Zhaba language

Zhaba, also known as Bazi, Bozi, Draba, nDrapa, Zaba, Zha (Chinese: 扎坝语 or 扎巴语), is a Qiangic language of Sichuan, China spoken by about 8,000 people in Daofu County and Yajiang County. The Zhaba, who are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Tibetan people, refer to themselves as [ndʐa55 pɪ31] and to the Zhaba language as [ndʐa35 ʂka55].^[2] Neighboring Khams Tibetan speakers refer to the Zhaba people as [ndʐa55 pa55]. Zhaba speakers live primarily in the Xianshui River 鲜水河 valley.^[2]

Zhaba
[dʐa35 ʂka55]
Native to	China
Native speakers	7,800 (2008)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Qiangic Zhaba–Queyu Zhaba
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zhb
Glottolog	zhab1238
ELP	Zhaba
Zhaba is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Descriptions of Zhaba include Huang (1991)^[3] and Gong (2007).^[2] Huang & Dai (1992)^[4] document the Queyu dialect spoken in Zhatuo Village 扎拖村, Zhatuo Township 扎拖乡, Daofu County, Sichuan.

Phonology

Zhaba consonants^[5]

		Labial		Alveolar		(Alveolo-)palatal	Retroflex	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		plain	appr.	plain	sibilant
Nasal	voiced	m		n		ɲ		ŋ
	voiceless	m̥		n̥		ɲ̥		ŋ̥
Plosive	voiceless	p	pʳ	t	ts	tɕ	ʈʂ	k	q
	aspirated	pʰ	pʰʳ	tʰ	tsʰ	tɕʰ	ʈʂʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	voiced	b	bʳ	d	dz	dʑ	ɖʐ	ɡ
	prenasalized	ᵐb		ⁿd	ⁿdz	ᶮdʑ	ᶯɖʐ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	(f)		ɬ	s	ɕ	ʂ	x		h
	voiced				z	ʑ	ʐ	ɣ		ɦ
Approximant		w		l		j
Trill				r

• /f/ is found only in Chinese loans.
• /l/ and /ɬ/ contrast only in Tibetan loans.
• /ʐ/ and /r/ may interchange word-initially; but they are contrastive when occurring in the second syllable of words.

Vowels^[5]

	Front		Central	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded
High	i ĩ	y ỹ	ɯ	u ũ
Mid	e ẽ	ø ø̃	ə ə̃	o õ
Low	ɛ ɛ̃		ɐ	a ã

Additionally, the following diphthongs and triphthongs have been observed: /ui/, /ue/, /uɛ/, /uɛ̃/, /yɛ/, /uɐ/, /ua/, /ei/, /ɛi/, /əu/, /ai/, /au/, /uei/, /iau/.

Zhaba also has four tones:^[5]

• [ ˥ ] - high, level
• [ ˥˧ ] - high-falling
• [ ˧˥ ] - high-rising
• [ ˧ ] - mid, level

Dialects

Ethnologue (21st edition) lists two dialects of Zhaba:

• Drate (Northern nDrapa)
• Drame (Southern nDrapa, Zhami)

Distribution

A total of 8,319 Zhaba people are distributed in the following townships of Zhaba District 扎坝区 of Daofu County (Upper Zha 上扎 area), and Zhamai District 扎麦区 of Yajiang County (Lower Zha 下扎 area) (Gong 2007:2-3).^[2] Zhaba people from the two districts speak the same mutually intelligible language.

• Zhaba District 扎坝区, Daofu County (Upper Zha 上扎 area)
  • Yazhuo 亚卓乡 (Zhaba name: vʑa55 ʂtsʰu31): 1,501 Zhaba people
  • Hongding 红顶乡 (Zhaba name: ŋui31 dɪ55): 752 Zhaba people
  • Zhongni 仲尼乡 (Zhaba name: tʂyi55 ȵi55): 970 Zhaba people
  • Zhatuo 扎拖乡 (Zhaba name: ndʐa31 gʊ55): 1,114 Zhaba people
  • Xiatuo 下拖乡 (Zhaba name: ptse55 tʰʊ31): 899 Zhaba people
• Zhamai District 扎麦区, Yajiang County (Lower Zha 下扎 area)
  • Waduo 瓦多乡 (Zhaba name: ve55 tʊ55): 1,536 Zhaba people
  • Murong 木绒乡 (Zhaba name: mə55 vzu31): 1,547 Zhaba people

References

1. Zhaba at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Gong Qunhu [龚群虎]. 2007. Zhabayu yanjiu [扎巴语研究]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House [民族出版社].
3. Huang Bufan (黄布凡), 1991: 扎坝语 [Zhaba language]. In Dai Qingxia, Huang Bufan, Fu Ailan, Renzeng-Wangmu, and Liu Juhuang (戴庆厦、黄布凡、傅爱 兰、仁增旺姆、刘菊黄) Zangmianyu Shiwu-zhong (藏缅语十五种: Fifteen Tibeto-Burman languages). Beijing: Beijing Yanshan Chubanshe, pp. 64-97.
4. Huang Bufan and Dai Qingxia, eds. 1992. Zangmianyuzu yuyan cihui 《藏緬語族語言詞匯》[A Tibeto-Burman Lexicon]. Beijing: Central Institute of Minorities.
5. Namkung, Ju (1996). Matisoff, James A. (ed.). "Phonological Inventories of Tibeto-Burman Languages" (PDF). Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus Monograph Series (3). University of California, Berkeley.