Pa-Hng language

Pa-Hng (also spelled Pa-Hung; Chinese: 巴哼语 Bāhēng yǔ) is a divergent Hmongic (Miao) language spoken in Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan in southern China as well as northern Vietnam.

Pa-Hng
Pateng
Pronunciation[pa˧˩ŋ̊ŋ˧˥]
Native toChina, Vietnam
Native speakers
(34,000 cited 1995–2009)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3pha
Glottologpahn1237[2]

Classification

Pa-Hng has long been recognized as divergent. Benedict (1986) argued that one of its dialects constituted a separate branch of the Miao–Yao family. Ratliff (2010) found it to be the most divergent Hmongic (Miao) language that she analyzed.[3] This Bahengic branch also includes Younuo (Yuno) and Wunai (Hm Nai).[4]

Names

Pa-Hng speakers are called by the following names (Mao & Li 1997).

  • pa˧˩ŋ̥ŋ˧˥ (巴哼)
  • m̥m˧˥nai˧ (唔奈)
  • Red Yao (红瑶)
  • Flowery Yao (花瑶)
  • Eight Surname Yao (八姓瑶)

In Liping County, Guizhou, the Dong people call the Pa-Hng ka˧˩jiu˧ (嘎优), while the Miao people call them ta˥tia˦˨ju˧ (大达优).[5] In Tongdao County, Hunan, the Pa-Hng (xeŋ˧) are also known as the Seven Surname Yao 七姓瑶, since they have the seven surnames of Shen 沈, Lan 兰, Dai 戴, Deng 邓, Ding 丁, Pu 蒲, and Feng 奉.[6]

In China, Pa-Hng speakers are classified as Yao, even though their language is Hmongic rather than Mienic.

Varieties

Mao & Li (1997) splits Pa-Hng into the following subdivisions, and most closely related to Hm Nai:

  • Pa-Hng proper (巴哼 pa˧˩ŋ̥ŋ˧˥)
    • Northern
    • Southern
  • Hm Nai (唔奈 m̥m˧˥nai˧)

Vocabulary word lists for these three Pa-Hng varieties can be found in Mao & Li (1997). An additional dialect is found in Vietnam.

  • Northern Pa-Hng: Gundong 滚董, Liping County 黎平, Guizhou
  • Southern Pa-Hng: Wenjie 文界, Sanjiang County 三江, Guangxi
  • Hm Nai: Huxingshan 虎形山, Longhui County 隆回, Hunan

The Na-e dialect (also known by the Vietnamese rendition of Pa-Hng, Pà Then [Pateng]), is a geographic outlier. Paul Benedict (1986) argued that it is not actually Pa-Hng, or even Hmongic, but a separate branch of the Miao–Yao language family.[7] However, Strecker (1987) responded that it does appear to be a Pa-Hng dialect, though it has some peculiarities, and that Pa-Hng as a whole is divergent.[8]

Jerold A. Edmondson has reported Pa-Hng dialects in Bac Quang District and Hong Quang Village of Chiem Hoa District in northern Vietnam, and found that they were most closely related to the Pa-Hng dialect spoken in Gaoji Township 高基, Sanjiang County, Guangxi.[9]

Distribution

China

Pa-Hng speakers are distributed in the following counties in China. Most of the counties have 1,000 - 6,000 Pa-Hng speakers (Mao & Li 1997).

  • Hunan
  • Guizhou
  • Guangxi
    • Rongshui County (12,000+ speakers)
      • Northern Pa-Hng: Dalang 大浪乡、Danian 大年乡、Antai 安太乡、Dongtou 洞头乡、Gunbei 滚贝乡、Wangdong 汪洞乡、Gandong 杆洞乡; Huaibao 怀宝镇[10]
      • Southern Pa-Hng: Baiyun 白云乡、Dalang 大浪乡、Anchui 安陲乡、Xiangfen 香粉乡
    • Sanjiang County
      • Northern Pa-Hng: Tongle 同乐乡、Laobao 老堡乡
      • Southern Pa-Hng: Wenjie 文界乡、Liangkou 良口乡
    • Longsheng County
      • Southern Pa-Hng: Sanmen 三门乡、Pingdeng 平等乡
    • Lingui County
    • (13 other counties)

Vietnam

Pa-Hng is also spoken in small pockets of northern Vietnam. In Vietnam, the Pa-Hng are an officially recognized ethnic group numbering around a few thousand people, where they are called Pà Thẻn. Na-e as reported by Bonifacy (1905) is also found in northern Vietnam.

According to Vu (2013:12-15),[14] the ancestors of the Pà Thẻn had first migrated from Guangxi to Hải Ninh (now Quảng Ninh Province), and then from Hải Ninh to the Thái Nguyên area. The Pà Thẻn then split off to settle in three main areas.

See also

References
  1. Pa-Hng at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Pa-Hng". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Ratliff, Martha. 2010. Hmong–Mien language history. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics.
  4. 毛宗武, 李云兵 / Mao Zongwu, Li Yunbing. 1997. 巴哼语研究 / Baheng yu yan jiu (A Study of Baheng [Pa-Hng]). Shanghai: 上海远东出版社 / Shanghai yuan dong chu ban she.
  5. Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [贵州省志. 民族志] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社].
  6. Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Ethnic Gazetteer 通道侗族自治县民族志 (2004).
  7. Benedict, Paul. 1986. "Miao–Yao Enigma: The Na-e language". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 9.1:89–90.
  8. Strecker, David. 1987. 'Some Comments on Benedict's "Miao–Yao Enigma: The Na-e language".' Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 10:22–42; and Addendum, pp 43–53.
  9. http://ling.uta.edu/~jerry/research/map.html
  10. 毛宗武 / Mao Zongwu. 优诺语研究 / Younuo yu yan jiu (A Study of Younuo). Beijing: 民族出版社 / Min zu chu ban she, 2007.
  11. Niederer, Barbara. 1997. Notes comparatives sur le pa-hng. Cahiers de linguistique Asie orientale 26(1), p.71-130.
  12. Niederer, Barbara. 2004. Pa-hng and the classification of the Hmong-Mien languages. In Tapp, N. and Michaud, J. and Culas, C. and G. Yai Lee (eds.), Hmong/Miao in Asia, 129-146. Bangkok: Silkworm Books.
  13. Edmondson, J.A. and Gregerson, K.J. 2001, "Four Languages of the Vietnam-China Borderlands", in Papers from the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, ed. K.L. Adams and T.J. Hudak, Tempe, Arizona, pp. 101-133. Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies.
  14. Vũ Quốc Khánh. 2013. Người Pà Thẻn ở Việt Nam [The Pa Then in Vietnam]. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản thông tấn.
  • Mao Zongwu [毛宗武], Li Yunbing [李云兵]. 1997. A study of Pa-Hng [巴哼语研究]. Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House [上海远东出版社].
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