| Northern Va | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | [vaʔ˥˩] |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Jingxing Township, Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, Yunnan |
Native speakers | <2,000 (2014) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Northern Va (Va pronunciation: [tou˥˩wo˨˩vaʔ˥˩] "Va language") is an Austroasiatic language spoken in Yunnan, China. It is classified as an Angkuic language, belongs to the Palaungic branch by Hsiu (2017). No ISO code has been designated for Va.
The relationship between two Va varieties is unclear, as Northern Va informant stated that they cannot understand Southern Va very well, but the Southern Va informant can understand Northern Va perfectly. Southern Va is more conservative compared to Northern Va in sesquisyllabic word structure.
This language was first researched by Simao Prefecture Ethnic Minority Affairs Bureau in 1990.
Northern Va is spoken in a remote pocket deep inside Yunnan, with no other Austroasiatic languages are in sight within a 100 kilometers radius. Its speakers are officially recognized as ethnic Blangs, despite they speak an Angkuic language. The language is used in daily life by all generations, including children.
Northern Va is spoken in about eight villages of Taihe Village 太和村, Jingxing Township 景星乡, Mojiang County, Yunnan.
Va speakers are surrounded by mostly Kaduo speakers, a Southern Loloish language. However, trace of Tai superstrate is significant, evident in most of Va numbers other than 1-3 have been replaced by Tai loans, even though Tai speakers are a minority in the region.
Northern Va is less archaic in comparison to Southern Va in term of preserving the canonical Austroasiatic word shape C(C)VC. Monosyllables tend to dominate the lexicon, though presyllabic clusters /kl-, kʰl-, pl-, pʰl-, pʰj-/ may appears in some lexemes. The maximal structure in Northern Va is C1(C2)V(V)(N/Cf)T.
There are four tones in Va. Note that when high-falling tone /51/ is followed by a mid-level /33/ or low-falling tone /21/, there is a contour transition during the phonetic coarticulation which may result as [452] or [451].
| Pitch value | Contour | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | low-falling | tsa² "cook" |
| 33 | mid-level | ʂɨ³³ "rope, string" |
| 35 | mid-rising | fai⁵¹veiʔ³⁵ "left side" |
| 51 | high-falling | dʑɯa⁵¹ "know" |
No phonemes listed below have been found to exist only as allophones in all environments. /ɲ̥/ is apparently rare, as there is only one example: ɲ̥a⁵¹ 'to laugh'.
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | sibilant | |||||||
| Plosive | plain | p | t | t͡s | t͡ɕ | k | ʔ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡sʰ | t͡ɕʰ | kʰ | |||
| voiced | d͡ʑ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | ɬ | s | ʂ | ɕ | x | h |
| voiced | v | ʑ | ɣ | |||||
| Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ȵ̥ | ŋ̥ | |||
| voiced | m | n | ȵ | ŋ | ||||
| Approximant | w | l | ||||||
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
| Glide | u̯ | i̯ |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i ĩ | ɨ ɨ̃ ɯ ɯ̃ | u ũ |
| Mid-high | e ẽ | ɤ ɤ̃ | o õ |
| Low | a ã | ||
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ʔo³³ | ʔei³³ |
| 2nd person | mi³³ | pʰei³³ |
| 3rd person | tʰa³³ | kei⁵¹ |
Note: loan words are not displayed.
| Gloss | Northern Va | Proto-Eastern Angkuic | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tiʔ³³ (hand) | *moːh | |
| 2 | kɑ⁵¹ | *ləʔaːr | |
| 3 | kui⁵¹ | **kuej | *ləʔɔːj |
| 4 | (Tai loan) | *poːn | |
| 5 | – | *pəsan | |
| 6 | – | *tɔːl | |
| 7 | – | *təpuːl | |
| 8 | – | *taːʔ | |
| 9 | – | *tiːm | |
| 10 | – | *kɤːl | |
| 100 | tiʔ³³pɑk⁵¹ | *prjah | |
| 1000 | tiʔ³³ɕin⁵¹ | *sreːŋ |
| Gloss | Northern Va | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| black | laŋ⁵¹ploŋ⁵¹ | *jam, *laŋ |
| bamboo | ŋum³³xɤŋ⁵¹ | *hrəŋ |
| flower | ɣaŋ⁵¹ | *raːŋ |
| fruit | pʰli²¹vei³³ | *pleeʔ |
| green/blue | vei²¹ŋ̥ia³³ | **sŋaal; *ɲ(ɛ/iə)r |
| leaf | ɬa²¹siʔ³³ | *hlaʔ |
| red | ve³³ŋam⁵¹ | *rooŋ |
| rice tree | ŋ̥ou³³ | *sŋɔːʔ |
| millet | sɨ²¹sɨ³³ | *skɔɔj |
| yellow | ve²¹ɬɯ̃⁵¹ | *rmiit |
| Gloss | Northern Va | proto-Palaungic |
|---|---|---|
| buffalo | kʰɯaʔ⁵¹ | *traːk |
| bear | kʰɯa⁵¹ | *kreːs |
| bee | sie⁵¹ | *psiər |
| bird | sɨm³³ | *ciːm |
| dog | so³³ | *cɔːʔ |
| goose | haŋ⁵¹ | *haan |
| fowl | ʔie⁵¹ | *ʔiɛr |
| horse | pɯaŋ⁵¹ | *mraŋ |
| louse | tɕʰiŋ²¹ʂɨ³³ | *ciːʔ |
| pig | lik⁵¹ | *-leːk |
| tiger | vai²¹ | *rwaaj |