Kyirong is a language from the subgroup of Tibetic languages[2] spoken in the Gyirong County of the Shigatse prefecture, of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Kyirong has lexical tone, with a three-tone system.[3]
Relationship to other languages
There is a varying degree of mutual intelligibility between Kyirong and other Kyirong-Yolmo varieties. It is most closely related to the Nubri and Gyalsomdo languages,[4] and more distantly related to other languages in the family.[5]
Phonology
Consonants
There are 36 consonants in Kyirong, which are summarized in the table below.[3]
| Bilabial | Apico-Dental | Retroflex | Lamino- post-alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | ts | ʈ | tɕ | c | k | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tsʰ | ʈʰ | tɕʰ | cʰ | kʰ | ||
| voiced | b | d | dz | ɖ | dʑ | ɟ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ɕ | h | |||||
| voiced | z | ʑ | ɦ | ||||||
| Liquid | rhotic | r | |||||||
| voiced lateral | l | ||||||||
| unvoiced lateral | ɬ | ||||||||
| Semivowel | w | j | |||||||
Vowels
There are eight places of articulation for vowels. There is a length distinction at each place of articulation, as well as a long nasalised vowel.[3]
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | oral | i iː | y yː | u uː | |
| nasal | ĩː | ỹː | ũː | ||
| Half-close | oral | e eː | ø øː | ||
| nasal | ẽː | ø̃ː | |||
| Half-open | oral | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | ||
| nasal | ɛ̃ː | ɔ̃ː | |||
| Open | oral | a aː | |||
| nasal | ãː | ||||
Tone
Kyriong has a three tone system; high, medium and low. Low tone is often accompanied by breathy voice.[3]
Sources
- Hedlin, M. (2011). An Investigation of the relationship between the Kyirong, Yòlmo, and Standard Spoken Tibetan speech varieties. Masters thesis, Payap University, Chiang Mai.
- Huber, B. (2005). The Tibetan dialect of Lende (Kyirong). Beiträge zur tibetischen Erzählforschung, 15.
References
- ^ Kyirong at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Kyirong at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ N. Tournadre (2005) "L'aire linguistique tibétaine et ses divers dialectes." Lalies, 2005, n°25, p. 7–56 [1]
- ^ a b c d Huber, Brigitte (2005). The Tibetan dialect of Lende (Kyirong). Bonn: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag.
- ^ Hedlin, Matthew (2011). An investigation of the relationship between the Kyirong, Yòlmo, and Standard Spoken Tibetan speech varieties (unpublished MA thesis). Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
- ^ Gawne, Lauren (2013). "Report on the relationship between Yolmo and Kagate". Himalayan Linguistics. 12: 1–27.
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| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
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| Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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This page was last edited on 28 January 2023, at 10:03