442634 1 En Bookfrontmatter 1..19
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Tangwang Language Dan Xu The Tangwang Language An Interdisciplinary Case Study in Northwest China 123 Dan Xu Département Chine Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Paris France ISBN 978-3-319-59228-2 ISBN 978-3-319-59229-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-59229-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017943174 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface The Tangwang language was first reported by Chen Yuanlong (Ibrahim 1985) in the Minzu yuwen [Minority languages of China]. Two decades later, the Tangwang language started attracting the curiosity of many researchers. My French colleagues Alain Peyraube, Redouane Djamouri, and I have participated in two projects funded and supported by the French government: ANR-07-BLAN-0023 “Language con- tact and linguistic change: the case of Chinese and Altaic” led by Djamouri, then ANR-12-BSH2-0004-01 “Do languages and genes correlate?—A case study in Northwestern China” directed by myself. In 2014, my book Tangwanghua yanjiu [Studies of the Tangwang language] was published in Chinese by Minzu chubanshe [The Ethnic Publishing House]. However, this work is not accessible to scholars who do not read Chinese but are interested in language contact and language mixing. Languages inside China are still less known by linguists outside of China. Eventually I decided to provide a simplified version in English instead of a translated one. In the present volume, Chaps. 3–5 summarize the main results of Chaps. 2–4 which make up 244 pages in the Chinese book. From 2014 to 2016, our interdisciplinary research has advanced significantly, collaborating with genetic researchers. Chapters 1, 2, and 6 present new and current findings with different approaches. Some results have been published in scientific journals, and others will appear very soon. The aim of the book is clear: it attempts to combine different domains combining human sciences and natural sciences to break down the barriers between these two fields. Despite difficulties encountered in the reconstitution of languages and genes, it is amazing to read so many articles published by biologists and archeologists in different scientific journals on the coevolution of genes and languages. Linguists seem to be too prudent and careful to avoid making mistakes. If we work on linguistic data together with archeological and genetic evidence, we may be able to reconcile them to produce a more reliable picture of the history of different peoples and their languages. This book will not be limited to describing the language but will also attempt to explore the social context of the target language including genetic, historic, and anthropological approaches to better understand the Tangwang language. One of the major difficulties in human v vi Preface sciences is quantification of data. The book has also made some tentative research into the methodology of data quantification, hoping to make linguistic conclusions verifiable. Thanks to grant ANR-12-BSH2-0004-01 by the French government, many Ph.D. students have contributed to the project of digitizing our data. Gratitude goes to Saiyinjiya Caidengduoerji (for Mongolian and Manchu-Tungusic groups), Barbara Kozhevina (for Turkic groups), Li Ting (for Tibetan languages), Liu Keyou, and Wang Cong (for Sinitic languages). I am also very grateful to Profs. Xie Xiaodong (Lanzhou University, Gansu) and Li Hui (Fudan University, Shanghai) who have given me great help in taking part in this project and providing me with genetic documents. I am indebted to Prof. Li Hui, who not only checked the paragraphs related to genetics, but also permitted me to reprint his laboratory’s graphs and figures and to use the laboratory’s statistics. Wen Shaoqing, Wei Lanhai, Wang Chuan-Chao, and Zhang Menghan have given me substantial assistance: helping me learn and understand the field of genetics and their work method. I have to express my recognitions to Chen Yuanlong (Ibrahim), the author of the first study of the Tangwang language. He gave me important information during my investigations, and his feedback and remarks about my book in Chinese on the Tangwang language were especially pertinent and constructive. I have had dis- cussions and exchanges with linguists such as Alain Peyraube, Redouane Djamouri, Laurent Sagart, Sun Hongkai, Huang Xing, Wu Anqi, and Yixiweisa Acuo, and their comments have been very helpful and valuable to this book. I would like also to express my warm gratitude to my teachers, Professors Jacques Legrand, Tumurbaatar, Tumenjargal, and Dr. Saiyinjiya Caidengduoerji for their Mongolic language teaching, and to Prof. Françoise Robin for Tibetan language teaching. I have learned a lot with them, and it is very beneficial for my research. My thanks also go to Craig Baker who has corrected my English with patience and efficiency. I owe so much to my family: Shiqi Song, Antoine Song, and Anna Song listened patiently to my questions about quantification of the data and offered me solutions from a mathematical perspective. Without the support and help of these people, this book would never have been published. It is evident that all faults are mine. Paris, France Dan Xu June 2016 Contents Introduction................................................. xiii 1 Language Admixture and Replacement in Northwestern China ..................................... 1 1.1 A Linguistic Area in Northwestern China.................... 1 1.2 Molecular Anthropology Approach......................... 10 1.3 Correlation of Languages and Genes in the Mongolic Group ............................................... 15 1.4 Admixture and Replacement.............................. 23 1.4.1 Plural Origins ................................... 23 1.4.2 Two Models of Language Replacement ............... 26 2 Historical, Religious and Genetic Context of Tangwang........... 29 2.1 Historical Documents on Tangwang ........................ 29 2.2 Linguistic Situation in Tangwang .......................... 35 2.2.1 General Situation................................. 36 2.2.2 Body Parts, Birds and Insects ....................... 37 2.2.3 Loanwords from Different Sources ................... 41 2.3 The Genetic History and Analysis of the Tangwang Population ........................................... 43 3 The Phonology of Tangwang ................................ 49 3.1 Initials .............................................. 49 3.1.1 The Plosives .................................... 50 3.1.2 The Nasals ..................................... 51 3.1.3 The Fricatives ................................... 53 3.1.4 The Affricates ................................... 55 3.1.5 The Lateral ..................................... 57 3.1.6 The Approximants................................ 57 3.1.7 The Medials .................................... 58 3.1.8 Discussion...................................... 61 vii viii Contents 3.2 Vowels .............................................. 63 3.3 Tones ............................................... 65 3.3.1 Tone Splits and Mergers ........................... 65 3.3.2 Tone in Tangwang ............................... 66 3.3.3 Accent/Stress in Tangwang ......................... 69 3.3.4 Discussion...................................... 74 4 Tangwang Morphology ..................................... 77 4.1 Word Building ........................................ 77 4.1.1 N + Suffix[ʦɿ] .................................. 77 4.1.2 Reduplication ................................... 77 4.2 Case Marking in the Tangwang Language ................... 79 4.2.1 Nominative and Accusative......................... 79 4.2.2 Accusative and Dative............................. 86 4.2.3 Ablative Case ................................... 87 4.2.4 Instrumental Case ................................ 90 4.2.5 Summary....................................... 92 4.3 Suffixes Borrowed from Mongolic Languages ................ 93 4.3.1 Reflexive Possessive Suffix[nə] ..................... 93 4.3.2 Third Person Possessive [ȵi] ........................ 95 4.3.3 The Suffix [thala] ................................ 96 5 Tangwang Syntax ........................................