Tangwang language
| Tangwang | |
|---|---|
| Native to | China |
| Region | Gansu |
Native speakers | (20,000 cited 1995)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | tang1373 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| IETF | crp-u-sd-cngs |
| File:Lang Status 60-DE.svg Tangwang is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
The Tangwang language (Chinese: 唐汪话; pinyin: Tángwànghuà) is a variety of Mandarin Chinese heavily influenced by the Mongolic Santa language (Dongxiang). It is spoken in a dozen or so villages in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Gansu Province, China. The linguist Mei W. Lee-Smith calls this creole language the "Tangwang language" (Chinese: 唐汪话), based on the names of the two largest villages (Tangjia 唐家 and Wangjia 汪家, parts of Tangwang town) where it is spoken.[2]
Speakers
[edit | edit source]According to Lee-Smith (1996), the Tangwang language is spoken by about 20,000 people living in the north-eastern part of the Dongxiang Autonomous County (Tangwang town). These people self-identify as Dongxiang (Santa) or Hui people. The Tangwang speakers do not speak the Dongxiang language.[2]
Description
[edit | edit source]The Tangwang language uses mostly Mandarin words and morphemes with Dongxiang grammar. Besides Dongxiang loanwords, Tangwang also has a substantial number of Arabic and Persian loanwords.[2]
Like standard Mandarin, Tangwang is a tonal language. However, grammatical particles, which are typically borrowed from Mandarin but used in the way Dongxiang morphemes would be used in Dongxiang, do not carry tones.[2]
For example, while the Mandarin plural suffix -men (们) has only very restricted usage (it can be used with personal pronouns and some nouns related to people), Tangwang uses it, in the form -m, universally, the way Dongxiang would use its plural suffix -la. The Mandarin pronoun nǐ (你) can be used in Tangwang as a possessive suffix (meaning "your").
Unlike Mandarin, but like Dongxiang, Tangwang has grammatical cases as well (but only four of them, instead of eight in Dongxiang).[2]
The word order of Tangwang is the same as Dongxiang subject–object–verb form.
Tangwang combines the characteristics of Mandarin Chinese and Dongxiang Mongolian.[3] The hybrid language is a symbol of language blending. According to Lee-Smith, the blending is caused by the Silk Road.[2]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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Further reading
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