Naish languages
The Naish languages are a low-level subgroup of Sino-Tibetan languages that include Naxi, Na (Mosuo), and Laze.
Naish | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | Yunnan and Sichuan |
Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
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Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | nais1236 |
Classification
The Naish languages are:
In turn, Naish together with Namuyi and Shixing constitutes the Naic subgroup within Sino-Tibetan.
Arguments for relatedness include irregular morphotonology: tone patterns of numeral-plus-classifier phrases that constitute shared structural properties. Since these similarities are phonetically nontransparent, they cannot be due to borrowing.[1]
Names
Note that in Mainland China, the term "Naxi" is commonly used for the entire language group, e.g. by the influential linguistic introduction by He and Jiang (2015).[2][3] The terms "Naish" and "Naic" are derived from the endonym Na used by speakers of several of the languages. These concepts were initially proposed by Guillaume Jacques & Alexis Michaud (2011).[4] Phylogenetic issues are summarized in the entry about the Naic subgroup. For a review of the literature about Naish languages, see Li (2015).[5]
Lexical innovations
Jacques & Michaud (2011) list the following words as Naish lexical innovations.
Gloss | Naxi | Na | Laze | Proto-Naish |
---|---|---|---|---|
to stumble | pe˧ | kʰɯ.piᴹ | *(S)pa | |
cloud | ki˩ | tɕi˧ | tɕi˩sɯ˥ | *ki |
village | hi˧mbe˧ | fv̩.biᴸ | ɖɯ˧bie˧ | *mba |
Bai people | le˧bv̩˧ | ɬi.bv̩ᴹ | *Sla | |
noble | sɯ.pʰiᴹ | sɯ˩pʰie˩ | *si pʰa | |
medicine (2nd syllable) |
ʈʂʰɚ˧ɯ˧ | ʈʂʰæ.ɯᴴ | tsʰɯ˧fi˧ | *rtsʰi Swri |
Reconstruction
Proto-Naish, the proto-language ancestral to the Naish languages, has been reconstructed by Jacques & Michaud (2011).
See also
- List of Proto-Naish reconstructions (Wiktionary)
References
- Michaud, Alexis (2011). "The tones of numerals and numeral-plus-classifier phrases: on structural similarities between Naxi, Na and Laze". Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 34: 1–26 – via Hyper Articles en Ligne.
- He Jiren 和即仁 & Jiang Zhuyi 姜竹仪. 1985. Naxiyu Jianzhi 纳西语简志 (A Brief Description of the Naxi Language). Beijing 北京: Minzu Chubanshe 民族出版社.
- Michaud, Alexis, He Limin & Zhong Yaoping. 2015. "Naxi / Naish." In Rint Sybesma, Wolfgang Behr, Zev Handel & C.T. James Huang (eds.), Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill.
- Jacques, Guillaume, and Alexis Michaud. 2011. "Approaching the historical phonology of three highly eroded Sino-Tibetan languages: Naxi, Na and Laze." Diachronica 28:468-498.
- Li Zihe 李子鹤. 2015. 纳西语言研究回顾——兼论语言在文化研究中的基础地位 (A review of Naxi language studies, with a discussion of the fundamental role of cultural studies for linguistic research). 茶马古道研究期刊 4. 125–131.