閩南語的介音是一個有趣的問題。和中古音相對照,許多韻類不論那個閩南語方言都和中古音開齊合口一致,可是有些中古開口韻的字類,現代閩南語方言之間相當分歧。最分歧的是泉州《彙音妙悟》含有央元音韻腹的一些韻類。我們以《彙音妙悟》做爲起點重建共同閩南語的元音系統,進而探討由共同閩南語到現代方言的變化,發現中、高央元音的崩潰是閩南語音變的共同趨向,央元音變化的方向則受到條件性與固定性兩個不同音變參數的制約;介音的產生是受到區辨功能的限制,當它不能以中元音的形式存在時,便被迫上移而介音化。本文的主要目的是企圖對三個有標元音衍化的動機與策略,提出具有語言普遍性的解釋。
In this paper, I reconstruct three vowels (superscript *)ә;), (superscript *)i and (superscript *)y in Common Southern Min (SM for short). The distribution of these marked vowel s is limited, and its life span is fairly short . Thus they have to be compelled to change into: a, e, i, o, or u.But, where does a marked vowel move? Conditioning of movement and fixation of direction are two parameters of vowel movement in SM. Patterns of movement vary with dialects. The choice of parameters of a dialect determines where a marked vowel moves.At last, I discuss gliding. In SM. vowels in diphthongs or in closed syllables are restricted in its distinction between high and mid pitch. The mutual exclusiveness restricts the contrast such as 'irn' and 'em', and triggers more movement: (superscript *)әm→(superscript *)em→im.