Be (), also known as Ong Be, Bê, or ''Vo Limgao'' (Mandarin 臨高 ''Lín'gāo''), is a pair of languages spoken by 600,000 people, 100,000 of them monolingual, on the north-central coast of
Hainan Island
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
, including the suburbs of the provincial capital
Haikou
Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the Ha ...
. The speakers are counted as part of the
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
nationality in census. According to ''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'', it is taught in primary schools.
Names
Be speakers refer to themselves as ', with ' being the prefix for persons and ' meaning 'village' (Liang 1997:1). Liang (1997) notes that it is similar to the autonym ' (from ' 'person' and ' 'village'), by which Gelong 仡隆 (
Cun language
Cun ( Chinese: 村話; meaning "village language/speech") or Gelong (仡隆语 / 哥隆语) or Ngan-Fon is a Kra–Dai language spoken on Hainan Island. It is a part of the Hlai languages branch and has a lexical similarity with standard Hlai at ...
) speakers refer to themselves.
Classification
Be is a
Kra–Dai language, but its precise relationship to other branches within the Kra-Dai family has yet not been conclusively determined. Hansell (1988)
considers Be to be a
sister
A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
of the
Tai
Tai or TAI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain
*Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless''
*Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon''
Businesses and organisations ...
branch based on shared vocabulary, and proposes a ''Be–Tai'' grouping.
Based on toponymic evidence from place names with the prefix ''dya''- (调 diao),
Jinfang Li considers Be to have originated from the
Leizhou
Leizhou () is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Zhanjiang.
The city was formerly known as Haikang County ( postal: Hoihong); it was upgraded into a city in 1994.
G ...
peninsula of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province.
Weera Ostapirat (1998),
analyzing data from Zhang (1992),
notes that Be and
Jizhao share many lexical similarities and sound correspondences, and that
Jizhao may be a remnant Be-related language on the Chinese mainland.
Dialects
Be consists of the Lincheng 临城 (Western) and Qiongshan 琼山 (Eastern) dialects (Liang 1997). Liang (1997:32) documents the following varieties of Be.
*
Lingao County
Língāo County (formerly romanised as Limko or Limkao) is an administrative district in Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South Ch ...
(including Lincheng 临城镇 and Xinying 新盈镇 towns)
*Bailian 白莲,
Chengmai County
Chéngmài County ( postal: Tsingmai; ) is an administrative district in Hainan, China. It is one of four counties of Hainan. Its postal code is 571900. In 2002, its population was 490,800.
History
The first record of Chengmai County is in 110 B ...
*Longtang Township 龙塘镇,
Qiongshan District
Qiongshan District, alternately romanized as Kiungshan, is one district in Haikou City, Hainan.
History
As Qiongzhou, formerly romanized as Kiungchow, the district was formerly a separate city which served as the center of Chinese administra ...
Be of Chengmai is intermediate between the Lincheng and Qiongshan dialects, and has features of both (Liang 1997).
Chen (2018) contains extensive comparative lexical data for the Be dialects of Changliu (長流), Yongxing (永興), Longtang (龍塘), Qiaotou (橋頭), Huangtong (皇桐), and Xinying (新盈). The Qiaotou, Huangtong, and Xinying dialects are unintelligible with the Changliu, Yongxing, Longtang, and Shishan (石山) dialects. Chen (2018) also reconstructs Proto-Ong-Be on the basis of this comparative lexical data.
Classification
Chen (2018: 82) classifies the Ong-Be dialects into two groups, which are mutually unintelligible with each other.
;Western Ong-Be
*Qiaotou 橋頭
*Huangtong 皇桐
*Maniao 馬裊
*Lincheng 臨城
*Jialai 加來
*Meiliang 美良
*Xinying 新盈
;Eastern Ong-Be
*Longtang 龍塘
*Longqiao 龍橋
*Longquan 龍泉 (formerly Shizilu 十字路)
*Yongxing 永興
*Shishan 石山
*Changliu 長流
*Laocheng 老城
Phonology
Consonants
Initials
* is mainly heard in finals, rarely in initials.
* can also be heard as in free variation.
* can be heard as in the dialect of Xindengyi.
Finals
Vowels
* Vowels in word-initial position are phonetically heard beginning with a glottal .
* An open-mid vowel occurs in the Chengmai and Qiongshan dialects.
* A near-open central vowel sound also occurs in the Qiongshan dialect.
History
Liang (1997:16) considers Be to have migrated to Hainan from the
Leizhou Peninsula
The Leizhou Peninsula, alternately romanized as the Luichow Peninsula, is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in South China.
History
Qing naval forces were stationed at the Leizhou Peninsula. During the 19th century ...
of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
about 2,500 years ago during the
Warring States Period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
, but not over 3,000 years ago. Liang & Zhang (1996:21–25)
also believe that Be had migrated from the Leizhou Peninsula to northern Hainan about 2,500 years ago during the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
.
See also
*
List of Proto-Ong-Be reconstructions (Wiktionary)
References
Works cited
*
*
External links
ABVD: Ong Be word listOng Be–language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words(from Wiktionary'
Swadesh-list appendix
{{authority control
Kra–Dai languages
Languages of China