Mường language
| Mường | |
|---|---|
| Thiểng Mường | |
| Native to | Vietnam |
| Region | Hòa Bình Province,Thanh Hóa Province,Phú Thọ Province,Sơn La Province |
| Ethnicity | Muong |
Native speakers | (1.1 million cited 1999 census)[1] |
| Latin(Chữ Quốc ngữ) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mtq |
| Glottolog | muon1246 |
Mường(Muong:thiểng Mường;Vietnamese:tiếng Mường)[2]is a group of dialects spoken by theMườngpeople ofVietnam.They are in theAustroasiaticlanguage family and closely related toVietnamese.According to Phan (2012), the Mường dialects are not a single language, or even most closely related to each other, but rather are an ethnically defined andparaphyletictaxon.[3]
Mường dialects are primarily spoken in mountainous regions of the northern Vietnamese provinces ofHòa Bình,Thanh Hóa,Vĩnh Phúc,Yên Bái,Sơn La,andNinh Bình.
Mường has allsix tones of Vietnamese;however, thenặng(heavy) tone is present only inPhú Thọand Thanh Hóa provinces while in Hòa Bình Province, it is merged with thesắc(sharp) tone.[4]
Writing system[edit]
Mường had no written form until Western academics in the 20th century developed a provisional alphabet based on a modifiedVietnamese alphabet,including additional consonants likewand allowing different consonant pairs and final consonants than Vietnamese.[2]
In September 2016, the People's Committee ofHòa Bình Provinceadopted resolution 2295/QĐ-UBND, specifying a new Mường alphabet to be used in instruction within the province. The alphabet consists of 28 letters and four tone marks.[5]The provincialCommunist Party of Vietnamnewspaper,Hòa Bình điện tử(Muong:Wa̒ Bi̒nh diê̠n tứ) began publishing its electronic edition in Mường in addition to Vietnamese and English, surprising some readers with the unusual orthography.[6]
The alphabet is as follows:
A,Ă,Â,B,C,D,Đ,E,Ê,G,H,I,K,L,M,N,O,Ô,Ơ,P,Q,R,T,U,Ư,V,W,X,Y
The lettersF,J,S,andZare only used in loanwords.
Phonology[edit]
Consonant inventory[edit]
The following table details the consonants of those dialects that show a fullvoiced-voiceless distinctionin the stops (being Mường Bi, Mường Thành, Mường Động, and Ba Trại).[7]The spelling is given in italics.
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m/m/ n/n/ nh/ɲ/ ng/ŋ/ Stop voiceless p/p/ t/t/ ch/c/ c/k/ aspirated ph/pʰ/ th/tʰ/ kh/kʰ/ voiced b/b/ đ/d/ g/ɡ~ɣ/ Fricative voiceless x/s/ h/h/ voiced v/w/o/u/β/ d/gi/i/y/z~j/ Lateral l,tl/l,tl~kl/
The Mường Vang dialect completely lacks the distinction between the voiced and unvoiced stop pairs/pb/,/td/,/kɡ/,having only the voiceless one of each pair. The Mường Khói and Mường Ống dialects have the full voiceless series, but lack/ɡ/among the voiced stops. The Thạch Sơn dialect on the other hand lacks/p/.
Furthermore, the Mường Khói dialect lacks the aspirated alveolar/tʰ/,but has a/hr/instead. This dialect is also described as having the labio-velars/kʷ/and/kʷʰ/.
All of these consonants can appear syllable-initially. At the end of syllables only the nasals/mnɲŋ/,the voiceless stops/ptck/,the lateral/l/,and the glides/jw/occur.[8]Of these phonemes, the palatals/cɲ/have been analysed as glide + velar/ʲkʲŋ/.[9]Furthermore, the distribution of syllable-final/cɲl/seems to be more restricted than the distribution of the other final consonants.[10]
Vowel inventory[edit]
The vowel inventory is given in the following table. It appears to be quite uniform among the different dialects.[7]Two of the vowels (/ɤ/and/a/) can be long or short.
Apart from these monophthongs, there are also threediphthongs/iə,ɯə,uə/.
Tone[edit]
All Mường dialects are tonal. The Kim Thương dialect (Phú Thọprovince) has been the object of an experimental phonetic study.[11]
Vocabulary[edit]
| English | Mường | Vietnamese | Proto-Vietic | Other languages | Khmer | Proto-Mon-Khmer | Other languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zero | không | không | fromMiddle ChineseKhông | sony សូន្យ | fromSanskritशून्य (śūnya, “zero” ) | ||
| one | mốch, môch | một | *moːc | muŏy មួយ | *muuj ~ *muəj ~ *muuɲ | ||
| two | hal | hai | *haːr | pir ពីរ | *ɓaar | ||
| three | pa | ba | *pa | bĕi បី | *piʔ | ||
| four | pổn | bốn | *poːnʔ | buŏn បួន | *punʔ | ||
| five | đằm, đăm | năm | *ɗam | pram ប្រាំ | *pɗam | ||
| six | khảu | sáu | *p-ruːʔ | prămmuŏy ប្រាំមួយ | |||
| seven | páy | bảy | *pəs | prămpir ប្រាំពីរ | |||
| eight | thảm | tám | *saːmʔ | prămbĕi ប្រាំបី | |||
| nine | chỉn | chín | *ciːnʔ | prămbuŏn ប្រាំបួន | |||
| ten | mườl | mười | *maːl | dáb ដប់ | fromOld ChineseThập (*di̯əp) | ||
| hundred | tlăm | trăm | *k-lam | muŏy rôy មួយរយ | fromThai,ร้อย (roi) | ||
| water | đác | nước (dialects include nác) | *ɗaːk | tɨk ទឹក | *ɗaːk | ||
| language | thiểng | tiếng | fromOld ChineseThanh | phiəsaa ភាសា | fromSanskritभाषा (bhāṣā) | ||
| river | không | sông | *k-roːŋ | tŭənlei ទន្លេ (kŭənlɔɔng គន្លង) | *d(n)liʔ | ||
| sky | tlời | trời (Middle Vietnamese: blời) | *b-ləːj | meik មេឃ | FromSanskritमेघ (megha, “cloud” ) | ||
| moon | tlăng | trăng (Middle Vietnamese: blăng) | *b-laŋ | look khae លោកខែ | FromSanskritलोक (loka, “world” ) andProto-Mon-Khmer*khəjʔ ( “moon; month” ) | ||
| bird | chim | chim | *-ciːm | baksəy បក្សី | FromSanskritपक्षि (pakṣi) | ||
| forest | rầng | rừng | *k-rəŋ | prɨy ព្រៃ | *briiʔ |
- Note two different romanisations are used to show Khmer here. (UNGEGN and Wiktionary Transcription)
Comparison of Mường and Vietnamese sentences[edit]
| Mường | Vietnamese |
|---|---|
| Cải tlỗngchăngbong, lòngchăngyểng. | Cái bụngkhôngvâng,lòngkhôngtheo. |
| Nả tang cháitlốc. | Nó đang chảiđầu. |
| Tlước ăn chay khau ănnhúc. | Trước ăn chay sau ănthịt. |
| Ho làthônmễ Tử. | Tôi làcháubà Tự. |
- "Cải tlỗngchăngbong, lòngchăngyểng. "- Mường useschăngfor 'no', it is cognate with Vietnamesechăngandchẳng(extant and widely understood as a negation word in Vietnamese, but rarely used except in poetic contexts).
- "Nả tang cháitlốc. "-Mường usestlốcfor 'head', it is cognate with Vietnamesetrốc,it was formerly the primary word for head, but has been displaced with đầu ( đầu ).
- "Tlước ăn chay khau ănnhúc."- Mường usesnhúc( nhục ) for 'meat', Vietnamese uses a native word for 'meat',thịt.It is cognate with Mườngthit'uncommon word for meat'.
- "Ho làthônmễ Tử. "- Mường usesthôn( tôn ) for 'grandchild', Vietnamese uses a native word for 'grandchild',cháu.It is cognate with Mườngchảu'son-in-law'.
References[edit]
- ^MườngatEthnologue(18th ed., 2015)(subscription required)
- ^abHà Quang Phùng 2012,p. 1.
- ^Phan, John D. (2012)."Mường is not a subgroup: Phonological evidence for a paraphyletic taxon in the Viet-Muong sub-family"(PDF).Mon-Khmer Studies.40:1–18.
- ^Hà Quang Phùng 2012,p. 2.
- ^"Quyết định về việc phê chuẩn bộ chữ dân tộc Mường tỉnh Hòa Bình"[Resolution adopting an alphabet for the Mường people of Hòa Bình Province (2295/QĐ-UBND)] (in Vietnamese). Hòa Bình: People's Committee of Hòa Bình Province. 8 September 2016.Retrieved26 March2019– via Thư viện Pháp luật.
- ^Tử Hưng (17 February 2018)."Sự thật về 'bảng chữ cái' mới trên báo điện tử Hòa Bình"[Facts about the Hòa Bình online newspaper's new 'alphabet'].Công Luận(in Vietnamese). Viet Nam Journalists Association.Retrieved26 March2019.
- ^abNguyễn Văn Tài 1982,I.2
- ^Nguyễn Văn Tài 1982,II.3.3.2
- ^Nguyễn Văn Tài 1982,II.3.3.1
- ^Nguyễn Văn Tài 1982,II.3.3.3
- ^Nguyễn T. Minh Châu (2021).Glottalization, tonal contrasts and intonation: an experimental study of the Kim Thuong dialect of Muong(Ph.D.).
Further reading[edit]
- Hà Quang Phùng (2012-09-06)."Tìm hiểu về ngữ pháp tiếng Mường (Thim hiếu wuê ngử pháp thiểng Mường)"[Understanding Muong grammar]. (in Vietnamese and Muong). Thanh Sơn–Phú Thọ Province Continuing Education Center. Archived fromthe original(FlashPaper)on September 19, 2016.(More)
- Nguyễn, Văn Khang, Bùi Chi, and Hoàng Văn Hành. (2002). Từ điển Mường-Việt (A Mường-Vietnamese dictionary). Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Văn Hoá Dân Tộc.
- Nguyễn Văn Tài (1982).Ngữ âm tiếng Mường qua các phương ngôn[Phonetics of the Mường language through its dialects] (Ph.D.) (in Vietnamese).
External links[edit]
- Wa̒ Bi̒nh diê̠n tứ– online newspaper in Mường(in Muong)