Mang
Mashan Miao
Pronunciationmʱaŋ˨
Native toChina
RegionGuizhou
Native speakers
(140,000 cited 1995)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
hmm – Central
hmp – Northern
hma – Southern
hmw – Western
Glottologmash1238

Mang, or Mashan Miao also known as Mashan Hmong (麻山 máshān), is a Miao language of China, spoken primarily in Ziyun Miao and Buyei Autonomous County, southwestern Guizhou province, southwest China. The endonym is Mang, similar to other West Hmongic languages such as Mong.

Varieties

Mang was classified as a branch of Western Hmongic in Wang (1985), who listed four varieties.[2] Matisoff (2001) gave these four varieties the status of separate languages, and, conservatively, did not retain them as a single group within West Hmongic. Li Yunbing (2000) added two minor varieties which had been left unclassified in Wang, Southeastern (Strecker's "Luodian Muyin") and Southwestern ("Wangmo").[3]

Demographics

Below is a list of Miao dialects and their respective speaker populations and distributions from Li (2018),[4] along with representative datapoints from Wang (1985).[5]

Dialect Speakers Counties Representative datapoint (Wang 1985)
North 30,000 Changshun, Huishui, Luodian Baisuo Township 摆梭乡, Changshun County
South 8,000 Wangmo Youquan village 油全村, Lekuan Township 乐宽乡, Wangmo County
Central 50,000+ Ziyun, Wangmo, Luodian Jiaotuo 绞坨寨, Zongdi Township 宗地乡, Ziyun County
West 10,000+ Ziyun Sidazhai 四大寨, Houchang Township 猴场乡, Ziyun County
Southeast 5,000 Luodian Babazhai 把坝寨, Moyin Township 模引乡, Wangmo County
Southwest 4,000+ Wangmo, Luodian Babangzhai 岜棒寨, Dalang Township 打狼乡, Ziyun County

According to Sun (2017), the central dialect of Mashan Miao is spoken in the following locations by a total of approximately 50,000 speakers.[6]

Phonology and script

A pinyin alphabet had been created for Mang in 1985, but proved to have deficiencies. Wu and Yang (2010) report the creation of a new alphabet, albeit a tentative one, based on the Central Mang dialect of Ziyun County, Zōngdì 宗地 township, Dàdìbà 大地坝 village.[8]

Consonants, in pinyin, are:

labial: b p nb np, m f v, by py nby my, bl pl nbl npl ml
lateral: l lj
dental or alveolar stops: d t dl dj nd nt n
dental affricates: z c s nz nc
retroflex: dr tr ndr nr sh r
alveolo-palatal: j q nj x y ny
velar or uvular: g k ngg ng, h w hw
(zero onset)

The Latin voiced/voiceless opposition has been coopted to indicate aspiration, as usual in pinyin alphabets.

Correspondences between Central Mang dialects include Dadiba retroflex dr, tr with dental z, c in another village of the same Zongdi township, Sanjiao (三脚 Sānjiǎo). The other five varieties of Mang have more palatalized initials than Central Mang, though these can be transcribed as medial -i-. The onsets by, py, nby, my are pronounced [pʐ pʰʐ mpʐ mʐ ] in Central Mang and [pj pʰj mpj mj] in the other five Mang varieties.

Vowels and finals, including those needed for Chinese loans, are:

a aa [ã] ai ao ain ang
e ea ei en ein eu ew eng
i iou in ie iu iao ian iang
o ou ow ong
u uw ua ui ue un uai uan uang
yu

Most Central Mang and Western Mang dialects have eleven to thirteen tones. Compared to the eight tone categories of other Western Hmongic languages, the odd-numbered tones are each split into two. The tones of at least three villages of Central Mang have been documented: Dadiba (Wu & Yang 2010), Jiaotuozhai (Wang & Mao 1995; Li 2000), and Jingshuiping (Xian 1990; Mortensen 2006,[9] all in the Zongdi township of Ziyun County. They lie several kilometers apart and have minor differences.

Central Mang tone
         Dadiba Jingshuiping Jiaotuozhai
1a -b ˦˨ 42 ˧ 3 ˧˨ 32
1b -p ˨ 2
2 -x ˥ 5 ˦˨ 42 ˥˧ 53
3a -d ˥˧ 53 ˦˨ 42
3b -z ˨˧˨ 232
4 -l ˩ 1
5a -t ˥ 55
5b -c ˨˦ 24 ˧˥ 35
6 -s ˩˧ 13
6' -p ˨ 2 ˧ 3
7a -k ˧ 3 ˦ 4
7b -s ˩˧ 13
8 -f ˨˩ 21

Although some pairs of tones (such as tones 6 and 7b) have the same value when pronounced alone, they behave differently with regard to tone sandhi and should be treated as different phonologically. Tones also interact with phonation types and vowel quality. Jiaotuozhai tones 4 and 6 are breathy voiced and have higher vowels.

References

  1. ^ Central at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Northern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Southern at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Western at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Wang, Fushi 王辅世, ed. (1985). Miáoyǔ jiǎnzhì 苗语简志 [Miao Language Brief History] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
  3. ^ Li, Yunbing 李云兵 (2000). Miáoyǔ fāngyán huàfēn yíliú wèntí yánjiū 苗语方言划分遗留问题研究 (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe.
  4. ^ Li, Yunbing 李云兵 (2018). Miao Yao yu bijiao yanjiu 苗瑶语比较研究 (A comparative study of Hmong-Mien languages). Beijing: The Commercial Press. ISBN 9787100165068. OCLC 1112270585.
  5. ^ Wang Fushi 王辅世. 1985. Miaoyu jianzhi 苗语简志. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社.
  6. ^ Sun, Hongkai 孙宏开; Ting, Pang-hsin 丁邦新, eds. (2017). Hanzangyu yuyin he cihui 汉藏语语音和词汇. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社. p. 40. ISBN 9787105142385.
  7. ^ Wu, Zhengbiao 吴正彪; Yang, Guangying 杨光应 (2010). "Máshān cì fāngyán qū Miáo wén fāng'àn de shèjì yǔ shǐyòng—jiān tán Miáozú yīngxióng shǐshī "Yàlǔ wáng" de jì yì zhěnglǐ wèntí" 麻山次方言区苗文方案的设计与使用—兼谈苗族英雄史诗《亚鲁王》的记译整理问题 (PDF). Mínzú fānyì 民族翻译 (in Chinese). 2010 (3): 58–65. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-20. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
  8. ^ Several consonants were added to the 1985 alphabet, while bz, pz, nbz, mz and gh were removed.[7]
  9. ^ Mortensen (2006). "Diachronic Universals and Synchronic Parochialisms: Explaining Tone-Vowel Interactions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-20 – via pitt.edu.
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