Hu language
| Hu | |
|---|---|
| Kon Keu | |
| Pronunciation | [xúˀ] |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Yunnan |
Native speakers | 1,000 (2006)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:huo – Hukkn – Kon Keu (duplicate code) |
| Glottolog | huuu1240 Hukonk1268 Kon Keu |
| ELP | Hu |
Hu (Hu pronunciation: [xúˀ], Chinese: 户语; pinyin: Hùyǔ), also Angku or Kon Keu, is a Palaungic language of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China. Its speakers are an unclassified ethnic minority; the Chinese government counts the Angku as members of the Bulang nationality, but the Angkuic languages is not intelligible with Bulang.[2]
Distribution
[edit]According to Li (2006:340), there are fewer than 1,000 speakers living on the slopes of the "Kongge" Mountain ("控格山") in Na Huipa village (纳回帕村), Mengyang township (勐养镇), Jinghong (景洪市, a county-level city).[3]
Hu speakers call themselves the xuʔ55, and the local Dai peoples call them the "black people" (黑人), as well as xɔn55 kɤt35, meaning 'surviving souls'.[4] They are also known locally as the Kunge people (昆格人) or Kongge people (控格人).[1]
Phonology
[edit]The Hu data presented in the studies was collected from the Xiao Mĕngyăng area in Jǐnghóng County, Yunnan, China.
Word structure
[edit]Hu phonological word strongly tends to be monosyllabic. Disyllabic words are all iambic. There is one trisyllabic form in the data: ʔapalàw "fish".[5] Thus, the maximal structure in Hu is (C₁(a(C₂))).ˈCᵢ(Cₘ)V(Cf)ᵀ.
Suprasegmentals (tones)
[edit]Hu has two tones: high and low.[6] The tonal system reflects historical vowel length contrasts (low < long; high < short) that are no longer phonemic today, with residual length distinctions still perceptible.[7]
Subsequent secondary changes and mergers have introduced distributional asymmetries: syllables with final glottal stops consistently bear high tone; the high vowels /i, u/ take high tone in closed syllables, but low tone only in open syllables and before /-ʁ/.[5]
Consonants
[edit]Initials
[edit]| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | sibilant | |||||||
| Plosive | plain | p | t | c | k | ʔ | ||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | θ | s | x | h | |||
| voiced | ʁ | |||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Lateral | l | |||||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||||
Codas
[edit]| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | c | k | ʔ | |
| Fricative | ʁ | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Semivowel | w | j |
Complex onsets
[edit]Hu complex onsets found in the files are /pʁ pʰʁ pʰl kʁ kl ŋkh ŋʁ sʁ/.[5]
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Lexicon
[edit]Pronouns
[edit]| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ʔɔ́ʔ | ʔàj | ʔéʔ |
| 2nd person | méʔ | pʰáw | pʰéʔ |
| 3rd person | ʔə́n | káw | kéʔ |
Numerals
[edit]Comparison of Hu numerals with proto-Palaungic reconstructions by Sidwell (2015). Numbers larger than five have been replaced by Tai loans.
| Gloss | Hu | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ʔàmo | *moːh |
| 2 | kaʔà | *ləʔaːr |
| 3 | kaʔɔ̀j | *ləʔɔːj |
| 4 | ʔapʰòn | *poːn |
| 5 | paθán | *pəsan |
| 6 | (Tai loan) | *tɔːl |
| 7 | – | *təpuːl |
| 8 | – | *taːʔ |
| 9 | – | *tiːm |
| 10 | – | *kɤːl |
| 100 | – | *prjah |
| 1000 | – | *sreːŋ |
Body parts
[edit]| Gloss | Hu | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| hair | θúk | *suk |
| bone | kaʔàŋ | *cəʔaːŋ |
| foot | cèŋ | *ɟɤːŋ |
| nose | katə́ʔ | *kəɗɤːʔ |
| belly | katúl | *kəɗɤl |
| ear | nasòk | *ʰjoːk |
| eye | saŋàj | *ˀŋaːj |
| tongue | ntʰàk | *-taːk |
| arm | tʰíʔ | *tiːʔ |
| breast | tʰút | *tuːs |
Animals
[edit]| Gloss | Hu | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| buffalo | tʰʁàk | *traːk |
| ant/termite | maʁúɲ | *ŋruːɲ |
| horse | maʁáŋ | *mraŋ |
| bear | ʔaxèt | *kreːs |
| sambar deer | pʰòt | *poːs |
| pig | lèk | *-leːk |
| bird | ʔasím | *ciːm |
| louse | nsíʔ | *ciːʔ |
| dog | sɔ́ʔ | *cɔːʔ |
| fowl | ʔìʁ | *ʔiɛr |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Li (2006).
- ^ Hu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "Jǐnghóng Shì Měngyǎng Zhèn Kūngé Cūnwěihuì Nàhuípà" 景洪市勐养镇昆格村委会纳回帕 [Nahuipa, Kunge Village Committee, Mengyang Town, Jinghong City]. ynszxc.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
- ^ Yan & Zhou (2012), p. 152.
- ^ a b c Sidwell 2015, p. 49.
- ^ Svantesson 1991, p. 71-72.
- ^ Svantesson 1991, p. 74.
- ^ Svantesson 1991, p. 68.
- ^ Svantesson 1991, p. 71.
Further reading
[edit]- Jiang, Guangyou 蒋光友; Shi, Jian 时建 (2016). Kūngéyǔ cānkǎo yǔfǎ 昆格语参考语法 [A Reference Grammar of Kunge [Hu]] (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe. ISBN 978-7-5161-8444-8.
- Li, Jinfang 李锦芳 (2006). Xīnán dìqū bīnwēi yǔyán diàochá yánjiū 西南地区濒危语言调查研究 [Studies on Endangered Languages in the Southwest China] (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe.
- Svantesson, Jan-Olof (1991). "Hu – a Language with Unorthodox Tonogenesis". In Davidson, Jeremy H.C.S. (ed.). Austroasiatic Languages: Essays in Honour of H. L. Shorto (PDF). London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. pp. 67–80.
- Yan, Qixiang 颜其香; Zhou, Zhizhi 周植志 (2012). Zhōngguó Mèng-Gāomián yǔzú yǔyán yǔ Nányǎ yǔxì 中国孟高棉语族语言与南亚语系 [Mon-Khmer Languages of China and the Austroasiatic Family]. Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe. ISBN 978-7-5097-2860-4.
- Sidwell, Paul (2015). The Palaungic Languages: Classification, Reconstruction and Comparative Lexicon. München: Lincom Europa.
External links
[edit]- RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
- Hu in RWAAI Digital Archive
- Hu recordings in Kaipuleohone include a word list, sentence elicitation and interview.