kM-a ‘quiet’.
The masculine set has a medial undotted variant before vowels, and a
double front-dotted variant before consonants (with two strokes in
Manchu, one stroke in Sibe). The feminine form, always undotted,
usually forms ligatures with specific vowels. Sibe does therefore not
need FVS in running text for this. From the representation table it is
clear that entry would start with feminine isolate, using a ZWJ to make
this masculine initial, etc.
Manchu and Sibe however differ in that Manchu has double-dotted
feminine variants alongside nondotted ones before consonants and as a
final, and some FVS will be necessary. Manchu KA would still start as
feminine isolate, but FVS would be necessary to have dotted feminine
medial before consonant, and final feminine with dots. (In the
metalinguistic table, FVS3 resp. FVS2 are used for this, but in running
text FVS1 should suffice.)
However, the rules on how to decide whether a medial-before-consonant
or a final KA should be written with a masculine or feminine form is
NOT like Mongolian. The masculine form is always used unless there is
1. a previous syllable k-ue, g-ue, q-ue or q-u, or 2. a syllable
containing e EXCEPT if this syllable is t-e. Yet exceptions to this
also occur: for the moment, I have given such exceptions a FVS2, but
they may conflict with the feminine dotted-versus-undotted opposition.
Although in one table still feminine Sibe pre-consonant medial and
final are given, from other contrasting examples it seems that Sibe
uses masculine forms in such circumstances, with single-stroke
variants.
Ex. a-kM-s-a-m-b-iM ‘avoid’ [dotted, masculine];
eS-kM-shS-eS-m-b-iM ‘haste’ [undotted feminine] but eS-kM-FVS1-shS-eSm-b-iM ‘haste’ [dotted feminine]. In Sibe: eS-kS-shS-eS-m-b-iS ‘haste’
[dotted masculine, one stroke]
kM-iM-l-ue-kM ‘ride a horse’ [dotted masculine]
ueS-kM-s-ue-n ‘lineage’ [dotted masculine]
l-a-kM s-eS-m-eS ‘just in time’ [dotted masculine]
l-eS-kM-s-e-i ‘align’ [undotted feminine]
s-eS-kM s-eS-m-eS ‘suddenly’ [undotted feminine]
eS-dS-eS-m-eS-kM ‘(placename)’ [undotted feminine]
fM-iM-kM fM-iM-kM ‘very crowded’ [dotted masculine, 2-stroke] versus
Sibe fS-iS-kS fS-iS-kS [dotted masculine, 1-stroke]
But : qS-iM-y-eS-kM-FVS2-dS-eS-n m-o-o ‘baomu wood (?) (<Qingwen
zonghui) [dotted masculine, not undotted feminine]
48.
SIBE GA
There are two sets of variants: masculine before a, o and u, and
feminine before e, i and ue. (Note that this uses the Unicode
transcriptions of u and ue.)
The forms, always single back-dotted, only occur before vowels.
Note that the dot typographically may go to the following vowel
instead; yet the vowels o vs. ue or a vs. e cannot be confused because
of the form of the consonant.
Ex.: a-gS-a ‘rain’, eS-m-gS-iM ‘with’, gS-o ‘golden plaque’, gS-ue
‘jade’.
49.
SIBE QA
Also often transcribed ‘h’.
There are two sets of variants: masculine before a, o and u, and
feminine before e, i and ue. (Note that this uses the Unicode
transcriptions of u and ue.)
The forms, always single back-circled, only occur before vowels. Note
that the circle typographically may go to the following vowel instead.
Ex.: a-s-qS-a ‘wing’, eS-l-qS-eS ‘peaceful’
50.
SIBE PA
Only in form differs from Mongolian; no special behavior. Frequently
uses ligatures.
Ex. fM-eS-m-pS-iM-l-eS-m-b-iM ‘close’, pS-ue-l-ue pS-a-l-a ‘coarse’
51.
SIBE SHA.
No special rules required. shS-iM stands for the Chinese “shi” and is
not pronounced like English ‘she’. Ex. qS-a-shS-i-gS-a-rM ‘Kashgar’.
Note that transcribed s-h may stand for s-qS: s-iM-s-qS-e ‘cotton
mattress’, usually transcribed as ‘sishe’.
52.
SIBE TA
There are 2 sets of forms: one before a, i and o, the other one before
e, u and ue. Note that this is not the usual masculine/feminine
behavior. TA differs from DA in that the latter has a dot.
The a-e, ue-o opposition is with TA and DA not shown through the dots
with the vowel, but through the forms of the consonant.
Ex: tS-eS-tS-eS-l-eS ‘hitherto’, ueS-tS-a ‘milk cookie’.
TA has special forms before a consonant and as final. Ex: ueS-tS-qS-aiM ‘immediately’, dS-ueS-rM-b-eS-tS ‘Durbet’.
53.
SIBE DA
There are 2 sets of forms: one before a, i and o, the other one before
e, ue (Sibe/Manchu u does not occur). Note that this is not the usual
masculine/feminine behavior. DA differs from TA in that it has a dot.
The a-e, ue-o opposition is with TA and DA not shown through the dots
with the vowel, but through the forms of the consonant.
Ex: dS-a-s-a-n ‘government’, dS-eS-m-b-eS-iM ‘very’.
DA does not occur before a consonant or as final.
54.
SIBE JA (Not in Manchu)
Manchu uses the Mongolian JA, with a different medial form from Sibe:
s-ue-n-j-a ‘five’. Sibe uses a much more simplified form of JA, with
only initial and medial forms. I know of no uses of the latter; it is
not pointed out in overviews which contrast Sibe with Manchu.
55.
SIBE FA (Not in Manchu)
Sibe FA uses one form for the sound f everywhere, while Manchu FA uses
one before a and e, and another one (with the form of Mongolian WA)
before i, o, ue and u. Sibe distinguishes FA from WA in all cases.
Manchu only before a and e. Ex: fM-a-rM-s-iM ‘piece’, fM-o-qS-o-l-o-n
‘short’, Manchu w-eS ‘who?’, Manchu eS-fM-ue ‘brother in law’ versus
Sibe eS-fS-ue.
56.
SIBE GAA (G2S)
Often transcribed as g’. Occurs only before a, o: g2s-a-l-dS-a-n
‘Galdan’, jS-ue-ng-g2S-o ‘China’.
57.
SIBE HAA (H2S)
Often transcribed as h’. Occurs only before a, o, has sound of feminine
q before e. No word examples.
58.
SIBE TSA
Transcribes the Chinese pinyin “c” (ts’). Occurs before a, e, o, ue.
Before i the i is written as the form called here Sibe iy.
Ex.: tsS-a-i ‘Cai (surname)’, tsS-o-o-tsS-o-o “Cao Cao”, tsS-ue-n
‘Chinese inch’
59.
SIBE ZA
Transcribes the Chinese pinyin “z” (ts). Occurs before a, e, i, o, ue.
(Before i, pronounced as Chinese zi, not as English dzi). Ex.” zS-eSngM-zS-i ‘Zeng zi”, zS-ue-n qS-uS-w-a ‘Zunhua’.
60.
SIBE RAA
Transcribes the Chinese pinyin “r”.Occurs before a, e, i, o, and ue,
but pronunciation before i is as Chinese “ri”. Ex: rS-eS-qS-o
“Rehe=Jehol”, zS-i-b-eS-n “Japan”
61.
SIBE CHA
Often transcribed as c’. Occurs only before i; the pronunciation is
then as Chinese “chi”, not as English “chee”, which it would be if
Mongolian CHA would have been used. Ex. chS-iS-m-iS-ngM “edict”
62.
SIBE ZHA (Not in Manchu)
In form Sibe zha is different somewhat from Manchu zha. Usage is
probably the same: Sibe/Manchu zh occur only before i, to transcribe
Chinese pronunciation “zhi”; Mongolian j-iM or Sibe jS-iS would be
‘zhee’. Ex. tS-ue-ngM-zhS-iM “comrade’.
63.
MANCHU I
I mention here both Sibe and Manchu i; the difference is only in the
behaviour of a medial i after a vowel.
The representation table gives 4 medial variants, and 3 final for
Manchu i, and 3 medial and final variants for Sibe. Most occur only
with specific ligatures however as far as I can see.
Medial i with one oblique stroke occurs after consonants, medial i with
two downward strokes i Manchu occurs after vowels. This last form is
Manchu-specific, and has been replaced in Sibe with one straight plus
one down stroke. The table for Manchu seems to imply that this use
always requires a FVS2, which might be because perhaps some words do
not need it (as Mongolian naiman being different from nayiman). Even
then, in running text one would propbably only need FVS1.
Now, also in Manchu there is one medial variant given as the Sibe postvowel one(straight plus oblique. It is given a black FVS1, implying it
occurs always automatically. I wonder whether this means that, all the
while while being considered two different letters, Sibe and Manchu
have somehow been unified, so that in both cases vowel-plus-i would
result in the straight plus oblique variant, and that a FVS would
always be needed to get the correct double oblique Manchu i.
The only other possible use one could think of for a Manchu straightplus-oblique i would be at the beginning of a second part of a compound
word, as in Mongolian. But not only have I not found any example of
this, the other Manchu and Sibe vowels do not have such a variant, and
in such case also the black FVS would be incorrect, since it would
never be an automatic variant.
The Sibe and Manchu i has also a third, resp. fourth medial variant
which is the same as the first, and with a black FVS, it is meant to
occur automatically. I can therefore not see what is meant here, except
for a ligature based one (e.g., in gi-, qi-)
The second and third final variants of i also seem to me only to occur
in ligatures, after rounded consonants; I cannot find any other
possibilities for these –i forms. The second variant would be as in
isolated qi, gi; and for the third I would not know anything except
when talking metalinguistically about part of the second form.
MVS-iM/iS occurs with iM/S in the final form after MVS.
So, my guess is that Manchu b-a-i-FVS1-m-b-i ‘search for (people)’
would need a FVS, but only FVS1.
64.
I have
dotted
before
second
MANCHU KA
here treated Sibe KA and Manchu KA together; the latter has
feminine variants, and the medial and final masculine form
consonants differ in Sibe and Manchu (the first has one, the
two strokes)
There are two sets of variants: masculine before a, o and u, and
feminine before e, i and ue. (Note that this uses the Unicode
transcriptions of u and ue.): kM-u-b-ueS-l-iM-m-b-iM ‘change’, kM-ueSb-ueS-n ‘cotton’, n-a-kM-a-m-b-iM ‘stop’, eS-kM-iM-s-a-kM-a ‘quiet’.
The masculine set has a medial undotted variant before vowels, and a
double front-dotted variant before consonants (with two strokes in
Manchu, one stroke in Sibe). The feminine form, always undotted,
usually forms ligatures with specific vowels. Sibe does therefore not
need FVS in running text for this. From the representation table it is
clear that entry would start with feminine isolate, using a ZWJ to make
this masculine initial, etc.
Manchu and Sibe however differ in that Manchu has double-dotted
feminine variants alongside nondotted ones before consonants and as a
final, and some FVS will be necessary. Manchu KA would still start as
feminine isolate, but FVS would be necessary to have dotted feminine
medial before consonant, and final feminine with dots. (In the
metalinguistic table, FVS3 resp. FVS2 are used for this, but in running
text FVS1 should suffice.)
However, the rules on how to decide whether a medial-before-consonant
or a final KA should be written with a masculine or feminine form is
NOT like Mongolian. The masculine form is always used unless there is
1. a previous syllable k-ue, g-ue, q-ue or q-u, or 2. a syllable
containing e EXCEPT if this syllable is t-e. Yet exceptions to this
also occur: for the moment, I have given such exceptions a FVS2, but
they may conflict with the feminine dotted-versus-undotted opposition.
Although in one table still feminine Sibe pre-consonant medial and
final are given, from other contrasting examples it seems that Sibe
uses masculine forms in such circumstances, with single-stroke
variants.
Ex. a-kM-s-a-m-b-iM ‘avoid’ [dotted, masculine];
eS-kM-shS-eS-m-b-iM ‘haste’ [undotted feminine] but eS-kM-FVS1-shS-eSm-b-iM ‘haste’ [dotted feminine]. In Sibe: eS-kS-shS-eS-m-b-iS ‘haste’
[dotted masculine, one stroke]
kM-iM-l-ue-kM ‘ride a horse’ [dotted masculine]
ueS-kM-s-ue-n ‘lineage’ [dotted masculine]
l-a-kM s-eS-m-eS ‘just in time’ [dotted masculine]
l-eS-kM-s-e-i ‘align’ [undotted feminine]
s-eS-kM s-eS-m-eS ‘suddenly’ [undotted feminine]
eS-dS-eS-m-eS-kM ‘(placename)’ [undotted feminine]
fM-iM-kM fM-iM-kM ‘very crowded’ [dotted masculine, 2-stroke] versus
Sibe fS-iS-kS fS-iS-kS [dotted masculine, 1-stroke]
But : qS-iM-y-eS-kM-FVS2-dS-eS-n m-o-o ‘baomu wood (?) (<Qingwen
zonghui) [dotted masculine, not undotted feminine]
65.
MANCHU RA
Differs from Mongolian r only that it has a different final form: ex.
ch-i-ch-i-gS-a-r “Qiqihar”.
66.
MANCHU FA
Sibe FA uses one form for the sound f everywhere, while Manchu FA uses
one before a and e, and another one (with the form of Mongolian WA)
before i, o, ue and u. Sibe distinguishes FA from WA in all cases.
Manchu only before a and e. Ex: fM-a-rM-s-iM ‘piece’, fM-o-qS-o-l-o-n
‘short’, Manchu w-eS ‘who?’, Manchu eS-fM-ue ‘brother in law’ versus
Sibe eS-fS-ue.
67.
MANCHU ZHA
In form Sibe zha is different somewhat from Manchu zha. Uasge is
probably the same: Sibe/Manchu zh occur only before i, to transcribe
Chinese pronunciation “zhi”; Mongolian j-iM or Sibe jS-iS would be
‘zhee’. Ex. tS-ue-ngM-zhS-iM “comrade’.
NOTE ON MONGOLIAN NA, KA
The usual Mongolian NA follows usual Mongolian behavior: dotted before
vowels, undotted before consonants, undotted as final. Dotted variants
in medial position before consonants, and as final, occur in personal
and place names, and will necessitate FVS1: hS-a-n-FVS1-dS-eS-l-uS ‘Han
Delu’, hS-a-n-FVS1 gS-uS-rM-uS-n ‘Han dynasty’.
What is listed in the table as Mongolian KA, is used in Manchu and Sibe
as KAA (K2S), that is, it is usually transcribed as k’, and only occurs
before a and o, with a pronunciation as feminine k-. It is in usage
therefore similar to g’ and h’. Ex: k2S(=K)-a-r-s-i ‘kasaya (Buddhist
vestment)’, k2S-o-r-k2s-a ‘Korka’ (placename). k2S-a-dS-eS-r
‘cadre’(from Uyghur)=g2s-a-m-b-ue ‘cadre” <Chinese ganbu.
NOTE ON CHINESE TRANSCRIPTIONS
It is worth pointing out that where Manchu uses kM-iM, gS-iM, qS-i,
Sibe regularly uses ch-iS, jS-iS and s-iS: Xiang Jiang is in Manchu qSiM-y-a-ngM gS-iM-y-a-ngM, in Sibe s-iS-y-a-ngS jS-iS-y-a-ngS
In addition to Sibe letters, Sibe also uses Mongolian A (with regular
behavior), O, NA, BA, MA, LA, SA, CHA (as CA), YA, RA, WA, and KA (as
KAA).
In addition to Manchu letters, Manchu also uses Mongolian A (with
regular behavior), O, NA, ANG, BA, MA, LA, SA (with Manchu third final
variant), CHA (as CA), JA, YA, WA, KA (as KAA).
It also uses Sibe E, IY, UE, U, GA, QA(=HA), PA, SHA, TA, DA, GAA, HAA,
TSA, ZA, RAA (as RA), CHA.
Of these, note that “ya” does not occur before i.