Tsat language

Tsat, also known as Utsat, Utset, Hainan Cham, or Huíhuī (simplified Chinese: 回辉语; traditional Chinese: 回輝語; pinyin: Huíhuīyǔ), is a tonal language spoken by 4,500 Utsul people in Yanglan (羊栏) and Huixin (回新) villages near Sanya, Hainan, China. Tsat is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian group within the Austronesian language family, and is one of the Chamic languages originating on the coast of present-day Vietnam.

Tsat
Hainan Cham
Native toChina
RegionHainan
EthnicityUtsul
Native speakers
4,000 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3huq
Glottologtsat1238
ELPTsat

Tonogenesis

Hainan Cham tones correspond to various Proto-Chamic sounds.[2]

Hainan Cham Tonogenesis
Tone value
(Hainan Cham)		 Type of tone
(Hainan Cham)		 Proto-Chamic final sound
55 High *-h, *-s; PAN *-q
42 Falling *-p, *-t, *-k, *-c, *-ʔ
Voiceless final: voiced stop / affricate (pre-)initial[lower-alpha 1]
*-ay, *-an[lower-alpha 2]
24 Rising *-p, *-t, *-k, *-c, *-ʔ
Voiceless final: default
11 Low Vowels and nasals, *-a:s
Voiced final: voiced stop / affricate (pre-)initial[lower-alpha 1]
33 Mid Vowels and nasals, *a:s
Voiced final: default

History

Unusually for an Austronesian language, Tsat has developed into a tonal language, probably as a result of areal linguistic effects and contact with the diverse tonal languages spoken on Hainan including varieties of Chinese such as Hainanese and Standard Chinese, Tai–Kadai languages such as the Hlai languages, and Hmong–Mien languages such as Kim Mun.[3]

Notes
  1. if a voiced pre-initial is present, its voicing determines the tone even if the main syllable has a voiceless initial[2]
  2. The finals *-ay and *-an turn into falling 42 regardless of initial voicing[2]
  1. Tsat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Thurgood, Graham (1993). "Phan Rang Cham and Utsat: Tonogenetic Themes and Variants". In Edmondson, Jerold A.; Gregerson, Kenneth J. (eds.). Tonality in Austronesian Languages. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication, 24. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 91–106.
  3. Thurgood, Graham (1999). From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects: Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change: With an Appendix of Chamic Reconstructions and Loanwords. University of Hawaii Press. p. 239. ISBN 0-8248-2131-9. Retrieved 2011-05-15.

References
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