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Youjiang Zhuang

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Youjiang Zhuang
Gangjdoj
Geographic distribution of Youjiang Zhuang
Native toChina
RegionGuangxi
Native speakers
870,000 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3zyj
Glottologyouj1238

Youjiang Zhuang, named after the Youjiang River in Guangxi, China, is a Northern Tai or Zhuang Language spoken in Tiandong County, Tianyang District, and parts of the Youjiang District in Baise, Guangxi.

History and classification

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Native speakers refer to the language as Gangjdoj, which means "local language".

André-Georges Haudricourt in 1956 included the language of Tianzhou, the county seat of Tianyang, under Dioi, his name for Northern Zhuang.[2]

Based on data from the 1950s Guangxi Zhuang language survey, Tiandong, Tianyang and a suburb of Baise City were grouped together. This grouping was sometimes called Tianyangese (田阳音系). In the 1999 A Study of Zhuang Dialects this group was referred to as the Youjiang language (右江土语),[3] and in 2007 Youjiang Zhuang was added as a separate language to Ethnologue.[1]

Phonology

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Youjiang Zhuang has 10 tones, and can be considered as having 20 initials and 83 finals, though some speakers pronounce the initials /ʔb/ and /ʔd/ as /m/ and /n/ respectively.[4]

Writing System

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Youjiang Zhuang has two main writing systems, characters and romanization.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b Youjiang Zhuang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Haudricourt, André-Georges (1956). "De la restitution des initiales dans les langues monosyllabiques : le problème du thai commun". Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris (52): 307–322.
  3. ^ Zhang Junru (张均如). Zhuàngyǔ Fāngyán Yánjiù 壮语方言研究 [A Study of Zhuang Dialects]. p. 30. ISBN 7-5409-2293-1.
  4. ^ Zhang Junru (张均如). Zhuàngyǔ Fāngyán Yánjiù 壮语方言研究 [A Study of Zhuang Dialects]. pp. 62–65. ISBN 7-5409-2293-1.