Kra languages

Kra
Geyang
Geographic
distribution		 Southern China, Northern Vietnam
Linguistic classification

Tai–Kadai

  • Northern
    • Kra
Proto-language Proto-Kra
Glottolog kada1291[1]

The Kra languages (Chinese: Gēyāng, 仡央, short for Kláo–Bouxyaeŋz) are a branch of the Tai–Kadai family spoken in southern China (Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan) and in northern Vietnam. Out of the entire Tai–Kadai family, the Kra branch is the least studied. Individual Kra languages have only been recently described in any detail.

The name Kra comes from the word *kra C[2] "human", which appears as kra, ka, fa, ha in various Kra languages. Benedict (1942) used the term Kadai for the Kra and Hlai languages taken together, and the term Kra-Dai is proposed by Ostapirat for the Tai-Kadai family as a whole.

Significance

Several Kra languages have consonant clusters and disyllabic words, whereas other Tai–Kadai languages only have single consonants. The disyllables in Buyang have been used by Sagart (2004) to support the view that the Tai-Kadai languages are a subgroup within the Austronesian family. Unlike the Tai and Kam–Sui languages, most Kra languages, including Gelao and Buyang, have preserved the proto-Tai–Kadai numerical systems. The only other Tai–Kadai branch that preserves this is Hlai.[3] Most other Tai–Kadai languages adopted Chinese numerals over 1000 years ago.

As noted by linguist Jerold A. Edmondson, the Kra languages contain words in metalworking, handicrafts, and agriculture that are not attested in any other Tai–Kadai language.[4] This suggests that the Kra peoples may have developed or borrowed many technological innovations independently of the Tai and Kam-Sui peoples.

Reconstruction

Classification

Morphological similarities suggest the Kra languages are closest to the Kam–Sui branch of the family. There are about a dozen Kra languages, depending on how languages and dialects are defined. The best known is perhaps the Gelao (Klao) dialect cluster, with about 8,000 speakers in China out of an ethnic population of approximately 500,000.

The internal classification below is from Ostapirat (2000), who splits the Kra branch into a total of 7 languages.

Kra 

 Western 


Laha (Vietnam)


 Ge-Chi 


Gelao (6 languages, China, Vietnam)

Lachi (China, Vietnam)




 Eastern 


Paha (generally subsumed under Buyang)


 Yang-Biao 


Buyang (China)

En (Vietnam)

Qabiao (Laqua, Pupeo) (China, Vietnam)





According to Edmondson (2002), Laha is too conservative to be in Western Kra, and he makes it a branch of its own. Ethnologue mistakenly includes the Hlai language Cun of Hainan in Kra; this is not supported by either Ostapirat or Edmondson.

Hsiu (2013) reports that a divergent, moribund Northern Tai language known as "Shui 水" spoken by 5 people in Dazhai 大寨, Fuchu Township 辅处乡, Hezhang County 赫章县, Guizhou, China has a Kra substratum.[5]

Maza, a Lolo–Burmese language spoken in Mengmei 孟梅, Funing County, Yunnan, is also notable for having a Qabiao substratum (Hsiu 2014:68-69).[6]

Demographics

The Kra languages have a total of about 22,000 speakers.[4] In Vietnam, officially recognized Kra peoples are the Cờ Lao, La Chí, La Ha and Pu Péo. In China, only the Gelao (Cờ Lao) have official status. The other Kra peoples are variously classified as Zhuang, Buyi, Yi, and Han.

Within China, "hotspots" for Kra languages include most of western Guizhou, the prefecture-level city of Baise in western Guangxi, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in southeastern Yunnan, as well as Hà Giang Province in northern Vietnam. This distribution runs along a northeast-southwest geographic vector, forming what Jerold A. Edmondson calls a "language corridor."[4]

Multigualism is common among Kra language speakers. For example, many Buyang can also speak Zhuang languages.[7]

Numerals

Numerals in Kra Languages[8]
Language One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten
(Proto-Austronesian) *isa *duSa *telu *Sepat *lima *enem *pitu *walu *Siwa *sa-puluq
Proto-Kra *tʂəm C *sa A *tu A *pə A *r-ma A *x-nəm A *t-ru A *m-ru A *s-ɣwa B *pwlot D
Buyang, Baha tɕam˦˥ θa˧˨ tu˧˨ pa˧˨ m̥a˧ nam˧˩ ðu˧ mu˧˩ dʱa˧ pʷat˥
Buyang, Ecun pi˥˧ θa˨˦ tu˨˦ pa˨˦ ma˦ nam˨˦ tu˦ ma ðu˦ va˥ put˥
Buyang, Langjia am˧˥ ɕa˥˦ tu˥˦ pa˥˦ ma˧˩˨ nam˥˦ ðu˧˩˨ ma ðu˧˩˨ va˩ put˥
Buyang, Yerong ɔm˥ θau˥˧ taːi˥˧ po˥˧ mo˦˧ naːm˥˧ təu˧˩ ɬəu˦˧ vo˥ pɔt˥
En (Nung Ven) ʔam˧˨ θa˨˦˧ tu˨˦˧ pa˧ ma˨˦˧ nəm˨˦˧ ʔam˧˨ tu˨˦˧ me˧˨ ru˧ wa˥˦ θət˧
Qabiao tɕia˧ ɕe˥˧ tau˥˧ pe˥˧ ma˧ ma˧ nam˧˥ ma˧ tu˥˧ ma˧ ʐɯ˧ ma˧ ɕia˧˩ pət˧˩
Laha, Wet tɕɐm˧˩ sa˧˦˧ tu˧˦˧ pɑ˧˦˧ mɑ˧ dɐm˧˦˧ tʰo˧˦˧ ma˧ hu˧ so˧ wa˨˦ pɤt˨˧
Lachi tɕa˧ su˩ te˩ pu˩ m̩˩ ȵiã˩ te˨˦ ŋuɛ˩ liu˨˦ pɛ˩
Gelao, Bigong sɿ˥ təɯ˧ səɯ˧˩ təɯ˧ tɔ˧˩ pɔ˧˩ mɔ˧˩ nai˧˩ tʰɔ˧˩ ʑɔ˧˩ ʑɔu˧˩ hui˩˧
Gelao, Moji tsɿ˥˧ səu˧˩ ta˧˩ pu˧˩ mlau˧˩ tɕʰau˧˩ xei˧˩ xe˧˩ kəu˧˩ tsʰei˥˧
Gelao, Puding se˥ so˥ tua˥ pu˦˥ mu˥˧ naŋ˥˧ ɕi˧ vra˥˧ su˧ paɯ˧
Gelao, Pudi sɪ˥ səɯ˦˨ tji˦˨ pau˦˨ mau˧˩ mjaŋ˧˩ te˦˨ ɣe˧˩ sau˩˧ ɕye˩˧
Gelao, Red tsə˦ se˧ tua˦ pu˦ maŋ˦ ɬoŋ˦ te˦ wu˧˥ ʂe˧˥ la˥˩ kwe˦
Gelao, White[9] tsɿ˧ sɯn˧˥ tau˥ pu˥ mlən˧˥ tɕʰau˥ hi˥ ɕiau˥ ku˥ tɕʰiu˧
Gelao, Sanchong ʂɿ˦˧ ʂa˦˥ tau˦˥ pu˦˥ mei˨˩ ȵaŋ˨˩ tʂau˦˥ ʑau˨˩ ʂo˦˧ sɿ˦˧ pie˦˧
Mulao tsɿ˥˧ ɬu˨˦ ta˨˦ pʰu˨˦ mu˧˩ ȵe˧˩ sau˧˩ ɣau˧˩ so˨˦ ve˥˧
Gelao (Heijiaoyan)[10] sɿ˦ sɑ˦ tuu˦ pu˦ - - - - - -
Gelao (Jianshan)[10] ʐɤ˦˨ sw˦˨ tuɑ˦˨ pu˦ - - - - - -
Gelao (Banliwan)[10] i˥˧ ɑ˥˧ ɑ˥˧ muŋ˥˧ ɑŋ˦ - - - - - -
Gelao (Zunyi)[10] 失 (shi) 沙 (sha) 刀 (dao) 波 (bo) 媒 (mei) 娘召 (niangshao) 召 (shao) 饶 (rao) 署 (shu) 失不 (shibu)
Gelao (Renhuai)[10] 思 (shi) 沙 (sha) 刀 (dao) 波 (bo) 差 (cha) 良 (liang) - 绕 (rao) 素 (su) 死比 (sibi)

Notes

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Kadai". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ Note: C is a reconstructed tone.
  3. ↑ Norquest, Peter K. 2007. A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
  4. 1 2 3 Diller, Anthony, Jerold A. Edmondson, and Yongxian Luo ed. The Tai–Kadai Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. Psychology Press, 2008.
  5. ↑ Hsiu, Andrew. 2013. “Shui” varieties of western Guizhou and Yunnan.
  6. ↑ Hsiu, Andrew. 2014. "Mondzish: a new subgroup of Lolo-Burmese". In Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14). Taipei: Academia Sinica.
  7. ↑ 李锦芳/Li, Jinfang and 周国炎/Guoyan Zhou. 仡央语言探索/Geyang yu yan tan suo. Beijing, China: 中央民族大学出版社/Zhong yang min zu da xue chu ban she, 1999.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-21. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
  9. ↑ Numbers 1-9 are suffixed with du35.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Zunyi Prefecture Ethnic Gazetteer [遵义地区志：民族志] (1999)

Further reading

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