Dong language

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Dong
Gaeml (Kam)
Spoken in  China
Region Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi
Total speakers 1.5 million
Language family Kradai
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 tai
ISO 639-3 either:
doc – North Dong
kmc – South Dong

Ethnologue distinguishes two Dong dialects as separate but very closely related "languages" with the codes doc and kmc.[1]

Contents

[edit] Phonology and orthography

[edit] Initials

Dong has 32 syllable-initial consonants; seven of them (tʃ-, tʃʰ-, ʃ-, ɻ-, f-, ts- and tsʰ-) only occur in recent loanwords from Chinese.

IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml
p b t d j k g zh
p t tɕʰ q k tʃʰ ch
m m n n ny ŋ ng ʃ sh
w w l l ɕ x h h ɻ r
bi s s j y gu f f
pʲʰ pi li kʷʰ ku ts z
ŋʷ ngu tsʰ c

[edit] Finals

Dong has 64 syllable finals; 14 of them occur only in Chinese loans and are not listed in the table below.

IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml IPA Gaeml
a a ə e e ee i i o o u u/uu
ai əɪ ei oi ui
ao eeu iu ou
am am ɐm aem əm em em eem im im om om um um
an an ɐn aen ən en en een in in on on un un
ang ɐŋ aeng əŋ eng eeng ing ong ung
ap ab ɐp ab əp eb ep eb ip ib op ob up ub
at ad ɐt ad ət ad et ed it id ot od
ak ag ɐk ag ək eg ek eg ik ig ok og uk ug

The phonetic value of the vowel in the finals spelled -ab, -ad and -ag, is [ɐ] in syllables that have the tones -l, -p and -c (see table below); in syllables with tones -s, -t and -x, it is [a]. The phonetic value of the vowel in the finals spelled -eb, -ed and -eg, is [ə] in syllables that have the tones -l, -p and -c; in syllables with tones -s, -t and -x, it is [e].

[edit] Tones

Dong is a tonal language. Open syllables can occur in one of nine different tones, checked syllables in six tones (so-called entering tones), so that the traditional approach counts fifteen tones. As with the Hmong alphabet, the orthography marks tones with a consonant at the end of each syllable.

tone contour: ˥ ˧˥ ˩ ˧˨˧ ˩˧ ˧˩ ˥˧ ˦˥˧ ˧
high high rising low dipping low rising low falling high falling peaking mid
Orthography: -l -p -c -s -t -x -v -k -h
example
(open syllable)
bal pap bac bas qat miax bav pak bah
"fish" "grey" "rake" "aunt" "light" "knife" "leaf" "destroy" "chaff"
example
(checked syllable)
bedl sedp medc bads pads bagx
"duck" "seven" "ant" "can"? "blood" "white"

[edit] References

  • Ōu Hēngyuán 欧亨元: Cic deenx Gaeml Gax / Dòng-Hàn cídiǎn 侗汉词典 (Dong-Chinese dictionary; Běijīng 北京, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 2004), ISBN 7-105-06287-8.

[edit] Further reading

  • Long, Y., Zheng, G., & Geary, D. N. (1998). The Dong language in Guizhou Province, China. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington publications in linguistics, publication 126. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 1556710518