The Bala language () is a possibly extinct Southern

Tungusic language The Tungusic languages (also known as Manchu-Tungus and Tungus) form a language family spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the doz ...

that was spoken in and around the Zhangguangcai Mountains 张广才岭 of

Heilongjiang Province Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

, Northeastern China. No standard orthography exists for the language, although manuscripts have occasionally recorded Bala words using Chinese characters.

Classification

Bala clearly belongs to the Jurchenic language subgroup of Southern Tungusic languages, but its exact position within Jurchenic remains to be determined. Bala is more closely related to Jurchen than it is to Manchu and retains many archaic features. It reportedly became extinct in 1982, but it is unknown whether there could be rememberers of the language still alive today.Hölzl, Andreas. 2020
Bala (China) – Language Snapshot
''Language Documentation and Description'' 19, 162-170. In addition to influences from

Northeastern Mandarin Northeastern Mandarin ( or / ''Dōngběiguānhuà'' "Northeast Mandarin") is the subgroup of Mandarin varieties spoken in Northeast China with the exception of the Liaodong Peninsula and few enclaves along Amur and Ussuri rivers. The classificati ...

and

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

, Bala may also have been influenced by Southern Nanai languages such as Kilen.

Distribution

Originally spoken by mountain dwellers who claimed to have fled to the Zhangguangcai Mountains to flee from the late 16th-century Manchu campaigns of

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...

, Bala speakers later scattered into the plains to the west and south of the mountain range, with some speakers also moving to various villages in northern

Jilin Province Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

. Bala villages in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces include Acheng 阿城, Bayan 巴彦, Binxian 宾县, Fangzheng 方正, Hulan 呼兰, Mulan 木兰, Shangzhi 尚志, Shuangcheng 双城, Tonghe 通河, Wuchang 五常, and Yanshou 延寿, Emu 额穆, Guandi 官地, Yushu 榆树, and Jiaohe 蛟河.

Documentation

The Bala language has been documented by Mu Yejun 穆晔骏 (also known as Mu'ercha Yejun 穆尔察晔骏, or Mu'ercha Anbulonga 穆尔察安布隆阿; 1926‒1989). Additional linguistic data has also been collected by Li Keman and her father Li Guojun.Li, Guojun 李果钧. 1991. Jidong manzu ‘balaren’ xisu 吉东满族‘巴拉人’习俗. In Sun Bang 孙邦 (ed.) Jilin manzu 吉林满族, 294-297. Changchun: Jilin renmin chubanshe.

References

{{Tungusic languages Agglutinative languages Tungusic languages Extinct languages of Asia Languages of China