Middle Chinese
Linguistic term referring to the historical variety of Chinese spoken during the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, used as a basis for reconstructing earlier Chinese pronunciations and for understanding Sino-Japanese readings.
The study of Middle Chinese is important for understanding the history of Sino-Japanese readings.
In this dictionary, the Middle Chinese pronunciation of each character is reconstructed.
Refers to later historical Chinese phonology, contrasting with the medieval period of 中古音.
From 中古 (Middle Ages) + 音 (sound), a calque of the English term 'Middle Chinese'.