Gyalrong languages

Gyalrong
Gyalrong
East Gyalrongic
Native to	China
Region	Sichuan
Native speakers	83,000 (1999)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Qiangic Gyalrongic Gyalrong; ; ; ;
Dialects	Situ ; Japhug ; Tshobdun ; Zbu ;
Writing system	Tibetan script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	jya
Glottolog	core1262
	Map of Gyalrong languages

Last updated December 04, 2023

Gyalrong or rGyalrong (Tibetan : རྒྱལ་རོང, Wylie : rgyal rong, THL : gyalrong), also rendered Jiarong (simplified Chinese :嘉绒语; traditional Chinese :嘉絨語; pinyin :Jiāróngyǔ), or sometimes Gyarung, is a subbranch of the Gyalrongic languages spoken by the Gyalrong people in Western Sichuan, China. Lai et al. (2020) refer to this group of languages as East Gyalrongic.^[2]

Name

The name Gyalrong is an abbreviation of Tibetan ཤར་རྒྱལ་མོ་ཚ་བ་རོང, shar rgyal-mo tsha-ba rong , "the hot valleys of the queen", to which the queen being Mount Murdo (in Tibetan, dmu-rdo).^[3]^[4] Mount Murdo is in the historical region of Kham, now mostly located inside Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. This Tibetan word is transcribed in Chinese as 嘉绒 or 嘉戎 or 嘉荣, jiāróng. It is pronounced [rɟɑroŋ] by speakers of Situ. It is a place-name and is not used by the people to designate their own language. The autonym is pronounced [kəru] in Situ and [kɯrɯ] in Japhug. The Gyalrong people are the descendants of former Tibetan warriors at the border, where they settled as time went by.^[5]

Languages

Based on mutual intelligibility, Gates (2014)^[6] considers there to be five Gyalrong languages:

Situ (Chinese: Situ, 四土话) or less precisely Eastern Gyalrong
Japhug (Chinese: Chapu, 茶堡)
Tshobdun (Chinese: Caodeng, 草登; along with Zbu, next, also called Sidaba)
Zbu (Chinese: Ribu, 日部, also Rdzong'bur or Showu)
Gyalrong (south-central)

Situ has more than 100,000 speakers throughout a widespread area, while the other three languages, all spoken in Barkam, have fewer than 10,000 speakers each.^[7] They are all tonal except for Japhug.

Most early studies on Gyalrong languages (Jin 1949, Nagano 1984, Lin 1993) focused on various dialects of Situ, and the three other languages were not studied in detail until the last decade of the 20th century. The differences between the four languages are presented here in a table of cognates. The data from Situ is taken from Huang and Sun 2002, the Japhug and Showu data from Jacques (2004, 2008) and the Tshobdun data from Sun (1998, 2006).

gloss	Situ	Japhug	Tshobdun	Showu
badger	pə́s	βɣɯs	ɣves	təvîs
dream	ta-rmô	tɯ-jmŋo	tɐ-jmiʔ	tɐ-lmɐʔ
I saw		pɯ-mtó-t-a	nɐ-mti-aŋ
sheep	kəjó	qaʑo	qɐɟjiʔ	ʁiɐʔ

Gyalrong languages, unlike most Sino-Tibetan languages, are polysynthetic languages and present typologically interesting features such as inverse marking (Sun and Shi 2002, Jacques 2010), ideophones (Sun 2004, Jacques 2008), and verbal stem alternations (Sun 2000, 2004, Jacques 2004, 2008). See Situ language for an example of the latter.

Demographics

Gates (2012: 102–106)^[8] lists the following demographic information for 5 rGyalrong languages. Altogether, there are about 85,000 speakers for all 5 languages combined.

Language	Speakers	Villages	Dialects	Alternate names	Locations
Situ	35,000–40,000	57	7+	rGyalrong, kəru, roŋba	almost entirely in Barkam County; NE Jinchuan County; NW Li County
rGyalrong, South-central	33,000 (out of 45,000 ethnic people)	111	3+	rGyalrong, roŋba	Xiaojin, Danba, and Baoxing Counties
Japhug	4,000–5,000	19			3 townships in NE Barkam County, namely Lóng'ěrjiǎ, Dàzàng, and Shā'ěrzōng
Tshobdun	3,000	10		stodpaskʰət	Caodeng/Tsho-bdun (WT Tshobdun) Township, Barkam County
Zbu	6,000+	28		stodpaskʰət	Barkam, Rangtang, Seda, and Aba counties

Morphology and Syntax

In contrast to much of Sino-Tibetan, Gyalrong languages have a complex morphology; Japhug is polysynthetic. They tend to be prefixing, with Japhug being strongly so, with nine possible slots in its prefix chain. The Gyalrong verb distinguishes singular, dual, and plural numbers. While some parts of the Gyalrong prefix template are likely quite old, at least four slots in the prefix chain have been recently innovated.^[9]

Syntactically, Gyalrong languages have SOV basic word order, and have been so for quite a while, Jacques argues. This combination of SOV word order with prefixing tendencies is typologically quite rare, although it is found also in Ket and various Athabaskan languages.^[9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyalrongic languages</span> Branch of the Qiangic languages of Sino-Tibetan

The Gyalrongic languages constitute a branch of the Qiangic languages of Sino-Tibetan, but some propose that it may be part of a larger Rung languages group and do not consider it to be particularly closely related to Qiangic but suggest that similarities between Gyalrongic and Qiangic may be from areal influence. However, other work suggests that Qiangic as a whole may in fact be paraphyletic, with the only commonalities of the supposed "branch" being shared archaisms and areal features that were encouraged by language contact. Jacques & Michaud (2011) propose that Qiangic including Gyalrongic may belong to a larger Burmo-Qiangic group based on some lexical innovations.

The Nung or Nungish languages are a poorly described family of uncertain affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Yunnan, China and Burma. They include:

Guillaume Jacques is a French linguist who specializes in the study of Sino-Tibetan languages: Old Chinese, Tangut, Tibetan, Gyalrongic and Kiranti languages. He also performs research on the Algonquian and Siouan language families and publishes about languages of other families such as Breton. His case studies in historical phonology are set in the framework of panchronic phonology, aiming to formulate generalizations about sound change that are independent of any particular language or language group.

Horpa are a cluster of closely related Gyalrongic languages of China. Horpa is better understood as a cluster of closely related yet unintelligible dialect groups/languages closely related to Horpa Shangzhai or Stodsde skad. The term Stodsde skad is a Tibetan name meaning "language of the upper village".

Queyu is a Qiangic language of Yajiang County and Xinlong County, Sichuan. It is similar with and shares a name with Zhaba, but the two languages are distinct from each other.

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Situ is a Rgyalrong language spoken in Sichuan, China. The name "Situ", literally "four Tusi", comes from a historical name of the Ma'erkang region.

Zbu, or Showu, is a Rgyalrong language spoken in Sichuan, China.

Japhug is a Gyalrong language spoken in Barkam County, Rngaba, Sichuan, China, in the three townships of Gdong-brgyad, Gsar-rdzong and Da-tshang.

Tshobdun is a Rgyalrong language spoken in Sichuan, China. It is surrounded by the Zbu, Japhug, and Amdo Tibetan languages.

The Naish languages are a low-level subgroup of Sino-Tibetan languages that include Naxi, Na (Mosuo), and Laze.

Laze, rendered in Chinese as Lare (拉热) and Shuitianhua (水田话), is a language of the Naish subbranch of the Naic group of languages, spoken in Muli County, western Sichuan, China.

Jackson T.-S. Sun, also known as Jackson Tianshin Sun, is a Taiwanese linguist working on languages of the Sino-Tibetan and Austroasiatic families. He is best known for his pioneering documentation and historical-comparative work in Tani, Rgyalrongic, and Tibetic languages. Sun is a research fellow at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan.

Gyalrong people, also called Jiarong, rGyalrong, are speakers of the Qiangic Gyalrong language who live in the southern part of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China. They are also found in Danba County of Garze Prefecture. The word Gyalrong is an exo-ethnonym and loanword from the Tibetan word rGyal-mo tsha-wa rong.

References

↑ Gyalrong at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Lai, Yunfan; Gong, Xun; Gates, Jesse P.; Jacques, Guillaume (2020-12-01). "Tangut as a West Gyalrongic language". Folia Linguistica. Walter de Gruyter GmbH. 54 (s41–s1): 171–203. doi:10.1515/flih-2020-0006. ISSN 1614-7308.
↑ Prins, Marielle. 2011. A web of relations: A grammar of rGyalrong Ji omùzú, p. 18.
↑ Bennett, Daniel (2014). Rgyalrong Conservation and Change: Social Change on the Margins. Lulu Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4834-1951-0.
↑ Li, Mao 李茂; Li, Zhongjun 李忠俊 (2011). Jiāróng zàngzú mínsú zhì嘉絨藏族民俗志 (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe. p. 44.
↑ Gates, Jesse P. (2014). Situ in Situ : Towards a Dialectology of Jiarong (rGyalrong). München: Lincom Europa. ISBN 978-3-86288-472-8.
↑ Jacques, Guillaumes (2017). "Rgyalrong Language". Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics. Vol. 3: Men–Ser. Leiden: Brill. p. 583.
↑ Gates, Jesse P. (2012). Situ in Situ: Towards a Dialectology of Jiāróng (rGyalrong) (M.A. thesis). Trinity Western University – via Academia.edu.
1 2 Jacques, Guillaume (2013). "Harmonization and Disharmonization of Affix Ordering and Basic Word Order". Linguistic Typology. 17 (2): 187–215. doi:10.1515/lity-2013-0009. S2CID 55555480.

Huang, Liangrong 黄良荣; Sun, Hongkai 孙宏开 (2002). Hàn Jiāróngyǔ cídiǎn汉嘉戎语词典[A Chinese–rGyalrong Dictionary] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
Jacques, Guillaume (2004). Phonologie et morphologie du japhug (rGyalrong) (Doctor's thesis) (in French). Université Paris VII – Denis Diderot.
Jacques, Guillaume (2008). Jiāróngyǔ yánjiū嘉绒语研究[A Study on the rGyalrong Language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
Jacques, Guillaume (2010). "The Inverse in Japhug Rgyalrong". Language and Linguistics. 11 (1): 127–157.
Jacques, Guillaume (2012). "From Denominal Derivation to Incorporation". Lingua. 122 (11): 1207–1231. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.383.1 . doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2012.05.010.
Jacques, Guillaume (2012). "Argument Demotion in Japhug Rgyalrong". In Authier, Gilles; Haude, Katharina (eds.). Ergativity, Valency and Voice. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 199–225.
Jacques, Guillaume (2013). "Harmonization and Disharmonization of Affix Ordering and Basic Word Order". Linguistic Typology. 17 (2): 187–215. doi:10.1515/lity-2013-0009. S2CID 55555480.
Jacques, Guillaume (2013). "Ideophones in Japhug (Rgyalrong)". Anthropological Linguistics. 55 (3): 256–287. doi:10.1353/anl.2013.0014. S2CID 143579082.
Jacques, Guillaume (2014). "Denominal Affixes as Sources of Antipassive Markers in Japhug Rgyalrong". Lingua. 138: 1–22. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2013.09.011.
Jacques, Guillaume (2014). "Clause Linking in Japhug". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 37 (2): 264–328. doi:10.1075/ltba.37.2.05jac.
Jin, Peng 金鹏 (1949). "Etude sur le Jyarung". Han hiue (in French). 3: 3–4.
Lin, You-Jing (2003). "Tense and Aspect Morphology in the Zhuokeji rGyalrong Verb". Cahiers de linguistique – Asie orientale. 32 (2): 245–286. doi:10.3406/clao.2003.1633.
Lin, Youjing 林幼菁; Luo, Erwu 罗尔武 (2003). "Chábǎo Jiāróngyǔ Dàzànghuà de qūxiàng qiánzhuì yǔ dòngcí cígàn de biànhuà" 茶堡嘉戎语大藏话的趋向前缀与动词词干的变化. Mínzú yǔwén民族語文 (in Chinese). 2003 (4): 19–29.
Lin, You-Jing (2009). Units in Zhuokeji rGyalrong Discourse: Prosody and Grammar (PhD thesis). University of California at Santa Barbara.
Lin, Xiangrong 林向荣 (1993). Jiāróngyǔ yánjiū嘉戎语研究[A Study on the rGyalrong Language]. Chengdu: Sichuan minzu chubanshe.
Nagano, Yasuhiko (1984). A Historical Study of the rGyarong Verb System. Seishido.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. (2007). "The Irrealis Category in rGyalrong" (PDF). Language & Linguistics. 8 (3): 797–819.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. 孫天心 (2006). "Jiāróngyǔ dòngcí de pàishēng xíngtài" 嘉戎語動詞的派生形態. Mínzú yǔwén民族語文 (in Chinese). 2006 (4): 3–14.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. 孫天心 (2006). "Cǎodēng Jiāróngyǔ de guānxì jù" 草登嘉戎語的關係句 [Relative Clauses in Caodeng rGyalrong](PDF). Language & Linguistics (in Chinese). 7 (4): 905–933.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. 孫天心 (2004). "Cǎodēng Jiāróngyǔ de zhuàngmàocí" 草登嘉戎語的狀貌詞[The Ideophones in Caodeng rGyalrong]. Mínzú yǔwén民族語文. 2004 (5): 1–11.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. (2004). "Verb-stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong". In Lin, Yin-chin; Hsu, Fang-min; Lee, Chǔn-chih; Sun, Jackson T.-S.; Yang, Hsiu-fang; Ho, Dah-an (eds.). Studies on Sino-Tibetan Languages: Papers in Honor of Professor Hwang-Cherng Gong on His Seventieth Birthday. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica. pp. 269–296.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. (2003). "Caodeng rGyalrong". In Thurgood, Graham; LaPolla, Randy J. (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 490–502.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. 孫天心 (2002). "Cǎodēng Jiāróngyǔ yǔ "rèntóng děng dì" xiāngguān de yǔfǎ xiànxiàng" 草登嘉戎語與「認同等第」相關的語法現象[Empathy Hierarchy in Caodeng rGyalrong Grammar]. Language & Linguistics (in Chinese). 3 (1): 79–99.
Sun, Jackson T.-S. (2000). "Parallelisms in the Verb Morphology of Sidaba rGyalrong and Guanyinqiao in rGyalrongic" (PDF). Language & Linguistics. 1 (1): 161–190.

External links

Guillaume Jacques, Overview of Rgyalrong languages
rGyalrongic Languages Database
Proto-rGyalrong reconstruction Archived 2020-10-22 at the Wayback Machine (Sino-Tibetan Branches Project)

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[e18-1] Gyalrong at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Lai2020-2] Lai, Yunfan; Gong, Xun; Gates, Jesse P.; Jacques, Guillaume (2020-12-01). "Tangut as a West Gyalrongic language". Folia Linguistica. Walter de Gruyter GmbH. 54 (s41–s1): 171–203. doi:10.1515/flih-2020-0006. ISSN 1614-7308.

[p18-3] Prins, Marielle. 2011. A web of relations: A grammar of rGyalrong Ji omùzú, p. 18.

[4] Bennett, Daniel (2014). Rgyalrong Conservation and Change: Social Change on the Margins. Lulu Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4834-1951-0.

[5] Li, Mao 李茂; Li, Zhongjun 李忠俊 (2011). Jiāróng zàngzú mínsú zhì嘉絨藏族民俗志 (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe. p. 44.

[6] Gates, Jesse P. (2014). Situ in Situ : Towards a Dialectology of Jiarong (rGyalrong). München: Lincom Europa. ISBN 978-3-86288-472-8.

[7] Jacques, Guillaumes (2017). "Rgyalrong Language". Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics. Vol. 3: Men–Ser. Leiden: Brill. p. 583.

[Gates2012-8] Gates, Jesse P. (2012). Situ in Situ: Towards a Dialectology of Jiāróng (rGyalrong) (M.A. thesis). Trinity Western University – via Academia.edu.

[Jacques2013-9] 1 2 Jacques, Guillaume (2013). "Harmonization and Disharmonization of Affix Ordering and Basic Word Order". Linguistic Typology. 17 (2): 187–215. doi:10.1515/lity-2013-0009. S2CID 55555480.

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