1887
Volume 41, Issue 2
  • ISSN 0731-3500
  • E-ISSN: 2214-5907
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Va, an obscure language of Southwestern Yunnan, belongs to the Wa-Lawa cluster under the Waic subgroup of Palaungic in the Austroasiatic language family. This article presents an overview of Va synchronic phonology and an account of its evolution from the Proto-Wa-Lawa sound system reconstructed by Gérard Diffloth. Modern Va phonology is characterized by fully monosyllabic word structure, reduced syllable canon, and a robust three-tone system. Its atypical phonological profile from an Austroasiatic perspective and its tonogenesis may be directly attributed to the sociolinguistic ambience of the Va-speaking areas. The phonological innovations discussed herein, including onset-driven tone splitting rules and coda-driven vowel splitting rules, will help determine the language’s distinct status within the Wa-Lawa language cluster.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ltba.18010.sun
2019-02-01
2025-02-07
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Burling, Robbins
    1967Proto Lolo-Burmese. Bloomington: Indiana University.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bradley, David
    1977 Proto-Loloish tones. InBradley, David (ed.), Papers in Southeast Asian linguistics, 1–22. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Davies, H. R.
    1909Yun-nan: the link between India and the Yangtze. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Diffloth, Gérard
    1980 The Wa languages. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area5. 1–182.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. . Etymological lexicon of Wa, Lawa, and Bulang. (Unpublished manuscript).
    [Google Scholar]
  6. 1989–1990 On the Bulang (Blang, Phang) languages. Mon-Khmer Studies18–19. 35–43.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit
    1997 Comparative Shan. InJerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.), Comparative Kadai: The Tai branch (Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 124), 337–359. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Gedney, W. J.
    1985 Confronting the unknown: Tonal splits and the genealogy of Tai-Kadai. InGraham Thurgood, James A. Matisoff and David Bradley (eds.). Linguistics of the Sino-Tibetan area: The state of the art, 116–124. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. 1989 A checklist for determining tones in Tai dialects. InR. J. Bickner, J. Hartmann, T. J. Hudak and P. Peyasantiwong (eds.), Selected papers on comparative Tai studies, 191–206. Michigan: Center for South and Southeast Asian studies, University of Michigan.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Haudricourt, André-Georges
    1972 Two-way and three-way splitting of tonal systems in some Far Eastern languages (Bipartition et tripartition des systèmes de Tons Dans Quelques Langues d’Extrême-Orient. Bulletin de La Société de Linguistique de Paris56(1): 163–180 1961 Translation byChristopher Court). InJimmy G. Harris and Richard B. Noss (eds.), Tai phonetics and phonology, 58–86. Bangkok: Central Institute of English Language, Mahidol University.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Hsiu, Andrew
    2015 The Angkuic languages: a preliminary survey. (Paper presented at the6th International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics, Siem Reap, Cambodia, July 29–31, 2015)
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Li, Daoyong, Xizhen Nie and Efeng Qiu
    1986Bulangyu jianzhi [A brief description of the Bulang language]. Beijing: Minzu Publications.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Liu, Yan
    2006Menggaomianyu shengdiao yanjiu [Tone in Mon-Khmer languages]. Beijing: Central Minzu University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Maddieson, Ian and Peter Ladefoged
    1985 ‘Tense’ and ‘lax’ in four minority languages of China. Journal of Phonetics13. 433–454.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Matisoff, James A.
    1970 Glottal dissimilation and the Lahu high-rising tone: A tonogenetic case-study. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 90(1). 13–44. 10.2307/598429
    https://doi.org/10.2307/598429 [Google Scholar]
  16. 1973 Tonogenesis in Southeast Asia. InHyman, Larry M. (ed.), Consonant types and tone. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Rischel, Jørgen
    2008Sound structure in language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Stevens, Kenneth N.
    2000Acoustic phonetics. Cambridge: MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Sun, Jackson T.-S.
    To appear in 2018 Pang phonology and vocabulary. InSun, Jingtao and Yumin Yao (eds.), Frontiers in Sinitic and Sino-Tibetan linguistics: festschrift in honor of Professor Ting Pang-Hsin on his 80th birthday, 630–650. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. To appear. Synchronic and diachronic phonology of Lavïa: A Wa language of Yunnan and Myanmar. Language and Linguistics.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Svantesson, Jan-Olof
    2001 Tonogenesis in Southeast Asia-Mon-Khmer and beyond. InShigeki Kaji (ed.), Proceedings of the symposium cross-linguistic studies of tonal phenomena, 45–58. Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Vaux, Bert
    1998 The laryngeal specifications of fricatives. Linguistic Inquiry29(3). 497–511. 10.1162/002438998553833
    https://doi.org/10.1162/002438998553833 [Google Scholar]
  23. Yan, Qixiang and Zhizhi Zhou
    1995Zhongguo Menggaomian yuzu yuyan yu Nanya yuxi [China’s Mon-Khmer languages and the Austroasiatic language family]. Beijing: Central Minzu University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Zhou, Zhizhi and Qixiang Yan
    1984Wayu jianzhi [A brief description of Wa language]. Beijing: Minzu Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Zhou, Zhizhi
    1988 Wayu Xiyunhua shengdiao qiyuan chutan [Preliminary study on the origin of tones in Xiyun Wa]. Minzu Yuwen3. 94–100.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Zhou, Zhizhi, Qixiang Yan and Guoqing Chen
    2004Wayu fangyan yanjiu [Research on Wa dialects]. Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Zhu, Xiaonon, and Congjun Long
    2009Chihua: Wayu songyinjie zhongde yuanyin [Slacking: vowels in lax syllables in Wa]. Minzu Yuwen2. 69–81.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Watkins, Justin
    2002The phonetics of Wa: experimental phonetics, phonology, orthography and sociolinguistics. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ltba.18010.sun
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/ltba.18010.sun
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error