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Quote by Qian Daxin

古无舌头舌上之分,知彻澄三母,以今音读之,与照穿床无别也,求之古音,则与端透定无异。

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The passage explains a historical change in Chinese pronunciation. It says that the tongue-tip and retroflex initial sounds were once not distinguished. In modern pronunciation, 知、彻、澄 sound the same as 照、穿、床, while in ancient pronunciation they matched 端、透、定 instead. The point is that the same written initials are being compared across different stages of pronunciation.

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四川师范大学学报(社会科学版)
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