The Then language (; alternate spellings: Tʻen and Ten) is a Kam–Sui language spoken in Pingtang and Huishui counties, southern Guizhou. It is spoken by the Yanghuang () people, many of whom are officially classified as Maonan by the Chinese government.

Names The Yanghuang people called themselves , except for the Yanghuang of Huishui County, Xiayou District (), and Xiguan Shangmo (), who called themselves (Bo 1997). According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer (2002:846),Guizhou Province Gazetteer: Ethnic Gazetteer [] (2002). Guiyang: Guizhou Ethnic Publishing House [貴州民族出版社]. their autonyms include () and ().

"Yanghuang" was mentioned in a Ming Dynasty record, the (). According to it, "the Man people of Sizhou are Yanghuang, Gelao, Muyao (Mulao), and Miaozhi (Miaozi).

Phonology Yanghuang of Kapu Township () has 71 consonants total, including those with secondary articulations. There are a total of 71 rhymes, 9 vowels, and 8 codas (Bo 1997).

Dialects Bo (1997:138-139) lists three main dialects of Yanghuang.

Hedong (): spoken by more than 15,000 people, 10,000 of whom are daily users of the language. It is spoken east of the Pingtang River () in the townships of Kapu () and Zhemi (), in Pingtang County, as well as in parts of western Dushan County, including Balang village (). Their autonym is ai1 raːu1. This is the representative dialect studied most by Bo (1997). Hexi (): active speaker population of about 2,000 out of a population of about 10,000 people. It is spoken west of the Pingtang River in the western part of Zhemi Township, Pingtang County, in the villages of Liudongba () and Jiaqing (), and neighboring areas. Huishui (): spoken only by elderly people out of a population of about 2,000–3,000 people. Middle-aged and younger people do not speak the Huishui variety of Then anymore. It is spoken in Huishui County. It is spoken around the village of Yaoshao (), but not in Yaoshao itself. This is the most divergent dialect, and is most heavily influenced by Chinese. Their autonym ai1 thən2. Their ancestors had reportedly migrated from Liudongba () during the 1800s.

Below are some lexical comparisons of Yanghuang dialects from Bo (1997:139-146).

English gloss Chinese gloss Hedong Hexi Huishui vegetable ʔma1 ma1 ma1 female ʔmjɛk9 mjɛk9 mjaːk9 well (water) ʔmwə5 mo5 mu5 year ʔme1 be1 be1 nose ʔnaŋ1 naŋ1 naŋ1 moon ʔnjen1 njen1 njen1 sesame ʔȵa1 ȵa1 ȵa1 nod (head) ʔŋak7 ŋak7 money prin2 bin2 -tʰin2 stove, hearth kraːu5 taːu5 tʰaːu5 white pɣaːk8 pwaːk10 paːk8 cliff pɣa1, pɣə1 pwa1 pa1 horn (of cattle) pɣaːu2 pwaːu2 paːu2 grass kɣaŋ1 kaŋ1 kaŋ1 light (weight) ʔza4 tsa4 ja4 heavy ʔzan2, jan2 tsan2 ʔjan2 itch ʔzam2 tsam2 jəm2 star ʔzut7 tsut7 jut7 span; bunch ʔzaːp8 tsjɛp10 jɛp8 zongzi ʔzut7 ʔjut7 jut7 mushroom, fungus ʔɣa1 ɣa1 ɣə1 long raːi3 raːi3 zaːi3 field ra5 ra5 za5 air ro6 rəu6 zo6 transplant (seedlings) ram1 ram1 zam1 wind rəm2 rəm2 zəm2 firewood rət7 rət7 zət7 bone raːk9 raːk9 zaːk9 dark rəp8 rəp8 zəp8; rəp8 soup riu6 ʑiu6 boat rjɛ1 rjɛ1 zja1 wife rjɛ4 rje4 zja4 roll (down) rjɛŋ4 rjɛŋ4 zjaːŋ4 steal rjɛk8 rjɛk8 zjak8 taro rjɛk9 rjɛk9 zjaːk9 name daːn1 laːn1 laːn1 gallbladder do5 ləu5 listen dəi3 ləi3 lei3 shallow dai5 ləi5 lai5 go to market daːu3 laːu3 laːu3 forest dɔŋ1 lɔŋ1 loŋ1 winnowing basket dɔŋ3 lɔŋ3 loŋ3 deaf dak7 lak7 lak7 navel djɛ1 lja1 eye la1 da1 da1 steam, cook laːu3 daːu3 daːu3 moss lau1 dau1 dau1 pond lam1 dam1 dam1 see lo3 dəu3 do3 wood shavings laːk9 daːk9 daːk9 fragrant laːŋ1 daːŋ1 tian que laːŋ3 daːŋ3 bamboo strips luk7 dok7 river njɛ2 njɛ2 nja2 tree (classifier) pjɛ2 pjɛ2 pja2 hand mjɛ2 mjɛ2 mja2 walk sjɛm3 sjɛm3 sjaːm3 housefly tsjɛm5 tsjɛm5 tsjaːm5 sunlight ljɛŋ1 ljɛŋ1 ljaːŋ1 ditch mjɛŋ2 mjaːŋ2 magpie ȶʰɛk9 sjɛk9 ɕaːk9 belly lɔŋ2 lɔŋ2 loŋ2 finger tɔŋ1 tɔŋ1 toŋ1 ripe, cooked sɔk8 sɔk8 sok8 fall (intr.) tɔk9 tɔk9 tok9 bird ʔnɔk9 nɔk9 nok9 liver tap7 tap7 tap7 select; carry taːp9 taːp9 taːp9 ten sip8 sip8 sip8 child laːk10 laːk8 laːk8 congratulate bek10 bek8 bjek8 sky ʔmun1 mun1 mən1 marriage wan2 wan2 van2 fire vi2 vi2 vi2 body rən1 rən1 zən1 one to2 to2 to2 Chinese bayberry tʰaːi6 tʰaːi6 tʰaːi6 buffalo wi2 wi2 wi2 rust raːk10 raːk10 mai4 overflow ron4 ron4 tʰiu5 cogon grass ja2 ja2 zaːp8 squeeze nɛn3 nɛn3 ȵat8 squat, kneel kʰu6 kʰu6 pok8 tremble taːn2 taːn2 ən1 mole (of skin) mak8 mak8 don1 pig food kaːm1 kaːm1 dog ma1 ma1 kə0 va1 peel (skin) kwa3 kwa3 tʰot9 cast, mold tʰaːu3 tʰaːu3 toi3 tickle tsjɛt10 ʔjɛt8 koi6 still (adverb) ʔnaŋ1 naŋ1 voŋ2 mountain (earth) liŋ4 nu2 niu2 big laːu4 maːk9 maːk9 marry (of man) lət7 tʰep9 tʰep9 rest ljak8 dja5 dja5 sharp nim1 raːi2 zaːi2 have ʔnaŋ1 mei2 me2 pheasant ʔnɔk9 rwa1 kok9 kaːi5 ke1 fish scale kɛt9 tep9 kʰwaːŋ1 wrinkle (n.) tiu3 ȵap7 tsuŋ3 trip kɛk9 mit7 kʰam5 I jiu2 jiu2 jiu2 you (sg.) ȵa2 ȵa2 ȵa2 he mən2 mən2 mu5 we (incl.) raːu1 raːu1 zaːu1 we (excl.) ljeu1, diu1 diu1 zaːu1 you (pl.) sjeu1 siu1 si1 they tjeu1 tiu1 mən2 bull, male cattle tak8 wi2 wi2 tak8 wi2 tak8 sow, female pig nei4 məu5 məu5 nəi4 məu5 nəi4 rooster tʰai3 kaːi5 kaːi5 tʰai3 kaːi5 tʰai3 male dog tak8 ma1 ma1 tak8 ma1 tak8

References

Bo, Wenze []. 1997. (A Study of Yanghuang [Then]) []. Beijing: Minzu University Press [].

External links Then word list from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database