| Gyalrongic | |
|---|---|
| Jiarongic, Rgyalrongic | |
| Geographic distribution | China |
| Linguistic classification | Sino-Tibetan
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | rgya1241 |
 | |
TheGyalrongic languages (also known asRgyalrongic orJiarongic) constitute a branch of theQiangic languages ofSino-Tibetan,[1] but some propose that it may be part of a largerRung languages group and do not consider it to be particularly closely related to Qiangic but suggest that similarities between Gyalrongic and Qiangic may be from areal influence.[2] However, other work suggests that Qiangic as a whole may in fact beparaphyletic, with the only commonalities of the supposed "branch" being shared archaisms andareal features that were encouraged bylanguage contact.[3] Jacques & Michaud (2011) propose that Qiangic including Gyalrongic may belong to a largerBurmo-Qiangic group based on somelexical innovations.[4]
The Gyalrongic languages are spoken inSichuan inChina, mainly in the autonomous Tibetan and Qiang prefectures ofKarmdzes andRngaba. These languages are distinguished by their conservative morphology and their phonological archaisms, which make them valuable forhistorical linguistics.
The cluster of languages variously referred to as Stau, Ergong or Horpa in the literature are spoken over a large area fromNdzamthang county (in Chinese Rangtang 壤塘县) inRngaba prefecture (Aba 阿坝州) toRtau county (Dawu 道孚) inDkarmdzes prefecture (Ganzi 甘孜州), inSichuan province, China. At the moment of writing, it is still unclear how many unintelligible varieties belong to this group, but at least three must be distinguished: the language of Rtau county (referred as ‘Stau’ in this paper), the Dgebshes language (Geshizha 格什扎话) spoken inRongbrag county (Danba 丹巴), and the Stodsde language (Shangzhai 上寨) in Ndzamthang.[5]
Gyalrongic languages are spoken predominantly in the four counties ofMa'erkang,Li,Xiaojin, andJinchuan inAba Prefecture, westernSichuan.[6] Other Gyalrongic lects are spoken in neighboring Heishui, Rangtang, Baoxing, Danba, and Daofu counties.
The Gyalrongic languages share several features, notably in verbal morphology. Classifications such as Lai et al. (2020) split Gyalrongic into West and East branches.[7] Previous classifications operated a similar distinction between Ergong (~West Gyalrongic) and Gyalrong (~East Gyalrongic).[8]
The Gyalrong languages in turn constitute fourmutually unintelligible varieties: Eastern Gyalrong orSitu,Japhug,Tshobdun, andZbu.
Khroskyabs and Horpa are classified by Lin (1993) as a "western dialect" of Gyalrong, along with Eastern Gyalrong and the "northwestern dialect" (Japhug, Tshobdun, and Zbu). Otherwise, the scholarly consensus deems the distance between Khroskyabs, Horpa, and the Gyalrong cluster is greater than that between the Gyalrong languages. For example,Ethnologue reports 75% lexical similarity between Situ and Japhug, 60% between Japhug and Tshobdun, but only 13% between Situ and Horpa.
Huang (2007:180)[9] found that Horpa (Rta’u) and Gyalrong (Cogrtse) share only 15.2% cognacy, with 242 cognates out of a total of 1,592 words.
TheKhalong Tibetan language has a Gyalrongicsubstratum.[10]
TheChamdo languages (consisting ofLamo,Larong, andDrag-yab, a group of three closely related Sino-Tibetan languages spoken inChamdo, easternTibet) may or may not be Qiangic.[11][12][13]
Gyalrongic languages are surrounded byTibetic languages and have thus been in intense contact with them. However, there are many major lexical and morphological differences between them. Gyalrongic tend to use prefixes such as *kə-, *tə-, etc., while Tibetic languages use suffixes such as -pa/-ba, -ma, -po/-bo, -mo, etc. Below is a table of comparing words in bTshanlha andJaphug that do not have cognates inClassical Tibetan.[14]
| Gloss | bTshanlha | Japhug | Classical Tibetan |
|---|---|---|---|
| year | təpa | lo | |
| brain | tərnok | tɯ-moʁ | klad pa |
| hail | tərmok | ser ba | |
| milk | təlu | ’o ma | |
| leg | tame | tɤmi | rkang pa |
| fish | tʃhəɣjo | qa-ɟy | nya |
| flower | tapat | me tog, men tog | |
| tongue | teʃme | lce | |
| red | kəwərne | kɯ-ɣɯmi | dmar po |
| yellow | kɯ-qarŋe | ser (po) | |
| sand | kəwek | bye ma | |
| sheep | kə-jo | qa-ʑo | lug |
| horse | mboro | mbro | rta |
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
|  | |||
| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||