Revitalization of Duoxu: A first-hand account

International audienceHow can we revitalize a language that is unwritten and nearly extinct, a language that has no documentation record and is not officially recognized, and hence lacks any kind of institutionalized support? The chances of successfully revitalizing such a language are slim. One language that meets this dire description is Duoxu, the subject matter of this chapter. Under normal circumstances, revitalization of Duoxu would have little chance to take root. Yet, in spite of weighty objections, revitalization may be possible in the Duoxu case, albeit to a limited degree. Currently, revitalization of Duoxu is in the early stages of implementation. The encouraging lessons of Duoxu are that revitalization always remains a possibility, even under the most unfavorable conditions, and that efforts of individual community members dedicated to the cause can and do make an important difference. What matters is how to sustainably support grassroots revitalization initiatives and make the most out of the potential they offer

Diachronic developments in fricative + nasal sequences: a Tibeto-Burman case study

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.21020.chiInternational audienceThrough comparison of regular sound correspondences in three closely related Tibeto-Burman (TB) languages, Ersu, Lizu, and Duoxu (collectively "ELD"), informed by external comparison with other TB languages and recent phonetic analyses of the production of voiceless nasals, we reconstruct *fricative-nasal sequences in their common ancestor, Proto-ELD. In the development of these historic clusters, two pathways of change can be recognized. Their difference lies in the divergent relative phasing of velic and oral gestures in the original fricative-nasal sequences: (i) fricative weakening (from a tight cluster): *FN > N ̥ > h̃ > x (ii) fricative strengthening (from a loose cluster): *F-n > *F-t > t > k or *F-n > s The different reflexes observed in Ersu, Lizu, and Duoxu represent different points along these two developmental pathways. These reconstructions and pathways of development have implications for our understanding of both universal (phonetic) and language-specific aspects of change in fricative-nasal sequences. The first pathway makes it possible to explore the process of nasal devoicing beyond voiceless nasals so as to enrich our understanding of nasal devoicing in natural languages. The coexistence of two opposite pathways of change, on the other hand, provides insights into the morphological and syllabic structure of words with contiguous fricative-nasal sequences in ELD languages at different points in time-insights that may be valuable in examining the history of other languages and language families beyond the ELD cluster

Words for 'one' in Báimă

This article describes different words for 'one' in Baimà, a language spoken at the border of Sichuan and Gânsù provinces in China. According to Sun Hongkài, the profusion of words for 'one' in Baimà is one of the features that distinguish Baimà from Tibetan. This paper discusses the distribution of various words for 'one' in a corpus of Baimà stories collected during a fieldwork in 2003, and comments on their meanings and functions, on restrictions of their co-occurrence, and on their interchangeability and etymology. Contrary to Sun's conclusion, it is argued that all forms are cognate with Tibetan.Cet article décrit des mots différents signifiant 'un' en baimà, langue parlée à la frontière du Sichuan et Gànsù en Chine. D'après Sun Hongkài, la profusion des mots pour 'un' est l'une des caractéristiques qui distinguent le baimà des dialectes du tibétain. Cet article examine la distribution des mots pour 'un' dans un corpus de légendes baimà recueilli sur le terrain. Sont ici exposées les principales valeurs sémantiques ainsi que les emplois des mots pour 'un'. Sont aussi exprimées des remarques sur leur interchangeabilité et leur etymologie. Contrairement à la conclusion de Sun, il est ici montré que tous ces mots sont apparentés au tibétain.Chirkova Katia. Words for 'one' in Báimă. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 34 1, 2005. pp. 69-99

The Duoxu Language and the Ersu-Lizu-Duoxu relationship

International audienceDuoxu is a terminally endangered and virtually undescribed Tibeto-Burman language, spoken in the historically multi-ethnic and multilingual Miǎnníng county in Sìchuān province in the People's Republic of China. Until recently, Duoxu was known only through a 740-word vocabulary list in the Sino-Tibetan vocabularies Xīfān Yìyǔ [Tibetan-Chinese bilingual glossary], recorded in Chinese and Tibetan transcriptions in the 18th century, and a grammatical sketch (Huáng & Yǐn 2012). Researchers who have worked on the language (Nishida 1973, Sūn 1982, Huáng & Yǐn 2012) have expressed different views about the features and the genetic position of Duoxu, variously viewing it as (1) closely related to Lolo-Burmese languages (Nishida 1973), (2) closely related to Ersu and Lizu, two neighboring languages that are currently classified as members of the Qiangic subgroup of the Tibeto-Burman language family (Sūn 1982), or (3) distantly related to those two languages and to Qiangic languages at large (Huáng & Yǐn 2012). The Duoxu language is critically endangered and urgently requires documentation. It is of great value for our understanding of the linguistic diversity of the region, and of its linguistic history. It is also of great value as a modern reflection of a language that was recorded in the 18th century. This paper makes significant contribution in all these areas. Based on new fieldwork with all remaining elderly Duoxu speakers, this study provides newly collected data and new analysis. It compares the newly collected data with the 18th-century attestations of Duoxu as well as with its two putative sister languages Ersu and Lizu. The conclusion of the study is that Duoxu is closely related to Ersu and Lizu, with superficial differences attributed to long-standing and ongoing contact influence from Southwestern Mandarin

Gëi 'give' in Beijing and beyond [Gëi 'donner ' à Pékin et au-delà]

This article focuses on the various uses of gëi 'give', as attested in a corpus of spoken Beijing Mandarin collected by the author. These uses are compared to those in earlier attestations of Beijing Mandarin from the end of the Qing, and to those in Greater Beijing Mandarin and in the Ji-Lu Mandarin dialects. The uses oîgëi in the corpus are shown to be consistent with those found in these two dialect groups, where the primary function of gëi is that of indirect object marking and where, in contrast to Standard Mandarin, gëi is not additionally used as an agent marker or a direct object marker. Exceptions to this pattern in the corpus are explained as a recent development arisen through reanalysis.Cet article décrit et analyse les divers usages de gëi 'donner' dans un corpus de langue parlée recueilli à Pékin, et les compare à ceux des textes reflétant le pékinois de la fin des Qïhg, ainsi qu'à ceux du mandarin pékinois étendu et des dialectes mandarins de Ji-Lu. Il montre que les usages de gëi dans le corpus sont dans leur majorité identiques à ceux de ces dialectes mandarins, où la fonction primaire de gëi est celle d'un marqueur d'objet indirect, et où, contrairement au chinois standard, gëi ne fonctionne ni comme marqueur du passif ni comme marqueur d'objet direct. Les exceptions observées dans le corpus sont interprétées comme un développement récent dû à une réanalyse.Chirkova Katia. Gëi 'give' in Beijing and beyond [Gëi 'donner ' à Pékin et au-delà]. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 37 1, 2008. pp. 3-42

Wang Feng Comparison of languages in contact: the distillation method and the case of Bai

Chirkova Katia. Wang Feng Comparison of languages in contact: the distillation method and the case of Bai. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 36 1, 2007. pp. 83-94

Wang Feng Comparison of languages in contact: the distillation method and the case of Bai

Chirkova Katia. Wang Feng Comparison of languages in contact: the distillation method and the case of Bai. In: Cahiers de linguistique - Asie orientale, vol. 36 1, 2007. pp. 83-94