Nung language (Sino-Tibetan)

Not to be confused with Nung language (Tai).
Nawpha
Anong
Native to Fugong County, China
Ethnicity Nung[1]
Native speakers
 450 (2000–2007)[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nun
Glottolog nung1282[3]

Nung, or Anong [ɑ˧˩nuŋ˧˩], is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Nung people in Fugong County, China and Kachin State, Burma. Anong is closely related to the Derung and Rawang languages. Most of the Nung people in China have shifted to Lisu. In Myanmar, Anong is considered as one of the clans of the Lisu family, called nopha (meaning "bean" in Lisu). the number of Anong speakers are decreasing year after year. The population of Anong people can't be easily known because they are mixed with the Lisu population. Only older people in this age can speak and write in Anong language. All the young generation use Lisu rather than Anong even at home. The majority of Anong speakers in Myanmar are found in Putao township and Myitgyina township in Kachin state. There are many other living in different cities such as Yangon, Khanti and Taunggy etc. But they couldn't use their language anymore. Instead they use Lisu. Therefore, Anong language is one of the endangered languages in the world. Besides in China and Myanmar, Anong people can also be found in Thailand and India. .

Demographics

Anong is spoken by over 7,000 people in China, in the following townships (Sun & Liu 2005).

There could be many more Anong speakers in neighboring Kachin State, Burma, although their current status is unknown.

Phonology

Consonant

The Anung have 43 single consonants.

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal voiceless m̥n̥ɳ̥ɲ̥ŋ̊
voiced mnɳɲŋ
Plosive aspirated pʰtʰʈʰ kʰ
tenuis ptʈ kʔ
voiced bdɖ ɡ
Affricate aspirated tsʰtʂʰtɕʰ
tenuis tstʂtɕ
voiced dzɖʐdʑ
Fricative voiceless fɳʂɕxh
voiced vzʐʑɣ
Lateral voiceless l̥
voiced lm
Rhotic voiced ɹ

[4]

References

  1. ↑ The spurious "Ayi" is a misreading of Chinese 阿侬 Anong as *阿依 Ayi
  2. ↑ Nawpha at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  3. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Nung (Myanmar)". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  4. ↑ 孙宏开，刘光，p.26－31．
  • 孙宏开; 刘光坤 (2005). 阿侬语研究. 民族出版社, 北京. ISBN 978-7-105-06814-2. 

This book in English:

  • Sun Hongkai; Liu Guangkun (2009). A Grammar of Anong. Language Death Under Intense Contact. Brill, Leiden • Boston. ISBN 90-04-17686-1. 

External links

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