Paha language

Paha or Baha (autonym: [pāhā]) is a Kra language spoken in northern Guangnan County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan. The two villages are located near the border with Longlin County, Guangxi. Paha is often considered to be part of the Buyang dialect cluster and is the most divergent form. Although listed in Ethnologue as Baha Buyang (ISO 639-3: yha), Weera Ostapirat classifies Paha separately from the other Buyang varieties.^[2]

Paha
Region	China
Native speakers	600 (2007)[1]
Language family	Kra–Dai Kra Paha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yha
Glottolog	baha1256
ELP	Baha Buyang

Demographics

Within Guangnan County (广南县), Yunnan, the Paha language is spoken in the two villages of Yangliancun (央连村)^[3] (from Zhuang jaaŋ24 lɛŋ31 "lonely Buyang [village]") in Dixu Township (底圩乡) and Anshecun (安舍村)^[4] in Bada Township 八达乡. While Yanglian has around 500 Paha speakers, Anshe only has about 100 speakers left. Paha speakers are shifting rapidly to Zhuang and Southwestern Mandarin, particularly in Anshe village. Many Buyang men in Yanglian village are also married to Zhuang women.^[5]

Phonology

Consonants

Paha Buyang has the following consonants.^[6]

		Labial			Coronal		Postalveolar		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
		plain	pal.	bilab.	plain	bilab.	plain	bilab.	plain	bilab.	plain	bilab.
Nasal	voiceless	m̥			n̥		ɲ̊		ŋ̊
	voiced	m	mʲ	mʷ	n		ɲ		ŋ	ŋʷ
Plosive	plain voiceless	p	pʲ	pʷ	t	tʷ	tɕ	tɕʷ	k	kʷ	q	qʷ	ʔ
	voiceless aspirated	pʰ	pʲʰ	pʷʰ	tʰ		tɕʰ		kʰ	kʷʰ	qʰ
	plain voiced	b	bʲ	bʷ	d				ɡ	ɡʷ
	devoiced aspirated	b̥ʱ	b̥ʲʱ		d̥ʱ				ɡ̊ʱ
Fricative	voiceless	f		ʍ w	θ	θʷ	ɕ	ɕʷ					h
	voiced				ð	ðʷ			ɣ		ʁ
Approximant	voiceless						ȷ̊
	voiced						j	ɥ
Laterals	voiceless				l̥
	voiced				l

Vowels

Paha Buyang has the following vowels.^[6]

	Front	Central	Back
			Unround	Round
High	i		ɯ	u
Hi-Mid	e	ə		o
Lo-Mid	ɛ			ɔ
Low		a

The three high vowels and the low vowel can be long.

Grammar

Unlike the Buyang dialects of Langjia, Ecun, and Yalang, Paha negatives (such as pi45) precede the verb, whereas the Buyang dialects always place negatives at the end of a sentence. This phenomenon in Paha is probably due to Chinese influence.^[7]

References

1. Paha at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Ostapirat, Weera (2000). Proto-Kra (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, Vol. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-11-12.
3. "Guǎngnán Xiàn Dǐxū Xiāng Pǔlóng Cūnmín Wěiyuánhuì Yānglián Zìráncūn" 广南县底圩乡普龙村民委员会央联自然村 [Yanglian Natural Village, Pulong Village Committee, Dixu Township, Guangnan County]. ynszxc.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
4. "Guǎngnán Xiàn Bàměi Zhèn Luòlǐ Cūnwěihuì Ānshècūn" 广南县坝美镇洛里村委会安社村 [Anshecun, Luoli Village Committee, Bamei Town, Guangnan County]. ynszxc.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
5. Li, Jinfang; Luo, Yongxian (2010). The Buyang Language of South China: Grammatical Notes, Glossary, Texts and Translations. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. hdl:1885/146755.
6. Li, Jinfang; Luo, Yongxian (2006). "Notes on Paha Buyang" (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 29 (1): 1–40.
7. Li, Jinfang 李锦芳; Zhou, Guoyan 周国炎 (1999). 仡央语言探索. Gēyāng yǔyán tànsuǒ (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe.

External links

• ABVD: Paha word list