Zhuang (language)
| Zhuang (壮语) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
People's Republic of China | |
| speaker | North Zhuang: 16 million, South Zhuang: 4 million | |
| Linguistic classification |
||
| Official status | ||
| Official language in | People's Republic of China ( Guangxi region ) | |
| Recognized minority / regional language in |
Vietnam , Yunnan , Guangdong , Guizhou , Hunan | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
za |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
zha |
|
| ISO 639-3 |
zha |
|
Zhuang (self- name Vahcuengh , until 1982 Vaƅcueŋƅ , Sawndip话 壮, Chinese 壮语 , Pinyin Zhuàngyǔ ) is an umbrella term for various dialects spoken by the Zhuang people in the People's Republic of China . Most of the speakers live in the Guangxi Autonomous Region , where Zhuang is an official language . The Zhuang language is a recognized regional language in southern China, where it is also taught in state schools.
Overview
Zhuang describes a group of languages or dialects (Zhuang languages) rather than a single language. Some of these dialects only have a mutual intelligibility of about 50% with the standard variety, which is based on the dialect of Wuming . The northern Zhuang variants are linguistically more closely related to Bouyei , with which they form a dialect continuum , than with the southern Zhuang variants, which in turn form a dialect continuum with the languages spoken in northern Vietnam, Nung , Tày (Tho) and Cao Lan . The You River in Guangxi forms the diaglossal border between northern and southern Zhuang dialects. In the usual classification of the Thai languages, the two dialect groups even belong to two different main branches, namely on the one hand the northern and on the other hand the central Thai languages.
Zhuang speakers usually only speak their respective dialect and not the standard variety. In contrast, almost all Zhuang speakers are bilingual in Chinese, so speakers of different Zhuang variants, when they meet, are more likely to speak Chinese (either southwestern Mandarin or Cantonese ) to each other than standard Zhuang. In Guangxi Zhuang officially sawndip - logograms used, while Latin script is not very widespread.
Language policy
The Guangxi Implementing Regulations to the Language Law of the People's Republic of China state:
- In the bilingual experimental schools or experimental classes, the state language [d. H. Standard Chinese] as well as spoken and written Zhuang in class.
- Signs, inscriptions, official documents, official stamps, ID cards etc. must be written in Zhuang and Chinese [...]
However, Zhuang is hardly used as a written language in education and in official dealings. One report states:
- At present, it is not difficult to find Zhuang in Latin script in Guangxi. Most of the signs in the Autonomous Region must be bilingual, in Chinese and in Zhuang in Latin. There is also the magazine Sam Nyied Sam (三月 三) and the weekly newspaper Gvangjsih Minzcuzbau (廣西 民族 報), which appear on Zhuang. However, we found that only a very small fraction of the population can read Zhuang in Latin. Many of our informants said that Zhuang in Latin script is only used for political propaganda for national autonomy.
Phonology
Zhuang is a tonal language with six different intonation courses in open syllables :
| No. | contour | description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | increasing |
| 2 | 31 | falling deep |
| 3 | 55 | high constant |
| 4th | 42 | falling |
| 5 | 35 | rising high |
| 6th | 33 | medium constant |
font
Zhuang has been written in Chinese characters since the sixth century. For native words, new characters were created from the existing characters, and the characters created in this way are known as sawndip . In 1957, a phonetic script based on the Latin alphabet with some special characters was introduced. This was reformed in 1986 so that special characters are no longer used.
| 1957 | 1986 | 1957 | 1986 | 1957 | 1986 | 1957 | 1986 | 1957 | 1986 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B b | B b | Ƃ ƃ | Mb mb | M m | M m | F f | F f | V | V |
| D d | D d | Ƌƌ | Nd nd | N n | N n | S s | S s | L l | L l |
| G g | G g | Gv gv | Gv gv | Ŋ ŋ | Ng ng | H h | H h | R r | R r |
| C c | C c | Y y | Y y | Ny ny | Ny ny | Ŋv ŋv | Ngv ngv | ||
| By by | By by | Gy gy | Gy gy | My my | My my | ||||
| 1957 | 1986 | 1957 | 1986 | 1957 | 1986 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | A a | E e | E e | Ə ə | AE ae |
| I i | I i | O o | O o | Ɯ ɯ | W w |
| 1957 | 1986 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is not designated | |
| 2 | Ƨ ƨ | Z z |
| 3 | З з | J j |
| 4th | Ч ч | X x |
| 5 | Ƽ ƽ | Q q |
| 6th | Ƅ ƅ | H h |
However, this new script was not adopted by a large majority of speakers. Their dissemination has more or less failed. Efforts are being made to revive the old script, but this would require all Zhuang ideograms to be included in Unicode. So far, only those ideograms have been included that also appear in place names and thus also in Chinese literature. The entirety of all Zhuang ideograms is coded in special fonts.
Text sample
| Old spelling | New spelling | Sawndip | German |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bouчbouч ma dəŋƨ laзƃɯn couƅ miƨ cɯyouƨ, cinƅyenƨ cəuƽ genƨli bouчbouч biŋƨdəŋз. Gyoeŋƽ vunƨ miƨ liзsiŋ cəuƽ lieŋƨsim, ɯŋdaŋ daiƅ gyoengƽ de lumз beiчnueŋч ityieŋƅ. | Bouxboux ma daengz lajmbwn couh miz cwyouz, cinhyenz caeuq genzli bouxboux bingzdaengj. Gyoengq vunz miz lijsing caeuq liengzsim, wngdang daih gyoengq de lumj beixnuengx ityiengh. | 俌 俌 庅 ? ? ⿱ 天 云 就 ? 自由 ， 莊嚴 㖟 權力 俌 俌 平等。 眾 伝 ? 理性 㖟 㖟 良心 ， 應當 待 眾 佚 㑣 ? 儂 一樣. | All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
literature
- Yongxian Luo: Zhuang. In: The Tai-Kadai Languages. Routledge, Abingdon (Oxfordshire) / New York 2008, pp. 317-377.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in Nationalencyklopedin
- ↑ Linda Tsung: Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China. Bloomsbury, London 2014. p. 188.
- ↑ Pittayawat Pittayaporn: The Phonology of Proto-Tai Dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca (NY) 2009.
- ↑ a b c Rint Sybesma: Zhuang. A Tai language with some Sinitic characteristics. In: From Linguistic Areas to Areal Linguistics. John Benjamin, Amsterdam / Philadelphia 2008, p. 226.
- ^ S. Robert Ramsey: The Languages of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1987, p. 236.
- ^ Katherine Palmer Kaup: Creating the Zhuang. Ethnic Politics in China. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder CO / London 2000, p. 37.
- ↑ Wang Mingfu, Eric Johnson: Zhuang Cultural and Linguistic Heritage. Yúnnán mínzú chūbǎn shè [Publishing House of the Nationalities of Yunnan], Kunming 2008, p. 142.
- ^ David Bradley: Languages of Mainland South-East Asia. In: The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim. Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2007, pp. 301–336, at p. 310.
- ↑ Yongxian Luo: Zhuang. In: The Tai-Kadai Languages. Routledge, London / New York 2008, pp. 317-319.
- ^ Edward L. Davis (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Routledge, Abingdon (Oxfordshire) / New York 2005. Keyword Zhuang, culture of , edited by Peter M. Fogging.
- ↑ 广西 实施 《中华人民共和国 国家 通用 语言 文字 法》 办法 ( Memento from October 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Adams Bodomo, Chung-pui Tai: Field notes from Guangxi. Zhuang characters for quasi-religious functions . In: China Education Forum 4.1: 13-14, September 2003