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Then language

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Then
Yanghuang
Native toChina
RegionPingtang County, southern Guizhou
Native speakers
20,000 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tct
Glottologtenn1245
ELPT'en

The Then language (also known as Yánghuáng 佯僙语 in Chinese; alternate spellings: Tʻen and Ten) is a Kam–Sui language spoken in Pingtang and Huishui counties, southern Guizhou. It is spoken by the Yanghuang 佯僙 people, many of whom are officially classified as Maonan by the Chinese government.

Names

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The Yanghuang people called themselves ai11 raːu11, except for the Yanghuang of Huishui County, Xiayou District 下游地区, and Xiguan Shangmo 西关上莫, who called themselves ai11 thən35 (Bo 1997). According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer (2002:846),[2] their autonyms include jiŋ22 zau24 (印绕) and ai22 au24 (哎绕).

"Yanghuang" was mentioned in a Ming Dynasty record, the Dushi Fangyu Jiyao (读史方舆纪要).[2] According to it, "the Man people of Sizhou are Yanghuang, Gelao, Muyao (Mulao), and Miaozhi (Miaozi). (思州蛮自佯僙、仡佬、木瑶(老)、苗质(子)数种。)

Phonology

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Yanghuang of Kapu Township (卡蒲乡) has 71 consonants total, including those with secondary articulations. There are a total of 71 rhymes, 9 vowels, and 8 codas (Bo 1997).

Dialects

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Bo (1997:138-139) lists three main dialects of Yanghuang.

  • Hedong 河东: spoken by more than 15,000 people, 10,000 of whom are daily users of the language. It is spoken east of the Pingtang River 平塘河 in the townships of Kapu 卡蒲乡 and Zhemi 者密镇, in Pingtang County, as well as in parts of western Dushan County, including Balang village 坝浪寨. Their autonym is ai1 raːu1. This is the representative dialect studied most by Bo (1997).
  • Hexi 河西: active speaker population of about 2,000 out of a population of about 10,000 people. It is spoken west of the Pingtang River 平塘河 in the western part of Zhemi Township 者密镇, Pingtang County (in the villages of Liudongba 六硐坝 and Jiaqing 甲青), and neighboring areas.
  • Huishui 惠水: spoken only by elderly people out of a population of about 2,000-3,000 people. Middle-aged and younger people do not speak the Huishui variety of Then anymore. It is spoken in Huishui County. It is spoken around the village of Yaoshao 姚哨, but not in Yaoshao 姚哨 itself. This is the most divergent dialect, and is most heavily influenced by Chinese. Their autonym ai1 thən2. Their ancestors had reportedly migrated from Liudongba 六硐坝 during the 1800s.

Below are some lexical comparisons of Yanghuang dialects from Bo (1997:139-146).

English gloss Chinese gloss Hedong 河东 Hexi 河西 Huishui 惠水
vegetable 蔬菜 ʔma1 ma1 ma1
female ʔmjɛk9 mjɛk9 mjaːk9
well (water) ʔmwə5 mo5 mu5
year ʔme1 be1 be1
nose 鼻子 ʔnaŋ1 naŋ1 naŋ1
moon ʔnjen1 njen1 njen1
sesame 芝麻 ʔȵa1 ȵa1 ȵa1
nod (head) 点(头) ʔŋak7 ŋak7
money prin2 bin2 -tʰin2
stove, hearth kraːu5 taːu5 tʰaːu5
white pɣaːk8 pwaːk10 paːk8
cliff 山崖 pɣa1, pɣə1 pwa1 pa1
horn (of cattle) pɣaːu2 pwaːu2 paːu2
grass kɣaŋ1 kaŋ1 kaŋ1
light (weight) ʔza4 tsa4 ja4
heavy ʔzan2, jan2 tsan2 ʔjan2
itch ʔzam2 tsam2 jəm2
star 星星 ʔzut7 tsut7 jut7
span; bunch ʔzaːp8 tsjɛp10 jɛp8
zongzi 粽子 ʔzut7 ʔjut7 jut7
mushroom, fungus 菌子 ʔɣa1 ɣa1 ɣə1
long raːi3 raːi3 zaːi3
field ra5 ra5 za5
air 空气 ro6 rəu6 zo6
transplant (seedlings) 插(秧) ram1 ram1 zam1
wind rəm2 rəm2 zəm2
firewood rət7 rət7 zət7
bone 骨头 raːk9 raːk9 zaːk9
dark 昏暗 rəp8 rəp8 zəp8; rəp8
soup riu6 ʑiu6
boat rjɛ1 rjɛ1 zja1
wife rjɛ4 rje4 zja4
roll (down) rjɛŋ4 rjɛŋ4 zjaːŋ4
steal rjɛk8 rjɛk8 zjak8
taro 芋头 rjɛk9 rjɛk9 zjaːk9
name 名字 daːn1 laːn1 laːn1
gallbladder do5 ləu5
listen dəi3 ləi3 lei3
shallow dai5 ləi5 lai5
go to market 赶(场) daːu3 laːu3 laːu3
forest 森林 dɔŋ1 lɔŋ1 loŋ1
winnowing basket 簸箕 dɔŋ3 lɔŋ3 loŋ3
deaf dak7 lak7 lak7
navel 肚脐 djɛ1 lja1
eye 眼睛 la1 da1 da1
steam, cook laːu3 daːu3 daːu3
moss 青苔 lau1 dau1 dau1
pond 水塘 lam1 dam1 dam1
see 看见 lo3 dəu3 do3
wood shavings 刨花 laːk9 daːk9 daːk9
fragrant laːŋ1 daːŋ1
tian que 田缺 laːŋ3 daːŋ3
bamboo strips 竹篾 luk7 dok7
river njɛ2 njɛ2 nja2
tree (classifier) pjɛ2 pjɛ2 pja2
hand mjɛ2 mjɛ2 mja2
walk sjɛm3 sjɛm3 sjaːm3
housefly 蝇子 tsjɛm5 tsjɛm5 tsjaːm5
sunlight 阳光 ljɛŋ1 ljɛŋ1 ljaːŋ1
ditch 水渠 mjɛŋ2 mjaːŋ2
magpie 喜鹊 ȶʰɛk9 sjɛk9 ɕaːk9
belly 肚子 lɔŋ2 lɔŋ2 loŋ2
finger 手指 tɔŋ1 tɔŋ1 toŋ1
ripe, cooked sɔk8 sɔk8 sok8
fall (intr.) tɔk9 tɔk9 tok9
bird ʔnɔk9 nɔk9 nok9
liver tap7 tap7 tap7
select; carry taːp9 taːp9 taːp9
ten sip8 sip8 sip8
child 子女 laːk10 laːk8 laːk8
congratulate 贺喜 bek10 bek8 bjek8
sky ʔmun1 mun1 mən1
marriage wan2 wan2 van2
fire vi2 vi2 vi2
body 身体 rən1 rən1 zən1
one to2 to2 to2
Chinese bayberry 杨梅 tʰaːi6 tʰaːi6 tʰaːi6
buffalo 水牛 wi2 wi2 wi2
rust raːk10 raːk10 mai4
overflow ron4 ron4 tʰiu5
cogon grass 茅草 ja2 ja2 zaːp8
squeeze nɛn3 nɛn3 ȵat8
squat, kneel kʰu6 kʰu6 pok8
tremble 颤抖 taːn2 taːn2 ən1
mole (of skin) 痦子 mak8 mak8 don1
pig food 猪食 kaːm1 kaːm1
dog ma1 ma1 kə0 va1
peel (skin) 剥(皮) kwa3 kwa3 tʰot9
cast, mold 浇铸 tʰaːu3 tʰaːu3 toi3
tickle 搔痒 tsjɛt10 ʔjɛt8 koi6
still (adverb) 还(副词) ʔnaŋ1 naŋ1 voŋ2
mountain (earth) 土山 liŋ4 nu2 niu2
big laːu4 maːk9 maːk9
marry (of man) lət7 tʰep9 tʰep9
rest 休息 ljak8 dja5 dja5
sharp 锋利 nim1 raːi2 zaːi2
have ʔnaŋ1 mei2 me2
pheasant 野鸡 ʔnɔk9 rwa1 kok9 kaːi5 ke1
fish scale kɛt9 tep9 kʰwaːŋ1
wrinkle (n.) 皱纹 tiu3 ȵap7 tsuŋ3
trip kɛk9 mit7 kʰam5
I jiu2 jiu2 jiu2
you (sg.) ȵa2 ȵa2 ȵa2
he mən2 mən2 mu5
we (incl.) 咱们 raːu1 raːu1 zaːu1
we (excl.) 我们 ljeu1, diu1 diu1 zaːu1
you (pl.) 你们 sjeu1 siu1 si1
they 他们 tjeu1 tiu1 mən2
bull, male cattle 公牛 tak8 wi2 wi2 tak8 wi2 tak8
sow, female pig 母猪 nei4 məu5 məu5 nəi4 məu5 nəi4
rooster 公鸡 tʰai3 kaːi5 kaːi5 tʰai3 kaːi5 tʰai3
male dog 公狗 tak8 ma1 ma1 tak8 ma1 tak8

References

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  1. ^ Then at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [贵州省志. 民族志] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社].
  • Bo, Wenze [薄文泽]. 1997. Yanghuangyu yanjiu (A Study of Yanghuang [Then]) [佯僙语研究]. Beijing: Minzu University Press [中央民族大学出版社].
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