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Comment on John Whitman on d-/n- Alternation. by David Marjanović
['David Marjanović', 'David Eddyshaw']
Comments for languagehat.com
The kan’on 漢音 for 奴 is do, but the go’on is nu, identical to the usually reconstructed MS nu for 奴.
The d-~n- alternation is standard when there is an opposition btw kan’on and go’on readings involving original MS /n/, for example 男性 dansei ‘male’ vs 男体 nantai ‘male body’.
South Coblin has a detailed study of this, looking not just at the phenomenon in Japanese kan’on but at Tibetan and intra-Sinitic Buddhistic readings.
In modern Japanese, kan’on readings are vastly less marked, and almost always used in neologized kango 漢音.
Go’on readings have a strong association with Buddhism.