Qiangic languages

Qiangic
Kiangic
Geographic distribution:	China
Linguistic classification:	Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Qiangic
Subdivisions:	Qiang Prinmi Muya Tangut etc.

Qiangic or Kiangic, formerly known as Dzorgai, is a language group of the northeastern Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken mainly in Southwestern China, including Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan.

Sun (1983) proposes two branches, northern and southern:

• Northern: Northern Qiang (Máwō), Pumi (Prinmi), Muya (Minyag), Tangut (extinct)
• Southern: Southern Qiang (Táopíng).

Matisoff (2004) states that Jiarongic is a separate branch:

• Jiarongic: Gyarung, Lavrung, Horpa (Ergong)

Sun groups other, poorly described Qiangic languages as:

• Ersu (Tosu), Shixing, Namuzi (Namuyi)
• Guiqiong (2–3 varieties with low intelligibility)
• Zhaba, Queyu.

Thurgood and La Polla (2003) state that the inclusion of Qiang, Prinmi, and Muya is well supported, but that they do not follow Sun's argument for the inclusion of Tangut. Matisoff (2004), however, claims Tangut demonstrates a clear relatioship. The unclassified language Baima may also be Qiangic.^{[citation needed]}

Phonology

Consonants

Below is an International Phonetic Alphabet representation of the northern Qiang language Qugu(曲谷，pinyin: Qugu)dialet consonants.

			Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Alveolo-palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	Voiceless	Unaspirated	p		t			k	q	?
		Aspirated	pʰ		tʰ			kʰ	qʰ
	Voiced	Unaspirated	b		d			g
	Voiceless	Unaspirated		ts		tʂ	tɕ
		Aspirated		tsʰ		tʂʰ	tɕʰ
	Voiced	Unaspirated		dz		dʐ	dʑ
Nasal			m		n		ɲ
Labial					l	ɭ
Fricative	Voiceless		f/φ	s	ɬ	ʂ	ɕ	x	χ	h
	Voiced			z		ʐ	ʑ	ɣ	ʁ	ɦ
Approximant			w

Ancient script

Shualeri (刷勒日) script^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Jiarongic languages

Bibliography

• Bradley, David. (1997). Tibeto-Burman languages and classification. In D. Bradley (Ed.), Papers in South East Asian linguistics: Tibeto-Burman languages of the Himalayas (No. 14, pp. 1–71). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
• Sun, Hongkai. (1983). The nationality languages in the six valleys and their language branches. Yunnan Minzuxuebao, 3, 99-273. (Written in Chinese).

External links

• Ethnologue: Tangut-Qiang
• Site on Qiangic languages (French and Chinese)