Rawang language

Rawang, also known as Krangku, Kiutze (Qiuze), and Ch’opa, is a Sino-Tibetan language of India and Burma. Rawang has a high degree of internal diversity, and some varieties are not mutually intelligible. Most, however, understand Mutwang (Matwang), the standard dialect, and basis of written Rawang.[2]

Rawang
Rvwàng
Native toMyanmar, India, China, Thailand
EthnicityNung Rawang
Native speakers
63,000 (2000)[1]
Dialects
  • Mutwang
  • Longmi
  • Serwang
  • Tangsarr
Latin (Rawang alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3raw
Glottolograwa1265

Rawang is spoken in Putao District, northern Kachin State, in Putao, Machanbaw, Naungmaw, Kawnglangphu, and Pannandin townships (Ethnologue). Alternate names are Chiutse, Ch’opa, Ganung-Rawang, Hkanung, Kiutze, Nung, Nung Rawang, and Qiuze.

The Matwang-related dialects share 82% to 99% lexical similarity.[2] The Kyaikhu Lungmi and Changgong Tangsar dialects have less intelligibility with Matwang.[2] Rawang shares 74% lexical similarity with Drung, 79%–80% with Anong, 81%–87% with Renyinchi (Langdaqgong Tangsar), 77% with Changgong Tangsar, 74%–85% with Lungmi, and 74%–80% with Daru-Jerwang.[2]

Varieties

The Ethnologue lists the following varieties of Rawang.

  • Daru-Jerwang (including the Kunglang variety spoken in Arunachal Pradesh)
  • Khrangkhu/Thininglong (Southern Lungmi) (documented in Shintani 2018[3])
  • Kyaikhu (Dangraq-Mashang, Northern Lungmi)
  • Matwang
  • Tangsar East (Changgong)
  • Tangsar West (Langdaqgong, Renyinchi)
  • Thaluq

Lungmi varieties of Mashang and Dangraq are especially divergent, and varieties spoken near the Tibetan border are also divergent.

Kyaikhu Lungmi and Changgong Tangsar are less intelligible with the standard written variety of Matwang.

There are 4 major Rawang clan divisions, in addition to subclans (Ethnologue):

  • Lungmi
  • Matwang
  • Daru-Jerwang (consisting of Daru and Zørwang[4])
  • Tangsar

Dvru (Daru) dialects include Malong, Konglang, Awiqwang, and Rvmøl. Tangsar is spoken to the east of Rvmøl, and Waqdamkong and Mvtwang to the south of Rvmøl. Rvmøl-speaking clans include Ticewang/Tisanwang/Ticvlwang/Chicvlwang, Abør, Chømgunggang, Chvngdvng, Dvngnólcv̀l/Dvngnóycv̀l, Dvlìnv̀m.[5]

Wadamkhong is a Rawang dialect documented by Shintani (2014).[6]

Straub (2017)[7][8][9][10] provides demographic details and phoneme inventories for the following Rawang dialects.

  • Dvrù dialect: spoken by the Rvwàng, Konglang, and Sangnay clans, and was originally spoken on the upper Rvmetì (N'mai Hka) river north of Konglangpø. It is also spoken in Nokmong, Putao District, Kachin State, Myanmar.
    • Rvmø̀l Rvwàng: a southern Dvrù dialect originally spoken north of Konglangpø, Putao District, Kachin State, Myanmar. It is geographically and linguistically transitional between the western Dvngsar, Waqdvmkong (northern Mvtwàng), and Dvrù dialects.
  • Krvngku dialect: spoken in southern Lungmi, Rvwàng, from Rv́zà village (no longer existent since the mid-1960s). The village was located on the upper Krang stream, an eastern tributary of the Mvliq river in Kachin State, Myanmar.
  • Western Dvngsar (Tangsar) dialect: spoken by the Mvpáng clan. It was originally spoken along the upper Renyinchi and Langdaqgong streams north of Konglangpø, Putao District, Kachin State, Myanmar.

Tadahiko Shintani has also documented the Wadamkhong,[11]Khwingsang,[12] and Agu[13] dialects.

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t̪ k
voiced b d̪ ɡ
Affricate voiceless ts tʃ
voiced dz dʒ
Fricative s ʃ h
Nasal m n̪ ŋ
Rhotic ɽ
Approximant w l̪ j
  • /w/ can be heard as [v] before front vowels.
  • Voiced stops can sometimes be heard as prenasalised among speakers.[14]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid e ə o
Open a

References
  1. Rawang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  3. Shintani, Tadahiko. 2018. The Khrangkhu language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area, no. 114. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  4. Tournadre, Nicolas; Suzuki, Hiroyuki (2023). The Tibetic Languages: an introduction to the family of languages derived from Old Tibetan. Paris: LACITO. ISBN 978-2-490768-08-0.
  5. Straub, Nathan. 2016. Direction and time reference in the Rvmøl (Dvru) dialect of Rawang, from northern Myanmar. M.A. dissertation. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
  6. Shintani Tadahiko. 2014. The Wadamkhong language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 103. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  7. "Numeral Systems of the World".
  8. "Numeral Systems of the World".
  9. "Numeral Systems of the World".
  10. "Numeral Systems of the World".
  11. Shintani, Tadahiko. 2014. The Wadamkhong language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area, no. 103. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  12. Shintani, Tadahiko. 2018. The Khwingsang language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area, no. 113. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  13. Shintani, Tadahiko. 2023. The Agu language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area, no. 146. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  14. Morse, Stephen A. (1988). A short update on Rawang phonology. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, Vol. 11, No. 2. pp. 120–132.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Rawang language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator


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