Zbu (Chinese ''Ribu'' 日部), or Showu, is a

Rgyalrong Gyalrong or rGyalrong (), also rendered Jiarong (), or sometimes Gyarung, is a subbranch of the Gyalrongic languages spoken by the Gyalrong people in Western Sichuan, China. Lai et al. (2020) refer to this group of languages as East Gyalrongic. ...

language spoken in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The

Khalong Tibetan language Khalong Tibetan (or ''Khalung''; also known as Rdo or Rdoskad) is a Tibetic language of Sichuan, China, once considered a dialect of Khams. It is spoken in Zamtang County of Ngawa Prefecture. Phonological and grammatical details reflect a Show ...

has a Showu (Zbu)

substratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...

, as evident from its

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

and

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

Distribution

Gates (2012: 105–106) lists the following locations where Zbu is spoken. It is spoken by over 6,000 people in 28 villages. *Sìdàbà (Written Tibetan: Stod-pa) District of

Barkam County Barkam or Markang or Muerkvua is a county-level city in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, in the northwest of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China. The city seat is the town of Barkam. Administrative divisions Barkam has fo ...

: in Kāngshān (Khang-sar) and Rìbù (rDzong-’bur)

Townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Rangtang County Zamthang County or Ndzamthang County (), or Rangtang County () is a county in the northwest of Sichuan Province, China, bordering on the Banma County of Qinghai Province to the north. It is one of 13 counties under the administration of and lies th ...

: Wúyī Township and Shili Township, in Shàngdàshígōu, Zhōngdàshígōu, and Xiàdàshígōu Villages. Shili Township also has

Shangzhai Horpa or Stau (Chinese: 道孚语 ''Daofu'', 爾龔語 ''Ergong'') is one of several closely related Rgyalrongic languages of China. Horpa is better understood as a cluster of closely related yet unintelligible dialect groups/languages closely re ...

(sTodsde/Northern Horpa) speakers. *Gēlètuó Township,

Seda County Seda or SEDA may refer to: Acronyms * Safe and Effective Drug Act, a bill proposed in the United States House of Representatives in 2004 * Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, an Australian organisation * Staff and Educational Development Association, a p ...

Ganzi Prefecture Ganzi may refer to: *Ganzi, Gabon, town in Gabon * Ganzi, South Sudan, village/town in South Sudan *Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, prefecture in Sichuan, China *Ganzi County, county in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture *Garzê Town Garzê ...

: in Tshopo, Nyagluo, Rabde, and Tshekho Villages *southwestern corner of Ābà/rNga-ba County: in Kēhé and Róngān Townships (Asejie, Mengu, Sharga, Ganba, and Tsega Villages).

Amdo Tibetan Amdo Tibetan (; also called ''Am kä'') is the Tibetic language spoken in Amdo (now mostly in Qinghai, some in Ngawa and Gannan). It has two dialects, the farmer dialect and the nomad dialect. Amdo is one of the three branches of traditional cl ...

is the local

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

References

Sources

* * Qiangic languages Languages of China {{st-lang-stub