Caijia () is an endangered

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

language spoken in an area centred on

Bijie Bijie () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Guizhou Province, China, bordering Sichuan to the north and Yunnan to the west. The Daotianhe Reservoir, located to the north of the town was commissioned in 1965 with a rated annual capacity o ...

, in the west of the Chinese province of Guizhou. It was first documented by Chinese researchers in the 1980s. It has been described by different authors as a relative of Bai or an early split from Old Chinese. The autonym is '.

Classification

Similarities among Old Chinese,

Waxiang Waxiang (; ) is a divergent variety of Chinese, spoken by the Waxiang people, an unrecognized ethnic minority group in the northwestern part of Hunan province, China. Waxiang is a distinct language, very different from its surrounding Southwest ...

, Caijia, and Bai have been pointed out by Wu & Shen (2010) and others. Zhengzhang Shangfang (2010) argued that Bai and Caijia formed a Greater Bai subgroup of Sino-Tibetan. Caijia also appears to be related to the extinct Longjia and Luren languages,Guizhou provincial ethnic classification commission ��州省民族识别工作队 1984. ''Report on ethnic classification issues of the Nanlong people (Nanjing-Longjia)'' ��龙人（南京-龙家）族别问题调查报告 m.s. but they are too poorly documented for definitive classification. In contrast, Sagart (2011) groups Caijia with

, a divergent Chinese variety spoken in northwestern Hunan, as the earliest group to split off from Old Chinese. Sagart (2011) lists the following features of Old Chinese retained by both Caijia and Waxiang: * OC *lˤ- and *lr- > Caijia and Waxiang l- (where Middle Chinese has d-), as in OC *lˤiŋ () > Caijia ', Waxiang ' 'field' * OC *r- > Caijia ɣ- and Waxiang z- (where Middle Chinese has l-), as in OC *mə.rˤək () > *rˤə > Caijia ', Waxiang ' 'to come' Sagart identifies two words as shared innovations: *'two': Caijia ', Waxiang ', from OC *tsˤə(ʔ)-s 'twice' () *'milk': Caijia ', Waxiang ', which Sagart (2011) suggests is a non-Sinitic word

Distribution

Bijie (1983)Bijie Prefecture Ethnic Classification Office ��州省毕节地区民族识别办公室 1983. ''"Caijia" minzu chengfen diaocha baogao'' 蔡家"民族成分调查报告 m.s. reports the Caijia people are found in the seven counties of

prefecture –

Qixingguan Qixingguan District () is the seat of the city of Bijie, Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of ...

Dafang Dafang (), called Dading () until 1958, is a county of Guizhou province, China. It is under the administration of Bijie Bijie () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Guizhou Province, China, bordering Sichuan to the north and Yunnan to the ...

, Qianxi, Zhijin, Nayong, Weining, and Hezhang – comprising a total of over 3,100 households and over 18,000 individuals. Bijie (1983) reports that smaller populations of Caijia people are found in Anshun (with over 400 people) and

Liupanshui Liupanshui () is a city in western Guizhou province, People's Republic of China. The name Liupanshui combines the first character from the names of each of the city's three constituent counties: Liuzhi, Panzhou, Shuicheng. As a prefecture-level ...

(with over 3,500 people) prefectures (to the southeast and southwest respectively), as well as Zhaoyang, Yiliang, and

Zhenxiong Zhenxiong County () is a county in the northeast of Yunnan province, China, under the administration of Zhaotong prefecture and bordering Guizhou and Sichuan. Geography Zhengxiong County is located in the northeastern part of Yunnan province. It h ...

counties in Zhaotong prefecture, Yunnan (to the northwest). Bijie (1983) also contains linguistic data for the Caijia language of Hezhang County. Caijia speakers are distributed in the following locations in Bijie prefecture (Bo Wenze 2004). *Lijiazhai 李家寨, Xinying Village 新营村, Xingfa Township 兴发乡, Hezhang County *Caijiayuan 蔡家园, Yakou Village 垭口村, Songlinpo Township 松林坡乡, Hezhang County *Lijiagou 李家沟, Kele Township 可乐乡, Hezhang County *Xinfa Township 新发布依族乡, Weining County (not to be confused with Xingfa Township 兴发乡 in Hezhang County) Yinajia District 以那架区 has the most ethnic Caijia in Zhijin County. Bijie (1983) also reports the location of Baiyanjiao 白岩脚, Puweng Township 普翁公社, Guiguo District 桂果区, Zhijin County. The ''Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer'' 六盘水市志：民族志 (2003:182–183)''Liupanshui City Ethnic Gazetteer'' 六盘水市志：民族志 (2003:182–183). lists ethnic Caijia populations for the following counties in the prefecture, with a total of 4,061 (1982): * Liuzhi: 1,720 (1981), in Niuchang 牛场, Xinchang 新场, Heitang 黑塘 *

Shuicheng Shuicheng () is a district in the west of Guizhou province, China, bordering Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 mi ...

: 2,296 (1982), in Bide 比德, Huale 化乐, Qinglin 青林, Jinpen 金盆 * Zhongshan District: in Dewu 德坞乡 In Shuicheng County, the Caijia language is still spoken in: *Chahe 叉河, Jinpen Township 金盆乡 *Caijiapo 蔡家坡, Tujiao Township 土角乡 *Caijiayuan 蔡家园, Shuchang Township 鼠场乡 In Zhenxiong County, Yunnan, the Caijia people are scattered in the village cluster of Sumu 苏木村, and in Chuanjiu 串九, Qinggang 青杠, Liangshui 凉水, Poji 泼机, Nantai 南台, Wugu 五谷 (''Zhenxiong County Gazetteer'' 1986).

Dialects

Guizhou (1982) lists the following two dialects of the Caijia language.Guizhou provincial ethnic classification commission, linguistic division ��州省民族识别工作队语言组 1982. ''The language of the Caijia'' 'Caijia de yuyan'' 蔡家的语言 m.s. The Caijia dialect documented in Guizhou (1982) is that of Yangjiazhai 杨家寨, Liangyan Village 亮岩公社, Xingfa District 兴发区, Hezhang County. #Xingfa District 兴发区, Hezhang County: Liangyan Village 亮岩公社 (including the main datapoint of Yangjiazhai 杨家寨), Yeli Village 野里公社, and Wocun Village 窝皮寸 #Kaiping Village 开坪公社, Longchang District 龙场区, Weining County (located near Xinfa Township 新发布依族乡) Guizhou (1982) notes that the -''an'' rime in Caijia of Xingfa 兴发 corresponds to the ''-aŋ'' rime in Caijia of Longchang 龙场. Hsiu (2018)Hsiu, Andrew. 2018
The Niujiaojing dialect of Caijia in Weining County, Guizhou, China
Manuscript draft. reports the discovery of a previously undocumented Caijia dialect that is spoken in Niujiaojing 牛角井村, Yangjie Town 羊街镇, Weining County. This Caijia dialect is also spoken in the villages of Xinglongchang 兴隆场村, Niuchishui 牛吃水, and Fadi 发地.

Names and ethnic subdivisions

The Caijia people are ethnoculturally related to the Lu (卢) people (''Luren'' 卢人), who are classified as Manchu by the Chinese government. Luren (Lu) and Caijia are also closely related to Longjia (龙家).Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer ��州省志. 民族志(2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House ��州民族出版社 Caijia, Longjia, and Lu are all spoken in western Guizhou. In Weining County, Caijia speakers are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Gelao (Hsiu 2017), while in Hezhang County they are classified as Bai (Bo 2004). Caijia people with the autonym "Menni" (门尼 or 门你) have also been reported in Puding County, Guizhou, where they were classified as ethnic Gelao during the 1980s (Zhou Guoyan 2004). In Zhijin County, Guizhou, Caijia people are called Silie 斯列 by the local Miao and Awuna 阿乌纳 by the local Yi (''Zhijin County Gazetteer'' 1997:166). Ethnic subdivisions of the Caijia people include the Black 黑, White 白, Qingshangshui 青上水, Xiashui 下水, Hanzhan 捍毡, Zhuazhua 抓抓, Datou 大头, Qianqiaoba 乾乔巴, Laohu 老虎, Luoluo 倮倮, Xuejiao 削角 (Xieguo 写果), and Jiandao 剪刀. Historically recorded names for the Caijia include Caijiazi 蔡家子 and Gantan Caijia 擀毡蔡家. The Yi call the Caijia "Sha'awu 沙阿乌", the Miao call them "Sini 斯你", and other ethnic groups also call them "Xieguo 写果". Bijie (1983:2–3) lists the following autonyms and exonyms for the Caijia people. *Autonym: Menni 门你 (

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...

: ') * Yi (in Dafang County and Zhijin County) exonym: Xieguo, Awuna 阿武哪 * Yi (in

Shuicheng County Shuicheng () is a district in the west of Guizhou province, China, bordering Yunnan province to the west. It is under the administration of Liupanshui city. Biodiversity Shuicheng is home to two amphibian species that are not known from anywhere ...

) exonym: Awuna 阿乌纳 * Yi (in Weining County and Weining County) exonym: Awu 阿武 *

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

(in Weining County and Weining County) exonym: Awu 阿乌 *

(in Nayong County) exonym: Sinie 斯聂 * Shui (in Puding County and Zhijin County) exonym: Louman 楼慢 * Buyi exonym: Buman 布慢 * Buyi (in Weining County) exonym: Bu'awu 布阿武

Notes and references

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110512204947/http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/numeral/Caijia.htm *Bo Wenze ��文泽 2004. "A Brief Introduction of Caijia Speech ��家话概况. ''Minzu Yuwen''. http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/periodical_mzyw200402012.aspx

External links

Caijia people
{{Sino-Tibetan branches Languages of China Cai–Long languages Tonal languages Endangered Sino-Tibetan languages