Shixing language

Shixing
Shuhi
Native toChina
Native speakers
(1,800 cited 2000)
Language codes
ISO 639-3sxg
Glottologshix1238
ELPShixing

Shixing (Chinese: 史興語; pinyin: Shǐxìngyǔ), also rendered Shuhi, is a Qiangic language of Sichuan, China. Two-thirds of its speakers are monolingual.

Shixing is also known by its Tibetan name Xumi (旭米; Xùmǐ); it is spoken by about 1800 people living by the Shuiluo River 水洛 in Shuiluo Township 水洛乡, Mili Tibetan Autonomous County.

Katia Chirkova reports two varieties.

Phonology

Consonants

Xumi features a very unusual phonemic contrast between voiceless /ʎ̥/ and voiced /ʎ/ alveolo-palatal lateral approximants and voiceless and voiced glottal fricatives.

Consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant Palato-
alveolar		 Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal
Nasal voiceless m̥ n̥ ɲ̊2 ŋ̊2
voiced m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/

Affricate

 aspirated pʰ tʰ tsʰ tʃʰ2 ʈʂʰ tɕʰ kʰ qʰ2
plain p t ts tʃ2 ʈʂ tɕ k q2
voiced b d dz dʒ2 ɖʐ dʑ ɡ ɢ2
Fricative voiceless s ʃ2 ʂ1 ɕ x2 χ1 h
voiced z ʒ2 ʐ1 ʑ ɣ2 ʁ1 ɦ
Lateral voiceless l̥ ʎ̥
voiced l ʎ
Approximant ɹ j w
  1. Only in Upper Xumi
  2. Only in Lower Xumi

Vowels

Oral monophthongs of Lower Xumi, from Chirkova & Chen (2013:369)

Oral

  • The close and close-mid series are the same in both varieties: /i, ʉ, u, e, o/. The difference lies in the open-mid and open series; in Upper Xumi, these are /ɛ, ɐ, ɔ, a/, whereas in Lower Xumi, they are /ɛ, ɐ, ɑ/.
    • At least in Lower Xumi /ʉ/, is phonetically close-mid [ɵ].
    • /ɐ/ is closer in Upper Xumi [ɜ]; in addition, the open central vowel /a/ is phonetically near-open [ɐ]. For this reason, they may be transcribed with ⟨ɜ⟩ and ⟨ɐ⟩, respectively.
    • The Lower Xumi /o/ and /ɑ/ generally correspond to Upper Xumi /u/ and /ɔ/, respectively. /ɑ/ is near-open near-back [ɑ̽] and thus similar to the Upper Xumi /a/, but more back.

Nasal

  • Upper Xumi has the following nasal vowels: /ĩ, ũ, ɛ̃, ɔ̃, ɐ̃/, as well as the marginal /ɘ̃/, which occurs only in the word [LPmɘ̃da][clarification needed] 'on the roof / upstairs'.
  • Lower Xumi has the following nasal vowels: /ĩ, õ, ɛ̃, ɐ̃, ɑ̃/, as well as the marginal /ə̃/, which occurs only in the word [LPmə̃dɐ ᴿʁo][clarification needed] 'on the roof / upstairs'. /ẽ, õ, ɐ̃, ɑ̃/ generally correspond to Upper Xumi /ĩ, ũ, ɛ̃, ɔ̃/, respectively.

References

  1. ↑ Shixing at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 363.
  3. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 364.
  4. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), pp. 365, 367–368.
  5. ↑ Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), pp. 382–383.
  6. ↑ Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 382.
  7. ↑ Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 365.
  8. 1 2 Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), pp. 388–389.
  9. 1 2 Chirkova & Chen (2013), pp. 369–370.
  10. 1 2 Chirkova & Chen (2013), p. 369.
  11. 1 2 3 Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 389.

Bibliography