Northern Qiang language

Northern Qiang is composed of several different dialects, many of which are easily mutually intelligible. Sun Hongkai in his book on Qiang in 1981 divides Northern Qiang into the following dialects: Luhua, Mawo, Zhimulin, Weigu, and Yadu. These dialects are located in Heishui County as well as the northern part of Mao County. The Luhua, Mawo, Zhimulin, and Weigu varieties of Northern Qiang are spoken by the Heishui Tibetans. The Mawo dialect is considered to be the prestige dialect by the Heishui Tibetans. Names seen in the older literature for Northern Qiang dialects include Dzorgai (Sifan), Kortsè (Sifan), Krehchuh, and Thóchú/Thotcu/Thotśu. The last is a place name. Sims (2016) characterizes Northern (Upstream) Qiang as the *nu- innovation group. Individual dialects are highlighted in italics. ;Northern Qiang • NW Heishui: Luhua 芦花镇 • Central Heishui • Qinglang 晴朗乡 • Zhawo 扎窝乡 • Ciba 慈坝乡 • Shuangliusuo 双溜索乡 • uvular V's innovation group: Zhimulin 知木林乡, Hongyan 红岩乡, Mawo 麻窝乡 • SE Heishui: Luoduo 洛多乡, Longba 龙坝乡, Musu 木苏乡, Shidiaolou 石碉楼乡 • North Maoxian: Taiping 太平乡, Songpinggou 松坪沟乡 • South Songpan: Xiaoxing 小姓乡, Zhenjiangguan 镇江关乡, Zhenping 镇坪乡 • West Maoxian / South Heishui: Weigu 维古乡, Waboliangzi 瓦钵乡梁子, ''Se'ergu 色尔古镇, Ekou, Weicheng 维城乡, Ronghong, Chibusu, Qugu 曲谷乡, Wadi 洼底乡, Baixi 白溪乡, Huilong 回龙乡, Sanlong'' 三龙乡 • Central Maoxian: Heihu 黑虎乡 • SE Maoxian (reflexive marker innovation): Goukou 沟口乡, Yonghe 永和乡 == Phonology ==

The phonemic inventory of the Northern Qiang of Ronghong village consists of 37 consonants, and eight basic vowel qualities. The syllable structure of Northern Qiang allows up to six sounds. • (a day) • (a can) • (a packet) • (a barrel) • (a pile) • (a mouth) ==== Epenthetic vowel ==== The vowel /ə/ can be embedded within a collection of consonants that are restricted by the syllable canon. The epenthetic vowel is used to combine sounds that would typically be impermissible. • Example: bəl-əs-je [do-NOM (< -s)-good to eat] 'advantageous' ==== Free variation ==== For some words, changing or adding consonants produces no phonological difference in meaning. The most common consonant interchange is between /ʂ/ and /χ/. • Example: ʂqu ~ χqu 'mouth' • Example: ''kɑp ~ kɑpətʂ 'orphan''' == Orthography ==

Nasalized vowels are indicated with trailing nn, rhotacized vowels are indicated with trailing r, long vowels are indicated by doubling the vowel letter. == Morphology ==

Northern Qiang uses affixes in the form of prefixes and suffixes to describe or modify the meaning of nouns and verbs. Other morphological processes that are affixed include gender marking, marking of genitive case, compounding, and nominalization. Northern Qiang also uses non-affixational processes such as reduplication. Noun phrase In Northern Qiang, any combination of the following order is allowed as long as it follows this flow. Some of the items found below, such as adjectives, may be used twice within the same noun phrase. Northern Qiang noun phrase structure GEN phrase + Rel. clause + Noun + ADJ + DEM/DEF + (NUM + CL)/PL Gender marking Gender marking only occurs in animals. Typically, /mi/ is the suffix for females, while /zdu/ is the suffix for males. • wə-mi 'mare' • puɲu-zdu 'male cat' Pronouns Northern Qiang pronouns can be represented from the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, and can refer to one, two, or more than two people. ==== Genitive case ==== The genitive marker /-tɕ(ə)/ is placed on the modifying noun; this modifying noun will precede the noun it modifies. {{Interlinear|indent=3 Verbal morphology The meaning of verbs can be changed using prefixes and suffixes, or by using reduplication. Reduplication Repetition of the same root verb signifies a reciprocal action upon one actors, or an ongoing action. • Example: mɑ 'plaster (a wall)' > məmɑ 'be plastering' Other morphological processes ==== Compounding ==== In Northern Qiang, the modifying noun of the compound must precede the modified noun. {{Interlinear|indent=3 Nominalization Nouns are created from adjectives or verbs using clitics /-s/, /-m/, or /-tɕ/, the indefinite markers /le/ or /te/, or the definite marker /ke/. {{Interlinear|indent=3 == Syntax ==

The Northern Qiang language has quite a predictable syntax without many variations. The typical basic word order is subject–object–verb (SOV). Northern Qiang borrows some Mandarin Chinese words and phrases. Clause structure Order (TEMP) (LOC) (ACTOR) (GOAL/RECIPIENT) (ADV) (UG) VC (PART) (TEMP = temporal phrase; UG = undergoer; VC = verb complex; PART = clause-final particle) A sentence in Northern Qiang may be as short as a verb complex, which may just be a predicate noun. As shown from the order stated above, Northern Qiang is a language with a SOV sentence structure. {{Interlinear|indent=3|italics=2|glossing3=yes Code mixing Many loan words or loan phrases from Mandarin are borrowed, but the word order of these phrases is rearranged to fit the grammatical structure of Northern Qiang. {{Interlinear|indent=3 In this sentence, the words "tɕiutɕin" and "ʂə" are borrowed from Mandarin. == Status ==

As with many Qiangic languages, Northern Qiang is becoming increasingly threatened. Because the education system largely uses Standard Chinese as a medium of instruction for the Qiang people, and as a result of the universal access to schooling and television, most Qiang children are fluent or even monolingual in Chinese while an increasing percentage cannot speak Qiang. Much of the population marry people from other parts of China who only speak Mandarin. ==See also==