Wa language

Austroasiatic language spoken in Myanmar and China From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wa (Va) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Wa people of Myanmar and China. There are three distinct varieties, sometimes considered separate languages; their names in Ethnologue are Parauk, the majority and standard form; Vo (Zhenkang Wa, 40,000 speakers) and Awa (100,000 speakers), though all may be called Wa, Awa, Va, Vo. David Bradley (1994) estimates there are total of 820,000 Wa speakers.[2]

RegionChina, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand
EthnicityWa
Native speakers
(900,000 cited 2000–2008)[1]
Quick facts Region, Ethnicity ...
Wa
Va, Vo, Awa
RegionChina, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand
EthnicityWa
Native speakers
(900,000 cited 2000–2008)[1]
Latin script
Formerly: Chinese characters, Shan script
Official status
Official language in
 Wa State
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
prk – Parauk
wbm – Vo
vwa – Awa
Glottologwaaa1245
ELPWa
Wa is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
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It is recognized as a state language by the government of Wa State.

Distribution and variants

Gerard Diffloth refers to the Wa geographic region as the "Wa corridor", which lies between the Salween and Mekong Rivers. According to Diffloth, variants include South Wa, "Bible Wa" and Kawa (Chinese Wa).

Christian Wa are more likely to support the use of Standard Wa, since their Bible is based on a standard version of Wa, which is in turn based on the variant spoken in Bang Wai, 150 miles north of Kengtung (Watkins 2002). Bang Wai is located in Northern Shan State, Burma, close to the Chinese border where Cangyuan County is located.

Certain dialects of Wa preserve a final -/s/. They include the variants spoken in Meung Yang and Ximeng County, such as a variety spoken in Zhongke (中课), Masan (马散), Ximeng County that was documented by Zhou & Yan (1984) (Watkins 2002:8).

Burma

David Bradley estimates that there is a total of about 500,000 Wa speakers in Burma.[2]

A small number of Wa speakers also reside in Taunggyi, Mandalay and Yangon.

China

The PRC writing system for Wa is based on the Wa variant in Aishuai, Cangyuan County, Yunnan.

David Bradley estimates that there are 322,000 Wa speakers in China.[2] In China, the Wa people live in (Watkins 2002):

A small number of Wa speakers also reside in Kunming and throughout various parts of Yunnan.

The three dialects of Wa (and their respective subdialects) according to Zhou et al. (2004) are:[3]

  • Baraoke (巴饶克): ~ 250,000 speakers; autonym: pa̠ rauk, pa̠ ɣaɯk
    • Aishi 艾师 subdialect: 218,000 speakers
      • Cangyuan County: Yanshi 岩师, Tuanjie (团结), Mengsheng (勐省), Nuoliang (糯良), Danjia (单甲), Mengjiao (勐角), Menglai (勐来), Yonghe (永和)
      • Shuangjiang County: Shahe (沙河), Mengmeng (勐勐), Nanlang (南榔)
      • Gengma County: Sipaishan (四排山), Gengyi (耿宜), Hepai (贺派), Mengjian (勐简), Mengding (孟定), Furong (付荣)
      • Lancang County: Donghe (东河), Wendong (文东), Shangyun (上允), Xuelin (雪林)
    • Banhong (班洪) subdialect: 35,000 speakers
    • Dazhai (大寨) subdialect: 3,000 speakers
  • Awa (Ava) (阿佤): ~ 100,000 speakers; autonym: ʔa vɤʔ
    • Masan (马散) subdialect: 60,000 speakers
      • Ximeng County: Mowo (莫窝), Xinchang (新厂), Zhongke (中课), Mengsuo (勐梭), Yuesong (岳宋), Wenggake (翁戛科), parts of Lisuo (力所)
    • Awalai (阿佤来) subdialect: 3,000 speakers
    • Damangnuo (大芒糯) subdialect: 30,000 speakers
    • Xiyun (细允) subdialect: 5,000 speakers
  • Wa (佤): ~ 40,000 speakers; autonym: vaʔ
    • Yongde County: Dedang (德党), Menggong (孟汞), Minglang (明朗), Mengban (勐板), Yongkang (永康), Dashan (大山)
    • Zhenkang County: Mangbing (忙丙), Muchang (木厂)
    • Cangyuan County: parts of Nanla (南腊)

Jackson Sun (2018a)[5] lists the Awa dialects and their alternate names as follows.

  • Masan 馬散 (Lavïa; Ravia; Avë; Avo; etc.). Sun (2018b)[6] documents the Lavïa [la-vɨɒʔ] variety of Banzhe (班哲) (pa-cʰək) Village, Mengka 勐卡 (məŋkʰa) Town in Ximeng County, Yunnan Province. Lavïa of Banzhe is non-tonal and sesquisyllabic.
  • Awalai (阿佤來) (Avëloy)
  • Damangnuo (大芒糯) (Vo)
  • Xiyun (細允) (Va [vàʔ]). Sun (2018a)[5] documents the Va variety of Yingla (英臘) (zoŋráʔ) Village, Wenggake (翁嘎科) Township, Ximeng (西盟) County, Pu'er (普洱) City, Yunnan Province. Va of Yingla is monosyllabic has 3 tones, which are high, mid and low. Sun (2018a) notes that the Va varieties of Yingla and neighboring villages in Wenggake (翁戛科) Township of Ximeng County belong to the same dialect as varieties spoken farther away in Donghui (东回) and Nuofu (糯福) Townships, Lancang County.

The Dai exonym for the Wa of Yongde, Zhenkang and Nanla (南腊) is la³¹. In Sipsongpanna, the Dai call them the va¹¹, va¹¹ dip⁵⁵ ("Raw Va" (生佤)), va¹¹ ʔău⁵⁵ho⁵⁵ ("Head-carrying Wa" (拿头佤)), va¹¹ sə⁵⁵să⁵⁵na⁵³ ("Religious Wa" (信教佤)). In Ximeng and Menglian counties, the Wa autonym is xa³¹va⁵³, while in Cangyuan and Gengma counties it is xa³¹va⁵³lɒi⁵³ (Zhou, et al. 2004:2).

Yan and Zhou (2012:138)[7] list the following names for Wa in various counties.

  • pa̠ rauk, pa̠ɣaɯk (巴饶克): in Lancang, Gengma, Shuangjiang, Lancang counties; exonyms: Small Kawa (小卡瓦), Kawa (卡瓦), Cooked Ka (熟卡), Lajia (腊家)
  • vaʔ (佤): in Zhenkang and Yongde counties; exonyms: Benren (本人)
  • vɔʔ (斡), ʔa vɤʔ (阿卫), rɤ viaʔ (日佤): in Ximeng and Menglian counties; exonyms: Big Kawa 大卡瓦, Raw Ka 生卡, Wild Ka 野卡
  • xa³¹va⁵³lɒi⁵³ (卡瓦来): in Cangyuan and Gengma counties; also called va⁵³ (瓦)

A language known as Bujiao (补角) (autonym: Puga, 仆嘎) in Mengla County was mentioned in Yunnan (1960)[8] The Bujiao were classified as ethnic Bulang and had a population of 212 in 1960.

The Kela (克拉) (Dai exonym: Kala (卡拉); population: 393 people) live in District 3 三区 of Tengchong County (腾冲县), Yunnan (You 2013:359).[9] The Kela used to speak a variety of Wa, but now speak only Chinese. The Kela also refer to themselves as the Wama (佤妈).[8]

Thailand

Wa have also migrated to Thailand in the past several decades, mainly from Burma. There are about 10,000 Wa speakers in Thailand. Wa villages can be found in (Watkins 2002:6):

Phonology

Standard Wa is a non-tonal language. However, tone has developed in some of the dialects. There is correspondence between tones in tonal dialects and tenseness in non-tonal dialects.[10]

In Wa, there are 44 phonemes;[11] 35 consonants[12] and 9 vowels. All of these vowels can be tense or lax. Tenseness is a phonemic feature in syllables with unaspirated initials.[10]

Vowels

More information Front, Back ...
Vowel phonemes
Front Back
unrounded rounded
Close i ɯ u
Close-mid e ɤ o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
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There are 15 diphthongs: /iu, ɯi, ui, ia, ɤi, ua, ei, ou, oi~ɔi, ai, aɯ, au/ and 2 triphthongs: /iau, uai/. The general syllabic structure of Wa is C(C)(V)V(V)(C). Only a few words have zero-initials.[10]

Consonants

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal plain m n ɲ ŋ
aspirated mʱ nʱ ɲʱ ŋʱ
Stop voiceless plain p t c k ʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ
prenasalized voiced ᵐb ⁿd ᶮɟ ᵑɡ
aspirated ᵐbʱ ⁿdʱ ᶮɟʱ ᵑɡʱ
Fricative plain v s
aspirated vʱ h
Approximant plain l j
aspirated lʱ jʱ
Trill plain r
aspirated rʱ
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Script

Wa writing and cultural symbols on a T-shirt

The Wa language formerly had no script and some of the few Wa that were literate used Chinese characters,[citation needed] while others used the Shan language and its script. Christian missionary work among the Wa began at the beginning of the 20th century first in the Burmese and later in the Chinese areas of the Wa territory. It was led by William Marcus Young, from Nebraska. The first transcription of the Wa language was devised by Young and Sara Yaw Shu Chin (Joshua) in 1931 with the purpose of translating the Bible. This first Wa alphabet was based on the Latin script and the very first publication was a compilation of Wa hymns in 1933,[13] the Wa New Testament being completed in 1938. This transcription, known as Bible orthography, is known as lǎowǎwén (老佤文) old Wa orthography in Chinese, and is now used mainly in the Burmese Wa areas and among the Wa in Thailand through the materials published by the Wa Welfare Society (Cub Yuh Bwan Ka son Vax, Cub Pa Yuh Phuk Lai Vax, Phuk Lai Hak Tiex Vax) in Chiang Mai.[14]

In 1956, a transcription adapted to the new pinyin romanization, known as new Wa orthography, "PRC orthography" or "Chinese orthography", was developed for the Wa people in China. However, its publications, mainly propagated through the Yunnan administration, are yet to reach a wider public beyond academics. This transcription, which originally included even a couple of letters of the Cyrillic script, has also since been revised. Despite the revisions, both the Chinese and the Bible orthography are still marred by inconsistencies.[15]

Recently,[when?] a revised Bible orthography adopting some features from the Chinese orthography has been adopted as Wa State Wa orthography or "official Wa spelling" by the central authorities of the Wa State in Pangkham which have published a series of primers in order to improve the literacy of the United Wa State Army troops. Also, after 2000 Wa people in social networks such as Facebook, as well as Wa songwriters in karaoke lyrics of Wa songs, use this Myanmar (revised Bible) orthography in its main variations.[16] The Wa Women's Association promotes the use of the script.[17]

More information WBO, IPA ...
Wa Bible Orthography[11]
WBOIPAWBOIPAWBOIPAWBOIPAWBOIPAWBOIPA
p[p]bh[ᵐbʱ]nh[nʰ]rh[rʰ]o[o]e[ei]
ph[pʰ]d[ⁿd]ny[ɲ]y[j]ie[ɛ]o[ou]
t[t]dh[ⁿdʱ]nyh[ɲʰ]yh[jʰ]aw[ɔ]oi, oe, we[oi~ɔi]
th[tʰ]j[ᶮɟ]ng[ŋ]l[l]a[a]ai[ai]
c[c]jh[ᶮɟʱ]ngh[ŋʰ]lh[lʰ]iu[iu]au[aɯ]
ch[cʰ]g[ᵑg]s[s]i[i]eei, ui[ɯi]au, ao[au]
k[k]gh[ᵑgʱ]h[h]ee[ɯ]ui, wi[ui]iao[iau]
kh[kʰ]m[m]v[v]u[u]ia[ia]oe[uai]
x[ʔ]mh[mʰ]vh, f[vʱ]e[e]eue[ɤi]
b[ᵐb]n[n]r[r]eu[ɤ]ua, wa[ua]
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See also

References

Further reading

External links

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