[m]→[x]Certainty: 3/5Commonality: 1/5

Bilabial nasal to Voiceless velar fricative

In the Baxter–Sagart reconstruction, Old Chinese voiceless nasals *m̥ˤ- became the Middle Chinese fricative x- (xw- before round vowels), later h- in Mandarin and f- before round vowels in Cantonese and Hakka. This rests on reconstruction, not on directly attested forms.

Phonetic Effects

Fortition, Denasalization, Fricativization

Language Examples

Old Chinese → Middle Chinese (Baxter–Sagart) Sinitic

黑 OC *m̥ˤək→MC xok— Mandarin hēi, Cantonese hak1.

悔 OC *m̥ˤəʔ→MC xwojX— Mandarin huǐ, Cantonese fui3.

昏 OC *m̥ˤu[n]→MC xwon— Mandarin hūn, Cantonese fan1.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Sinitic Shifts

[b] → [p] — Voice Loss [d] → [t] — Voice Loss [dz] → [l] — Deaffrication [g] → [k] — Voice Loss [g] → [ʑ] — Palatalization

Sources & References

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