Kam language

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Kam
Gaeml
Spoken in  China
Region Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi
Native speakers 1.46 million  (2003)
Language family
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
doc – Northern Dong
kmc – Southern Dong

The Kam language, also known as Gam (autonym: lix Gaeml), or in Chinese, Dong or Tung-Chia, is the language of the Dong people. Ethnologue distinguishes two Kam dialects as separate but closely related languages with the codes doc and kmc.[1]

Contents

[edit] Dialects

The Kam language can be divided into two major subdivisions, Southern Kam and Northern Kam (Yang & Edmondson 2008).[1] Northern Kam displays more Chinese influence and lacks vowel length contrast, while Southern Kam is more conservative.

Southern Kam
  • First lectal area: Róngjiāng Zhānglǔ (榕江县章鲁村), Lípíng Hóngzhōu (黎平县洪州镇), Jǐnpíng Qǐméng (锦屏县启蒙镇) in Guizhou; Tōngdào (通道县) in Hunan; Longsheng (龙胜县) and Sanjiang Dudong (三江侗族自治县独峒乡) in Guangxi
  • Second lectal area: Lípíng Shuǐkǒu (黎平县水口镇), Cóngjiāng Guàndòng (从江县贯洞镇), Róngjiāng Píngjiāng (榕江县平江乡) in Guizhou; Sānjiāng Hélǐ (三江侗族自治县和里村) in Guangxi
  • Third lectal area: Zhènyuǎn Bàojīng (镇远县报京乡) in Guizhou
  • Fourth lectal area: Róngshuǐ (融水苗族自治县) in Guangxi
Northern Kam
  • First lectal area: Tiānzhù Shídòng (天柱县石洞镇), Sānsuì Kuǎnchǎng (三穗县款场), Jiànhé Xiǎoguǎng (剑河县小广侗寨) in Guizhou
  • Second lectal area: Tiānzhù Zhǔxī (天柱县注溪乡) in Guizhou
  • Third lectal area: Jǐnpíng Dàtóng (锦屏县大同乡) in Guizhou

In China, a total of six counties designated as Dong Autonomous Counties (侗族自治县).

[edit] Phonology and orthography

[edit] Initials

Kam 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

Kam 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

Kam 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
/55/ /35/ /212/ /323/ /13/ /31/ /53/ /453/ /33/
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

  1. ^ Yang Tongyin and Jerold A. Edmondson (2008). "Kam." In Diller, Anthony, Jerold A. Edmondson, and Yongxian Luo ed. The Tai–Kadai Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. Psychology Press, 2008.
  • Ōu Hēngyuán 欧亨元: Cic deenx Gaeml Gax / Dòng-Hàn cídiǎn 侗汉词典 (Kam–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

[edit] External links

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