Santa language

The Santa language, also known as Dongxiang (simplified Chinese: 东乡语; traditional Chinese: 東鄉語; pinyin: Dōngxiāngyǔ), is a Mongolic language spoken by the Dongxiang people in Northwest China.

Santa
Dunxian kielen
لھجکءاءل‎
Native toChina
RegionGansu (mainly Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture) and Xinjiang (Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture)[1]
Native speakers
200,000 (2007)[2]
Mongolic
  • Shirongolic
    • Santa
Arabic, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3sce
Glottologdong1285
ELPDongxiang
Santa is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Dialects

There are no dialects in strict sense, but three local varieties (tuyu) can be found: Suonanba (ca. 50% of all Dongxiang speakers), Wangjiaji (ca. 30% of all Dongxiang speakers) and Sijiaji (ca. 20% of all Dongxiang speakers).

Phonology

Except for a limited number of cases there is no vowel harmony and the harmonic rules governing the suffix pronunciation are by far not as strict as those of Mongolian.[2]

Consonants

Dongxiang has 29 consonants:[3]

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive plain p t k q
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ ɕ x h
voiced ʐ ʁ
Affricate plain t͡s t͡ʂ t͡ɕ
aspirated t͡sʰ t͡ʂʰ t͡ɕʰ
Nasal m n ŋ
Approximant w l j
Trill r

Vowels

Dongxiang has 7 vowels.[3] Unlike other neighboring Mongolic languages, it has neither vowel harmony nor distinctions of vowel length.[2]

Front Central Back
plain retroflex unrounded rounded
High i ɯ u
Mid ə ɚ o
Low ɑ

Grammar

Plural marking
  • -la (remaining of nouns)

~oni,

sheep,

eoni-la

sheep(s)

~oni, eoni-la

sheep, sheep(s)

  • -sla/-sila (certain nouns and pronouns)

o~in,

girl,

o~in-sla

girls

o~in, o~in-sla

girl, girls

  • -pi (relatives)

gajieiau

brother,

gajieiau-pi

brothers

gajieiau gajieiau-pi

brother, brothers

Cases

Santa/Dongxiang has 6 cases.[4]

Function Marker Example Meaning (Chinese)
Nominative nominative (nothing) morei holuwe 马跑了
Connective genitive-accusative -ni (yi) bula-ni usu 泉里的水
Dative dative-locative-benefactive -de ula-de khirei 登上山
Ablative ablative-comparative -se udani hon-se gaowe 比去年好
Comitative comitative (联合格) -le chi ibura-le hhantu echi 你和伊卜拉一起去
Comitative comitative (方面格) -re bi chima-re sanane 我要和你算帐
Sociative sociative-instrumental -gh(u)ala khidei-ghala kielie 用汉话说
Prosecutive locative-prosecutive -gvun moronghizha-gvun nie uzhe 沿河边看一下

Pronoun
Word Note Meaning
morei-mini (also -miyi, -miy) my horse
morei-matanni (also -matayi, -matay) our (inclusive) horse
morei-bijienni (also -bijieyi, -bijiey) our (exclusive) horse
morei-chini (also -chiyis, -chiy) your horse
morei-tani (also -tayi, -tay) your (plural) horse
morei-ni him/ her/ their (any 3rd person pronoun) horse

Reflexive
Particle Word Meaning
-ne chi gaga-ne uru 你叫你哥哥来

1st Person
Case Singular Plural
Exclusive Inclusive
Nominative bi / orun (quotation) bijien matan / oruntan (quotation)
Genitive accusative mi-ni / nama-ni (namiyi) bijien-ni matan-ni / ma-ni
Dative locative nama-de / ma-de bijien-de matan-de
Ablative comparative nama-se / ma-se bijien-se matan-se
Comitative (联合格) nama-le / ma-le bijien-le matan-le
Sociative instrumental bi-ghala bijien-ghala matan-ghala

2nd Person
Case Singular Plural
Nominative chi ta / tan
Genitive accusative chi-ni ta-ni
Dative locative chima-de tan-de
Ablative comparative chima-se / cha-se tan-se
Comitative (联合格) chima-le tan-le
Sociative instrumental chi-ghala ta-ghala

3rd Person
Case Singular Plural
Nominative hhe tere egven hhela terela egvenla
hhesila teresila egvesila
Genitive accusative hhe-ni tere-ni egen-ni hhela-ni terela-ni egvenla-ni
Dative locative hhe-nde tere-(n)de / ten-de egven-de hhela-de terela-de egvenla-de
Ablative comparative hhe-nse tere-(n)se egven-se hhela-se terela-se egvenla-se
Comitative (联合格) hhe-nle tere-le egven-le hhela-le terela-le egvenla-le
Sociative instrumental hhe-ghala tere-ghala egven-ghala hhela-ghala terela-ghala egvenla-ghala

正动词

Type 式(语气或情态)的范畴

Case Particle Example Meaning (Chinese)
Imperative -ye matanghala yawu-ye 我们两个走吧
-gie chini gien ghujingvan gaoda-gie 让你的病尽快痊愈
Declarative -we bi uzhe-we 我看了

Aspect 体(动词行为方式或状态)范畴

Aspect Particle Example Meaning (Chinese)
Perfect -we bi bazade echi-we 我到临夏去了
Imperfect -ne chi khala echi-ne 你到哪里去?
Continuative -zhiwe (zho) ana-miyi budan gie-zhiwe 我妈正在做饭

Voice 态(行为与其主体之间的关系)的范畴

Voice Particle Example Meaning (Chinese)
主动态 (nothing)
使动态 -gva bai-gva 建立
共动态 -ndu jie-ndu 吃

Numeral: Singular has no suffix, plural suffix is -ndu, same as 共动态.

数:单数没有附加成分,复数的附加成分是-ndu,与共动态附加成分一样

副动词
Adverb Particle Example Meaning (Chinese)
并列副动词 -zhi shira-zhi ijie 烤着吃
重复副动词 -n wila-n wila-n yawulawe 哭着哭着走了
目的副动词 -le bi nie uzhe-le irewe 我来看一看
分离副动词 -dene or -de chi ijie-dene bi ijieye 你吃完后我再吃
条件副动词 -se ghura bao-se bi ulie irene 如果下雨,我就不来了
选择、界限副动词 -tala khara olu-tala wilie giewe 干活到天黑
让步副动词 -senu eqiemagva bosi-senu shu uzhezho 早晨起来后看书

形动词
Tense Particle Example Meaning (Chinese)
Past -san (sen) ene baodei bolu-sanwe 这小麦是成熟的
Future -ku / -wu echi-ku mo gholowe 要去的路远
Present -chin enende sao-chin kun wainu uwe 有没有在这儿住的人?

存在动词 bi 和 wi
bi wi
正动词 wai-ne wi-we
形动词 过去时形动词 bi-san wi-san
将来时形动词 bi-ku wi-ku
现在时形动词 bi-chin wi-chin
副动词 并列副动词 bi-zhi wi-zhi
分离副动词 bi-dene wi-dene
条件副动词 bi-se wi-se
选择、界限副动词 bi-tala wi-tala
让步副动词 bi-senu wi-senu
Tense Particle Example Meaning (Chinese)
表示推测的 bi-mu hhen-de baer bi-mu 他有钱吧
表示回忆的 bi-lai hhe nasun giedun bi-lai bi matawe 我忘了他多少岁了

Syntax

In common with other Mongolic languages, Dongxiang is spoken as an SOV language. In Linxia, however, under the influence of the Mandarin Chinese dialects spoken by the neighbouring Hui people, sentences of the SVO type have also been observed.[5]

Writing system

Knowledge of Arabic is widespread among the Sarta and as a result, they often use the Arabic script to write down their language informally (cf. the Xiao'erjing system that was used by Hui people); however, this has been little investigated by scholars. As of 2003, the official Latin alphabet for Dongxiang, developed on the basis of the Monguor alphabet, remained in the experimental stage.[6]

Numerals
Numeral Classical Mongolian Dongxiang IPA
1 nigen nie niə
2 qoyar ghua ɢua
3 ghurban ghuran ɢuraŋ
4 dörben jieron dʑiəroŋ
5 tabun tawun tawuŋ
6 jirghughan dzigvon dʐiʁoŋ
7 dologhan dolon doloŋ
8 naiman naiman naimaŋ
9 yisün yesun jəsuŋ
10 arban hharan haraŋ

Some numbers in Dongxiang language was heavily influenced by Mandarin. Examples include 30 (sanshi) and 40 (sishi). Meanwhile both khorun /qoruŋ/ and ershi /'ɚʂi/ for 20.

The Tangwang language
Main article: Tangwang language

There are about 20,000 people in the north-eastern part Dongxiang County, who self-identify as Dongxiang or Hui people who do not speak Dongxiang, but natively speak a Dongxiang-influenced form of Mandarin Chinese. The linguist Mei W. Lee-Smith calls this the "Tangwang language" (Chinese: 唐汪话), based on the names of the two largest villages (Tangjia and Wangjia, parts of Tangwang Town) where it is spoken and argues it is a creolized language.[7] According to Lee-Smith, the Tangwang language uses mostly Mandarin words and morphemes with Dongxiang grammar. Besides Dongxiang loanwords, Tangwang also has a substantial number of Arabic and Persian loanwords.[7]

Like Standard Mandarin, Tangwang is a tonal language, but grammatical particles, which are typically borrowed from Mandarin, but are used in the way Dongxiang morphemes would be used in Dongxiang, don't carry tones.[7]

For example, while the Mandarin plural suffix -men (们) has only very restricted usage (it can be used with personal pronouns and some nouns related to people), Tangwang uses it, in the form -m, universally, the way Dongxiang would use its plural suffix -la. Mandarin pronoun ni (你) can be used in Tangwang as a possessive suffix (meaning "your"). Unlike Mandarin, but like Dongxiang, Tangwang has grammatical cases as well (however only four of them, unlike eight in Dongxiang).[7]

References
  1. Bao (2006).
  2. Santa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. Field (1997), p. 37.
  4. Kim (2003), p. 354.
  5. Bao (2006), 1.1: 东乡语的语序特点.
  6. Kim (2003), p. 348.
  7. Lee-Smith, Mei W.; International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (1996), "The Tangwang language", in Wurm, Stephen A.; Mühlhäusler, Peter; Tyron, Darrell T. (eds.), Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. (Volume 13 of Trends in Linguistics, Documentation Series)., Walter de Gruyter, pp. 875–882, ISBN 978-3-11-013417-9

Bibliography

Further reading
  • Baker, Craig (April 2000), The Dongxiang Language and People (PDF), retrieved 2016-02-12
  • Chuluu, Üjiyediin (Chaolu Wu) (November 1994), Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Dongxiang (PDF), SINO-PLATONIC, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania
  • Jorigt, G.; Stuart, Kevin (1998), "Problems Concerning Mongolian Case", Central Asiatic Journal, Harrassowitz Verlag, 42 (1): 110–122, JSTOR 41928140
  • Ma, Guozhong (马国忠) (2001), 东乡语汉语词典 [Dongxiang-Chinese Dictionary], Lanzhou: Gansu Nationalities Publishing House (甘肃民族出版社), ISBN 978-7-5421-0767-1
  • Wei, Li Xue; Stuart, Kevin (1989), "Population and Culture of the Mongols, Tu, Baoan, Dongxiang, and Yugu in Gansu", Mongolian Studies, Mongolia Society, 12 (The Owen Lattimore Memorial Issue): 71–93, JSTOR 43194234
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