Youjiang Zhuang
Youjiang Zhuang, named after the Youjiang River in Guangxi, China, is a Northern Tai or Zhuang Language spoken in Tiandong County, Tianyang District, and parts of the Youjiang District in Baise, Guangxi.
| Youjiang Zhuang | |
|---|---|
| Gangjdoj | |
 Geographic distribution of Youjiang Zhuang | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Guangxi |
Native speakers | 870,000 (2007)[1] |
Kra–Dai
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | zyj |
| Glottolog | youj1238 |
History and classification
Native speakers refer to the language as Gangjdoj, which means "local language".
André-Georges Haudricourt in 1956 included the language of Tianzhou, the county seat of Tianyang, under Dioi, his name for Northern Zhuang.[2]
Based on data from the 1950s Guangxi Zhuang language survey, Tiandong, Tianyang and a suburb of Baise City were grouped together. This grouping was sometimes called Tianyangese (田阳音系). In the 1999 A Study of Zhuang Dialects this group was referred to as the Youjiang language (右江土语),[3] and in 2007 Youjiang Zhuang was added as a separate language to Ethnologue.[1]
Phonology
Youjiang Zhuang has 10 tones, and can be considered as having 20 initials and 83 finals, though some speakers pronounce the initials /ʔb/ and /ʔd/ as /m/ and /n/ respectively.[4]
Writing System
Youjiang Zhuang has two main writing systems, characters and romanization.
References
- Youjiang Zhuang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Haudricourt, André-Georges (1956). "De la restitution des initiales dans les langues monosyllabiques : le problème du thai commun". Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris (52): 307–322.
- Zhang Junru (张均如). Zhuàngyǔ Fāngyán Yánjiù 壮语方言研究 [A Study of Zhuang Dialects]. p. 30. ISBN 7-5409-2293-1.
- Zhang Junru (张均如). Zhuàngyǔ Fāngyán Yánjiù 壮语方言研究 [A Study of Zhuang Dialects]. pp. 62–65. ISBN 7-5409-2293-1.
