Zhuang language
Encyclopedia
Tai languages
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages are a branch of the Tai–Kadai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Burma's Shan language;...
used by the Zhuang people. Most speakers live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
within the People's Republic of China
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...
, where the Wuming variety is an official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
. Over one million speakers also live in China's Yunnan province.
Standard Zhuang
Standard Zhuang
The standard Zhuang language is the variety of Zhuang spoken in Wuming County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, where it is an official language.-Classification:...
is based on the dialect of Wuming County
Wuming County
Wuming County is a county under the administration of Nanning city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.The Wuming dialect is the prestige dialect of the Zhuang language....
. The Bouyei language
Bouyei language
The Bouyei language , is a language spoken by the Bouyei ethnic group of southern Guizhou Province in mainland China...
is a slightly different standard form of Zhuang used across the provincial border in Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
. There is a dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
between Wuming and Bouyei, as well as between Zhuang and various (other) Nung languages such as Tày, Nùng, and San Chay of northern Vietnam.
The sixteen ISO 639-3 registered Zhuang languages are not mutually intelligible without previous exposure on the part of speakers, and some of them are themselves multiple languages.
Citing the fact that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same exonym for the Vietnamese, kɛɛuA1, Jerold A. Edmondson
Jerold A. Edmondson
Jerold A. Edmondson is a professor of linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington. Edmondson is a leading specialist in Tai–Kadai languages, especially the Kam–Sui branch. He was one of the researchers who discovered the En language during a linguistic field expedition in the late...
of the University of Texas, Arlington posited that the split between Zhuang and the Southwest Tai languages happened no earlier than the founding of Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi
Jiaozhi was the name of all or part of Vietnam's territory, from the Hùng Vương era to the middle of the Third Chinese domination, and during the Fourth Chinese domination.-Giao Chỉ in the Văn Lang era:...
(交址) in Vietnam in 112 BC, but no later than the 5th–6th century AD.
Varieties
The Zhuang language (or language group) has been divided by Chinese linguists into northern and southern "dialects" (fangyan 方言 in Chinese) each of which has been divided into a number of vernacular varieties (known as Tǔyǔ 土语 in Chinese) (Zhang & Wei 1997; Zhang 1999:29-30). The WumingWuming County
Wuming County is a county under the administration of Nanning city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.The Wuming dialect is the prestige dialect of the Zhuang language....
dialect of Yongbei Zhuang, classified within the "Northern Zhuang dialect," is considered to be the "standard
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
" or prestige dialect
Prestige dialect
In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...
of Zhuang, developed by the government for certain official usages. While 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.
Northern (8,572,200 speakers)
- 1. Guibei 桂北 - 1,290,000 speakers : Luocheng, Huanjiang, Rongshui, Rong'an, Sanjiang, Yongfu, Longsheng, Hechi, Nandan, Tian'e, Donglan
- 2. Liujiang 柳江 - 1,297,000 speakers : Liujiang, Laibin North, Yishan, Liucheng, Xincheng
- 3. Hongshui He 红水河 - 2,823,000 speakers : Laibin South, Du'an, Mashan, Shilong, Guixian, Luzhai, Lipu, Yangshuo
- 4. Yongbei 邕北 - 1,448,000 speakers : Yongning North, WumingWuming CountyWuming County is a county under the administration of Nanning city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.The Wuming dialect is the prestige dialect of the Zhuang language....
(prestige dialect), Binyang, Hengxian, Pingguo - 5. Youjiang 右江 - 732,000 speakers : Tiandong, Tianyang, Baise; Youjiang River basin area
- 6. Guibian 桂边 - 827,000 speakers : Fengshan, Lingyun, Tianlin, Longlin, Yunnan Guangnan North
- 7. Qiubei 丘北 - 122,000 speakers : Yunnan Qiubei area
- 8. Lianshan 连山 - 33,200 speakers : Lianshan, Huaiji North
Southern (4,232,000 speakers)
- 9. Yongnan 邕南 - 1,466,000 speakers : Yongning South, Fusui Central and North, Long'an, Jinzhou, Shangse, Chongzuo areas
- 10. Zuojiang 左江 - 1,384,000 speakers : Longzhou (Longjin), Daxin, Tiandeng, Ningming; Zuojiang River basin area
- 11. Dejing 得靖 (Yang) - 979,000 speakers : Jingxi, Debao, Mubian, Napo
- 12. Yanguang 砚广 (Nong) - 308,000 speakers : Yunnan Guangnan South, Yanshan area
- 13. Wenma 文马 (Dai) - 95,000 speakers : Yunnan Wenshan, Malipo, Guibian
Zhāng Jūnrú's (张均如) Zhuàngyǔ Fāngyán Yánjiù (壮语方言研究 [A Study of Zhuang dialects]) is the most detailed study of Zhuang dialectology
Dialectology
Dialectology is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features...
ever published to date. It includes a 1465-word list covering 36 varieties of Zhuang. For the list of the 36 Zhuang variants below from Zhang (1999), the region (usually county) is given first, with the name of the specific village listed after the hyphen. The phylogenetic position of each variant follows that of Pittayaporn (2009) (see Tai languages#Pittayaporn (2009)).
- Wuming 武鸣 - Shuangqiao 双桥 - Subgroup M
- Hengxian 横县 - Naxu 那旭 - Subgroup N
- Yongbei 邕北 (邕宁北部) - Wutang 五塘 - Subgroup N
- Pingguo 平果 - Xingyu 新于 - Subgroup N
- Tiandong 田东 - Hexuan 合愃 - Subgroup N
- Tianlin 田林 - Lizhou 利周 - Subgroup N
- Lingyue 凌乐 - Sicheng 泗城 - Subgroup N
- Guangnan 广南 (Sha people 沙族) - Zhemeng Township 者孟乡 - Subgroup N
- Qiubei 丘北 - Gehan Township 戈寒乡 - Subgroup N
- Liujiang 柳江 - Baipeng 百朋 - Subgroup N
- Yishan 宜山 - Luodong 洛东 - Subgroup N
- Huanjiang 环江 - Chengguan 城管 - Subgroup N
- Rong'an 融安 - Anzi 安治 - Subgroup N
- Longsheng 龙胜 - Rixin 日新 - Subgroup N
- Hechi 河池 - Sanqu 三区 - Subgroup N
- Nandan 南丹 - Mema 么麻 - Subgroup N
- Donglan 东兰 - Chengxiang 城厢 - Subgroup N
- Du'an 都安 - Liuli 六里 - Subgroup N
- Shanglin 上林 - Dafeng 大丰 - Subgroup N
- Laibin 来宾 - Sijiao 寺脚 - Subgroup N
- Guigang 贵港 - Shanbei 山北 - Subgroup N
- Lianshan 连山 - Xiaosanjiang 小三江 - Subgroup N
- Qinzhou 钦州 - Nahe Township 那河乡 - Subgroup I
- Yongnan 邕南 - Xiafang Township 下枋乡 - Subgroup M
- Long'an 隆安 - Xiaolin Township 小林乡 - Subgroup M
- Fusui (Central) 扶绥中部 - Datang Township 大塘乡 - Subgroup M
- Shangsi 上思 - Jiaoding Township 叫丁乡 - Subgroup C
- Chongzuo 崇左 - Fulu Township 福鹿乡 - Subgroup C
- Ningming 宁明 - Fenghuang Township 凤璜乡 - Subgroup B
- Longzhou 龙州 - Binqiao Township 彬桥乡 - Subgroup F
- Daxin 大新 - Houyi Township 后益乡 - Subgroup H
- Debao 德保 - Yuandi'erqu 原第二区 - Subgroup L
- Jingxi 靖西 - Xinhe Township 新和乡 - Subgroup L
- Guangnan 广南 (Nong people 侬族) - Xiaoguangnan Township 小广南乡 - Subgroup L
- Yanshan 砚山 (Nong people 侬族) - Kuaxi Township 夸西乡 - Subgroup L
- Wenma 文马 (Tu people 土族) - Dazhai, Heimo Township 黑末乡大寨 - Subgroup P
See also
- Standard ZhuangStandard ZhuangThe standard Zhuang language is the variety of Zhuang spoken in Wuming County in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, where it is an official language.-Classification:...
- Old Zhuang script
- Bouyei languageBouyei languageThe Bouyei language , is a language spoken by the Bouyei ethnic group of southern Guizhou Province in mainland China...
, another official Zhuang language, with a comparison of its writing systems - Zhuang studiesZhuang studiesZhuang studies is an interdisciplinary intellectual field concerned with the Zhuang people – their history, anthropology, religion, politics, languages, and literature. The majority of such research is being carried out in the People's Republic of China...
- Languages of ChinaLanguages of ChinaChina's many different ethnic groups speak many different languages, collectively called Zhōngguó Yǔwén , literally, "speech and writing of China", which span eight primary language families. Most of them are dissimilar morphologically and phonetically. Even within each family, most are mutually...
External links
- Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
- Zhuang Language Guide in English
- Ningming Zhuang from 1 – 10
- Unicode Latin Extended-B code chart specifies the Unicode characters to be used for the Zhuang special letters
- Zhuang language & alphabet, Omniglot
- Introduction to sawndip, mentions both ancient and modern usages, at the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing
- 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."