Mashan Miao
| Mang | |
|---|---|
| Mashan Miao | |
| Pronunciation | mʱaŋ˨ |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Guizhou |
|
Native speakers
|
140,000 (1995) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously: hmm – Central hmp – Northern hma – Southern hmw – Western |
| Glottolog | mash1238 |
Mang, or Mashan Miao also known as Mashan Hmong (麻山 máshān), is a Miao language of China. The endonym is Mang, similar to other West Hmongic languages such as Mong.
Mang was classified as a branch of Western Hmongic in Wang (1985), who listed four varieties. Matisoff (2001) gave these four varieties the status of separate languages, and, conservatively, did not retain them as a single group within West Hmongic. Li Yunbing (2000) added two minor varieties which had been left unclassified in Wang, Southeastern (Strecker's "Luodian Muyin") and Southwestern ("Wangmo").
A pinyin alphabet had been created for Mang in 1985, but proved to have deficiencies. Wu and Yang (2010) report the creation of a new alphabet, albeit a tentative one, based on the Central Mang dialect of Ziyun County, Zōngdì 宗地 township, Dàdìbà 大地坝 village.
Consonants, in pinyin, are:
The Latin voiced/voiceless opposition has been coopted to indicate aspiration, as usual in pinyin alphabets.
Correspondences between Central Mang dialects include Dadiba retroflex dr, tr with dental z, c in another village of the same Zongdi township, Sanjiao (三脚 Sānjiǎo). The other five varieties of Mang have more palatalized initials than Central Mang, though these can be transcribed as medial -i-. The onsets by, py, nby, my are pronounced [pʐ pʰʐ mpʐ mʐ ] in Central Mang and [pj pʰj mpj mj] in the other five Mang varieties.
Vowels and finals, including those needed for Chinese loans, are:
Most Central Mang and Western Mang dialects have eleven to thirteen tones. Compared to the eight tone categories of other Western Hmongic languages, the odd-numbered tones are each split into two. The tones of at least three villages of Central Mang have been documented: Dadiba (Wu & Yang 2010), Jiaotuozhai (Wang & Mao 1995; Li 2000), and Jingshuiping (Xian 1990; Mortensen 2006), all in the Zongdi township of Ziyun County. They lie several kilometers apart and have minor differences.
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