Why and how the text could be Bavarian

[JoJo_Jost]

OK, forget the Chinese Origin theory for now, until I post more evidence evidence.

But since you created the word-based table of the Sh/Ch/qo correlations (thanks for that!), and I checked into it in some detail, I think we should finish the discussion of this topic.  

Would you agree with the conclusion that the "remote attraction to qo" is not a property of token-initial Sh, but rather of certain common words, like Shedy, that happen to start with Sh?  And that some other common Sh-words show no attraction to qo, or even strong repulsion?

No, I don’t agree with the first part of your conclusion. I do agree with the second part, though: Some sh-words fall below the general qo-occurrence rate. I’ve never disputed that.

But “below the overall average” and “more frequent than the corresponding ch-form” are not mutually exclusive. That is precisely why I compared forms with identical second parts. For all 21 sh/ch pairs examined, the qo-occurrence rate is higher on the sh side. Even shor can be below the overall average and still occur before qo more frequently than chor.

This does not prove that sh itself is the cause. But your conclusion—that it is merely due to certain common words that happen to begin with sh—is also unsubstantiated.

The finding is this: Given the same remaining token structure, sh is associated with a higher qo frequency in all examined pairs than ch. The fact that the absolute frequency also depends on the remaining token structure does not refute this correlation.

PS: And just so this doesn’t get forgotten: The “k” before “edy” is the weakest glyph relative to “qo,” at only 28%, compared to “sh” at 51%—not “ch.”)