Choyo language

Choyo
Choyo
Queyu, Choyu
Native to	China
Native speakers	(7,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Qiangic Zhaba–Queyu Choyo; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	qvy
Glottolog	quey1238
ELP	Queyu

Queyu (Choyo, Choyu) is a Qiangic language of Yajiang County and Xinlong County, Sichuan. It is similar with and shares a name with Zhaba, but the two languages are distinct from each other.

Dialects

The four dialects of Choyo are those of:^[2]

Youlaxi Township 尤拉西乡, Xinlong County (Wang 1991; Huang ed. 1992)^[3]^[4] (which also has Western Horpa speakers^[5])
Rongba Township 绒坝乡, Litang County (Nishida 2008)^[6]
Tuanjie Township 团结乡, Yajiang County (Lu 1985; Sun ed. 1991)^[7]^[8]
Xiala Township 呷拉乡, Yajiang County (Prins & Nagano 2013)^[9] (which also has Dao speakers^[10])

Suzuki & Wangmo (2016)^[2] consider the Lhagang Choyu language to be similar to but not part of Choyu proper, which consists of the four dialects listed above.

Huang & Dai (1992)^[4] document the Queyu dialect spoken in Youlaxi Township 尤拉西乡, Xinlong County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan.

Lhagang Choyu

Lhagang Choyu (Chinese: Tagong Queyu 塔公却域語) is a Qiangic language similar to Choyu recently described by Suzuki & Wangmo (2018).^[11] It is spoken in Tage [Thabs-mkhas] Hamlet, southwestern Tagong [lHa-sgang] Town, Kangding [Dar-mdo] Municipality, Sichuan Province, China. It used to be spoken in Xiya 西雅 Hamlet of the same township (Suzuki & Wangmo 2016:63). Lhagang Choyu is an endangered language with about 100 speakers.

Phonology

Consonants^[12]
		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	oral	p b	t d			k g
Plosive	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ			kʰ
Affricate	oral		ts dz	ʈʂ ɖʐ	tʃ dʒ
Affricate	aspirated		tsʰ	ʈʂʰ	tʃʰ
Fricative	oral	(f) v	s z	ʂ ʐ	ʃ ʒ	x ɣ
Fricative	aspirated		sʰ	ʂʰ	ʃʰ
Nasal		m̥ m	n̥ n			(ŋ̊) ŋ
Approximant		w	l̥ l	r̥ r	j

/f/ and /ŋ̊/ are only observed in one word each.

Vowels^[12]
	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-high	e eˤ	ɘ	o oˤ
Mid-low		ə əˤ
Low	ɛ	ɜ ɜˤ	aˤ

Choyo also has three tones;^[12] high, low, and rising.

References

^ Choyo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b Suzuki, Hiroyuki and Sonam Wangmo. 2016. “Lhagang Choyu: A first look at its sociolinguistic status”. Studies in Asian Geolinguistics II: Rice. pp.60–69.
^ Wang, Tianxi. 1990. “Queyuyu [Choyu]”. In Qingxia Dai, Bufan Huang, Ailan Fu, Rig-’dzin dBang-mo, and Juhuang Liu. Zangmianyu Shiwuzhong. pp.46–63. Beijing: Beijing Yanshan Chubanshe.
^ ^a ^b Huang Bufan and Dai Qingxia, eds. 1992. Zangmianyuzu yuyan cihui 《藏緬語族語言詞匯》[A Tibeto-Burman Lexicon]. Beijing: Central Institute of Minorities.
^ Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2018. The Ancestry of Horpa: Further Morphological Evidence^{[permanent dead link]}. Taipei: Academia Sinica.
^ Nishida, Fuminobu. 2008. “Tyuyugo no on-in taikei [Phonological system of Choyu]”. Tyuugoku Kenkyuu 16. pp.77–85.
^ Lu, Shaozun. 1985. “Zhabayu gaikuang [Overview of Zhaba]”. Minzu Yuwen 2. pp.67–76.
^ Sun Hongkai et al. 1991. Zangmianyu yuyin he cihui 藏缅语音和词汇 [Tibeto-Burman phonology and lexicon]. Chinese Social Sciences Press.
^ Prins, Marielle and Yasuhiko Nagano (eds.). 2013. rGyalrongic Languages Database.
^ Yeshes Vodgsal Atshogs / Yixiweisa Acuo [意西微萨・阿错]. 2004. A study of Dao [倒话研究]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House [民族出版社]. ISBN 978-7-105-06016-0
^ Suzuki, Hiroyuki and Sonam Wangmo. 2018. “Lhagang Choyu wordlist with the Thamkhas dialect of Minyag Rabgang Khams (Lhagang, Khams Minyag)”. Asian and African Languages and Linguistics 12. pp.133–160.
^ ^a ^b ^c Zheng, Jingyao (2023). "A Phonological Study of Rongpa Choyul". Languages. 8 (2): 133. doi:10.3390/languages8020133.

Nishida, Fuminobu. 2008. Chuyu-go no on'in taikei. Chūgoku kenkyū / Reitaku University 16. 77-85.

[e18-1] Choyo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Suzuki2016-2] Suzuki, Hiroyuki and Sonam Wangmo. 2016. “Lhagang Choyu: A first look at its sociolinguistic status”. Studies in Asian Geolinguistics II: Rice. pp.60–69.

[3] Wang, Tianxi. 1990. “Queyuyu [Choyu]”. In Qingxia Dai, Bufan Huang, Ailan Fu, Rig-’dzin dBang-mo, and Juhuang Liu. Zangmianyu Shiwuzhong. pp.46–63. Beijing: Beijing Yanshan Chubanshe.

[TBL-4] Huang Bufan and Dai Qingxia, eds. 1992. Zangmianyuzu yuyan cihui 《藏緬語族語言詞匯》[A Tibeto-Burman Lexicon]. Beijing: Central Institute of Minorities.

[Sun2018-5] Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2018. The Ancestry of Horpa: Further Morphological Evidence^{[permanent dead link]}. Taipei: Academia Sinica.

[6] Nishida, Fuminobu. 2008. “Tyuyugo no on-in taikei [Phonological system of Choyu]”. Tyuugoku Kenkyuu 16. pp.77–85.

[7] Lu, Shaozun. 1985. “Zhabayu gaikuang [Overview of Zhaba]”. Minzu Yuwen 2. pp.67–76.

[8] Sun Hongkai et al. 1991. Zangmianyu yuyin he cihui 藏缅语音和词汇 [Tibeto-Burman phonology and lexicon]. Chinese Social Sciences Press.

[9] Prins, Marielle and Yasuhiko Nagano (eds.). 2013. rGyalrongic Languages Database.

[10] Yeshes Vodgsal Atshogs / Yixiweisa Acuo [意西微萨・阿错]. 2004. A study of Dao [倒话研究]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House [民族出版社]. ISBN 978-7-105-06016-0

[11] Suzuki, Hiroyuki and Sonam Wangmo. 2018. “Lhagang Choyu wordlist with the Thamkhas dialect of Minyag Rabgang Khams (Lhagang, Khams Minyag)”. Asian and African Languages and Linguistics 12. pp.133–160.

[zheng23-12] Zheng, Jingyao (2023). "A Phonological Study of Rongpa Choyul". Languages. 8 (2): 133. doi:10.3390/languages8020133.

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