Akha | |
---|---|
Native to | Myanmar, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam |
Ethnicity | Akha |
Native speakers | ca. 600,000 (2007) [1] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | ahk |
Glottolog | akha1245 |
Akha is the language spoken by the Akha people of southern China (Yunnan Province), eastern Burma (Shan State), northern Laos, and northern Thailand.
Western scholars group Akha, Hani and Honi into the Hani languages, treating all three as separate mutually unintelligible, but closely related, languages. The Hani languages are, in turn, classified in the Southern Loloish subgroup of Loloish. Loloish and the Mru languages are closely related and are grouped within Tibeto-Burman as the Lolo-Burmese languages.
In accordance with China's official classification of ethnic groups, which groups all speakers of Hani languages into one ethnicity, Chinese linguists consider all Hani languages, including Akha, to be dialects of a single language.
Speakers of Akha live in remote mountainous areas where it has developed into a wide-ranging dialect continuum. Dialects from villages separated by as little as ten kilometers may show marked differences. The isolated nature of Akha communities has also resulted in several villages with divergent dialects. Dialects from extreme ends of the continuum and the more divergent dialects are mutually unintelligible. [2]
The Akha language, along with the dialect spoken in Alu village, 55 kilometers northwest of Chiang Rai city in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand is described below. Katsura conducted his study during the late 1960s. With a population of 400 it was, at the time, one of the largest Akha villages in Northern Thailand and was still growing as a result of cross-border migration from Burma. The Akha in Alu spoke no Standard Thai and communicated with outsiders using either Lahu Na or Shan.
Standard Akha has 25 or 26 consonants, and the Alu dialect has 23 or 24 consonants depending on how the syllabic nasal is analyzed. The /m̩/, realized variously as [ˀm] or [m̥], can be analyzed as a separate single consonant or as sequences of /ʔm/ and /hm/. Katsura chose the latter but listed the /m/ component of the syllabic consonant with the vowels. [2]
Labial | Alveolar | Alveolo- palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | pal. | plain | pal. | |||||
Nasal | m | mʲ | n | nʲ | ŋ | |||
Stop | tenuis | p | pʲ | t | k | ʔ [lower-alpha 1] | ||
voiced | b | bʲ | d | ɡ | ||||
Affricate | tenuis | ts | tɕ | |||||
voiced | dz | dʑ | ||||||
Fricative | tenuis | s | ɕ | x | h | |||
voiced | z | ʑ | ɣ | |||||
Approximant | l |
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Stop | tenuis | p | t | c | k | ʔ [lower-alpha 1] |
aspirate | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | ||
voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ||
Fricative | tenuis | s | x | h | ||
voiced | ɣ | |||||
Approximant | l | j |
Any consonant may begin a syllable, but native Akha syllables which don't end in a vowel may only end in either -m or -ɔŋ. A few loan words have been noted that end in -aŋ or -aj. In the case of a nasal coda, some vowels become nasalized. Alu Akha distinguishes ten vowel qualities, contrasting rounded and unrounded back vowels at three heights while only the mid front vowels contrast roundness.
Front | Central | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||
Close | i | y | ɯ | u | |
Mid | e | ø | ə | o | |
Open | ɛ | a | ɑ | ɔ |
Front | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
Close | i | ɯ | u | |
Mid | e | ø | ə | o |
Open | ɛ | a | ɔ |
Three vowels, /u/, /ɔ/ and /ɯ/, show marked nasalization when followed by a nasal consonant becoming /ũ/, /ɔ̃/ and /ɯ̃/, respectively.
High |
Mid |
Low |
There are three tones: high, mid and low. Laryngealized vowels[ clarification needed ] commonly occur with mid and low tone, but only rarely with high tone (mostly in loan words and personal names). There are no contour tones. Syllabic [m̩] occurs with all three plain tones and laryngealized with the two common tones. [4]
Like many other Tibeto-Burman languages, the basic word order of Akha is agent-object-verb (SOV). [5] It is a topic-prominent language where the marking of agents are not obligatory and the noun phrase is often topicalized. [5] Also, serial verb constructions and sentence-final particles are frequently used in the sentences. [5]
The basic order of the Akha noun phrase is noun-adjective-demonstrative-pronoun-numeral-classifier. [5] Grammatical relations and semantic roles may be marked by postpositional particles. [6]
Some of the Akha sentence-final particles mark evidentiality and/or egophoricity. [7] [8] For instance, the particle ŋá expresses inference from what the speaker saw. [9]
In interrogative sentences, má or mɛ́ is used for confirmation; the same particles in the answer express information that the speaker knows for sure. [9]
àkhà
má
ló?
"Are you an Akha?"
àkhà
má.
"Yes, I am."
àkhà
mɛ́
ló?
"Is he an Akha?"
àkhà
mɛ́.
"Yes, he is."
Note that má appears in the second-person question and the first-person declarative while mɛ́ is used otherwise.
The table below lists the Akha varieties surveyed in Kingsada (1999), Shintani (2001), and Kato (2008), with autonyms and informant birthplaces given as well. All locations are in Phongsaly Province, northern Laos.
Language | Autonym | Locations | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Ko-Pala | pa33la33tsʰɔ55ja11 | Sen Kham village, Khua District, Phongsaly Province | Kingsada (1999) |
Ko-Oma | kɔ33ɔ55ma11 | Nana village, Phongsaly District, Phongsaly Province | Kingsada (1999) |
Ko-Phuso | kɔ33pʰɯ55sɔ33 | Phapung Kao village, Bun Neua District, Phongsaly Province | Kingsada (1999) |
Ko-Puli | a11kʰa11pu33li11 | Culaosaen Kao village, Bun Tay District, Phongsaly Province | Kingsada (1999) |
Ko-Chipia | a11kʰa11cɛ11pja11 | Sano Kao village, Bun Tay District, Phongsaly Province | Kingsada (1999) |
Ko-Eupa | ɯ21pa21 | Cabe village, Bun Tay District, Phongsaly Province | Shintani (2001) |
Ko-Nyaü | a11kʰa11ɲa11ɯ55 | Huayphot village, Khua District, Phongsaly Province | Shintani (2001) |
Ko-Luma | lu21ma21 | Lasamay village, Samphan District, Phongsaly Province | Shintani (2001) |
Akha Nukui | a21kʰa21, nu21ɣø21a21kʰa21[ clarification needed ] | Kungci village, Nyot U District, Phongsaly Province | Kato (2008) |
Akha Chicho | - | Ban Pasang village, Muang Sing district, Luang Namtha Province | Hayashi (2018) [10] |
Akha Chicho, spoken in Ban Pasang village, Muang Sing district, Luang Namtha Province, is documented in Hayashi (2018). [10] Hayashi (2018: 8) reports that Akha Chicho is mutually intelligible with Akha Buli. Nearby, Akha Kopien (also known as Botche) is spoken in another part of Muang Sing District, Luang Namtha Province, Laos. Some Akha Kopien words are as follows. [11]
Gloss | Akha Kopien/Botche |
---|---|
sun | nɤŋ⁵⁵ma³³ |
moon | ba³³la³³ |
water | u⁵⁵tɕṵ²¹ |
fire | mi²¹dza²¹ |
tiger | xa²¹la²¹ |
buffalo | a²¹ȵo²¹ |
road | ga⁵⁵ko⁵⁵ |
light (adj.) | jɔ³³pʰja³³ |
crow | o̰²¹a̰²¹ |
duck | dʑi³³dʑi³³ |
bird | tɕḭ³³ja̰³³ |
tamarind | ma³³xa⁵⁵a⁵⁵bḛ³³ |
hot | a²¹lo⁵⁵ |
new | a²¹ɕḭ²¹ |
rain | o̰²¹ta̰²¹ |
now | ȵa²¹ŋ̩⁵⁵ |
what | a²¹pa²¹ |
one | tɤ̰³³ |
two | n̩³³ |
three | se⁵⁵ |
four | li³³ |
five | ŋa³³ |
six | ko̰³³ |
seven | ɕḭ³³ |
eight | jḛ³³ |
nine | dʑø²¹ |
ten | tsɤ⁵⁵ |
There are 15 Akha subgroups in Phongsaly Province, with autonyms given in parentheses. [12]
In Jinghong City and Menghai County, the two major Hani subgroups are Jiuwei 鸠为 and Jizuo 吉坐. [13] The Jizuo 吉坐 are the largest Hani ethnic subgroup in Jinghong.
The Jiuwei claim to have migrated from Honghe and Mojiang. The Jiuwei live in various villages in Jinghong, including:
There are also ethnic Hani that are locally called Aini 爱尼 living in 7 villages on Nanlin Mountain 南林山 of southwestern Jinghong, namely Manbage 曼八阁, Manjinglong 曼景龙, Manjingnan 曼景囡, Mangudu 曼固独, Manbaqi 曼把奇, Manbasan 曼巴伞, and Manjingmai 曼景卖. [14]
Xishuangbanna, Sibsongpanna or Sipsong Panna, shortened to Banna, is an autonomous prefecture for Dai people in the extreme south of Yunnan Province, China, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. The prefectural seat is Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the Mekong, called the "Lancang River" in Chinese.
The Bulangpeople are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.
The Hani language is a language of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group spoken in China, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam by the Hani people.
Lahu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lahu people of China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. It is widely used in China, both by Lahu people, and by other ethnic minorities in Yunnan, who use it as a lingua franca. However, the language is not widely used nor taught in any schools in Thailand, where many Lahu are in fact refugees and illegal immigrants, having crossed into Thailand from Myanmar.
Bit is an Austroasiatic language spoken by around 2,000 people in Phongsaly Province, northern Laos and in Mengla County, Yunnan, China.
Mojiang Hani Autonomous County is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er City, in the south of Yunnan Province, China.
Menghai County is a county under the jurisdiction of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in the far south of Yunnan, China, bordering Burma's Shan State to the southwest. Meng is as variation of Mueang.
Man Met, or Kemie, is a poorly classified Austroasiatic language spoken by about 1,000 people in Jinghong County, Xishuangbanna, China. It is classified as an Angkuic language by Paul Sidwell (2010). It may be or Mangic according to Li Yunbing (2005), or Palaungic. Like most other Austroasiatic languages, Kemie has subject–verb–object (SVO) word order.
The Mienic or Yao languages are spoken by the Yao people of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
Va is a pair of Angkuic languages spoken in Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, Yunnan, China. Although the Va autonym is, the language is not Wa, and neither does it belong to the Waic language subgroup. Rather, Va constitutes a separate subdivision within the Angkuic languages.
Lolopo is a Loloish language spoken by half a million Yi people of China. Chinese speakers call it Central Yi, as the name Lolopo does not exist in Chinese. It is one of the six Yi languages recognized by the government of China.
Lalo is a Loloish language cluster spoken in western Yunnan, China by 300,000 speakers. Speakers are officially part of the Yi nationality, and Chinese linguists refer to it as "Western Yi" due to its distribution in western Yunnan. Lalo speakers are mostly located in southern Dali Prefecture, especially Weishan County, considered the traditional homeland of the Lalo. Historically, this area is the home of the Meng clan, who ruled the Nanzhao Kingdom (737–902 CE). Many speakers of Core Lalo dialects claim to be descendants of the Meng clan.
The Southern Loloish or Southern Ngwi languages, also known as the Hanoish (Hanish) languages, constitute a branch of the Loloish languages that includes Akha and Hani.
The Lisoish languages are a branch of the Loloish languages proposed by Ziwo Lama (2012) that includes Lisu and several of the Yi languages. David Bradley (1997) considers Lisoish languages to be part of the Central Loloish branch.
Sangkong is a Loloish language spoken in China by the Hani people in Xiaojie Township 小街乡, Jinghong County. They are called Buxia (布夏) by the local Dai people.
Akeu is a Loloish language mainly spoken in Jinghong and Mengla County, China, with smaller populations of speakers in Burma, Laos, and Thailand. Gokhy may be related.
Awu, is an unclassified Loloish language of Yunnan, China. It is spoken in Yuanyang County, Yunnan, China, including in the village of Xiaopingzi 小坪子, Daping Township 大坪乡.
The Hani languages are a group of closely related but distinct languages of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group. They are also referred to as the Hanoid languages by Lama (2012) and as the Akoid languages by Bradley (2007).
Cosao is a Loloish language of China and Laos. The Cosao call themselves, but are referred to by other ethnic groups as the Paijiao people (排角人). They are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Hani people.
Kangping is a town in Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan, China. As of the 2017 census it had a population of 24,403 and an area of 798.69-square-kilometre (308.38 sq mi).