Mienic languages

Last updated
Mienic
Yao
Ethnicitysome of the Yao peoples
Geographic
distribution
China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, United States
Linguistic classification Hmong–Mien
  • Mienic
Proto-language Proto-Mienic
Subdivisions
Glottolog mien1242
Hmong Mien lang.png
Mienic languages:
  Iu Mien & Kim Mun
  Biao Min
  Dzao Min
Not shown: Biao Mon

The Mienic or Yao languages are spoken by the Yao people of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Contents

Some of the Yao peoples speak Hmongic languages (Miao); these are called Bunu . A small population of Yao people in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County (金秀瑶族自治县) in eastern Guangxi speak a Tai-Kadai language called Lakkia. Other Yao peoples speak various Sinitic (Chinese) language varieties.

Classification

Distribution of Yao (Iu-Mien speakers) population in China Yao distribution China.png
Distribution of Yao (Iu-Mien speakers) population in China

Mienic is one of the primary branches of the Hmong–Mien language family, with the other being Hmongic.

Ratliff (2010)

Martha Ratliff (2010:3) proposed the following classification: [1]

Strecker (1987)

Strecker 1987, [2] followed (with the addition of Moxi) by Matisoff 2001, proposed the following, with some of the more divergent varieties as additional languages:

Luang-Thongkum (1993)

Luang-Thongkum (1993:170) [3] proposes the following classification for Mjuenic, a proposed branch consisting of the Mien, Mun, and Muen (Biao Mon) languages. The classifications of Biao Min and Dzao Min are not addressed.

  • Proto-Mjuenic
    • Mun
      • West Mun (Landian Yao 蓝靛瑶)
      • East Mun (Shanzi Yao 山子瑶)
    • (Mien-Muen)
      • Muen (Ao Yao 坳瑶)
      • Mien (Pan Yao 盘瑶)
        • North Mien
        • East Mien, West Mien

Mao (2004)

Mao Zongwu (2004) classifies the Mienic languages varieties of China as follows. Data points studied in Mao (2004) are also listed for each dialect.

A Mienic lect called bjau2 mwan2 ("Biao Man 标曼"), related to Mien of Changping and Luoxiang, is spoken in Liuchong 六冲, Qiaoting Township 桥亭乡, Pingle County 平乐县, Guangxi (Tang 1994); another "Biao Man 标曼" dialect is spoken in Dongpingdong 东坪洞 (Tang 1994). [7] There are about 10,000 speakers in Mengshan, Lipu, Pingle, and Zhaoping counties.

The comparative vocabulary chart in Mao Zongwu (2004) consists of the following languages.

  1. Guangdian Mien (Jiangdi); autonym: mjen31
  2. Diangui Kim Mun (Liangzi); autonym: kjeːm33mun33
  3. Dongshan Biao Min; autonym: bjau31min31
  4. Daping Dzao Min; autonym: dzau53min53
  5. Xiangnan Mien (Miaoziyuan); autonym: mjəŋ31
  6. Changping Mien ( = Biao Mon); autonym: bjau31moːn31
  7. Luoxiang Mien; autonym: bjau31mwan31
  8. Fanghai Kim Mun (Tansan); autonym: kiːm33mun33
  9. Shikou Biao Min ( = Chao Kong Meng); autonym: mɔu31jɔu55
  10. Niuweizhai Biao Min ( = Moxi); autonym: mɔ433ɕi53

Aumann & Sidwell (2004)

Using Mao's (2004) new data, Aumann & Sidwell (2004) propose the following classification of the Mienic languages, based on innovations in rhotic consonants. [8] This classification presents a bipartite division of the Mienic into a subgroup consisting of Iu Mien and Biao Min, and another subgroup consisting of Kim Mun and Dzao Min. Luoxiang is grouped with Kim Mun, while Changping is grouped with Dzao Min.

Aumann & Sidwell (2004) consider the following classification by Wang & Mao to be unlikely, which is based on the voicing of voiceless sonorants, a common areal feature.

Taguchi (2012)

Yoshihisa Taguchi's (2012) computational phylogenetic study classifies the Mienic languages as follows. [9]

Hmongic

Mienic 

Zao Min

Biao Min (Dongshan)

Biao Min (Shikou)

Kim Mun (Diangui)

Mien (Changping, Luoxiang)

Mien (Guangdian, Xiangnan)

Hsiu (2018)

Hsiu's (2018) [10] computational phylogenetic study classifies the Mienic languages as follows.

  • Mienic

Hsiu (2018) considers Changping Mien to have been influenced by Kim Mun lects due to geographical proximity, although it retains many unique forms that indicate it should belong in its own branch.

Hsiu (2023)

Hsiu (2023) announced the discovery of the previously undocumented Yangchun Pai Yao, likely a sister branch to Dzao Min, or possibly belonging to its own branch outright. [11]

Mixed languages

Some languages may be mixed Chinese and Mienic (Yao) languages, such as:

Numerals

Numerals in Mienic Languages [13]
LanguageOneTwoThreeFourFiveSixSevenEightNineTen
Proto-Hmong-Mien*ʔɨ*ʔu̯i*pjɔu*plei*prja*kruk*dzjuŋH*jat*N-ɟuə*gju̯əp
Iu Mienjet12i33pwo33pjei33pia33tɕu55sje13ɕet12dwo31tsjop12
Ao Biao (Luoxiang)jit43vi33pu33pje33pla33kwo43ȵi11jat32du31ɕep32
Biao Mon (Changping)no35i33pu33plei33pla33kju53ŋi22jaːt21du21sjəp21
Kim Muna33i35ˀpɔ35pjei35pja35kjo35ȵi42jet55du33ʃap42
Biao Mini33wəi33pau33pləi33pla33klɔ53ni42hjɛn42iu31ȶʰan42
Chao Kong Meng (Shikou)ji35vi33bɔu33pli33pla53klɔ35ŋi13jæ22tɕu55tɕæ22
Moxi (Niuweizhai)i33wei33pəu33pɣɯi33pɤa33kɤɔ55ɕi31hjɯ53du53tɕʰwa53
Dzao Mina44vi42bu42pɛi42pjɛ42tɔu44ȵi22dzat22ku53sjɛp22

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yao people</span> Ethnic group in China and Vietnam

The Yao people is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities in China and reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south. They also form one of the 54 ethnic groups officially recognized by Vietnam. They numbered 2,796,003 in the 2010 Chinese census and 891,151 in the 2019 Vietnamese census. In the United States, about 60,000 Yao of the Iu Mien branch reside mostly in the Western coastal states.

The Hmu language, also known as Qiandong Miao, Central Miao (中部苗语), East Hmongic, or Black Miao, is a dialect cluster of Hmongic languages of China. The best studied dialect is that of Yǎnghāo (养蒿) village, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province.

Biao Mon is a Mienic language of Guangxi province, China. It is spoken in Lipu, Mengshan, Pingle, and Zhaoping counties in Guangxi, China.

The Kam–Sui languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai languages spoken by the Kam–Sui peoples. They are spoken mainly in eastern Guizhou, western Hunan, and northern Guangxi in southern China. Small pockets of Kam–Sui speakers are also found in northern Vietnam and Laos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funing County, Yunnan</span> County in Yunnan, China

Funing County is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in the east of Yunnan province, China. It is the easternmost county-level division of Yunnan, bordering Guangxi to the north, east and southeast, and Vietnam's Hà Giang Province to the south.

Guanyang County is a county in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, bordering Hunan province to the east. It is under the administration of Guilin city.

Jinxiu is a county of eastern Guangxi, China, located in an area of relatively high concentrations of the Yao people. It is administered as the Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County of Laibin City. Established in 1952, with the name of Dayaoshan Autonomous Zone, in 1966, it was renamed as Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County. It has an area of 2,517 square kilometres (972 sq mi), much of it mountainous, and a population in 2004 of approximately 150,000.

The U language or P'uman, is spoken by 40,000 people in the Yunnan Province of China and possibly Myanmar. It is classified as an Austroasiatic language in the Palaungic branch. In China, U speakers are classified as ethnic Bulang.

The Lakkia language, also spelled Lakkja after its IPA transcription, is a Kra–Dai language spoken in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Laibin, East-Central Guangxi, China.

Proto-Hmong–Mien (PHM), also known as Proto-Miao–Yao, is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hmong–Mien languages. Lower-level reconstructions include Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Mienic.

Pa-Hng is a divergent Hmongic (Miao) language spoken in Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan in southern China as well as northern Vietnam.

Mang is an Austroasiatic language of Vietnam, China, and Laos. It is spoken mainly in Lai Châu Province, Vietnam and across the border in Jinping County, China. It was first documented only in 1974.

The Nisoish or Yi languages, which contains both the Northern Loloish and Southeastern Loloish branches, are a branch of the Loloish languages proposed by Lama (2012). Northern Loloish and Southeastern Loloish were established by Bradley (1997), while the Nisoish group combining Bradley's two branches was proposed by Ziwo Lama (2012). Lama (2012) refers to Northern Loloish as Nisoid or Nisu–Lope, and Southeastern Loloish as Axi–Puoid.

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.

Biao Min, or Biao-Jiao Mien, is a Hmong–Mien language of China. The two varieties, Biao Min and Jiaogong Mian, are evidently not mutually intelligible.

Dzao Min is a Hmong–Mien language of China. Mao (2004:306) reports a total of more than 60,000 speakers in Liannan County and Yangshan County of Guangdong, and in Yizhang County of Hunan. The speakers from Bapai, Guangdong are also called Bapai Yao (八排瑶族).

Zauzou is a Loloish language of Tu'e District (兔峨地区), Lanping County, Yunnan, China. It is most closely related to Nusu.

The Southeastern Loloish languages, also known as Southeastern Ngwi, are a branch of the Loloish languages. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is called Axi-Puoid, which forms the Nisoish branch together with the Nisoid (Nisu–Lope) languages.

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).

She or Shehua is an unclassified Sinitic language spoken by the She people of Southeastern China. It is also called Shanha, San-hak (山哈) or Shanhahua (山哈话). She speakers are located mainly in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces of Southeastern China, with smaller numbers of speakers in a few locations of Jiangxi, Guangdong and Anhui provinces.

References

  1. Ratliff, Martha. 2010. Hmong–Mien language history. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics.
  2. Strecker, David. 1987. "The Hmong-Mien Languages." In Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 10 , no. 2: 1-11.
  3. Luang-Thongkum, Theraphan. 1993. A view on Proto-Mjuenic (Yao). Mon-Khmer Studies 22:163-230.
  4. location not found on map
  5. "河口瑶族自治县瑶山乡梁子村委会新寨自然村". www.ynszxc.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2014-12-18.
  6. "勐腊县瑶区瑶族乡黄莲山村委会梭山脚". www.ynszxc.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2014-12-18.
  7. Tang Yongliang 唐永亮. 1994. 瑶族勉语六冲标曼话语音特点和声调实验研究. Minzu Yuwen 1994:5.
  8. Aumann, Greg and Paul Sidwell. 2004. "Subgrouping of Mienic Languages: Some Observations." In Papers from the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, edited by Somsonge Burusphat. Tempe, Arizona, 13-27. Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies.
  9. Yoshihisa Taguchi [田口善久] (2012). On the Phylogeny of the Hmong-Mien languages Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine . Conference in Evolutionary Linguistics 2012.
  10. Hsiu, Andrew. 2018. Preliminary classification of Mienic languages.
  11. Hsiu, Andrew (May 16–18, 2023). "The Pai Yao language of Yangchun: Final remnants of a Mienic language". Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  12. Cited in Chiang (1995) We two know the script, we have become good friends, p. 28, footnote 43.
  13. "Miao-Yao". lingweb.eva.mpg.de. Archived from the original on 2009-05-19.

Further reading

Sources with word lists of Mienic languages