Northern Va language
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Northern Va (Va pronunciation: [tou˥˩wo˨˩vaʔ˥˩] "Va language") is an Austroasiatic language spoken in Yunnan, China. It is classified as an Angkuic language, belongs to the Palaungic branch by Hsiu (2017). No ISO code has been designated for Va.
The relationship between two Va varieties is unclear, as Northern Va informant stated that they cannot understand Southern Va very well, but the Southern Va informant can understand Northern Va perfectly. Southern Va is more conservative compared to Northern Va in sesquisyllabic word structure.
This language was first researched by Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau in 1990.
Sociolinguistics
Northern Va is spoken in a remote pocket deep inside Yunnan, with no other Austroasiatic languages are in sight within a 100 kilometers radius. Its speakers are officially recognized as ethnic Blangs, despite they speak an Angkuic language. The language is used in daily life by all generations, including children.
Northern Va is spoken in about eight villages of Taihe Village 太和村, Jingxing Township 景星乡, Mojiang County, Yunnan.
- Wamo 挖墨 (currently with vigorous language use)
- Xinzhai 新寨 (Upper 上 and Lower 下 hamlets)
- Jiuzhai 旧寨
- Dazhai 大寨 (Upper 上 and Lower 下 hamlets)
- Xiaozhai 小寨 (Upper 上 and Lower 下 hamlets)
Va speakers are surrounded by mostly Kaduo speakers, a Southern Loloish language. However, trace of Tai superstrate is significant, evident in most of Va numbers other than 1-3 have been replaced by Tai loans, even though Tai speakers are a minority in the region.
Phonology
Word structure
Northern Va is less archaic in comparison to Southern Va in term of preserving the canonical Austroasiatic word shape C(C)VC. Monosyllables tend to dominate the lexicon, though presyllabic clusters /kl-, kʰl-, pl-, pʰl-, pʰj-/ may appears in some lexemes. The maximal structure in Northern Va is C1(C2)V(V)(N/Cf)T.
Suprasegmentals (tones)
There are four tones in Va. Note that when high-falling tone /51/ is followed by a mid-level /33/ or low-falling tone /21/, there is a contour transition during the phonetic coarticulation which may result as [452] or [451].
| Pitch value | Contour | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | low-falling | tsa² "cook" |
| 33 | mid-level | ʂɨ³³ "rope, string" |
| 35 | mid-rising | fai⁵¹veiʔ³⁵ "left side" |
| 51 | high-falling | dʑɯa⁵¹ "know" |
Consonants
No phonemes listed below have been found to exist only as allophones in all environments. /ɲ̥/ is apparently rare, as there is only one example: ɲ̥a⁵¹ 'to laugh'.
Onsets
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | sibilant | |||||||
| Plosive | plain | p | t | t͡s | t͡ɕ | k | ʔ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡sʰ | t͡ɕʰ | kʰ | |||
| voiced | d͡ʑ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | ɬ | s | ʂ | ɕ | x | h |
| voiced | v | ʑ | ɣ | |||||
| Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ȵ̥ | ŋ̥ | |||
| voiced | m | n | ȵ | ŋ | ||||
| Approximant | w | l |
Codas
Vowels
- /a/ has an allophone of [ɑ].
- /ɤ/ has an allophone of [ə]. [ɤ] may have a front quality.
- Six diphthongs /ɯa ui ei ɤi ie ou/ all can be nasalized.
Lexicon
Pronouns
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ʔo³³ | ʔei³³ |
| 2nd person | mi³³ | pʰei³³ |
| 3rd person | tʰa³³ | kei⁵¹ |
Numerals
Note: loan words are not displayed.
| Gloss | Northern Va | Proto-Eastern Angkuic | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tiʔ³³ (hand) | *moːh | |
| 2 | kɑ⁵¹ | *ləʔaːr | |
| 3 | kui⁵¹ | **kuej | *ləʔɔːj |
| 4 | (Tai loan) | *poːn | |
| 5 | – | *pəsan | |
| 6 | – | *tɔːl | |
| 7 | – | *təpuːl | |
| 8 | – | *taːʔ | |
| 9 | – | *tiːm | |
| 10 | – | *kɤːl | |
| 100 | tiʔ³³pɑk⁵¹ | *prjah | |
| 1000 | tiʔ³³ɕin⁵¹ | *sreːŋ |
Flora & colors
| Gloss | Northern Va | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| black | laŋ⁵¹ploŋ⁵¹ | *jam, *laŋ |
| bamboo | ŋum³³xɤŋ⁵¹ | *hrəŋ |
| flower | ɣaŋ⁵¹ | *raːŋ |
| fruit | pʰli²¹vei³³ | *pleeʔ |
| green/blue | vei²¹ŋ̥ia³³ | **sŋaal; *ɲ(ɛ/iə)r |
| leaf | ɬa²¹siʔ³³ | *hlaʔ |
| red | ve³³ŋam⁵¹ | *rooŋ |
| rice tree | ŋ̥ou³³ | *sŋɔːʔ |
| millet | sɨ²¹sɨ³³ | *skɔɔj |
| yellow | ve²¹ɬɯ̃⁵¹ | *rmiit |
Fauna
| Gloss | Northern Va | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| buffalo | kʰɯaʔ⁵¹ | *traːk |
| bear | kʰɯa⁵¹ | *kreːs |
| bee | sie⁵¹ | *psiər |
| bird | sɨm³³ | *ciːm |
| dog | so³³ | *cɔːʔ |
| goose | haŋ⁵¹ | *haan |
| fowl | ʔie⁵¹ | *ʔiɛr |
| horse | pɯaŋ⁵¹ | *mraŋ |
| louse | tɕʰiŋ²¹ʂɨ³³ | *ciːʔ |
| pig | lik⁵¹ | *-leːk |
| tiger | vai²¹ | *rwaaj |
- Hsiu, Andrew (2015). . doi:.
- Hsiu, Andrew (2017a). . Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. University of Hawai'i Press. doi:.
- Sidwell, Paul (2015). The Palaungic Languages: Classification, Reconstruction and Comparative Lexicon. München: Lincom Europa.
- Nanjian County Gazetteer Commission [南涧县志编纂委员会编] (ed). 1993. Nanjian County Gazetteer [南涧彝族自治县志]. Chengdu: Sichuan Reference Press [四川辞书出版社].
- Na Ruzhen [納汝珍], et al. (eds). 1994. Zhenkang County Ethnic Gazetteer [镇康县民族志]. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press [云南民族出版社].
- Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau [思茅行暑民族事务委员会] (ed). 1990. A study of the Bulang people [布朗族研究]. m.s.
- Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau [思茅行暑民族事务委员会] (ed). 1991. A study of the Bulang people [布朗族研究]. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press [云南人民出版社]. ISBN7222008039
- Xiao Dehua [萧德虎], et al. (eds). 1992. Zhenkang County Gazetteer [镇康县志]. 1992. Chengdu: Sichuan People's Press [四川民族出版社].
- Yunnan Gazetteer Commission [云南省地方志编纂委员会] (ed). 1998. Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer, Vol. 59: Minority Languages Orthographies Gazetteer [云南省志. 卷五十九, 少数民族语言文字志]. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press [云南人民出版社].
- Tao Yuming [陶玉明]. 2012. The Bulang people of China [中国布朗族]. Yinchuan: Ningxia People's Press [宁夏人民出版社].
External links
- Hsiu, Andrew (2017b). . Zenodo. doi:.