Standard Zhuang

Standard Zhuang
Vahcuengh
Native to	China
Native speakers	(15 million cited 03-23-2013)[1]
Language family	Tai–Kadai Tai Northern Tai (Northern Zhuang) Standard Zhuang
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-1	za (all Zhuang)
ISO 639-2	zha
ISO 639-3	None (mis)

Books of Zhuang language

Standard Zhuang (autonym: Vahcuengh (pre-1982: Vaƅcueŋƅ; Sawndip: 话壮); simplified Chinese: 壮语; traditional Chinese: 壯語; pinyin: Zhuàngyǔ) is the official standardized form of the Zhuang languages. Its pronunciation is based on that of the Yongbei Zhuang dialect of Shuangqiao in Wuming County (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), with some influence from Fuliang, also in Wuming, while its vocabulary is a mix of Northern Zhuang. It is the national standard of the Zhuang languages, though in Yunnan a local standard is used.

Phonology

Standard Zhuang has six tones, reduced to two (numbered 7–8) in checked syllables:

Number	Letter	Contour	Description	Example	Gloss
1	(none)	˨˦	rising	son	to teach
2	-z	˧˩	low falling	mwngz	you(sing.)
3	-j	˥	high level	hwnj	to climb up
4	-x	˦˨	falling	max	a horse
5	-q	˧˥	high rising	gvaq	to cross
6	-h	˧	mid level	dah	a river
7 long	long vowel + -p/t/k	˧˥	high rising	bak	a mouth
7 short	short vowel + -p/t/k	˥	high level	daep	a liver
8	-b/g/d	˧	mid level	bag daeb	to hack to stack

The sentence Son mwngz hwnj max gvaq dah "Teach you to climb on a horse to cross a river" is often used to help people remember the six tones.

Classification

Standard Zhuang is an artificial mixture of several Zhuang languages. The lexicon is based on various Northern Zhuang dialects. The phonology is essentially that of Shuangqiao, with the addition of ny, ei, ou from Fuliang, both located in Wuming County. Zhang (1999), along with other Chinese scholars, classifies Shuangqiao dialect as Northern Tai (Northern Zhuang), while Pittayaporn (2009) places it outside of Northern Tai proper, though closely related to it. (See Tai languages#Pittayaporn (2009).) Shuangqiao was chosen for the standard pronunciation in the 1950s because it was considered to be Northern Zhuang but with characteristics of Southern Zhuang.

Domains of use

Standard Zhuang is mainly used in domains where Zhuang was not previously used. It is used for mass media such news broadcasts and newspapers. It is used for writing stories and modern songs, however songs in the traditional folk style are usually written in sawndip. It is one of the official languages of China that appears on bank notes, all Chinese laws must be published in it, and it is used for bilingual signs. Whilst used for adult literacy programs it is currently only taught in a very small percent of primary and secondary schools in Zhuang speaking areas.

Differences from Wuming Zhuang

While Standard Zhuang is largely pronounced as Shuangqiao Wuming dialect, there is a degree of purposeful dialect mixture in vocabulary:

Standard	IPA	Wuming	IPA	gloss
gyaeuj	kʲau˥	raeuj	ɣau˥	head
da	ta˨˦	ra	ɣa˨˦	eye
ga	ɡa˨˦	ha	ha˨˦	leg

Writing systems

A 1980 Chinese 10 Yuan bill bears the 1957 Zhuang text: Cuŋƅgoƨ Yinƨminƨ Yinƨhaŋƨ cib mənƨ (Cunghgoz Yinzminz Yinzhangz cib Maenz).

Zhuang Sawndip manuscript

In 1957 the People's Republic of China introduced a Latin alphabet with some special letters for the newly standardized Zhuang language. The alphabet included a mixture of modified Cyrillic and IPA letters; the Cyrillic letters, however, were used because their shapes approximated those of the numerals previously used to write tone, and so have no connection to the sounds of actual Cyrillic. A spelling reform in 1982 replaced both the Cyrillic and IPA letters with Latin letters to facilitate printing and computer use.

The tables below illustrate the 1982 reform, with changes in green.

Consonants 1957 1982 IPA 1957 1982 IPA 1957 1982 IPA 1957 1982 IPA 1957 1982 IPA B b B b /p/ Ƃ ƃ Mb mb /ɓ/ M m M m /m/ F f F f /f/ V v V v /β/ D d D d /t/ Ƌ ƌ Nd nd /ɗ/ N n N n /n/ S s S s /θ/ L l L l /l/ G g G g /k/ Gv gv Gv gv /kʷ/ Ŋ ŋ Ng ng /ŋ/ H h H h /h/ R r R r /ɣ/ C c C c /ɕ/ Y y Y y /j/ Ny ny Ny ny /ɲ/ Ŋv ŋv Ngv ngv /ŋʷ/ By by By by /pʲ/ Gy gy Gy gy /kʲ/ My my My my /mʲ/ Vowels 1957 1982 IPA 1957 1982 IPA 1957 1982 IPA A a A a /aː/ E e E e /e/ Ə ə AE ae /a/ I i I i /i/ O o O o /oː/ Ɯ ɯ W w /ɯ/ U u U u /u/ Ɵ ɵ OE oe /o/

Tones Tone 1957 1982 Tone contour IPA 1 (no letter) 24 /˨˦/ 2 Ƨ ƨ Z z 31 /˧˩/ 3 З з J j 55 /˥/ 4 Ч ч X x 42 /˦˨/ 5 Ƽ ƽ Q q 35 /˧˥/ 6 Ƅ ƅ H h 33 /˧/

The Old Zhuang script, sawndip, is a Chinese character–based writing system, similar to Vietnamese chữ nôm. Some sawndip logograms were borrowed directly from Chinese, while others were created from the existing components of Chinese characters. Sawndip has been used for over one thousand years for various Zhuang dialects. Unlike Chinese, sawndip has never been standardized, and authors may differ in their choices of characters, or spelling. Although Standard Zhuang may be written in sawndip, sawndip is not part of the official writing system.

Example

First article of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Latin script
1957	1982	English
Bouч bouч ma dəŋƨ laзƃɯn couƅ miƨ cɯyouƨ, cinƅyenƨ cəuƽ genƨli bouчbouч biŋƨdəŋз. Gyɵŋƽ vunƨ miƨ liзsiŋ cəuƽ lieŋƨsim, ɯŋdaŋ daiƅ gyɵŋƽ de lumз beiчnueŋч ityieŋƅ.	Boux boux ma daengz lajmbwn couh miz cwyouz, cinhyenz caeuq genzli bouxboux bingzdaengj. Gyoengq vunz miz lijsing caeuq liengzsim, wngdang daih gyoengq de lumj beixnuengx ityiengh.	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Sawndip