The Bala language () is a possibly extinct Tungusic language that was spoken in and around the Zhangguangcai Range of Heilongjiang Province, Northeastern China. No standard orthography exists for the language, although manuscripts have occasionally recorded Bala words using Chinese characters.
Classification Bala clearly belongs to the Jurchenic language subgroup of Southern Tungusic languages, but its exact position within Jurchenic remains to be determined. Bala is more closely related to Jurchen than it is to Manchu and retains many archaic features. It reportedly became extinct in 1982, but it is unknown whether there could be rememberers of the language still alive today.
In addition to influences from Northeastern Mandarin and Manchu, Bala may also have been influenced by Southern Nanai languages such as Kilen.An, Jun 安俊. 1986. Hezheyu jianzhi 赫哲语简志. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
Distribution Originally spoken by mountain dwellers who claimed to have fled to the Zhangguangcai Mountains to flee from the late 16th-century Manchu campaigns of Nurhaci, Bala speakers later scattered into the plains to the west and south of the mountain range, with some speakers also moving to various villages in northern Jilin Province. Bala villages in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces include , , , , , , , , , , and , , , , and .
Documentation The Bala language has been documented by (also known as , or ; 1926‒1989).Mu, Yejun 穆晔骏. 1984. Juzhu zai zhangguangcailing de manzu ‘balaren’ 居住在张广才岭的满族‘巴拉人’. Heilongjiang wenwu congkan 黑龙江文物丛刊 2, 64–68.Mu, Yejun 穆晔骏. 1987. Balayu 巴拉语. Manyu yanjiu 满语研究 2, 2–31, 128.Mu, Yejun 穆晔骏. 1988. Lun balayu de yuyin bianhua 论巴拉语的语音变化. Manyu yanjiu 满语研究 6, 1–26. Additional linguistic data has also been collected by Li, Keman 李可漫. 2014. Bala ren ‘xiao mo’ergen yiwen’ de cailu 巴拉人《小莫尔根逸闻》 的采录. Dongbei shidi 东北史地 5, 86–88.Li, Guojun 李果钧. 1991. Dunhua de ‘balaren’ 敦化的‘把拉人’. In Sun Bang 孙邦 (ed.) Jilin manzu 吉林满族, 46–48. Changchun: Jilin renmin chubanshe. and her father .Li, Guojun 李果钧. 1991. Jidong manzu ‘balaren’ xisu 吉东满族‘巴拉人’习俗. In Sun Bang 孙邦 (ed.) Jilin manzu 吉林满族, 294–297. Changchun: Jilin renmin chubanshe.
References