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, ''kɛɛu
A1'', 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 ChinaField 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 TianyangSawcuengh People.comOfficial Zhuang language version (
Standard Zhuang) of the ''
People's Daily'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhuang Language
Languages of China
Tai languages