Base Dialect of Chinese transcription in the Manchu translation of Romance of The Three Kingdoms

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show which base dialect Manchu used when they translated Chinese words of Romance of The Three Kingdoms. The translation was published in Shunzhi 7th (1650) was an early Manchu literature. In that text, translators used Manchu alphabet to transcribe Chinese word such as names of people, places, occupations and so on. The features of those transcripts are different from Beijing dialect in the late period of Ming dynasty. Through the analysis of transcripts and historical background, it shows that the base dialect on transcripts has connection with Jiaodong (胶东) dialect.