Min Zhuang language

Min Zhuang is a recently described Tai language spoken in the Langheng (郎恒) area of Funing County, Yunnan, China, and possibly also southwestern Guangxi province. All speakers are reportedly bilingual in Yei Zhuang (also known as Guibian Zhuang or Sha), which is classified as Northern Tai (Johnson 2011a). The language was first described in 2011 by Eric C. Johnson of SIL International, though it had been earlier mentioned in Kullavanijaya and L-Thongkum (1998).

Min Zhuang
Minz
Geographic distribution of Min Zhuang
Pronunciation	[mìn]
Native to	China
Region	Funing County, Yunnan; southwestern Guangxi (?)
Native speakers	170,000 (2004)[1]
Language family	Kra–Dai Tai Central Tai Min Zhuang
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zgm
Glottolog	minz1236

Names

The Min Zhuang speakers of Guixun-Anhe call their language kaŋ˨min˨˦ or min˨˦sɔŋ˥˧. Another Min Zhuang dialect is called pu˨min˨˦ or kən˧min˨˦.

Classification

Johnson (2011b) reported Min Zhuang to share many features with Nong Zhuang, a Central Tai language. However, it is unintelligible with the more widely spoken Nong Zhuang, Yei Zhuang, and Dai Zhuang languages.

Distribution

Min Zhuang is spoken by about 2,600 people in 11 villages. With the exception of Shangmabu (上麻布), all of the following villages are purely made up of Min Zhuang speakers.

• Guixun-Anhe (贵训-安哈)
• Sankeshu (三颗数)^[2]
• Xionggu (雄估)^[3]
• Shangmabu (上麻布)^[4] - mixed with Nong Zhuang speakers
• Tianfang (田房)^[5]
• Getao (戈桃)^[6]
• Gezao (戈造)^[7]
• Gecai (戈才)^[8]
• Bagan (叭干)^[9]
• Na'en (那恩)^[10]
• Longnong (龙弄)^[11]

Johnson (2011b) reports that Min Zhuang is also likely to be spoken in southwestern Guangxi.

Notes

1. Min Zhuang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Bālóng Cūnwěihuì Sānkēshù" 富宁县田蓬镇叭咙村委会三棵树 [Sankeshu, Balong Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
3. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Nàlián Cūnwěihuì Xiónggǔ" 富宁县田蓬镇那连村委会雄古 [Xionggu, Nalian Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
4. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Tiánfáng Cūnwěihuì Shàngmábù" 富宁县田蓬镇田房村委会上麻布 [Shangmabu, Tianfang Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
5. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Tiánfáng Cūnwěihuì Tiánfáng" 富宁县田蓬镇田房村委会田房 [Tianfang, Tianfang Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
6. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Gētáo Cūnwěihuì Gētáo" 富宁县田蓬镇戈桃村委会戈桃 [Getao, Getao Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
7. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Gētáo Cūnwěihuì Gēzào" 富宁县田蓬镇戈桃村委会戈造 [Gezao, Gotao Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
8. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Ānliáng Cūnwěihuì Gēcái Yī" 富宁县田蓬镇安良村委会戈才一 [Gecai Yi, Anliang Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
9. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Ānliáng Cūnwěihuì Bāgàn" 富宁县田蓬镇安良村委会八干 [Bagan, Anliang Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
10. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Ānliáng Cūnwěihuì Nàēn" 富宁县田蓬镇安良村委会那恩 [Na'en, Anliang Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
11. "Fùníng Xiàn Tiánpéng Zhèn Gētáo Cūnwěihuì Lóngnòng" 富宁县田蓬镇戈桃村委会龙弄 [Longnong, Getao Village Committee, Tianpeng Town, Funing County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-12-30. Retrieved 2018-12-30.

References

• Johnson, Eric C. 2011a. "The Southern Zhuang Languages of Yunnan Province's Wenshan Prefecture from a Sociolinguistic Perspective." [Working paper]. S.l.: s.n. 49 pages.
• Johnson, Eric C. 2011b. "A Lexical and Phonological Comparison of the Central Taic Languages of Wenshan Prefecture, China: Getting More Out of Language Survey Wordlists Than Just Lexical Similarity Percentages." SIL Electronic Working Papers 2011-005: 170.
• Kullavanijaya, Pranee and L-Thongkum, Theraphan. 1998. "Linguistic criteria for determining Tai ethnic groups: case studies on Central and south-western Tais." Proceedings [of] the International Conference on Tai Studies, July 29–31, 1998, Bangkok.