Youjiang Zhuang, named after the
Youjiang River
The You River (), also known as the ''Youjiang River'', is a river of Guangxi, China. It rises in eastern Yunnan and joins the Zuo River ("Left River") near Nanning to form the Yong River. These rivers form part of the Pearl River system, which ...
in
Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, is a
Northern Tai
The Northern Tai languages are an established branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. They include the northern Zhuang languages and Bouyei of China, Tai Mène of Laos and Yoy of Thailand.
Languages Ethnologue
''Ethnologue'' distingui ...
or
Zhuang Language
The Zhuang languages (; autonym: , , pre-1982: , Sawndip: 話僮, from ''vah'', 'language' and ''Cuengh'', 'Zhuang'; ) are the more than a dozen Tai languages spoken by the Zhuang people of Southern China in the province of Guangxi and adjacen ...
spoken in
Tiandong County
Tiandong County (, ) 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 group, and speak Y ...
,
Tianyang District
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, Guangxi, Baise.
History
Tianyang County was formed in 1935 by combining Feng ...
, and parts of the
Youjiang District
Youjiang District (; ) is the municipal district of Baise, Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South ...
in
Baise
Baise ( zh, c=百色, p=Bǎisè, Bósè; local pronunciation: ), or Bose, is the westernmost prefecture-level city of Guangxi, China bordering Vietnam as well as the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. The city has a population of 4.3 million, of wh ...
,
Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
.
History and classification
Native speakers refer to the language as , which means "local language".
André-Georges Haudricourt in 1956 included the language of Tianzhou, the county seat of Tianyang, under Dioi, his name for Northern Zhuang.
Based on data from the 1950s Guangxi Zhuang language survey, Tiandong, Tianyang and a suburb of Baise City were grouped together. This grouping was sometimes called ''Tianyangese'' (). In the 1999 ''A Study of Zhuang Dialects'' this group was referred to as the Youjiang language (), and in 2007 Youjiang Zhuang was added as a separate language to ''Ethnologue''.
Phonology
Youjiang Zhuang has 10 tones, and can be considered as having 20 initials and 83 finals, though some speakers pronounce the initials and as and respectively.
Writing System
Youjiang Zhuang has two main writing systems,
characters and romanization.
References
Tai languages
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