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Qiangic (Ch'iang, Kyang, Tsiang), formerly known as Dzorgaic, is a group of related languages within the Sino-Tibetan language family. They are spoken mainly in Southwest China, including Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan. Most Qiangic languages are distributed in the prefectures of Ngawa, Garzê, Ya'an, and Liangshan in Sichuan with some in northern Yunnan as well.
Qiangic speakers are variously classified as part of the Qiang, Tibetan, Pumi, Nakhi and Mongol ethnic groups by the Chinese government.
The extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia is considered to be Qiangic by some linguists, including Matisoff (2004).[1] The internal structure of Qiang is closely related to the Tangut language and rGyalrongic language.[2][3] The undeciphered Nam language of China may possibly be related to Qiangic.
Lamo, Larong, and Drag-yab, a group of three closely related Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Chamdo, eastern Tibet, may or may not be Qiangic.[4][5][6]
Its language status is evaluated at 6b, or threatened.[7] Qiang is transitioning from in-use to out-of-use in the homes of the Qiang people because it holds little use in everyday life. Trade with other Chinese people is done in Mandarin, which is the same language that local schools are taught in.[8]: 3–4 In addition, young adults are leaving the region's villages for education or for an easier lifestyle. Many marry people from other parts of China who only speak Mandarin.[8]: 12
 | This is a user sandbox of Ckl17. You can use it for testing or practicing edits. This is not the place where you work on your assigned article for a dashboard.wikiedu.org course. Visit your Dashboard course page and follow the links for your assigned article in the My Articles section. |
[The only place where I integrated info from the actual Wiki is in the *lead*, the rest of the Wikepdia page doesn't relate with the grammar of Qiang.]
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Phonology
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Perspective
The phonemic inventory of Qiang consists of 37 consonants, and eight basic vowel qualities.[8]: 22, 25 The syllable structure of Qiang allows up to six sounds.[8]: 30
Consonants
Vowels
Qiang distinguishes between unstressed and long vowels (signified by two small dots, "ː") for all of its vowels except for /ə/ . In addition, there exist 15 diphthongs and one triphthong in the language of Qiang.[8]: 25–26
There may not be a significant phonetic difference in sound between /i/ and /e/, and /u/ and /o/, respectively. In fact, they are often used in place of one another without changing the meaning.
Diphthongs and Triphthongs[8]: 26
Diphthongs: ia, iɑ, ie, ye, eu, əu, ei, əi, oi, uɑ, ua, uə, ue, ui, ya
Triphthong: uəi
R-coloring
As the Qiang language becomes more endangered, the use of r-coloring is not being passed down to younger generations of the Qiang people. As a result, there is great variation in its use. R-coloring is not considered its own phoneme because it is a vowel feature and only used to produce vowel harmony (see below), most commonly signifying a first person plural marking.[8]: 28
Example: miʴwu [person (<mi):all] 'all the people'[8]: 28
Syllable Structure
The Qiang Syllable Canon:[8]: 30
(C)
[fric]
(initial-consonant)
-
(V)
[glide]
V
-
(V)
[glide]
(C)
[fric]
(final-consonant)
-
Phonological Processes
Initial Weakening
When a compound or a directional prefix is added before an aspirated initial, the latter becomes the final of the preceding syllable in the new word. This typically causes it to lose its aspiration.[8]: 31–32
Example: tə- DIR + ba 'big' > təwa 'become big'[8]: 32
[Stress section deleted because too complicated, permission from Prof. Kalin]
Vowel Harmony
Typically, vowel harmony is used to match a preceding syllable's vowel with the succeeding vowel or its height. In some cases, however, the vowel of a succeeding syllable will harmonize in the opposite way, matching with the preceding vowel. This process occurs across syllables in compounds or in prefix + root combinations. Vowel harmony can also occur for r-coloring on the first syllable if the second syllable of a compound or prefix + root combination already has r-coloring. [8]: 35–36
Example: wə 'bird' + ʂpu 'flock' > wuʂpu '(wild) pigeon'[8]: 35
Example: Chinese zhàogù + Qiang pə 'to do' > tʂɑuku-pu 'take care of'[8]: 36
Example: me 'not' + weʴ 'reduce' > meʴ-weʴ 'unceasingly'[8]: 35
Epenthetic Vowel
The vowel /ə/ can be embedded within a collection of consonants that are restricted by the syllable canon. The epenthetic vowel is used to combine sounds that would typically be impermissible.[8]: 36
Example: bəl-əs-je [do-NOM (< -s)-good to eat] 'advantageous'[8]: 36
Free Variation
For some words, changing or adding consonants produces no phonological difference in meaning. The most common consonant interchange is between /ʂ/ and /χ/.[8]: 37
Example: ʂqu ~ χqu 'mouth'[8]: 37
Example: kɑp ~ kɑpətʂ 'orphan'[8]: 37
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Morphology
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Perspective
Qiang uses affixes in the form of prefixes and suffixes to describe or modify the meaning of nouns and verbs.[8]: 39, 43, 120 Other morphological processes that are affixed include gender marking, marking of genitive case, compounding, and nominalization. Qiang also uses non-affixational processes such as reduplication.[8]: 39
Noun Phrase
In Qiang, any combination of the following order is allowed as long as it follows this flow. Some of the items found below, such as adjectives, may be used twice within the same noun phrase.[8]: 39
Structure of the Qiang noun phrase
GEN phrase + Rel. clause + Noun + ADJ + DEM/DEF + (NUM + CL)/PL[8]: 39
Gender Marking
Gender marking only occurs in animals. Typically, /mi/ is the suffix for females, while /zdu/ is the suffix for males.[8]: 48
Example: wə-mi 'mare'[8]: 48
Example: puɳu-zdu 'male cat'[8]: 48
Pronouns
Pronouns of Qiang can be represented from the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, and can refer to one, two, or more than two people.[8]: 50
Genitive Case
The genitive marker /-tɕ(ə)/ is placed on the modifying noun. This modifying noun will precede the noun it modifies.[8]: 99–100
Example:[8]: 100
qɑ-tɕ
1sg-GEN
ləɣz
book
'my book'
Verbal Morphology
Changing the meaning of verbs can be done by prefixes and suffixes, or by using reduplication.[8]: 120, 123
Reduplication
Repetition of the same root verb signifies a reciprocal action upon one actors, or an ongoing action.[8]: 52, 123
Example: mɑ 'plaster (a wall)' > məmɑ 'be plastering'[8]: 123
Other Morphological Processes
Compounding
In Qiang, the modifying noun of the compound must precede the modified noun.[8]: 43
Example:[8]: 48, 49
khuɑ-ʁl
dog-child
'puppy'
Nominalization
Nouns are created from adjectives or verbs using clitics /-s/, /-m/, or /-tɕ/, the indefinite markers /le/ or /te/, or the definite marker /ke/.[8]: 59, 223
Example:[8]: 224
tɑwə-tɑ-m
hat-wear-NOM
le-ze
DEF-CL
'the person wearing a hat'
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Syntax
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Perspective
The language of Qiang has quite a predictable syntax without many variations. The typical basic word order is SOV.[8]: 221 As a language that is derived from Mandarin Chinese, Qiang borrows some Mandarin words while keeping its own sentence structure.[8]: 222
Clause Structure
Order
(TEMP) (LOC) (ACTOR) (GOAL/RECIPIENT) (ADV) (UG) VC (PART)[8]: 221
(TEMP = temporal phrase; UG = undergoer; VC = verb complex; PART = clause-final particle)
A sentence in Qiang may be as short as a verb complex, which may just be a predicate noun.[8]: 222
Deriving from the order stated above, Qiang is a language with a Subject-Object-Verb sentence structure.
Example:[8]: 77
S
χumtʂi
Xumtʂi
O
ʐətɕʰaq-e-ze
rabbit-one-CL
V
ɦɑ-tʂ
DIR-pierce(kill)
‘Xumtʂi killed a rabbit.’
Code Mixing
Many loan words or loan phrases from Mandarin are used but the word order of these phrases is rearranged to fit the grammatical structure of Qiang.[8]: 222
Example:[8]: 222
pəs-ŋuəɳi
today-TOP
ʐmətʂi-sətsim-leː
emperor-wife-DEF:CL
tɕiutɕin
(after.all
ʂə
be)
mi-leː
person-DEF:CL
ŋuə-ŋuɑ?
COP-Q
'Today, is the emeror's wife a human?'
In this sentence, the words "tɕiutɕin" and "ʂə" are borrowed from Mandarin.
References
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