Tujia language
Encyclopedia
The Tujia language is a language spoken natively by the Tujia ethnicity in central China
. It is unclassified within the Tibeto-Burman language family, due to pervasive influence from neighboring languages. There are two dialects, one Northern and one Southern. Both dialects are tonal languages with the tone contour
s of ˥ ˥˧ ˧˥ ˨˩. The Northern dialect has 21 initials, while the Southern dialect has 26 (with 5 additional aspirated initials). As for the finals, the Northern dialect has 25 and the Southern 30, 12 of which are used exclusively in loan words from the Chinese language
. Its verb make a distinction of active and passive voices; Its pronouns distinguish the singular and plural numbers along with the basic and possessive case
s. As of 2005, its speakers number roughly 70,000, out of an ethnic population of 8 million.
and Qiangic
, but many leave it unclassified.
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It is unclassified within the Tibeto-Burman language family, due to pervasive influence from neighboring languages. There are two dialects, one Northern and one Southern. Both dialects are tonal languages with the tone contour
Tone contour
A tone contour is a tone in a tonal language which shifts from one pitch to another over the course of the syllable or word. Tone contours are especially common in East and Southeast Asia, but occur elsewhere, such as the Kru languages of Liberia and the Ju languages of Namibia.-Themes:When the...
s of ˥ ˥˧ ˧˥ ˨˩. The Northern dialect has 21 initials, while the Southern dialect has 26 (with 5 additional aspirated initials). As for the finals, the Northern dialect has 25 and the Southern 30, 12 of which are used exclusively in loan words from the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
. Its verb make a distinction of active and passive voices; Its pronouns distinguish the singular and plural numbers along with the basic and possessive case
Possessive case
The possessive case of a language is a grammatical case used to indicate a relationship of possession. It is not the same as the genitive case, which can express a wider range of relationships, though the two have similar meanings in many languages.See Possession for a survey of the different...
s. As of 2005, its speakers number roughly 70,000, out of an ethnic population of 8 million.
Classification
Tujia is clearly a Tibeto-Burman language, but its position within that family is unclear, due to massive borrowing from other Tibeto-Burman languages. It has been placed with LoloishLoloish languages
The Loloish languages, also known as Ngwi or in China as Yi, are a family of fifty to a hundred languages of the Tibeto-Burman language family. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relatives. Both the Loloish and Burmish branches are well defined, as is their superior node, Lolo–Burmese...
and Qiangic
Qiangic languages
Qiangic or Kiangic, formerly known as Dzorgai, is a language group of the northeastern Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken mainly in Southwestern China, including Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan....
, but many leave it unclassified.