Na language

Last updated
Na
Narua
Native to China
Region Sichuan
Ethnicity Mosuo
Native speakers
47,000 (2010) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nru
Glottolog yong1270

Na (or Narua, Mosuo) is a language of the Naish subbranch of the Naic group of the Sino-Tibetan languages.

Contents

Varieties

Yongning Na, which is spoken in Yongning Township, Ninglang County, Lijiang, Yunnan, China, has been documented by Jacques and Michaud (2011). [2] It has three tonal levels. [3] A trilingual dictionary is available online. [4]

Lataddi Narua is notable for having only two tonal levels. [5]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ( ɳ ) ɲ ( ŋ )
Stop voiceless p t ( ʈ ) k q ( ʔ )
aspirated ( ʈʰ )
voiced b d ( ɖ ) ɡ ɢ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʂ t͡ɕ
aspirated t͡sʰ t͡ʂʰ t͡ɕʰ
voiced d͡z d͡ʐ d͡ʑ
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ ɕ ( x ) h
voiced ( v ) z ʐ ʑ ɣ ( ʁ )
Lateral fricative ɬ
glide l ( ɭ )
Approximant w j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ɯ u
Mid ɛ ə ɤ ɔ
Open æ , æ̃ ɑ
Syllabic

Grammar

Syntax

Narua's default word order is agent–object–verb, although expression of all verb arguments is not obligatory.

Narua marks sentence topics with jjo/dʑo˥/ after a topicalized clause or noun phrase.

References

  1. Na at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Jacques, Guillaume, and Alexis Michaud. 2011. "Approaching the historical phonology of three highly eroded Sino-Tibetan languages." Diachronica 28:468-498.
  3. Michaud, Alexis (2017). Tone in Yongning Na: Lexical tones and morphotonology. Studies in Diversity Linguistics. Berlin: Language Science Press. ISBN   978-3-946234-87-6.
  4. Michaud, Alexis; Latami, Dashilamu; Milan, Pascale-Marie; Galliot, Benjamin (2024). Na (Mosuo) – English – Chinese dictionary (version 2.0 ed.). France: Lexica.
  5. Dobbs, Roselle, and La Mingqing. 2016 "The two-level tonal system of Lataddi Narua." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, Vol. 39:1 (2016), 67–104. doi : 10.1075/ltba.39.1.04dob
  6. Lidz, Liberty A. (2010). A Descriptive Grammar of Yongning Na (Mosuo). University of Texas at Austin.
  7. Zhenhong, Yang (2009). An overview of the Mosuo language. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 32. pp. 1–43.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)