| Muya | |
|---|---|
| Munya | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Sichuan |
Native speakers | Eastern: 2,000 (2020)[1] Western: 12,000 (2020)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:emq – Eastern Minyagwmg – Western Minyag |
| Glottolog | muya1239 |
| ELP | Muya |
 | |
 Muya is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Munya orMuya (simplified Chinese:木雅语;traditional Chinese:木雅語; alsoManyak曼牙科,[2]Menia 么呢阿;[3]Tibetan:མི་ཉག,Wylie:Mi nyak,THL:Minyak[4]) is one of theQiangic languages spoken in China. There are two dialects, Western and Eastern, which are notmutually intelligible. Most research on Munya has been conducted byIkeda Takumi. There are about 2,000monolinguals.
The language has been spelled in various ways, includingManyak,Menya,Minyag, andMinyak. Other names for the language areBoba andMiyao.
Ethnologue (21st edition) lists two Muya dialects, namely Eastern (Nyagrong) and Western (Darmdo). Muya is spoken in
Sun (1991) documents Muya (木雅) ofLiuba Township (六坝乡),Shade District (沙德区),Kangding County (康定县),Sichuan.[5]
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | |||
| High | iĩ | y | ɯɯ̰ | uũ |
| Mid-high | eẽ | ø | oõ | |
| Mid-low | ɛɛ̃ | ɔ | ||
| Low | ææ̰ | ɐɐ̰ | ɑɑ̃ | |
Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /yi/, /ui/, /ie/, /ye/, /ue/, /uø/, /iɛ̃/, /yɛ/, /yɛ̃/, /uɛ/, /uæ/, /uæ̰/, /yɐ/, /yɐ̰/, /uɐ/, /yɯ/, /uɯ/, /yɑ/, /yɑ̃/, /uɑ/.
In 2008, Bamu, a singer with the Jiuzhaigou Art Troupe in theAba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture inSichuan, recorded an album of Muya songs (木雅七韵).[7]
One woman's passion for the songs of a remote ethnic people may save not only the Muya's music, but the language itself. Huang Zhiling reports from Chengdu. Muya music might already be lost if Yang Hua had not given up her job as a mathematics teacher." ..."After the recording was over, Bamu told Yang it was a folk song of the Muya people. The song told how a girl working outside her hometown misses her mom, who says jewelry does not mean anything if one is not educated, and the singer wishes her mom good health. "It was the first time I heard the word 'Muya'," Yang says.
Studies in Asian Geolinguistics 1. 72–78.
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. | |||||