Almost. This i is pronounced with the whole larynx pulled so far down that
it hurts if you do it too often, so that your tongue can't reach the palate to
produce any kind of r.
In short,
the tongue is so far back that putting it forward afterwards to say ee
would take half a second and make "chi" sound much like "Chewie". (Another
reason that it'd take so long is that ch is aspirated very hard.)
In other words, Chinese ei is the same diphthong as in hey or
way. Chinese er is very similar to the same in English... and the syllable
"per" simply doesn't exist. :-)
Which, as the text suggests, should be
chuanzhous. Resolves a little riddle... chuan exists
in Chinese, chuon doesn't. :-) (Both species are synonyms of C. sanctus
anyway.)
Thanks a lot for identifying all those species. Jibeinia is
impressive... looks like Confuciusornis and Protopteryx, but
has a much more modern hand. I can't see, of all things, the tail of
"Cathayornis caudatus"... Liaoxiornis is really cute.
:-}
|
