Kam language

The Kam or Gam language (), also known as Dong (), is a Kam–Sui language spoken by the Dong people. ''Ethnologue'' distinguishes three Kam varieties as separate but closely related languages.

Demographics

Southern Dong

Almost 1.5 million speakers of Southern Dong were counted in the 1990 language census, from a total of 2.5 million people in the Dong ethnic group. The Southern Dong live primarily in Rongjiang, Jinping, Liping, Zhenyuan, and Congjiang counties in Guizhou Province; Longsheng, Sanjiang, and Rongshui counties in northeastern Guangxi; and Tongdao County in Hunan Province. Two Dong villages are also located in northern Vietnam, although only one individual in Vietnam is still able to speak Dong.

Dialects

The Kam language can be divided into two major subdivisions: Southern Kam and Northern Kam.Yang Tongyin and Jerold A. Edmondson (2008). "Kam." In Diller, Anthony, Jerold A. Edmondson, and Yongxian Luo ed. ''The Tai–Kadai Languages''. Routledge Language Family Series. Psychology Press, 2008. Northern Kam displays more Chinese influence and lacks vowel length contrast, while Southern Kam is more conservative. Language varieties closely related to or part of Kam include Cao Miao and Naxi Yao. A northern Pinghua variety called Tongdao Pinghua, spoken in Tongdao County, Hunan, has also been significantly influenced by Kam.

;Southern Kam
*First lectal area: Róngjiāng Zhānglǔ (), Lípíng Hóngzhōu (), Jǐnpíng Qǐméng () in Guizhou; Tōngdào () in Hunan; Longsheng () and Sanjiang Dudong () in Guangxi
*Second lectal area: Lípíng Shuǐkǒu (), Cóngjiāng Guàndòng (), Róngjiāng Píngjiāng () in Guizhou; Sānjiāng Hélǐ () in Guangxi
*Third lectal area: Zhènyuǎn Bàojīng () in Guizhou
*Fourth lectal area: Róngshuǐ () in Guangxi

;Northern Kam
*First lectal area: Tiānzhù Shídòng (), Sānsuì Kuǎnchǎng (), Jiànhé Xiǎoguǎng () in Guizhou; also Jǐnpíng Jiǔzhài () in GuizhouTu, Guanglu 涂光禄; Yang, Jun 杨军. 2008. ''Jinpingxian Han, Dong, Miao yu fangyan zhi'' 锦屏县汉侗苗语方言志. Guiyang: Guizhou University Press 贵州大学出版社.
*Second lectal area: Tiānzhù Zhǔxī () in Guizhou
*Third lectal area: Jǐnpíng Dàtóng () in Guizhou

Long (2012:19-20)Long Yaohong []. 2012.
A study of Dong dialectology
[ Dongyu fangyin yanjiu]''. Ph.D. dissertation, Shanghai Normal University []. http://www.taodocs.com/p-5926320.html classifies the Kam lectal areas (dialects) as follows.

;Southern Kam
*Lectal area 1
**Chejiang, Rongjiang County
**Longcheng, Tongdao County
**Pingdeng, Longsheng County
**Chengyang, Sanjiang County
**Hongzhou, Liping County
*Lectal area 2
**Zhaihao, Rongjiang County
**Shuikou, Liping County
**Guidong, Congjiang County
**Heli, Sanjiang County
*Lectal area 3
**Zhaihuai, Rongshui County
*Lectal area 4
**Pindong, Rongshui County

;Northern Kam
*Lectal area 1 (Highland Dong )
**Shidong, Tianzhu County
**Kuanchang, Sansui County
**Jiuzhai, Jinping County
**Xiaoguang, Jianhe County
*Lectal area 2 (River Dong )
**Datong, Jinping County
**Sanmentang, Tianzhu County
**Lannichong, Jingzhou County
*Lectal area 3
**Zhuxi, Tianzhu County
**Zhongzhai, Xinhuang County
*Lectal area 4
**Qimeng, Jinping County
*Lectal area 5
**Baojing, Zhenyuan County

In Congjiang County, Dong consists of three dialects: ''Jiudong '' (similar to Chejiang Dong), ''Liudong'' (similar to Liping Dong), and another dialect spoken in Xishan , Bingmei , and Guandong (similar to Sanjiang Dong) (''Congjiang County Gazetteer'' 1999:109).

In Suining County, Hunan, Dong is spoken in Lianfeng (including Duolong ), Huangsangping , Le'anpu , and other nearby locations. In Chengbu County, Hunan, Dong is spoken in Yanzhai , Chang'anying , and Jiangtousi .

Kam is also spoken in the single village of Đồng Mộc, Trung Sơn Commune, Yên Sơn District, Tuyên Quang Province, northern Vietnam, where there are about 35 Kam people (Edmondson & Gregerson 2001). The Kam of Đồng Mộc had migrated to Vietnam from China about 150 years ago. The Kam variety spoken in Đồng Mộc is most similar to that of Lípíng Shuǐkǒu () in southeastern Guizhou.

In China, a total of seven counties designated as Dong Autonomous Counties ().
* Yuping Dong Autonomous County, Guizhou
*Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, Guangxi
* Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, Guangxi
* Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan
* Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan
* Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County, Hunan
* Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan

Others

According to the ''Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer'' (1997), language varieties closely related to Southern Kam are spoken in Naxi , Dongkou County (which had 4,280 ethnic Yao in 1982 (Chen 2013:39)) and Lianmin , Suining County. However, they are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Yao, not Dong. Chen Qiguang (2013:39) reports that the ancestors of '' Naxihua'' speakers had migrated to their current location from Tianzhu, Liping, and Yuping counties of southeastern Guizhou during the early 15th century.

Phonology and orthography

Kam has two main orthographies: the Chinese academic developed system and the independently developed system by Ngo Van Lyong for Southern Kam as spoken in Rongjiang.Article in ''Omniglot''
/ref> The Chinese system is most commonly used by linguists and has similarities to other Chinese Kra–Dai language orthographies (such as Zhuang). The Ngo Van Lyong system was inspired by the Vietnamese alphabet and is made for speakers and learners.

While the Chinese system is the most well known, most Kam speakers are not literate.

Initials

The Chinese orthography for Kam orthography has 32 syllable-initial consonants; seven of them (, , , , , and ) only occur in recent loanwords from Chinese.

The Ngo Van Lyong orthography for Southern Kam has 28 syllable-initial consonants.

Finals

The Chinese orthography for Kam has 64 syllable finals; 14 of them occur only in Chinese loans and are not listed in the table below.

The phonetic value of the vowel in the finals spelled ''-ab'', ''-ad'' and ''-ag'', is in syllables that have the tones ''-l'', ''-p'' and ''-c'' (see table below); in syllables with tones ''-s'', ''-t'' and ''-x'', it is . The phonetic value of the vowel in the finals spelled ''-eb'', ''-ed'' and ''-eg'', is in syllables that have the tones ''-l'', ''-p'' and ''-c''; in syllables with tones ''-s'', ''-t'' and ''-x'', it is .

The Ngo Van Lyong orthography for Southern Kam has 116 syllable finals.

Tones

Kam is a tonal language. Open syllables can occur in one of nine different tones, checked syllables in six tones (so-called entering tones), so that the traditional approach counts fifteen tones. As with the Hmong alphabet, the Chinese orthography marks tones with a consonant at the end of each syllable.

The Ngô Văn Lương orthography marks tones via diacritics written above or below the vowel as with the Vietnamese alphabet and only features 6 tones.

References

* Ōu Hēngyuán 欧亨元: Cic deenx Gaeml Gax / Dòng-Hàn cídiǎn 侗汉词典 (''Kam–Chinese dictionary''; Běijīng 北京, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 2004), .

Further reading

*Long, Y., Zheng, G., & Geary, D. N. (1998). ''The Dong language in Guizhou Province, China''. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington publications in linguistics, publication 126. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
*Yang, Tongyin & Edmondson, Jerold A. (2008). ''Kam''. In Anthony V. N. Diller and Jerold A. Edmondson and Yongxian Luo (eds.), The Tai-Kadai Languages, 509-584. London & New York: Routledge.

External links

Southern Dong word list from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database

Dong-language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words
(from Wiktionary'
Swadesh-list appendix

{{Tai-Kadai languages

Kam–Sui languages
Languages of Guizhou
Languages of Hunan
Languages of Guangxi