Yang Zhuang is a
Tai language
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Sia ...
spoken in southwestern
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
,
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 ...
, in Napo, Jingxi and Debao counties.
Li Jinfang
Li Jinfang (; born October 1963 in Tianlin County, GuangxiLi Jinfang 锦芳 2006. Studies on endangered languages in the Southwest China 南地区濒危语言调查研究 Beijing: Minzu University.) is a Chinese linguist at Minzu University ...
(1999) suggests that the Yang Zhuang originally spoke the
Buyang language
Buyang () is a Kra language spoken in Guangnan and Funing counties, Yunnan Province, China by the Buyang people. It is important to the reconstruction of the hypothetical macrofamily Austro-Tai as it retains the disyllabic roots characteristic ...
, and later assimilated with other Tai-speaking peoples (''See
Buyang people#History'').
Distribution
Zhuang dialects given in the county almanacs of
Jingxi County
Jingxi (, Zhuang: Cingsae Si) is a county-level city of western Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Baise City.
Administrative divisions
There are 8 towns and 11 townships in the district:
Towns:
*Xinjing (新靖镇), Huadong (化 ...
,
Debao County
Debao (, zhuang: ) is a county of western Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Baise City.
Economy
Bauxite mining is a major industry in Debao County. To facilitate the transportation of the ore, a 72-km single-track electrified ra ...
, and
Napo County
Napo County (; za, Nazboh Yen) is a county in the west of Guangxi, China, bordering Yunnan province to the north and northwest as well as Vietnam's Cao Bằng and Hà Giang provinces to the south and west, respectively. It is under the administra ...
are listed below. This region is also known as the "Dejing" 德靖 area. All names and statistics are from the local county almanacs (县志), as quoted in Jackson et al (2012). Note that these divisions are often ethnic rather than geographic. Thus, some "Yang" peoples may actually speak non-Yang Zhuang dialects, and vice versa. Jackson (2011) shows that most Yang dialects do indeed form a distinctive subgroup against Fu (also shown to be a distinctive subgroup) and Nong.
Variants with multiple names include:
*Yang 仰 in Jingxi / Nongshun 农顺 in Napo
*Fu 府 in Jingxi / Lang 狼 in Debao / Nongfu 农府 in Napo
*Zuozhou 佐州 in Jingxi / Zhazhou 炸州 in Napo
Jingxi County
Below are the various Zhuang dialects of
Jingxi County
Jingxi (, Zhuang: Cingsae Si) is a county-level city of western Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Baise City.
Administrative divisions
There are 8 towns and 11 townships in the district:
Towns:
*Xinjing (新靖镇), Huadong (化 ...
. The townships with which the most speakers of the dialect live in are also given. Only "Yang 仰" corresponds to Yang Zhuang.
*Yang 仰: 371,892 speakers; all townships
*Zong 宗: 75,957 speakers; Ande 安德, Nanpo 南坡乡, Sanhe 三合, Guole 果乐乡
*Long'an 隆安 (Nong'an 侬安): 26,102 speakers; Quyang 渠洋镇, Sanhe 三合, Bameng 巴蒙, Dadao 大道, Longlin 龙临镇
*Zuozhou 佐州: 27,011 speakers; Xinxu 新圩, Dadao 大道, Longlin 龙临镇, Ronglao 荣劳, Ludong 禄峒
*Rui/Yei 锐: 11,304 speakers; Kuixiu 魁圩乡, Bameng 巴蒙
*Sheng 省: 14,718 speakers; Kuixiu 魁圩乡, Nanpo 南坡乡
*Fu 府: 1,146 speakers; Bameng 巴蒙, Dadao 大道
*Total: 528,130
Debao County
Zhuang dialects of
Debao County
Debao (, zhuang: ) is a county of western Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Baise City.
Economy
Bauxite mining is a major industry in Debao County. To facilitate the transportation of the ore, a 72-km single-track electrified ra ...
are:
*Lang 狼话： 255,000 speakers in all townships
*Min 敏话： 17,000 speakers in Fuping township 扶平, near Napo County
*Nong Zhuang 侬话
**Nong Zhuang 侬话 (Southern): 17,000 speakers in Ma'ai township 马隘, Du'an township 都安, and 4 villages in Dongguan township 东关
**Nong Zhuang 侬话 (Northern - Baise): 34,000 speakers in Dongling township 东凌 and Puxu township 朴圩
**Nong Zhuang 侬话 (Northern - Tiandong): 17,000 speakers in Longsang township 隆桑
*Total: 340,000
Napo County
Yang 央 dialects of
Napo County
Napo County (; za, Nazboh Yen) is a county in the west of Guangxi, China, bordering Yunnan province to the north and northwest as well as Vietnam's Cao Bằng and Hà Giang provinces to the south and west, respectively. It is under the administra ...
are:
*Yangzhou 央州: 41 villages
*Yangdong 央垌: 100 villages
*Yanggai 央改: 3 villages
*Yangwu 央伍 (Yangniao 央鸟): 24 villages
*Yangtai 央台: 22 villages
*Yangwo 央窝
*Yanglong 央龙
*Yangyin 央音
*Yangjie 央介
*Yangnan 央南
Non-Yang dialects and their distributions in Napo County are:
*Min 敏话: all townships
*Dong 峒话
*Nong 农话
**Nongshun 农顺: Longhe township 龙合
**Nongfu 农府: Chengxiang township 城厢
*Bunong 布侬: Baidu township 百都, Baisheng township 百省
*Rui/Yei 锐: Longhe township 龙合
*Ao 嗷: Chengxiang township 城厢
*Sheng 省: Pingmeng township 平孟
*Jue 决: Chengxiang township 城厢
*Yong 拥
*Long'an 隆安: Longhe township 龙合, Baidu township 百都, Chengxiang township 城厢
*Zhazhou 炸州: Longhe township 龙合
Orthography
Initials
* p/b -
* ph -
ʰ* mb -
b/ɓ* m/mh -
* f/v -
* t/d -
* th -
ʰ* nd -
d/ɗ* n/nh -
* l/lh -
* r/rh -
/ɹ̥/ð* sl/zl -
/θ* c/j -
͡s/t͡ɕ* s/z -
/ʑ* k/g -
* kh -
ʰ* ng/ngh -
* x -
* w/wh -
* qw -
w* y/yh -
* qy -
j* h -
* - -
* kw/gw -
w* khw -
ʰw* ngw/nghw -
w* py/by -
j* phy -
ʰj* my/mhy -
j* ky/gy -
j* khy -
ʰj* ngy/nghy -
j
Initials for Chinese loanwords
* ch -
͡sʰ/t͡ɕʰ/s/ɕ* ty -
y* thy -
ʰj* sy -
j/ɕj* cy -
͡sj/t͡ɕj* chy -
͡sʰj/t͡ɕʰj/sj/ɕj* sly -
j/ɬj* ny -
* ly -
j* hy -
j* hw -
Rimes
* a -
* aay -
ːj* aaw -
ːw* aam -
ːm* aan -
ːn* aang -
ːŋ* aap -
ːp* aat -
ːt* aak -
ːk* ay -
j* aw -
w* am -
m* an -
n* ang -
ŋ* ap -
p* at -
t* ak -
k* ee -
ː* ey -
j/əj* ew -
ːw* eem -
ːm* een -
ːn* eeng -
ːŋ* eep -
ːp* eet -
ːt* eek -
ːk* oe -
ː* oey -
ːj* oem -
ːm* oen -
ːn* oet -
ːt* i -
ː* iw -
ːw* im -
ːm* in -
ːn* ing -
ːŋ* ip -
ːp* it -
ːt* ik -
ːk* e -
ː* em -
ːm* en -
ːn* eng -
ːŋ* ep -
ːp* et -
ːt* ek -
ːk* iep -
p* iet -
t* iek -
k* oi -
ː* oim -
ːm* oin -
ːn* oing -
ːŋ* oit -
ːt* oik -
ːk* o -
ː* ooy -
ːj* ow -
ːw* oom -
ːm* oon -
ːn* oong -
ːŋ* oop -
ːp* oot -
ːt* ook -
ːk* oa/oh -
ː* oy -
ːɥ/ɔːj* om -
ːm* on -
ːn* ong -
ːŋ* op -
ːp* ot -
ːt* ok -
ːk* u -
ː* uy -
ːj* uum -
ːm* uun -
ːn* uung -
ːŋ* uup -
ːp* uut -
ːt* uuk -
ːk* um -
m* un -
n* up -
p* uk -
k* oup -
p* out -
t* ouk -
k* ui -
ːre
Yang Zhuang languageat Omniglot.
Notes and references
* Jackson, Eric M., Emily H.S. Jackson, and Shuh Huey Lau. 2012.
A sociolinguistic survey of the Dejing Zhuang dialect area" SIL International, Electronic Survey Reports 2012-036.
* Johnson, Eric C. 2011a.
The Southern Zhuang Languages of Yunnan Province's Wenshan Prefecture from a Sociolinguistic Perspective"
orking paper S.l.: s.n. 49 pages.
* Johnson, Eric C. 2011b.
A Lexical and Phonological Comparison of the Central Taic Languages of Wenshan Prefecture, China: Getting More Out of Language Survey Wordlists Than Just Lexical Similarity Percentages. SIL Electronic Working Papers 2011-005: 170.
* Li Jinfang (1999). Buyang yu yan jiu. Beijing: Central University for Nationalities Press.
External links
Audio of Yang Zhuang
{{Tai-Kadai languages
Tai languages