Abstract
The present paper deals with the order of the two constituents of different tones in the Archaic coordinate constructions. The term coordinate construction has been used here in the sense of coordinate phrases and coordinate compounds.
By observing 682 coordinate constructions in the Analects, the Meng-tze and the Book of Odes, we may set up a rule, i.e., if there is a "p'ing-sheng" form in the construction, it usually occurs in the first position, if there is a "ju-sheng" form, it usually occurs in the second, if there is neither "p'ing-sheng" not "ju-sheng" form, the "shang-sheng" form occurs first. This rule applies to about 80% of the cases. It seems to indicate that there were four tones in Archaic Chinese. If these tones were derived from the final consonants, the phonological change had to occur in the period before the "Shih-ching" time.
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