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The Zhuang languages (; autonym: , pre-1982: , Sawndip: 話僮, from ''vah'', 'language' and ''Cuengh'', 'Zhuang'; ) are any of more than a dozen Tai languages spoken by the Zhuang people of Southern
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
in the province of
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
and adjacent parts of
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 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
and
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 ...
. The Zhuang languages do not form a monophyletic linguistic unit, as northern and southern Zhuang languages are more closely related to other Tai languages than to each other. Northern Zhuang languages form a
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated vari ...
with Northern Tai varieties across the provincial border in
Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...
, which are designated as Bouyei, whereas Southern Zhuang languages form another dialect continuum with Central Tai varieties such as Nung,
Tay Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...
and Caolan in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
. Standard Zhuang is based on the Northern Zhuang dialect of Wuming. The Tai languages are believed to have been originally spoken in what is now southern China, with speakers of the Southwestern Tai languages (which include Thai, Lao and Shan) having emigrated in the face of Chinese expansion. Noting that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same
exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...
for the Vietnamese, ''kɛɛuA1'', from the Chinese commandery of Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam, Jerold A. Edmondson posited that the split between Zhuang and the Southwestern Tai languages happened no earlier than the founding of Jiaozhi in 112 BC. He also argues that the departure of the Thai from southern China must predate the 5th century AD, when the Tai who remained in China began to take family names.


Surveys

Zhāng Jūnrú's (张均如) ''Zhuàngyǔ Fāngyán Yánjiù'' (壮语方言研究 Study of Zhuang dialects is the most detailed study of Zhuang dialectology published to date. It reports survey work carried out in the 1950s, and includes a 1465-word list covering 36 varieties of Zhuang. For the list of the 36 Zhuang variants below from Zhang (1999), the name of the region (usually county) is given first, followed by the specific village. The phylogenetic position of each variant follows that of Pittayaporn (2009) (see '' Tai languages#Pittayaporn (2009)''). # Wuming – Shuāngqiáo 双桥 – Subgroup M #
Hengxian Hengzhou (), formerly, Heng County or Hengxian (; Standard Zhuang: ) is a county-level city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, with a permane ...
– Nàxù 那旭 – Subgroup N # Yongning (North) – Wǔtáng 五塘 – Subgroup N # Pingguo – Xīnxū 新圩 – Subgroup N #
Tiandong Tiandong County(, za, Denzdungh Yen) is a county of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baise. Demographics Tiandong's population was 411,500(2010). 85.22% of the people belong to the Zhuang ethnic grou ...
– Héhéng 合恒 – Subgroup N # Tianlin – Lìzhōu 利周 – Subgroup N # Lingyue – Sìchéng 泗城 – Subgroup N #
Guangnan Guangnan County (; Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, fr ...
(Shā people 沙族) – Zhěméng Township 者孟乡 – Subgroup N # Qiubei – Gēhán Township 戈寒乡 – Subgroup N # Liujiang – Bǎipéng 百朋 – Subgroup N # Yishan – Luòdōng 洛东 – Subgroup N # Huanjiang – Chéngguǎn 城管 – Subgroup N # Rong'an – Ānzì 安治 – Subgroup N # Longsheng – Rìxīn 日新 – Subgroup N #
Hechi Hechi () is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, bordering Guizhou to the north. In June 2002 it gained city status. Geography and climate Hechi is located in northwestern ...
– Sānqū 三区 – Subgroup N # Nandan – Mémá 么麻 – Subgroup N # Donglan – Chéngxiāng 城厢 – Subgroup N # Du'an – Liùlǐ 六里 – Subgroup N # Shanglin – Dàfēng 大丰 – Subgroup N #
Laibin Laibin (, Zhuang: Laizbinh) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. History Laibin is an ancient town with more than 2000 years of history. The area was settled in prehistoric times, more t ...
– Sìjiǎo 寺脚 – Subgroup N #
Guigang Guigang (; Zhuang: ''Gveigangj'') is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangxi in the People's Republic of China. Prior to 1988, it was known as Gui County or Guixian (). Geography and climate Guigang is located in eastern Guangxi. It is loc ...
– Shānběi 山北 – Subgroup N # Lianshan – Xiǎosānjiāng 小三江 – Subgroup N # Qinzhou – Nàhé Township 那河乡 – Subgroup I # Yongning (South) – Xiàfāng Township 下枋乡 – Subgroup M # Long'an – Xiǎolín Township 小林乡 – Subgroup M # Fusui (Central) – Dàtáng Township 大塘乡 – Subgroup M # Shangsi – Jiàodīng Township 叫丁乡 – Subgroup C #
Chongzuo Chongzuo (; za, Cungzcoj) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region near the Sino-Vietnamese border. It is home to one of China's largest Zhuang populations. Geography and climate Chongzuo is located in sou ...
– Fùlù Township 福鹿乡 – Subgroup C # Ningming – Fēnghuáng Township 凤璜乡 – Subgroup B #
Longzhou Longzhou County Zhuang: ''Lungzcouh Yen'') is a county of southwestern Guangxi, China, bordering Cao Bằng province, Vietnam. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Chongzuo. Longzhou lies in a circular valley at ...
– Bīnqiáo Township 彬桥乡 – Subgroup F # Daxin – Hòuyì Township 后益乡 – Subgroup H # Debao – Yuándì'èrqū 原第二区 – Subgroup L # Jingxi – Xīnhé Township 新和乡 – Subgroup L #
Guangnan Guangnan County (; Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, fr ...
(Nóng people 侬族) – Xiǎoguǎngnán Township 小广南乡 – Subgroup L # Yanshan (Nóng people 侬族) – Kuāxī Township 夸西乡 – Subgroup L # Wenma (Tǔ people 土族) – Hēimò Township 黑末乡大寨, Dàzhài – Subgroup P


Varieties

The Zhuang language (or language group) has been divided by Chinese linguists into northern and southern "dialects" (fāngyán 方言 in Chinese), each of which has been divided into a number of vernacular varieties (known as ''tǔyǔ'' 土语 in Chinese) by Chinese linguists (Zhang & Wei 1997; Zhang 1999:29-30).Zhang Yuansheng and Wei Xingyun. 1997. "Regional variants and vernaculars in Zhuang." In Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.), ''Comparative Kadai: The Tai branch'', 77–96. Publications in Linguistics, 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. . The Wuming dialect of Yongbei Zhuang, classified within the "Northern Zhuang dialect," is considered to be the " standard" or
prestige dialect Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnet ...
of Zhuang, developed by the government for certain official usages. Although Southern Zhuang varieties have aspirated stops, Northern Zhuang varieties lack them. There are over 60 distinct tonal systems with 5–11 tones depending on the variety. Zhang (1999) identified 13 Zhuang varieties. Later research by the Summer Institute of Linguistics has indicated that some of these are themselves multiple languages that are not mutually intelligible without previous exposure on the part of speakers, resulting in 16 separate
ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for ...
codes.


Northern Zhuang

Northern Zhuang comprises dialects north of the Yong River, with 8,572,200 speakers ( prior to 2007): * Guibei 桂北 (1,290,000 speakers): Luocheng, Huanjiang, Rongshui, Rong'an, Sanjiang, Yongfu, Longsheng,
Hechi Hechi () is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, bordering Guizhou to the north. In June 2002 it gained city status. Geography and climate Hechi is located in northwestern ...
, Nandan, Tian'e, Donglan () * Liujiang 柳江 (1,297,000 speakers): Liujiang, North
Laibin Laibin (, Zhuang: Laizbinh) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. History Laibin is an ancient town with more than 2000 years of history. The area was settled in prehistoric times, more t ...
, Yishan, Liucheng, Xincheng () * Hongshui He 红水河 (2,823,000 speakers): South
Laibin Laibin (, Zhuang: Laizbinh) is a prefecture-level city in the central part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. History Laibin is an ancient town with more than 2000 years of history. The area was settled in prehistoric times, more t ...
, Du'an, Mashan, Shilong,
Guixian Guigang (; Zhuang: ''Gveigangj'') is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangxi in the People's Republic of China. Prior to 1988, it was known as Gui County or Guixian (). Geography and climate Guigang is located in eastern Guangxi. It is locate ...
, Luzhai,
Lipu LIPU, the Lega italiana protezione uccelli (En. “Italian League for Bird Protection”) is an Italian charitable organisation, founded in 1965 and devoted to the protection of the country's wildlife with a particular focus on birds. It has a mem ...
, Yangshuo. Castro and Hansen (2010) distinguished three
mutually unintelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as ...
varieties: Central Hongshuihe (), Eastern Hongshuihe () and Liuqian (). * Yongbei 邕北 (1,448,000 speakers): North Yongning, '' Wuming'' (prestige dialect), Binyang,
Hengxian Hengzhou (), formerly, Heng County or Hengxian (; Standard Zhuang: ) is a county-level city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, with a permane ...
, Pingguo () * Youjiang 右江 (732,000 speakers):
Tiandong Tiandong County(, za, Denzdungh Yen) is a county of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baise. Demographics Tiandong's population was 411,500(2010). 85.22% of the people belong to the Zhuang ethnic grou ...
,
Tianyang Tianyang District (; Standard Zhuang: ; Youjiang Zhuang: ) is a district in western Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baise. History Tianyang County was formed in 1935 by combining Fengyi County () and ...
, and parts of the Baise City area; all along the Youjiang River basin area () * Guibian 桂边 ( Yei Zhuang; 827,000 speakers): Fengshan, Lingyun, Tianlin, Longlin, North
Guangnan Guangnan County (; Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, fr ...
(
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 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
) () * Qiubei 丘北 ( Yei Zhuang; 122,000 speakers): Qiubei area (
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 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
) () * Lianshan 连山 (33,200 speakers): Lianshan (
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 ...
), North
Huaiji Huaiji County () is a county of western Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Zhaoqing Zhaoqing (), alternately romanized as Shiuhing, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. As ...
(
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 ...
) ()


Southern Zhuang

Southern Zhuang dialects are spoken south of the Yong River, with 4,232,000 speakers ( prior to 2007): * Yongnan 邕南 (1,466,000 speakers): South Yongning, Central and North Fusui, Long'an, Jinzhou, Shangse,
Chongzuo Chongzuo (; za, Cungzcoj) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region near the Sino-Vietnamese border. It is home to one of China's largest Zhuang populations. Geography and climate Chongzuo is located in sou ...
areas () * Zuojiang 左江 (1,384,000 speakers):
Longzhou Longzhou County Zhuang: ''Lungzcouh Yen'') is a county of southwestern Guangxi, China, bordering Cao Bằng province, Vietnam. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Chongzuo. Longzhou lies in a circular valley at ...
(Longjin), Daxin, Tiandeng, Ningming; Zuojiang River basin area () * Dejing 得靖 (979,000 speakers): Jingxi, Debao, Mubian, Napo. Jackson, Jackson and Lau (2012) distinguished two
mutually unintelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as ...
varieties: Yang Zhuang () and Min Zhuang () * Yanguang 砚广 ( Nong Zhuang; 308,000 speakers): South
Guangnan Guangnan County (; Zhuang: ) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. The seat of Guangnan, known today as Liancheng (), was the heart of the Gouding Kingdom () that lasted approximately 400 years, fr ...
(
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 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
), Yanshan area () * Wenma 文麻 ( Dai Zhuang; 95,000 speakers): Wenshan (
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 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
), Malipo, Guibian () The Tày and Nùng language complex in Vietnam is also considered one of the varieties of Central Tai and shares a high
mutual intelligibility In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as ...
with Wenshan Dai and other Southern Zhuang dialects in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
. The Nùng An language has a mixture of Northern and Central Tai features.


Recently described varieties

Johnson (2011) distinguishes four distinct Zhuang languages in Wenshan Prefecture,
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 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
: Nong Zhuang, Yei Zhuang, Dai Zhuang, and Min Zhuang. Min Zhuang is a recently discovered variety that has never been described previous to Johnson (2011). (''See also Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture#Ethnic groups'') Pyang Zhuang and Myang Zhuang are recently described Central Tai languages spoken in Debao County, Guangxi, China.


Writing systems

The Zhuang languages have been written in the ancient Zhuang script, '' Sawndip'', for over a thousand years, and possibly '' Sawgoek'' previous to that. '' Sawndip'' is a
Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
-based system of writing, similar to Vietnamese '' chữ nôm.'' Some ''Sawndip'' logograms were borrowed directly from Han characters, whereas others were original characters created from the components of Chinese characters. It is used for writing songs about every aspect of life, and in more recent times encouraging people to follow official family planning policy. There has also been the occasional use of a number of other scripts including pictographics
proto-writing Proto-writing consists of visible marks communicating limited information. Such systems emerged from earlier traditions of symbol systems in the early Neolithic, as early as the 7th millennium BC in Eastern Europe and China. They used ideogra ...
, such as in the example at right. In 1957, a Latin-based hybrid script expanded with Cyrillic- and IPA-derived letters was introduced for Standard Zhuang, and in 1982 this was changed to
Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...
; these are referred to as the old Zhuang and new Zhuang, respectively. Bouyei is written in
Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...
.


See also

* Languages of China *
Zhuang studies Zhuang studies (or Zhuangology; Standard Zhuang: Cuenghhag; ) is an interdisciplinary intellectual field concerned with the Zhuang people – their history, anthropology, religion, politics, languages, and literature. The majority of such re ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *


External links

* Kra-Dai Swadesh lists (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
Zhuang language & alphabet
Omniglot
The prospects for the long-term survival of Non-Han minority languages in the south of China

Field Notes on the Pronominal System of Zhuang
"A major case of language shift is occurring in which the use of Zhuang and other minority languages is restricted mainly to rural areas because Zhuang-speaking villages, like Jingxi, which develop into towns become more and more of Mandarin-speaking towns. Zhuang-speaking villages become non-Zhuang-speaking towns! And children of Zhuang-speaking parents in cities are likely not to speak Zhuang as a mother-tongue."
Map of Major Zhuang language groups
* Paradisec has an open acces
collection of Zhuang Mogong Texts from Bama and Tianyang

Sawcuengh People.com
Official Zhuang language version ( Standard Zhuang) of the '' People's Daily'' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhuang Language Languages of China Tai languages