Maonan language
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Maonan | |
---|---|
Native to | China |
Region | Northern Guangxi, Southern Guizhou[1]: 33 |
Ethnicity | 107,000 (2000)[2] |
Native speakers | 30,000 (2005)[2] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mmd |
Glottolog | maon1241 |
ELP | Maonan |
Maonan is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
The Maonan language (
Demographics
Approximately half of all Maonan people are capable of speaking Maonan. In addition to this, many Maonan also speak
Other than Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County in Guangxi, Maonan is also spoken in the following locations.[3]
- Nandan County, Guangxi
- Du'an Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi
- Yizhou, Guangxi
- Libo County, Guizhou
- Pingtang County, Guizhou
Phonology
Maonan is a tonal language with 8 tones (Lu 2008:90–91),[1] featuring an SVO clause construction (Lu 2008:169).[1] (See Proto-Tai language#Tones for an explanation of the tone numbers.) For example:
man2
3SG
na4
eat
kʰaːu3
wine
"S/He drinks wine."
man2
3SG
paːi1
go
hɯ1
market
"S/He goes to the market."
Syntax
Maonan displays a head-first modification structure, i.e. the modifier occurring after the word being modified (Lu 2008:170).[1] For example:
kʰaːu3
wine
ɦu4ljaːŋ4
broomcorn
"broomcorn wine"
mu5
pig
laːu4
big
"big pig"
nok7
bird
vin1
fly
"flying bird"
Occasionally, a head-final modification structure is also possible with the involvement of a possessive particle (P.P.) ti5. For example:
jaːn1
house/family
ndaːu1
1PL
ti5
POSS.PTCL
bo4
buffalo
"Our family's buffalo"
(cf. the more common bo4 jaːn1 ndaːu1) (Lu 2008:173-174).[1]
Writing system
The Maonan writing system was established in 2010. It is based on 26 Latin letters to facilitate standard keyboard input.[4] The letters z, j, x, s, h are attached to the end of each syllable as tonal markers, representing tones 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 respectively. The first tone is not written. Syllables ending in -b, -d, -g, -p, -t, -k do not distinguish tone either. The writing system is being used among a limited number of Maonan intellectuals.[5] For example:
Writing:
IPA:
Gloss:
Hez
ɦe²
1SG
suen
suːn¹
teach
ngz
ŋ²
2SG
nhieij
ˀnjai³
buy
hux
ɦu⁴
rice
gangs
kaːŋ⁵
stitch
deih
dai⁶
bag
tuet
tuːt⁷'
take off
mad
maːt⁸'
sock
Meaning: "I teach you (how) to buy rice, stitch bags and take off (your) socks."
See also
Further reading
- Zhang, Jingni 张景霓 (2017). Huanjiang Maonanzu yuyan shiyong xianzhuang ji qi yanbian 环江毛南族语言使用现状及其演变. Beijing: Science Press 科学出版社. OCLC 1050506673.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59942-971-7.
- ^ a b Maonan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Guangxi Minority Languages Orthography Committee. 2008. Vocabularies of Guangxi ethnic languages [广西民族语言方音词汇]. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House [民族出版社].
- ^ Maonan website: http://maonan.org/wenzi/HagLeaMauhnanh.asp?boardid=24
- ^ Maonan website: http://maonan.org/wenzi/shengdiao.asp