Shixing language

Shixing
Shuhi
Native to China
Native speakers
 1,800 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 sxg
Glottolog shix1238[2]

Shixing, also rendered Shuhi, is a poorly-attested Qiangic language of Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region. Two thirds of its speakers are monolingual.

Shixing is also known by its Chinese name Xumi (旭米 Xùmǐ); it is spoken by about 1800 people living by the Shuiluo River 水洛 in Shuiluo Township 水洛乡, Mili Tibetan Autonomous County.[3]

Katia Chirkova reports two varieties.[4]

  • Upper Xumi (autonym: ʂuhĩ)
  • Lower Xumi (autonym: ʃʉhẽ)

Phonology

Consonants

Xumi features a very unusual phonemic contrast between voiceless /ʎ̥/ and voiced /ʎ/ alveolo-palatal lateral approximants.[5][6]

Consonant phonemes[7][8]
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Velar Uvular Glottal
Palato-
alveolar		 Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal
Nasal voiceless m̥ n̥ ɲ̊ ŋ̊
voiced m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ
plain p t k q
voiced b d g ɢ
Affricate aspirated tsʰ tʃʰ ʈʂʰ tɕʰ
plain ts tʃ ʈʂ tɕ
voiced dz dʒ ɖʐ dʑ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ ʂ ɕ x χ h
voiced z ʒ ʐ ʑ ɣ ʁ ɦ
Lateral voiceless l̥ ʎ̥
voiced l ʎ
Approximant ɹ j w

In the table above, gold phonemes only appear in the Upper Xumi dialect while blue phonemes only appear in the Lower Xumi dialect. All others appear in both Upper and Lower Xumi.

Vowels

Oral monophthongs of Lower Xumi, from Chirkova & Chen (2013:369)

Oral

  • Upper Xumi has the following oral vowels: /i, ʉ, u, e, o, ɛ, ɜ, ɔ, ɐ/.[9]
  • Lower Xumi has the following oral vowels: /i, ʉ, u, e, o, ɛ, ɐ, ɑ/.[10] /o, ɐ, ɑ/ generally correspond to Upper Xumi /u, ɜ, ɔ/, respectively.[11]
    • /ʉ/ is phonetically close-mid [ɵ].[12]

Nasal

  • Upper Xumi has the following nasal vowels: /ĩ, ũ, ɛ̃, ɔ̃, ɐ̃/, as well as the marginal /ɘ̃/, which occurs only in the word [LPmɘ̃dɐ] 'on the roof / upstairs'.[9]
  • Lower Xumi has the following nasal vowels: /ĩ, õ, ɛ̃, ɐ̃, ɑ̃/, as well as the marginal /ə̃/, which occurs only in the word [LPmə̃dɐ Rʁo] 'on the roof / upstairs'.[10] /ẽ, õ, ɐ̃, ɑ̃/ generally correspond to Upper Xumi /ĩ, ũ, ɛ̃, ɔ̃/, respectively.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Shixing at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Shixing". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 363.
  4. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 364.
  5. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), pp. 365, 367–368.
  6. ↑ Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), pp. 382–383.
  7. ↑ Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 382.
  8. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 365.
  9. 1 2 Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), pp. 388–389.
  10. 1 2 Chirkova & Chen (2013), pp. 369–370.
  11. 1 2 Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 389.
  12. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 369.

Bibliography

  • Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Xumi, Part 1: Lower Xumi, the Variety of the Lower and Middle Reaches of the Shuiluo River" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 363–379, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000157
  • Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya; Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja (2013), "Xumi, Part 2: Upper Xumi, the Variety of the Upper Reaches of the Shuiluo River" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 381–396, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000169
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