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Namuyi language

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Namuzi
Namuyi
Native toChina
Native speakers
5,000 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3nmy
Glottolognamu1246
ELPNamuyi
Namuyi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Namuyi (Namuzi; autonym: na54 mʑi54) is a Tibeto-Burman language belonging to the Naic branch, spoken by approximately 10000 people.[2] It is primarily spoken in southern Sichuan. Namuyi has also been classified as Qiangic by Sun Hongkai (2001) and Guillaume Jacques (2011). The eastern and western dialects have low mutual intelligibility. In Sichuan, it is spoken in Muli County and Mianning County. The language is endangered[3] and the number of speakers with fluency is decreasing year by year, as most teenagers do not speak the language, instead speaking the Sichuan dialect of Chinese.[4]

Geographical distribution

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Namuyi is a language spoken in the following four villages of southern Sichuan:[5]

  • dʐә11 qu11 (Namuyi name): Dàshuǐ Village 大水村, Mínshèng Township 民胜鄉, Xīchāng City (80 ethnic Namuyi)
  • dʑa53 qa53 tu11 (Namuyi name): Хiǎngshuǐ Village 響水村, Xiǎngshuǐ Township 響水鄉, Xīchāng City (800 ethnic Namuyi)
  • ɕa11 ma11 khu53 (Namuyi name): Dōngfēng Village 東風村, Zéyuǎn Township 澤遠鄉, Miǎnníng County (560 ethnic Namuyi)
  • ʂa44 pa53 (Namuyi name): Lǎoyā Village 老鴉村, Shābà Town 沙壩鎮, Miǎnníng County (290 ethnic Namuyi)

It is also spoken in Muli and Yanyuan of the Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture and Jiulong County in Ganzi Autonomous Prefecture.[5]

Dialects

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The Namuyi language is subdivided into two different dialects, the dialect of spoken by the people around Muli, and the dialect of those spoken in Mianning. The dialects differ mainly in phonology, where the Mianning and Yanyuan dialect have few consonant clusters as opposed to the Jiulong and Muli dialect.[6]

Phonology

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There are 40 single-consonant initials in the Namuyi language.[6] Namuyi also has ten phonemic vowels, /i/ for [i], /e/ for [e], /ɛ/ for [ɛ], /ɨ/ for [ʃ,ɯ] /ʉ/ for [y], /ə/ for [ə], /a/ for [a], /u/ for [u], /o/ for [o], and /ɔ/ for [ɔ].[4] There is no phonological vowel length, though speakers can lengthen a vowel in the first syllable at times to emphasize a word.[4][7]

Bilabial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain trilled plain trilled
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop voiceless p pʙ̥ t tʙ̥ k q (ʔ)
voiced b bʙ d dʙ ɡ ɢ
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ
Affricate voiceless t͡s tʂ t͡ɕ
voiced d͡z dʐ d͡ʑ
aspirated pʰ͡s, pʰ͡ʂ t͡sʰ tʂʰ t͡ɕʰ
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ x χ
voiced v z ʐ ʁ ɦ
Approximant voiceless l̥
voiced w l j

References

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  1. ^ Namuzi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Namuyi". UNESCO WAL. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Namuyi". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Nishida, Fuminobu (2013). "Phonetics and Phonology of Dzolo Dialect of Namuyi". Arutesu Riberaresu / Artes Liberales. 92: 21–54. doi:10.15113/00013130.
  5. ^ a b Lakhi, Libu; Hefright, Brook; Stuart, Kevin (2007). "The Namuyi: Linguistic and Cultural Features". Asian Folklore Studies. 66 (1/2): 233–253. JSTOR 30030460.
  6. ^ a b Hongkai, Sun (1990). "Languages of the Ethnic Corridor in Western Sichuan" (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 13 (1): 1–31.
  7. ^ Pavlík, Štěpán (2017). The Description of Namuzi Language (Ph.D. thesis). Charles University. hdl:20.500.11956/95965.
  • Li, Jianfu (2017). A Descriptive Grammar of Namuyi Khatho Spoken by Namuyi Tibetans (Ph.D. thesis). La Trobe University. hdl:1959.9/564452.
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