Kyirong language

Kyirong is a language from the subgroup of Tibetic languages^[2] spoken in the Gyirong County of the Shigatse prefecture, of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Kyirong
Lende Kyerung
स्युबा
Region	Tibet
Native speakers	100 (2002)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Kanauri ? Bodish Tibetic Kyirong–Kagate Kyirong
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kgy
Glottolog	kyer1238  Kyerung

Kyirong has lexical tone, with a three-tone system.^[3]

Relationship to other languages

There is a varying degree of mutual intelligibility between Kyirong and other Kyirong-Yolmo varieties. It is most closely related to the Nubri and Gyalsomdo languages,^[4] and more distantly related to other languages in the family.^[5]

Phonology

Consonants

There are 36 consonants in Kyirong, which are summarized in the table below.^[3]

		Bilabial	Apico-Dental		Retroflex	Lamino- post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n				ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	ts	ʈ	tɕ	c	k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tsʰ	ʈʰ	tɕʰ	cʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d	dz	ɖ	dʑ	ɟ	ɡ
Fricative	voiceless		s			ɕ			h
	voiced		z			ʑ			ɦ
Liquid	rhotic		r
	voiced lateral		l
	unvoiced lateral		ɬ
Semivowel		w					j

Vowels

There are eight places of articulation for vowels. There is a length distinction at each place of articulation, as well as a long nasalised vowel.^[3]

		Front		Central	Back
Close	oral	i   iː	y   yː		u   uː
	nasal	ĩː	ỹː		ũː
Half-close	oral	e   eː	ø   øː
	nasal	ẽː	ø̃ː
Half-open	oral	ɛ   ɛː			ɔ   ɔː
	nasal	ɛ̃ː			ɔ̃ː
Open	oral			a   aː
	nasal			ãː

Tone

Kyriong has a three tone system; high, medium and low. Low tone is often accompanied by breathy voice.^[3]

Sources

• Hedlin, M. (2011). An Investigation of the relationship between the Kyirong, Yòlmo, and Standard Spoken Tibetan speech varieties. Masters thesis, Payap University, Chiang Mai.
• Huber, B. (2005). The Tibetan dialect of Lende (Kyirong). Beiträge zur tibetischen Erzählforschung, 15.