{"paper":{"title":"Cross-Linguistic Transcription and Phonological Representation in the Hu\\`it\\'onggu\\v{a}nx\\`i Hu\\'ay\\'iy\\`iy\\v{u}","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"The Huìtóngguǎnxi Huáyíyìyǔ used Chinese characters as a flexible phonetic approximation system for non-Chinese languages rather than imposing native phonology directly.","cross_cats":[],"primary_cat":"cs.CL","authors_text":"Ji-eun Kim","submitted_at":"2026-05-14T07:21:18Z","abstract_excerpt":"Purpose: This study investigates the transcription principles underlying Hu\\`it\\'onggu\\v{a}nx\\`i Hu\\'ay\\'iy\\`iy\\v{u} (HHY), a series of multilingual glossaries compiled by the Ming government between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for interpreter training. The study treats HHY not as a collection of isolated language materials, but as a coherent multilingual transcription system representing spoken forms of non-Chinese languages through Chinese characters.\n  Methods: A substantial portion of HHY was digitized and aligned with Chinese phonological categories. Previous reconstructions of "},"claims":{"count":4,"items":[{"kind":"strongest_claim","text":"HHY therefore functioned as a relatively systematic method of phonetic approximation rather than a direct projection of Chinese phonology onto non-Chinese languages.","source":"verdict.strongest_claim","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C1","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"weakest_assumption","text":"That the observed cross-linguistic regularities in the digitized alignments reflect deliberate design choices by the original compilers rather than later interpretive patterns or sampling artifacts.","source":"verdict.weakest_assumption","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C2","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"one_line_summary","text":"HHY functions as a coherent phonetic approximation system in which main transcriptions fit Chinese syllable structure while supplementary transcriptions capture incompatible features, rather than directly projecting Chinese phonology onto foreign languages.","source":"verdict.one_line_summary","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C3","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"headline","text":"The Huìtóngguǎnxi Huáyíyìyǔ used Chinese characters as a flexible phonetic approximation system for non-Chinese languages rather than imposing native phonology directly.","source":"verdict.pith_extraction.headline","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C4","attestation":"unclaimed"}],"snapshot_sha256":"6c414d9ea589bedf49ab050998b4a3f115bcf0e2676059e1a881e8551217aee4"},"source":{"id":"2605.14480","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":"f52d2a4a-67a9-4f46-a3c0-3c1aa2be5d16","model_set":{"reader":"grok-4.3"},"created_at":"2026-05-15T01:55:13.924449Z","strongest_claim":"HHY therefore functioned as a relatively systematic method of phonetic approximation rather than a direct projection of Chinese phonology onto non-Chinese languages.","one_line_summary":"HHY functions as a coherent phonetic approximation system in which main transcriptions fit Chinese syllable structure while supplementary transcriptions capture incompatible features, rather than directly projecting Chinese phonology onto foreign languages.","pipeline_version":"pith-pipeline@v0.9.0","weakest_assumption":"That the observed cross-linguistic regularities in the digitized alignments reflect deliberate design choices by the original compilers rather than later interpretive patterns or sampling artifacts.","pith_extraction_headline":"The Huìtóngguǎnxi Huáyíyìyǔ used Chinese characters as a flexible phonetic approximation system for non-Chinese languages rather than imposing native phonology directly."},"references":{"count":3,"sample":[{"doi":"","year":1906,"title":"Ernest Leroux, Paris Calabrese A, Wetzels WL (2009) Loan Phonology","work_id":"348ce1c4-46d6-47ed-9b6e-ddc3c4b01adc","ref_index":1,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":1931,"title":"In: Kuwabara Hakase kanreki kinen Tōyōshi ronshū","work_id":"2da71930-f48b-4598-aa0f-2abf2473f704","ref_index":2,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2019,"title":"Social Networks and the Labor Market , booktitle =","work_id":"14395009-699b-40c7-94de-6004ef131037","ref_index":3,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false}],"resolved_work":3,"snapshot_sha256":"f368be810c85b3568c9b1035ee7f85e2bdde3676b8f7949efc6fb7d9ec8b92ec","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}