Social:Standard Zhuang

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Short description: Standard variety and register of the Zhuang Tai (Kra-Dai) language cluster


Standard Zhuang
Vahcuengh
Sawndipirv.svg
Native toChina
Kra–Dai
  • Tai
    • Northern Tai (Northern Zhuang)
      • Standard Zhuang
Latin (official), Sawndip
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
 China (Guangxi, and Wenshan Prefecture in Yunnan)
Regulated byEthnic Minority Language Work Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region[1][2]
Language codes
ISO 639-1za (all Zhuang)
ISO 639-1zha
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Books of Zhuang language

Standard Zhuang (autonym: Vahcuengh, Template:IPA-za, (pre-1982: Vaƅcueŋƅ; Sawndip: 話壯); simplified Chinese: 壮语; traditional Chinese: 壯語; pinyin: Zhuàngyǔ) is the official standardized form of the Zhuang languages, which are a branch of the Northern Tai languages. Its pronunciation is based on that of the Yongbei Zhuang dialect of Shuangqiao Town in Wuming District, Guangxi with some influence from Fuliang, also in Wuming District,[3] while its vocabulary is based mainly on northern dialects. The official standard covers both spoken and written Zhuang. It is the national standard of the Zhuang languages, though in Yunnan a local standard is used.[4][5]

Phonology

The following displays the phonological features of the Wuming and northern dialects of Zhuang:[6][7]

Consonants

Standard Zhuang consonants
Labial Dental/
Alveolar
(Alveolo-)
palatal
Velar Glottal
plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
palatalized
implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative f θ ɕ ɣ h
Nasal plain m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
palatalized
Approximant w l j ˀj ˀw

Among other northern dialects of Zhuang, /w/ may be heard as a [β] or [v] sound. Absent consonant produces /ʔ/.

An unusual and rare feature that Zhuang possesses is the lack of /s/, which is a common fricative among most languages that have them (one other notable exception is in the Australian languages), and yet Zhuang has five fricatives and no /s/.

Vowels

Standard Zhuang vowels
Front Central Back
High i ɯ u
Mid e (ə) o
Low a

[ə] only occurs in diphthong or triphthong sounds.

[ɤ] can occur in recent Chinese loanwords.[8]

Among other northern Zhuang dialects, /e, o/ have shortened allophones of [ɛ, ɔ].[9]

Tones

Standard Zhuang has six tones, reduced to two (numbered 3 and 6) in checked syllables:

Tones
Tone Contour IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
Description Example Gloss
1 24 /ǎ/ /˨˦/ (none) rising son to teach
2 31 /a᷆/ /˧˩/ Ƨ ƨ Z z low falling mwngz thou
3 55 /a̋/ /˥/ З з J j high level hwnj to climb up
-p/t/k high checked bak a mouth
4 42 /â/ /˦˨/ Ч ч X x falling max a horse
5 35 /a᷄/ /˧˥/ Ƽ ƽ Q q high rising gvaq to cross
6 33 /ā/ /˧/ Ƅ ƅ H h mid level dah a river
-b/g/d mid checked bag to hack

The sentence Son mwngz hwnj max gvaq dah (Son mɯŋƨ hɯnз maч gvaƽ daƅ) "Teach thee to climb on a horse to cross a river" is often used to help people remember the six tones.

Tones for open syllables (not terminated by a closing consonant) are written at end of syllables.

Grammar

Pronouns

Person Meaning Plural
1st gou (𭆸) dou (杜) (exclusive), raeuz (僂) (inclusive)
2nd mwngz (佲) sou (𠈅)
3rd de (𬿇) gyoengqde (𬾀𬿇)

Syntax

Zhuang uses an SVO word order.

Words

Zhuang words can be made up of one, two, or three syllables - one and two-syllable words (e.g. Template:Lang-za) cannot be broken down into morphemes, but trisyllabic words can be. Compound words also exist - for example, Template:Lang-za. Prefixes and suffixes are also frequently used, such as "Template:Lang-za-" (borrowed from Chinese: ; pinyin: ). Reduplication is also used.[8]

Orthography

Consonants
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
/p/ B b /ɓ/ Ƃ ƃ Mb mb /m/ M m /f/ F f /w/ V v
/t/ D d /ɗ/ Ƌ ƌ Nd nd /n/ N n /θ/ S s /l/ L l
/k/ G g // Gv gv /ŋ/ Ŋ ŋ Ng ng /h/ H h /ɣ/ R r
/ɕ/ C c /j/ Y y /ɲ/ Ny ny /ŋʷ/ Ŋv ŋv Ngv ngv  
/pʲ/ By by /kʲ/ Gy gy /mʲ/ My my  
Vowels
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
IPA Letters
1957
Letters
1982
// A a /e/ E e /a/ Ə ə AE ae
/i/ I i // O o /ɯ/ Ɯ ɯ W w
/u/ U u /o/ Ɵ ɵ OE oe
The Alphabet in order
1982 A a AE ae B b By by C c D d E e F f G g Gv gv Gy gy H h I i L l M m Mb mb My my N n Nd nd Ng ng Ngv ngv Ny ny O o OE oe R r S s U u V v W w Y y
1957 A a Ə

ə

B b By by C c D d E e F f G g Gv gv Gy gy H h I i L l M m Ƃ

ƃ

My my N n Ƌ

ƌ

Ŋ

ŋ

Ŋv

ŋv

Ny ny O o Ɵ

ɵ

R r S s U u V v Ɯ ɯ Y y

Classification

Standard Zhuang is an artificial mixture of several Zhuang languages. The lexicon is based almost entirely on various Northern Zhuang dialects. The phonology is essentially that of Shuangqiao, with the addition of ny, ei, ou from Fuliang, both located in Wuming County. Zhang (1999), along with other Chinese scholars, classifies Shuangqiao dialect as Northern Tai (Northern Zhuang).[10] Shuangqiao was chosen for the standard pronunciation in the 1950s because it was considered to be Northern Zhuang but with characteristics of Southern Zhuang.

Domains of use

Bilingual sign in Zhuang and Chinese

Standard Zhuang is used most frequently in domains where written Zhuang was previously seldom used, such as newspapers, translations of communist literature[11] and prose. It is one of the official languages of China that appears on bank notes; all Chinese laws must be published in it, and it is used for bilingual signs. Whilst used for adult literacy programs, it is currently only taught in a very small percent of primary and secondary schools in Zhuang-speaking areas. In less formal domains the traditional writing system Sawndip is more often used[12] and for folk songs Sawndip remains the predominant genre with most standard Zhuang versions being based on Sawndip versions.

Official examination

In 2012, the first Zhuang Proficiency Test (Vahcuengh Sawcuengh Suijbingz Gaujsi, abbreviated VSSG) took place, in which 328 people took and 58% passed.[13] It was promoted as the first standardised minority language test in mainland China, with the objective of supporting bilingual Zhuang-Chinese education.[14] From 2012 to 2020, the average number of registered testees for the VSSG was 376 per year, with candidates from outside Guangxi being accepted after 2019.[14] Currently available at three levels, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, the examination tests the written skills of reading comprehension, translation both into and from Standard Chinese, and writing.[14]

Differences from Wuming Zhuang

While Standard Zhuang is largely pronounced as Shuangqiao Wuming dialect, there is a degree of purposeful dialect mixture in vocabulary:

Standard IPA Wuming IPA gloss
gyaeuj kʲau˥ raeuj ɣau˥ head
da ta˨˦ ra ɣa˨˦ eye
ga ka˨˦ ha ha˨˦ leg

Writing systems

Zhuang Sawndip manuscript

In 1957, the People's Republic of China introduced an alphabetical script for the newly standardized Zhuang language. The alphabet was based on the Latin script, expanded with modified Cyrillic and IPA letters. A reform in 1982 replaced both the Cyrillic and IPA letters with Latin letters to facilitate printing and computer use.[15] These alphabetical scripts are part of Standard Zhuang.

The Old Zhuang script, Sawndip, is a Chinese character–based writing system, similar to Vietnamese chữ nôm. Some Sawndip logograms were borrowed directly from Chinese, while others were created from the existing components of Chinese characters. Sawndip has been used for over one thousand years for various Zhuang dialects. Unlike Chinese, Sawndip has never been standardized and authors may differ in their choices of characters or spelling and it is not currently part of the official writing system.

Vocabulary

Numerals

Cardinal Zhuang Zhuang IPA Bouyei Middle Chinese Proto Tai Saek Ahom Tai Nüa Tai Lü Tai Dam Shan Lanna
0 lingz Template:IPA-za lingz leŋ ᦟᦲᧃᧉ (liin2)
1 it Template:IPA-za idt ʔiɪt̚ 𑜒𑜢𑜄𑜫 (ʼit) ဢဵတ်း (ʼáet)
2 ngeih Template:IPA-za ngih ȵiɪH ᨿᩦ᩵
3 sam Template:IPA-za saaml sɑm *saːm 𑜏𑜪 (saṃ) ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (sáam) ᦉᦱᧄ (ṡaam) ꪎꪱꪣ သၢမ် (sǎam) ᩈᩣ᩠ᨾ
4 seiq Template:IPA-za sis siɪH *siːᴮ 𑜏𑜣 (sī) ᥔᥤᥱ (sǐ) ᦉᦲᧈ (ṡii1) ꪎꪲ꪿ သီႇ (sìi) ᩈᩦ᩵
5 haj Template:IPA-za hac ŋaːʔ *haːꟲ 𑜑𑜡 (hā) ᥞᥣᥲ (hàa) ᦠᦱᧉ (ḣaa2) ꪬ꫁ꪱ ႁႃႈ (hāa) ᩉ᩶ᩣ
6 roek Template:IPA-za rogt *ruɡ *krokᴰ 𑜍𑜤𑜀𑜫 (ruk) ᥞᥨᥐᥱ (hǒk) ᦷᦠᧅ (ḣok) ꪶꪬꪀ ႁူၵ်း (húuk) ᩉᩫ᩠ᨠ
7 caet Template:IPA-za xadt t͡sʰiɪt̚ *cetᴰ 𑜋𑜢𑜄𑜫 (chit) ᥓᥥᥖᥱ (tsět) ᦵᦈᧆ (ṫsed) ꪹꪊꪸꪒ ၸဵတ်း (tsáet)
8 bet Template:IPA-za beedt pˠɛt̚ *peːtᴰ 𑜆𑜢𑜄𑜫 (pit) ᥙᥦᥖᥱ (pǎet) ᦶᦔᧆᧈ (ṗaed1) ꪵꪜꪒ ပႅတ်ႇ (pèt) ᨸᩯ᩠ᨯ
9 gouj Template:IPA-za guz kɨuX *kɤwꟲ กู̂. 𑜀𑜧 (kaw) ᥐᥝᥲ (kàw) ᦂᧁᧉ (k̇aw2) ꪹꪀ꫁ꪱ ၵဝ်ႈ (kāo) ᨠᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ
10 cib Template:IPA-za xib d͡ʑiɪp̚ ซิ̄บ 𑜏𑜢𑜆𑜫 (sip) ᥔᥤᥙᥴ (síp) ᦉᦲᧇ (ṡiib) ꪎꪲꪚ သိပ်း (síp) ᩈᩥ᩠ᨷ

Loanwords

A significant amount of Zhuang words are loaned from Chinese - around 30 to 40 percent in normal conversation, and almost every word regarding science, politics, or technology.[8] Loans have come from Cantonese as well as other Chinese varieties. Compare Template:Lang-yue to Template:Lang-za - much of Zhuang's basic wordstock has come from loans. However, it is difficult to determine if specific loanwords come from Middle Chinese or from Chinese varieties later on in history.

Example

First article of the 1948 United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Latin script
1957 1982 English
Bouч bouч ma dəŋƨ laзƃɯn couƅ miƨ cɯyouƨ, cinƅyenƨ cəuƽ genƨli bouчbouч biŋƨdəŋз. Gyɵŋƽ vunƨ miƨ liзsiŋ cəuƽ lieŋƨsim, ɯŋdaŋ daiƅ gyɵŋƽ de lumз beiчnueŋч ityieŋƅ. 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. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
International Phonetic Alphabet

Template:IPA-za

Sawndip
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Zhuang Sawndip.png

References

  1. Zhuang: Gvangsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih Saujsu Minzcuz Yijyenz Vwnzsw Gunghcoz Veijyenzvei; Chinese: 广西壮族自治区少数民族语言文字工作委员会
  2. "Guǎngxī Qū zhí yǒuguān dānwèi jīgòu míngchēng Yīngwén cānkǎo yì fǎ" (in zh). http://www.gxfao.gov.cn/gxfaohtml/fzzc/09005770.html. 
  3. Zhang et al., p. 429f
  4. "Zhuàngyǔ pīnyīn fāng'àn (yī)" (in zh). http://www.wszhuangzu.cn/yuyan/yy/201107/391.html. 
  5. "Zhuàngyǔ pīnyīn fāng'àn (èr)" (in zh). http://www.wszhuangzu.cn/yuyan/yy/201107/392.html. 
  6. Wei, Qingwen 韦庆稳; Qin, Guosheng 覃国生 (1980) (in zh). Zhuàngyǔ jiǎnzhì. Zhongguo shaoshu minzu yuyan jianzhi congshu. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe. 
  7. Zhang et al., p. 51
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Burusphat, Somsonge; Xiaohang, Qin; 桑颂; 軍晓航 (2012). "ZHUANG WORD STRUCTURE / 壮语词的结构". Journal of Chinese Linguistics 40 (1): 56–83. ISSN 0091-3723. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23754198. 
  9. Luo, Yongxian (2008). "Zhuang". in Diller, Anthony V. N.. The Tai-Kadai Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 317–377. 
  10. Zhang et al.
  11. Li, Xulian; Huang, Quanxi (2004). "The Introduction and Development of the Zhuang Writing System". in Zhou, Minglang. Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 245. 
  12. Tang, Weiping 唐未平. "Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú rén wénzì shǐyòng xiànzhuàng jí wénzì shèhuì shēngwàng diàochá yánjiū" (in zh). http://www.doc88.com/p-644582398739.html. 
  13. "Guǎngxī shǒucì Zhuàng yǔwén shuǐpíng kǎoshì jígé lǜ 58%". Zhōngguó xīnwén wǎng. 2012-12-20. http://www.chinanews.com/edu/2012/12-20/4425515.shtml. 
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Wu, Ying; Silver, Rita Elaine; Hu, Guangwei (9 July 2022). "Minority language testing: the social impact of the Zhuang language proficiency test in China". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development: 1–18. doi:10.1080/01434632.2022.2097249. 
  15. Zhou, Minglang (2003). Multilingualism in China: The Politics of Writing Reforms for Minority Languages 1949–2002. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 251–258. ISBN 3-11-017896-6. 

Sources cited

  • Zhang, Junru 张均如; Liang, Min 梁敏; Ouyang, Jueya 欧阳觉亚; Zheng, Yiqing 郑贻青; Li, Xulian 李旭练; Xie, Jianyou 谢建猷 (1999) (in zh). Zhuàngyǔ fāngyán yánjiū. Chengdu: Sichuan minzu chubanshe. ISBN 7-5409-2293-1. 

External links