Zhuang alphabet
| Standard Zhuang | |
|---|---|
| Vahcuengh | |
| Native to | China |
|
Tai–Kadai
|
|
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
|
Recognised minority
language in |
|
| Regulated by | Ethnic Minority Language Work Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | za (all Zhuang) |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Standard Zhuang (autonym: Zhuang: Vahcuengh (pre-1982: Vaƅcueŋƅ; Sawndip: 话壮); simplified Chinese: 壮语; traditional Chinese: 壯語; pinyin: Zhuàngyǔ) is the official standardized form of the Zhuang languages, which are a branch of the Northern Tai languages. Its pronunciation is based on that of the Yongbei Zhuang dialect of Shuangqiao, Guangxi in Wuming District, Guangxi with some influence from Fuliang, also in Wuming District, while its vocabulary is based mainly on northern dialects. The official standard covers both spoken and written Zhuang. It is the national standard of the Zhuang languages, though in Yunnan a local standard is used.
Standard Zhuang has six tones, reduced to two (numbered 7–8) in checked syllables:
The sentence Son mwngz hwnj max gvaq dah "Teach you to climb on a horse to cross a river" is often used to help people remember the six tones.
(In the tables above the 1982 version is in green)
Standard Zhuang is an artificial mixture of several Zhuang languages. The lexicon is based on various Northern Zhuang dialects. The phonology is essentially that of Shuangqiao, with the addition of ny, ei, ou from Fuliang, both located in Wuming County. Zhang (1999), along with other Chinese scholars, classifies Shuangqiao dialect as Northern Tai (Northern Zhuang), while Pittayaporn (2009) places it outside of Northern Tai proper, though closely related to it. (See Tai languages#Pittayaporn (2009).) Shuangqiao was chosen for the standard pronunciation in the 1950s because it was considered to be Northern Zhuang but with characteristics of Southern Zhuang.
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