E language (original) (raw)

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Sino-Tibetan mixed language from Tai and Chinese

E
Ei, Wuse
Kjang E
Pronunciation [ɛ˥], [kiaŋ˥ ɛ˥]
Native to China
Region Guangxi
Native speakers 5,000 (2016)[1]
Language family mixed Tai–Pinghua
Language codes
ISO 639-3 eee
Glottolog eeee1240
Guangxi, of which E is spoken in a small area

E (E pronunciation: [ɛ˥]), also known as Ei, Wuse, or Wusehua, (simplified Chinese: 五色话; traditional Chinese: 五色話; pinyin: Wǔsèhuà; lit. 'colored language') is a Tai–Chinese mixed language spoken primarily in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi, China. It contains features of both Tai and Chinese varieties, generally adopting Chinese vocabulary into Tai grammar. E is a tonal language—distinguishing between seven tones—and contains a few rare phonemes: voiceless versions of the more common nasal consonants and alveolar lateral approximant.

The E language's unusual name, which is also an autonym, derives from the pinyin transliteration of the rare Mandarin syllable 诶; 誒; ê̄ (E pronunciation: [ɛ˥]), which conventionally denotes an expression of affirmation (and is distinguished from ē in pinyin by the use of a circumflex).[2][3] The language's speakers also refer to their language as Kjang E [kiaŋ˥ ɛ˥].[2] Wusehua is a derogatory name for E.[4]

Geographical distribution

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Zhuang people in Guilin

In 1992, E was spoken by about 30,000 people,[5][2] but by 2008 this number had dwindled to 9,000.[6] Gao (2016) reported that there were 5,000 speakers of E.[1] Most E speakers are classified as Zhuang by the Chinese government. E speakers live in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County and border areas of Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County in Guangxi. In Rongshui County, the three main villages inhabited by E speakers are Xiatan 下覃村, Simo 四莫村, and Xinglong 兴隆村 in Yongle Township 永乐乡.[1] E speakers' most commonly spoken other languages are the Liujia dialect (六甲话) of Yue Chinese and the Guiliu variant of Southwestern Mandarin.[1]

E's consonant and vowel inventories are mostly similar to those of its parent languages. However, it contains a few unusual consonants: the voiceless nasal consonants [n̥], [ŋ̊], [m̥], and the voiceless alveolar lateral approximant [l̥]. All are voiceless versions of consonants that, in most languages, are always voiced. E allows syllabic consonants and diphthongs.[6]

E consonants | | Labial | Dental/Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | plain | sibilant | plain | labialized | | | | | | | Nasal | voiced | m | n | | | ŋ | | | | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | | | ŋ̊ | | | | | Plosive | unaspirated | p | t | t͡s | | k | kʷ | | | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡sʰ | | kʰ | | | | | Fricative | f | | s | ɕ | | | h | | | Approximant | voiced | | l | | j | | w | | | voiceless | | l̥ | | | | | | |

E vowels

| | Front | Central | Back | | | | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Close | i | y | | u | | Mid | e | ə | o | | | Open | ɛ | a | | |

Like many Mainland Southeast Asian languages, including Tai and the varieties of Chinese, E is tonal.[7] The language is described as having seven tones, with the seventh varying allophonically with the length of the vowel it is attached to. With numbers ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest tone and 5 the highest, the contours of the various tones in E are as follows.[6]

Tone contours

Number Contour Tone letter
1. 42 ˦˨
2. 231 ˨˧˩
3. 44 ˦
4. 35 ˧˥
5. 24 ˨˦
6. 55 ˥
7. short 24 ˨˦
long 22 ˨

Grammar and lexicon

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E is usually classified as a mixed language deriving ultimately from the Tai-Kadai and Sino-Tibetan families, which both inhabit southern China and Southeast Asia.[4] Some non-Chinese scholars, however, consider it a Tai-Kadai language with Chinese influence.[8] Whatever its classification, the grammar resembles that of the Tai branch of Tai-Kadai. E's grammatical features appear to be a mix of Northern Zhuang, Mulam, and Kam.[1][7] The Caolan language of Vietnam also displays many similarities with E.[7]

The vocabulary, however, is mostly Chinese, based on Guiliu and the Tuguai variant of Pinghua.[1][7] Out of the 2,000 most commonly used E words, only about 200 are of Tai-Kadai origin.[9] E also inherits elements of these Chinese dialects' phonology and compound word formation.[1] E morphology is primarily analytic, with concepts such as negation expressed with auxiliary words (pat6, m2) and no pronominal agreement.[6]

In its pronouns, E distinguishes for person between first, second, and third; in number between singular and plural; and, in the case of the first-person plural, between inclusive and exclusive we. E does not, however, make distinctions for grammatical gender.[6]

| Pronouns Person Singular Plural 1. ku1 lau2 (incl.)kju1 (excl.) 2. ŋ2 su1 3. mo5 mo5 kjau1 | Numbers No. E No. E 1 je꞉t6 6 l̥ok6 lok7 2 soŋ1 ŋ̊i5 7 tshat6 3 sam1 8 pe꞉t6 4 si4 9 kjəu3 5 ŋ̊a3 ŋo3 10 tɕəp7 ɕəp7 | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gao, Huan 高欢. 2016. Guangxi Ronghsui Aihua yanjiu 广西融水诶话研究. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社.
  2. ^ a b c Edmondson 1992, p. 138.
  3. ^ Unihan Database 1991.
  4. ^ a b Encyclopedia of Linguistics 2003, p. 207.
  5. ^ E language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  6. ^ a b c d e Greenhill, Blust & Gray 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d Edmondson 1992, pp. 135–144.
  8. ^ Moseley 2012, p. 72.
  9. ^ Sun, Hu & Huang 2007, pp. 2596–2620.