Yang Zhuang language

Last updated
Yang Zhuang
Dejing
Káang Thó
Native to China
RegionSouthwestern Guangxi
Native speakers
770,000 in China (2004) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 zyg
Glottolog yang1286
Yang-Zhuang.png
Geographic distribution of Yang Zhuang.

Yang Zhuang is a Tai language spoken in southwestern Guangxi, China, in Napo, Jingxi and Debao counties.

Contents

Li Jinfang (1999) suggests that the Yang Zhuang originally spoke the Buyang language, and later assimilated with other Tai-speaking peoples (See Buyang people#History ).

Distribution

Zhuang dialects given in the county almanacs of Jingxi County, Debao County, and Napo County are listed below. This region is also known as the "Dejing" 德靖 area. All names and statistics are from the local county almanacs (县志), as quoted in Jackson et al. (2012). Note that these divisions are often ethnic rather than geographic. Thus, some "Yang" peoples may actually speak non-Yang Zhuang dialects, and vice versa. Jackson (2011) shows that most Yang dialects do indeed form a distinctive subgroup against Fu (also shown to be a distinctive subgroup) and Nong.

Variants with multiple names include:

Jingxi County

Below are the various Zhuang dialects of Jingxi County. The townships with which the most speakers of the dialect live in are also given. Only "Yang 仰" corresponds to Yang Zhuang.

Debao County

Zhuang dialects of Debao County are:

Napo County

Yang 央 dialects of Napo County are:

Non-Yang dialects and their distributions in Napo County are:

Yunnan

Yang Zhuang is also spoken in 6 townships of Funing County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan:

Vietnam

There are also some Yang Zhuang speakers in Ha Quang district of Cao Bằng province, Vietnam. The number of Yang Zhuang speakers in Vietnam is unknown.

Orthography

Initials

Initials for Chinese loanwords

Rimes

Sample text

The Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Yang Zhuang:

 Gyook mó geon sleeng ma leer mey slíh-yôwh, qyòw cenh-yêenh wá khoênh-líh mbéeng nhoí raw kor ndáy phyênh-ténh dong lhúm. Geon raw mey lìh-sléng wá lyâangh-slenh, tòoy gyook mó geon ndáy lhúm bèy nóong tò kyan. [9]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Yang Zhuang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Nongshun 农顺 in Napo County
  3. ↑ Zhazhou 炸州 in Napo County
  4. ↑ Also referred to as Nong 农，侬 or Fu 府
  5. ↑ Yang 仰 in Jingxi County
  6. ↑ Different from Nong 农 (separate character)
  7. ↑ Zuozhou 佐州 in Jingxi County
  8. ↑ Yang Zhuang language at Omniglot.
  9. ↑ Omniglot
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