Sawndip
| Sawndip Old Zhuang script | |
|---|---|
Logographic
| |
Time period | 7th century – present |
| Languages | Chinese
|
Zhuang characters or Sawndip (Sawndip:
Names
The name old Zhuang script is usually used to distinguish it from the Latin-based Standard Zhuang. In Standard Chinese, the old Zhuang script is called Gǔ Zhuàngzì (Chinese: 古壮字; lit. 'old Zhuang characters') or Fāngkuài Zhuàngzì (方块壮字; 'square shaped Zhuang characters').
Sawndip and its synonyms can be used with a spectrum of narrow to broad meanings. The narrowest meaning confines its use just to characters created by Zhuang to write Zhuang and excludes existing Chinese characters. At its broadest, it includes all the "square" characters used to write Zhuang regardless of whether they are of Chinese or Zhuang origin. However, it is not always possible to determine the origin of a character. In this article the inclusive broader meaning is usually used.
In Chinese, while usually old Zhuang script (古壮字) and square Zhuang script (方块壮字) are synonymous, when used contrastively, the former is restricted to those characters used before the founding of the Republic of China in 1911.
Characteristics
Sawndip is made up of a combination of Chinese characters, Chinese-like characters, and other symbols. Like Chinese it can be written horizontally from left to right, or vertically from top to bottom. The script has never been standardized; some morphosyllables have more than a dozen associated
Classification
Different scholars categorize Sawndip in slightly different ways. Displayed below is the estimated frequency of different types of characters by Holm:[5]
| Mode of reading | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Phonetic | 2303 | 71.3% |
| Semantic | 78 | 2.4% |
| Phono-semantic | 40 | 1.2% |
| Chinese loan | 708 | 21.9% |
| Zhuang | 97 | 3.0% |
| Dubious | 5 | 0.2% |
| Total | 3231 | 100% |
According to Bauer, Sawndip characters can be categorized using a more complex system than the six traditional classification principles:[6]
- Symbols that do not resemble Chinese characters, and are borrowed from non-Chinese writing systems such as the Latin alphabet[7] and (possibly) Burmese
- Non-standard Chinese-like characters created via ideogrammatic compounds
- Non-standard Chinese-like characters created via phono-semantic compounds
- Example: bya "mountain" is often written as ⟨岜⟩, containing the ideographic 山 "mountain" in conjunction with phonetic 巴 ba.
- Example: vunz "person" is often written as ⟨伝⟩, containing the ideographic radical 亻 "person" in conjunction with phonetic 云 yún.
- Standard Chinese characters borrowed solely for their pronunciations, and do not share the same original meaning in Chinese (in accordance with the phonetic loan principle)
- Example: miz "to have" is often written as ⟨眉⟩, a character that is pronounced in Mandarin Chinese as méi, but which means "eyebrow".
- Non-standard Chinese-like characters created specifically for Zhuang to indicate the meaning of certain morphosyllables (in accordance with indicative ideograms)
- Standard Chinese characters representing loanwords or etymologically related morphosyllables from Chinese
- Example: boi "cup" is written as ⟨盃⟩, a variant character of 杯 bēi, meaning "cup" in Chinese.
- Standard Chinese characters borrowed solely for their meanings and do not have a matching reading in Zhuang with Chinese
- New characters made by juxtaposing a pair of Chinese characters that "spell out" the pronunciation of the Zhuang word as in the traditional Chinese fǎnqièsystem, with one character representing the initial consonant and the other the rest of the syllable.
History
The script has been used for centuries, mainly by Zhuang singers and
Early vernacular characters
Even before the Tang dynasty, Zhuang or closely related languages were written down using characters that were either Chinese or made up of Chinese components. Whether these are viewed as Sawndip, or as some sort of precursor to Sanwdip, depends not only the evidence itself, but also differing views of what counts as Sawndip and from what era the term Zhuang can be applied.
Some scholars say Sawndip started in the Han dynasty and note the occurrence on words of Zhuang origin in ancient Chinese dictionaries such as 犩 which is Sawndip for the Zhuang vaiz (water buffalo) and in section 19 of Erya is given as having similar pronunciation and means 牛 (cow, cattle). [9][12]
There are some similarities in the poetical style of "
Tang dynasty (7th–9th centuries)
The fact that Zhuang readings of borrowed Chinese characters often match
Song dynasty (10th–13th centuries)
Several
| Sawndip | 𨱥 | 䦟 | 𡘫 | 仦 | 𡚻 |
| Zhuang | daemq,[20] gaenq[21] |
onj,[22] vaenj[23] |
onj,[22] vaenj[23] |
neux[24] | dah[25] |
| English | short | steady | steady | weak | used addressing a lady |
Table of characters noted in the Song dynasty Guìhǎi yúhéng zhì and also in 1986 Sawndip dictionary.
Ming dynasty (14th–17th centuries)
Whilst no manuscripts from the Ming dynasty have been found, dozens of classic Sawndip works that survive to this day were first written during this dynasty or earlier. Some consider this to be the most abundant period of Sawndip literature.[26] Exact dating is difficult in part because some songs were composed and transmitted orally before being written down, such as Fwen Ciengzyeingz ("Song to tell others"), which Liang Tingwang (梁庭望) has stated whilst containing some content comes from centuries before that was written down during the Ming dynasty. Similarly "Songs of March", "Songs of the Daytime", "Songs of the Road", and "Songs of House Building" where first created between the Tang and Song dynasties or earlier and certainly written down at latest during the Ming dynasty[27]
Some songs were both created and written down during the Ming dynasty. Fwen Caeg "Songs of War" (Chinese: 贼歌 Zéi gē) from
A number of songs written in Sawndip are stories which are originally of Han origin but for hundreds of years have been part of the Zhuang tradition, such as "𠯘唐皇" Fwen Dangzvuengz (Song about Tang Emperors) about Li Dan and "𠯘英台" Fwen Yinghdaiz (Song about Yingtai) and "𠯘文隆" Fwen Vwnzlungz (Song about Wenlong) to name but a few are reckoned to have first been written down in Sawndip during the Ming dynasty or earlier. In the case of Fwen Vwnzlungz the original Han story itself has been lost.[31]
Qing dynasty (mid-17th–19th centuries)
Thousands of Sawndip manuscripts from the Qing period survive to this day. One well known old surviving text is the Yuèfēng (粵風) book of folksongs from
Another source is the Huáyí yìyǔ (華夷譯語 "
Modern era (20th–21st centuries)
Whilst after the introduction of an official alphabet-based script in 1957, Sawndip have seldom been used in some formal domains such as newspapers, laws and official documents, they continue to be used in less formal domains such as writing songs, and personal notes and messages.
After the
After five years in preparation, the Sawndip Sawdenj (Sawndip Dictionary; Chinese: 古壮字字典; pinyin: Gǔ Zhuàngzì Zìdiǎn, Dictionary of Ancient Zhuang Characters) was published in 1989 with 4,900 entries and over 10,000 characters, and is the first and only dictionary of Zhuang characters published to date.[1][39] In 2008 it was announced that work was to begin on a new dictionary called The Large Chinese Dictionary of Ancient Zhuang Characters (中华古壮字大字典).[40] In 2012 an enlarged facsimile of the 1989 dictionary was published with a different cover.[citation needed]
Unicode
Unicode versions 1 to 8 included some Sawndip characters that are frequently used in the Chinese names for places in Guangxi, such as
Literature
For over one thousand years the Zhuang have used Sawndip to write a wide variety of literature, including folk songs, operas, poems, scriptures, letters, contract, and court documents.[41] Sawndip literature is often though not always in verse. Only a small percentage of Sawndip literature has been published. Traditional songs, or stories, are often adapted over time, and new works continue to be written to this day.
Regional differences
With regional differences, as with other aspects of Sawndip scholars express a number of differing ideas.
One of the first systematic studies of Sawndip that covered more than one location was Zhang Yuansheng's 1984 examination of 1114 Sawndip, mainly from
In 2013, David Holm reported a geographical survey of the script, comparing characters used for 60 words in texts from 45 locations in Guangxi and neighbouring areas. He found that regional variations in the script often did not correlate with dialect groups, which he attributes to importation of characters from other regions, as well as subsequent sound change.
Example text
From Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Northern Zhuang:
- Latin transcription (1982 orthography): Boux boux ma daengz lajmbwn couh miz cwyouz, cinhyenz caeuq genzli bouxboux bingzdaengj. Gyoengq vunz miz lijsing caeuq liengzsim, wngdang daih gyoengq de lumj beixnuengx ityiengh.
- Latin transcription (1957 orthography): Bouч bouч ma dəŋƨ laзƃɯn couƅ miƨ cɯyouƨ, cinƅyenƨ cəuƽ genƨli bouчbouч biŋƨdəŋз. Gyɵŋƽ vunƨ miƨ liзsiŋ cəuƽ lieŋƨsim, ɯŋdaŋ daiƅ gyɵngƽ de lumз beiчnueŋч ityieŋƅ.
- Unicode characters (with currently unencoded characters represented as Ideographic Description Sequencesin brackets): 佈佈𲃖[⿰丁刂]𨑜[⿰云天]就𠷯自由，尊严𪝈权利佈佈平等。𬾀伝𠷯理性𪝈良心，应当待𬾀𬿇㑣[⿰彳比][⿰彳农]一样。
See also
Notes
- ^ The character for saw meaning either book or written character, 𭨡, has a 書 radical on the left and a 史 radical on the right. Similarly, ndip which means raw, uncooked or unripe, 𮄫, is made up of 立 and 生 radicals. At present, there are limitations in displaying Zhuang logograms as many have only recently been encoded in Unicode and are only supported by a few fonts. Sawndip characters have not been standardised, and different writers use different characters for the same word; the examples here are from Sawndip Sawdenj.[1]
References
- ^ a b Sū (1989).
- ^ Holm (2013), p. 1.
- ^ Bauer, Robert S. (2005), "Written Representation of Zhuang and Cantonese" Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Workshop on Zhuang Language, Department of Linguistics, University of Hong Kong.
- ^ Zhāng (1984), p. 456.
- ^ Holm, David. (2009). A typology of readings of Chinese characters in traditional Zhuang manuscripts [Les lectures des caractères chinois dans les manuscripts Zhuang traditionnels et leur classification]. Cahiers de Linguistique – Asie Orientale, 38(2), 245–292.
- ^ Bauer (2000), pp. 229–240.
- ISBN 7-5363-4820-7.
- ^ Zhāng (1984), p. 455.
- ^ a b Qín (2010), p. 33.
- ^ a b Sū (1989), pp. 5–6.
- ^ "方块壮字与喃字比较研究","Comparative Research into Sawndip and Chu Nom" by 李乐毅 in "民族语文"1987年第4期
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 482.
- ^ Qín (2010), p. 6-8.
- ^ Holm (2003), pp. 46.
- ^ Holm (2004), p. 424.
- ^ Tai (2005), p. 80.
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 5.
- ^ a b Holm (2003), pp. 45.
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 348.
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 97.
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 169.
- ^ a b Sū (1989), pp. 402.
- ^ a b Sū (1989), pp. 480.
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 368.
- ^ Sū (1989), pp. 105.
- ^ Qín (2010), p. 39.
- ISBN 978-7-5495-1097-9
- ISBN 978-7-5495-1097-9
- ISBN 978-7-5363-5069-4page 48-52
- ^ 壮族民歌古籍集成 情歌 （二）欢𭪤 (田阳情歌)，广西民族出版社 1997 Chief Editor 张声震 page 2 of introduction
- ^ 壮族长诗《唱文龙》源流及其变异 The origin and variations of the Zhuang long poem "Song of Wenlong by 罗汉田 Luo Hantian published in 《民族文学研究》 Ethnic Literature Research 1984 Volume 2 pages 123–133
- ^ Holm (2013), p. 21.
- ^ 清代戏曲抄本叙录 List of Qing dynasty Opera Manuscripts by 朱恒夫
- ^ Holm (2013), pp. 26–27.
- ^ Bauer (2000), p. 228.
- ^ Zhèng (1996).
- ^ 《壮族民间群体古壮字使用状况的调查与分析》"Survey of analysis of the situation of old Zhuang script(Sawndip) usage among Zhuang people" by 黄南津 Huang Nanjian and 唐未平 Tang Weiping 《暨南学报(哲学社会科学版)》 Jinan Journal – Philosophy and Sociology 2008 Volume 1
- ^ 《广西壮族人文字使用现状及文字社会声望调查研究》 "Research into survey of the scripts used by Zhuang in Guangxi" 唐未平 Tang Weiping http://www.doc88.com/p-644582398739.html
- ^ Bauer (2000), pp. 226–227.
- ^ "《中华古壮字大字典》开始编纂" Archived 2012-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, Guangxi Ethnic Affairs Commission, 16 September 2008.
- ISBN 9787811084368
- ^ Zhāng (1984), p. 465.
- ^ Holm (2013), p. 744.
- ^ Holm (2013), pp. 744–745.
- ^ Holm (2003), pp. 45–46.
Works cited
- Bauer, Robert S. (2000), "The Chinese-based writing system of the Zhuang language", .
- Holm, David (2003), Killing a buffalo for the ancestors: a Zhuang cosmological text from Southwest China, Northern Illinois University, ISBN 978-1-891134-25-8.
- —— (2004), "The Old Zhuang script", in Diller, Anthony; Edmondson, Jerry; Luo, Yongxian (eds.), The Tai-Kadai languages, Routledge, pp. 415–428, ISBN 978-0-203-64187-3.
- —— (2013), Mapping the Old Zhuang Character Script: A Vernacular Writing System from Southern China, BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-22369-1.
- Sū, Yǒngqín 苏永勤, ed. (1989), Sawndip Sawdenj / Gǔ Zhuàngzì zìdiǎn 古壮字字典 [Dictionary of old Zhuang characters], Nanning: Guǎngxī mínzú chūbǎnshè 广西民族出版社, ISBN 978-7-5363-0614-1.
- Qín, Xiǎoháng 覃晓航 (2010), Fāngkuài zhuàng zì yánjiū 方块壮字研究 [Research on Zhuang square characters], 民族出版社, ISBN 978-7-105-11041-4.
- Tai, Chung-pui (2005), Literacy practices and functions of the Zhuang character writing system (MPhil Thesis), University of Hong Kong, hdl:10722/31897.)
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link - Zhāng, Yuánshēng 张元生 (1984), "Zhuàngzú rénmín de wénhuà yíchǎn – fāngkuài Zhuàngzì 壮族人民的文化遗产——方块壮字" [The cultural legacy of the Zhuang nationality: the Zhuang square characters], Zhōngguó mínzú gǔ wénzì yánjiū 中国民族古文字研究 [Research on the ancient scripts of China's nationalities], Beijing: Zhōngguó shèhuì kēxué chūbǎnshè 中国社会科学出版社, pp. 455–521.
- Zhèng, Yíqīng 鄭貽青 (1996), Jìngxī Zhuàngyǔ yánjiū 靖西壮語研究 [Research on Jingxi Zhuang], 中国社会科学院民族研究所.
Further reading
- Holm, David (2020). "The Tày and Zhuang vernacular scripts: Preliminary comparisons". Journal of Chinese Writing Systems. 4 (3): 197–213. S2CID 222315681.
- Liáng Tíngwàng 梁庭望 (ed.): Gǔ Zhuàngzì wénxiàn xuǎnzhù 古壮字文献选注 (Tiānjīn gǔjí chūbǎnshè 天津古籍出版社 1992).
- Lín Yì 林亦: Tán lìyòng gǔ Zhuàngzì yánjiū Guǎngxī Yuèyǔ fāngyán 谈利用古壮字研究广西粤语方言. In: Mínzú yǔwén 民族语文 2004.3:16–26.
- 覃暁航：「方塊壮字経久不絶却難成通行文字的原因」『広西民族研究』，2008年3期。
External links
- Asian Character Tables, Free (GPL) Sawndip data.
- "Proposal to add kZhuang to Unihan (IRG N2677)" at the Unicode website