Longjia language

Longjia (autonym: suŋ55 ni55 mpau21) is a Sino-Tibetan language of Guizhou, China related to Caijia and Luren. Longjia may already be extinct (Zhao 2011).

Longjia
Songnibao
Native toChina
RegionGuizhou
EthnicityLongjia
Native speakers
extinct? (2011)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologlong1417

The Longjia people now speak Southwestern Mandarin, though they used to speak their own language, and have had a long presence in western Guizhou. According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer (2002),[3] the Longjia language was spoken in Dafang County, Qianxi County (Zhongping District 中坪区; Xinfacun 新发村 of Pojiao District 坡脚区), and Puding County (Jiangyizhai 讲义寨 of Baiyan Township 白岩乡). It is reportedly most similar to Caijia,[3] and has many Old Chinese loanwords.[4]

Classification
Further information: Greater Bai languages

Guizhou (1984)[2] shows that Longjia is closely related to Caijia and Luren. However, the classification of Caijia within Sino-Tibetan is uncertain. Zhengzhang (2010)[5] suggests that Caijia and Bai are sister languages, while Sagart argues that Caijia is Sinitic and a close relative of Waxiang.[6]

Dialects

The following dialects of Longjia have been described.

  • Pojiao District 坡脚区, Dafang County, Guizhou[7][2] (Pojiao District now comprises Maochang 猫场镇, Dingxin 鼎新彝族苗族乡, and Lütang 绿塘乡 townships of southwestern Dafang County.)
  • Huaxi Village 花溪大队, Zhongping District 中坪区, Qianxi County[2] (now Huaxi Township 花溪彝族苗族乡)
  • Jiangyizhai 讲义寨, Puding County[2]
  • Caiguan Town 蔡官镇, Anshun City, Guizhou[8]

The following comparative word list of three Longjia dialects is from Guizhou (1984:2-3).[2] Guizhou (1984) notes that the dialect of Jiangyizhai 讲义寨 (Puding County) is divergent, while the dialects of Pojiao 坡脚 (Dafang County) and Huaxi 花溪 (Qianxi County) are more closely related to each other.

English glossChinese glossPojiao 坡脚Huaxi 花溪Jiangyizhai 讲义寨
cattle牛ŋau55ŋau55ŋau35
to eat吃ua31ua31ua31
dog狗kuɛ33kuɛ33kuɛ53
pig猪lɛ55lɛ55lɛ35
chicken鸡kɛ55kɛ55kɛ55
rice (crop)稻谷mɛ31mɛ31mai31
water水ɕi31ɕe31se31
big大la55la55lɛ31
two二ta31ta31to33
four四sɿ55si55so55
meat肉ȵi31ȵi31ȵi31; ntɕi31

Phonology

The Puding County Almanac (1999) reports that the Longjia language (autonym: Songnibao 松泥保) has 38 onsets and 22 rimes (8 simple, 14 complex). The Bijie County Almanac (1996:143) reports that there are many prenasalized onsets. In Dafang County, the autonym is Songlibao 松立保.[4]

Nanjinghua

The Nanjing people (南京人) have usually been classified with the Longjia people, and claim to be descendants of soldiers from the Nanjing area who had intermarried with the local Longjia in Guizhou.[9] Their language is known as Nanjinghua (南京话; "Nanjing speech"), which is probably now functionally extinct.[10]

In Jianxinhe village 建新河村, Kunzhai Township 昆寨乡, Nayong County, Guizhou Province, the phrase suo55 mu33 ‘eat rice’ was elicited from an elderly rememberer of Nanjinghua.[10] As suo55 is derived from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *dzya ‘to eat’, this points to Nanjinghua having an SVO word order like Caijia, Longjia, Bai, and Sinitic languages.[10]

See also

References
  1. Zhao 2011
  2. Guizhou provincial ethnic classification commission [贵州省民族识别工作队]. 1984. Report on ethnic classification issues of the Nanlong people (Nanjing-Longjia) [南龙人（南京-龙家）族别问题调查报告]. m.s.
  3. Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [贵州省志. 民族志] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社].
  4. Dafang County Almanac (1996:150-152)
  5. Zhèngzhāng Shàngfāng [郑张尚芳]. 2010. Càijiāhuà Báiyǔ guānxì jí cígēn bǐjiào [蔡家话白语关系及词根比较]. In Pān Wǔyún and Shěn Zhōngwěi [潘悟云、沈钟伟] (eds.). Yánjūzhī Lè, The Joy of Research [研究之乐-庆祝王士元先生七十五寿辰学术论文集], II, 389–400. Shanghai: Shanghai Educational Publishing House.
  6. Sagart, Laurent. 2011. Classifying Chinese dialects/Sinitic languages on shared innovations. Talk given at Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie orientale, Norgent sur Marne.
  7. Guizhou provincial ethnic classification commission, linguistic division [贵州省民族识别工作队语言组]. 1982. The language of the Caijia [Caijia de yuyan 蔡家的语言]. m.s.
  8. Caiguan Town Gazetteer [蔡官镇志] (2004). Guiyang: Guizhou People's Press [贵州人民出版社].
  9. Zhao Weifeng [赵卫峰]. 2011. History of the Bai people of Guizhou [贵州白族史略]. Yinchuan, China: Ningxia People's Press [宁夏人民出版社]. ISBN 9787227046783
  10. Hsiu, Andrew. 2013. New endangered Tibeto-Burman languages of southwestern China: Mondzish, Longjia, Pherbu, and others. Presented at ICSTLL 46, Dartmouth College.

Further reading
  • Guizhou provincial ethnic classification commission, linguistic division [贵州省民族识别工作队语言组]. 1982. The language of the Caijia [Caijia de yuyan 蔡家的语言]. m.s.
  • Guizhou provincial ethnic classification commission [贵州省民族识别工作队]. 1984. Report on ethnic classification issues of the Nanlong people (Nanjing-Longjia) [南龙人（南京-龙家）族别问题调查报告]. m.s.
  • Hsiu, Andrew. 2013. "New endangered Tibeto-Burman languages of southwestern China: Mondzish, Longjia, Pherbu, and others". Presentation given at ICSTLL 46, Dartmouth College.
  • Zhao Weifeng [赵卫峰]. 2011. History of the Bai people of Guizhou [贵州白族史略]. Yinchuan, China: Ningxia People's Press [宁夏人民出版社]. ISBN 978-7-227-04678-3
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