Northern Va (Va pronunciation: [tou˥˩wo˨˩vaʔ˥˩] "Va language") is an Austroasiatic language spoken in Yunnan, China. It is classified as an Angkuic language, belongs to the Palaungic branch by Hsiu (2017). No ISO code has been designated for Va.
The relationship between two Va varieties is unclear, as Northern Va informant stated that they cannot understand Southern Va very well, but the Southern Va informant can understand Northern Va perfectly. Southern Va is more conservative compared to Northern Va in sesquisyllabic word structure.
This language was first researched by Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau in 1990.
Sociolinguistics Northern Va is spoken in a remote pocket deep inside Yunnan, with no other Austroasiatic languages are in sight within a 100 kilometers radius. Its speakers are officially recognized as ethnic Blangs, despite they speak an Angkuic language. The language is used in daily life by all generations, including children.
Northern Va is spoken in about eight villages of Taihe Village 太和村, Jingxing Township 景星乡, Mojiang County, Yunnan. Wamo 挖墨 (currently with vigorous language use) Xinzhai 新寨 (Upper 上 and Lower 下 hamlets) Jiuzhai 旧寨 Dazhai 大寨 (Upper 上 and Lower 下 hamlets) Xiaozhai 小寨 (Upper 上 and Lower 下 hamlets)
Va speakers are surrounded by mostly Kaduo speakers, a Southern Loloish language. However, trace of Tai superstrate is significant, evident in most of Va numbers other than 1-3 have been replaced by Tai loans, even though Tai speakers are a minority in the region.
Phonology Word structure Northern Va is less archaic in comparison to Southern Va in term of preserving the canonical Austroasiatic word shape C(C)VC. Monosyllables tend to dominate the lexicon, though presyllabic clusters /kl-, kʰl-, pl-, pʰl-, pʰj-/ may appears in some lexemes. The maximal structure in Northern Va is C1(C2)V(V)(N/Cf)T.
Suprasegmentals (tones) There are four tones in Va. Note that when high-falling tone /51/ is followed by a mid-level /33/ or low-falling tone /21/, there is a contour transition during the phonetic coarticulation which may result as or .
Pitch value Contour Example 21 low-falling tsa² "cook" 33 mid-level ʂɨ³³ "rope, string" 35 mid-rising fai⁵¹veiʔ³⁵ "left side" 51 high-falling dʑɯa⁵¹ "know"
Consonants No phonemes listed below have been found to exist only as allophones in all environments. /ɲ̥/ is apparently rare, as there is only one example: ɲ̥a⁵¹ 'to laugh'.
Onsets + Northern Va initial consonantsLabialAlveolarRetroflex(Alveolo-)PalatalVelarGlottalcentralsibilantPlosiveplainaspiratedvoicedFricativevoicelessvoicedNasalvoicelessvoicedApproximant
Codas +Northern Va codasBilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal Plosive Nasal Glide
Vowels +Northern Va monophthongs Front Central Back High Mid-high Low
/a/ has an allophone of [ɑ]. /ɤ/ has an allophone of [ə]. [ɤ] may have a front quality. Six diphthongs /ɯa ui ei ɤi ie ou/ all can be nasalized.
Lexicon Pronouns singular plural 1st person ʔo³³ ʔei³³ 2nd person mi³³ pʰei³³ 3rd person tʰa³³ kei⁵¹
Numerals Note: loan words are not displayed. Gloss Northern Va Proto-Eastern Angkuic proto-Palaungic 1 tiʔ³³ (hand) *moːh 2 kɑ⁵¹ *ləʔaːr 3 kui⁵¹ **kuej *ləʔɔːj 4 (Tai loan) *poːn 5 – *pəsan 6 – *tɔːl 7 – *təpuːl 8 – *taːʔ 9 – *tiːm 10 – *kɤːl 100 tiʔ³³pɑk⁵¹ *prjah 1000 tiʔ³³ɕin⁵¹ *sreːŋ
Flora & colors Gloss Northern Va proto-Palaungic black laŋ⁵¹ploŋ⁵¹ *jam, *laŋ bamboo ŋum³³xɤŋ⁵¹ *hrəŋ flower ɣaŋ⁵¹ *raːŋ fruit pʰli²¹vei³³ *pleeʔ green/blue vei²¹ŋ̥ia³³ **sŋaal; *ɲ(ɛ/iə)r leaf ɬa²¹siʔ³³ *hlaʔ red ve³³ŋam⁵¹ *rooŋ rice tree ŋ̥ou³³ *sŋɔːʔ millet sɨ²¹sɨ³³ *skɔɔj yellow ve²¹ɬɯ̃⁵¹ *rmiit
Fauna Gloss Northern Va proto-Palaungic buffalo kʰɯaʔ⁵¹ *traːk bear kʰɯa⁵¹ *kreːs bee sie⁵¹ *psiər bird sɨm³³ *ciːm dog so³³ *cɔːʔ goose haŋ⁵¹ *haan fowl ʔie⁵¹ *ʔiɛr horse pɯaŋ⁵¹ *mraŋ louse tɕʰiŋ²¹ʂɨ³³ *ciːʔ pig lik⁵¹ *-leːk tiger vai²¹ *rwaaj
References
Nanjian County Gazetteer Commission [南涧县志编纂委员会编] (ed). 1993. Nanjian County Gazetteer [南涧彝族自治县志]. Chengdu: Sichuan Reference Press [四川辞书出版社]. Na Ruzhen [納汝珍], et al. (eds). 1994. Zhenkang County Ethnic Gazetteer [镇康县民族志]. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press [云南民族出版社]. Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau [思茅行暑民族事务委员会] (ed). 1990. A study of the Bulang people [布朗族研究]. m.s. Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau [思茅行暑民族事务委员会] (ed). 1991. A study of the Bulang people [布朗族研究]. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press [云南人民出版社]. Xiao Dehua [萧德虎], et al. (eds). 1992. Zhenkang County Gazetteer [镇康县志]. 1992. Chengdu: Sichuan People's Press [四川民族出版社]. Yunnan Gazetteer Commission [云南省地方志编纂委员会] (ed). 1998. Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer, Vol. 59: Minority Languages Orthographies Gazetteer [云南省志. 卷五十九, 少数民族语言文字志]. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press [云南人民出版社]. Tao Yuming [陶玉明]. 2012. The Bulang people of China [中国布朗族]. Yinchuan: Ningxia People's Press [宁夏人民出版社].
External links
Angkuic lexical comparative study