I "diecimila suoni e le diecimila rime" della lingua cinese: analisi delle tavole fonetiche del Xiru ermu zi

Xiru ermu zi 西儒耳目資 (An Audio-visual Aid to Western Scholars) was written by Jesuit Nicolas Trigault (Jin Nige 金尼閣, 1577-1628) in Chinese language and published in Shaanxi 陕西 province in 1626. It is considered the first systematic Chinese book concerning the romanization of Chinese characters. After publication, the book was read and commented on by many Chinese literati, and was also cited in the monumental Kangxi zidian 康熙字典 (Dictionary of the Kangxi era). There are four very important tables in the book. The tables together are considered a schematized summary of the phonological theories and principles of the book. In this paper, the use and function of these tables will be explained and analyzed in detail. Furthermore, Trigault, in constructing the tables, introduced some neologisms created by himself, such as yuanyin 元音 (primordial sound), ziming 自鳴 (self-pronunciation), tongming 同鳴 (co-pronunciation), zimu 字母 (mother words), zifu 字父 (father words) and zizi 字子 (son words): these words also represent an important contribution of the missionary in the linguistic exchanges between Chinese and Western languages.