Qiang language

Qiang
Ethnicity Qiang people
Geographic
distribution		 Sichuan Province
Linguistic classification Sino-Tibetan
Subdivisions
Glottolog qian1264[1]

Qiang (also Qiangish languages or Rma languages) is a Sino-Tibetan language cluster of the Qiangic branch spoken by approximately 140,000 people in north-central Sichuan Province, China.

Qiang consists of:

Classification

Sims (2016)[2] gives the following classification for the "Qiangish" (or "Rma") languages, which include Northern Qiang and Southern Qiang. Individual dialects are highlighted in italics.

Qiangish
  • 'upstream' *nu- innovation group
    • NW Heishui: Luhua
    • Central Heishui
      • Qinglang
      • Zhawo
      • Ciba
      • Shuangliusuo
      • uvular V's innovation group: Zhimulin, Hongyan, Mawo
    • SE Heishui: Luoduo, Longba, Musu, Shidiaolou
    • North Maoxian: Taiping, Songpingguo
    • South Songpan: Xiaoxing, Zhengjiangguan, Zhengping
    • West Maoxian / South Heishui: Weigu, Waboliangzi, Se'ergu, Ekou, Weicheng, Ronghong, Chibusu, Qugu, Wadi, Baixi, Huilong, Sanlong
    • Central Maoxian: Heihu
    • SE Maoxian (reflexive marker innovation): Goukou, Yonghe
  • Perfective agreement suffixes innovation group
    • 'inward' *ji innovation subgroup
    • 'downward' *ɚ innovation subgroup
      • Western Lixian: Puxi, Xuecheng, Muka, Jiuzi
      • Eastern Lixian: Taoping, Tonghua

Reconstruction

Sims (2017)[3] reconstructs tones for Proto-Rma (alternatively called Proto-Qiangish), proposing that the lack of tones in Northern Qiang is due to Tibetan influence. High tones and low tones are reconstructed for Proto-Rma, as well as for Proto-Prinmi.

References

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Qiang". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ Sims, Nathaniel. 2016. Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of Qiang Dialectology. Language and Linguistics 17(3), 351–381. DOI:10.1177/1606822X15586685
  3. ↑ Sims, Nathaniel. 2017. The suprasegmental phonology of proto-Rma (Qiang) in comparative perspective. Presented at the 50th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Beijing, November 26, 2017.

Bibliography

  • Bradley, David. (1997). Tibeto-Burman languages and classification. In D. Bradley (Ed.), Papers in South East Asian linguistics: Tibeto-Burman languages of the Himalayas (No. 14, pp. 1–71). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  • LaPolla, Randy J. with Chenglong Huang. 2003. A Grammar of Qiang, with Annotated Texts and Glossary (Mouton Grammar Library). Berlin. Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Evans, Jonathan P. 2006. Vowel quality in Hongyan Qiang. Language and Linguistics 7.4: 937-960.
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