| Xibe | |
|---|---|
| Sibe | |
| ᠰᡞᠪᡝ ᡤᡞᠰᡠᠨsibe gisun | |
| Pronunciation | [ɕivəkisun][1] |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Xinjiang[2] |
| Ethnicity | 189,000Sibe people (2000)[3] |
Native speakers | (30,000 cited 2000)[3] |
| Sibe alphabet (variant of theManchu alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sjo |
| Glottolog | xibe1242 |
| ELP | Xibe |
 Xibe is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
TheXibe language (Xibe:ᠰᡞᠪᡝ ᡤᡞᠰᡠᠨ,romanized: sibe gisun, alsoSibo,Sibe) is aTungusic language spoken by members of theSibe minority ofXinjiang, in Northwest China. With over 30 thousand speakers, it is the most widely spoken Tungusic language, accounting for over half of all speakers of Tungusic languages.
Sibe is conventionally viewed[by whom?] as a separate language within the southern group ofTungusic languages alongside the more well-knownManchu language, having undergone more than 200 years of development separated from the Tungusic-speaking heartland since Sibe troops were dispatched to the Xinjiang frontiers in 1764. Some researchers such asJerry Norman hold that Sibe is a dialect of Manchu, whereas Xibologists such asAn Jun argue that Sibe should be considered the "successor" to Manchu. Ethnohistorically, the Sibe people are not consideredManchu people, because they were excluded from chieftainNurhaci's 17th-century tribal confederation to which the name "Manchu" was later applied.[4]
Sibe ismutually intelligible with Manchu,[5] although unlike Manchu, Sibe has reported to have eight vowel distinctions as opposed to the six found in Manchu, as well as differences in morphology, and a more complex system ofvowel harmony.[6]
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Uvular | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | |||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | unaspirated | p | t | t͡s | ʈ͡ʂ | t͡ɕ | k | q |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | t͡sʰ | ʈ͡ʂʰ | t͡ɕʰ | kʰ | qʰ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʂ | ɕ | x | χ | |
| voiced | v | ʐ | ||||||
| Rhotic | r | |||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | y | u | |
| Mid | ə | o | ||
| Low-mid | ɛ | œ | ||
| Low | a | |||
Sibe has seven case morphemes, three of which are used quite differently from modern Manchu. The categorization of morphemes as case markers in spoken Sibe is partially controversial due to the status of numerous suffixes in the language. Despite the general controversy about the categorization of case markers versus postpositions in Tungusic languages, four case markers in Sibe are shared with literary Manchu (Nominative, Genitive, Dative-Locative and Accusative). Sibe's three innovated cases – the ablative, lative, and instrumental-sociative share their meanings with similar case forms in neighboring Uyghur, Kazakh, and Oiryat Mongolian.[8]
| Case Name | Suffix | Example | English gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -∅ | ɢazn-∅ | village |
| Genitive | -i | ɢazn-i | of the village |
| Dative-Locative | -də/-t | ɢazn-t | to the village |
| Accusative | -f/-və | ɢazn-və | the village (object) |
| Ablative | -dəri | ɢazn-dəri | from the village |
| Lative | -ći | ɢazn-ći | towards the village |
| Instrumental-Sociative | -maq | ɢazn-maq | with the village |
The general vocabulary and structure of Sibe has not been affected as much byChinese as Manchu has. However, Sibe has absorbed a large body of Chinese sociological terminology, especially in politics: likegəming ("revolution", from革命) andzhuxi ("chairperson", from主席),[9] and economics: likechūna ("cashier", from出纳) anddaikuan ("loan", from贷款). Written Sibe is more conservative and rejecting of loanwords, but spoken Sibe contains additional Chinese-derived vocabulary such asnan (from男)[citation needed] for "man" where the Manchu-based equivalent isniyalma.[4] There has also been some influence fromRussian,[10] including words such askonsul ("consul", fromконсул) andmashina ("sewing machine", fromмашина).[4] Smaller Xinjiang languages contribute mostly cultural terminology, such asnamas ("an Islamic feast") fromUygur andbaige ("horse race") fromKazakh.[4]
Sibe is written in a derivative of theManchu alphabet.[6] The Sibe alphabet diverges from the Manchu alphabet in that the positions of the letters in some words have changed, Sibe lacks 13 out of 131 syllables in Manchu, and Sibe has three syllables that are not found in Manchu (wi,wo, andwu).[4]
The table below lists the letters in Sibe that differentiate it from Manchu as well as the placement of the letters. Blue areas mark letters with different shapes from Manchu, green areas marks different Unicode codes from Manchu.
| Letters | Transliteration (Paul Georg von Mollendorf/Abkai/CMCD) | Unicode encoding | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Initial | Medial | Final | |||
| ᡞ | ᡞ᠊ | ᠊ᡞ᠊ | ᠊ᡞ | i | 185E | The second row for the shape after a vowel; The third for the shape after b, p, and feminine k, g, h; The fourth row for the shape after dz/z |
| ᠊ᡞ᠋᠊ | ||||||
| ᡞ᠌᠊ | ᠊ᡞ᠋ | |||||
| ᠊ᡞ᠌ | ||||||
| ᠊ᡡ᠊ | ᠊ᡡ | ū/v/uu | 1861 | Appears only after masculine k, g, h | ||
| ᡢ | ᡢ᠊ | ᠊ᡢ | ng | 1862 | Only occurs at the end of syllables | |
| ᡣ | ᡣ᠊ | ᠊ᡣ᠊ | k | 1863 | The first row for the shape before a, o, ū; The third row for the shape before e, i, u; The second row for the shape at the end of syllables. | |
| ᠊ᡣ᠋᠊ | ᠊ᡣ | |||||
ᡣ | ᠊ᡴ᠌᠊ | |||||
| ᡪ | ᡪ᠊ | ᠊ᡪ᠊ | j/j/zh | 186A | Only appears in the first syllable | |
| ᠷ | ᠷ᠊ | ᠊ᠷ᠊ | ᠊ᠷ | r | 1837 | Native Sibe words never begin with r |
| ᡫ | ᡫ᠊ | ᠊ᡫ᠊ | f | 186B | "F" in Sibe has only one shape. No shape change like Manchu occurs. | |
| ᠸ | ᠸ᠊ | ᠊ᠸ᠊ | w | 1838 | Can appear before a, e,i, o, u | |
| ᡲ | ᡲ᠊ | ᠊ᡲ᠊ | j/j''/zh | 1872 | jy is used for Chinese loanwords (zhi as inPinyin) | |
There was a proposal in China by 1957 to adapt the Cyrillic alphabet to Sibe, but this was abandoned in favor of the original Sibe script.[11][12]
| Cyrillic | Transliteration to Sibe Latin | IPA equivalent | Manchu/Sibe Alphabet Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | A a | a | ᠠ |
| Б б | B b | b | ᠪ |
| В в | V v | v | ᠸ |
| Г г | G g | g | ᡶ |
| Ғ ғ | Ḡ ḡ | ɢ | ᡬ |
| Д д | D d | d | ᡩ |
| Е е | E e | ə | ᡝ |
| Ё ё | Ö ö | œ | ᠣ |
| Ж ж | Z z | d͡z | ᡯ |
| Җ җ | J j | ɖ͡ʐ, d͡ʑ | ᠵ |
| З з | Ȥ ȥ | ʐ | ᡰ᠊ |
| И и | I i | i | ᡳ |
| Й й | Y y | j | ᠶ |
| К к | K k | k | ᡴ |
| Қ қ | Ⱪ ⱪ | q | ᠺ |
| Л л | L l | l | ᠯ |
| М м | M m | m | ᠮ |
| Н н | N n | n | ᠨ |
| Ң ң | ŋ or ng | ŋ | ᠩ |
| О о | O o | ɔ | ᠣ |
| Ө ө | Ū ū | ø | ᡡ |
| П п | P p | p | ᡦ |
| Р р | R r | r | ᡵ |
| С с | S s | s | ᠰ |
| Т т | T t | t | ᡨ |
| У у | U u | u | ᡠ |
| Ү ү | W w | w | ᠸ |
| Ф ф | F f | f | ᡶ |
| Х х | H h | x | ᡥ᠊ |
| Ҳ ҳ | Ⱨ ⱨ | χ | ᡥ᠊ |
| Ц ц | Č č | t͡s | ᡱ᠊ |
| Ч ч | C̄ c̄ | ʈ͡ʂ | ᡷ᠊ |
| Ш ш | S̨ s̨ | ʂ | ᡧ |
| ы | E e | e | ᡝ |
| Ә ә | ? | ɛ | ᠶᡝ |
| І і | Yi yi | ji | ᠶᡳ |
| Ю ю | Yu Yu | ju | ᠶᡠ |
| Я я | Ya ya | ja | ᠶᠠ |
| ь | – | sign of thinness |
In 1998, there were eightprimary schools that taught Sibe in theQapqal Xibe Autonomous County where the medium of instruction was Chinese, but Sibe lessons were mandatory. From 1954 to 1959, the People's Publishing House inÜrümqi published over 285 significant works, including government documents,belles-lettres, and schoolbooks, in Sibe.[4] Since 1946, the Sibe-languageQapqal News has been published inYining. In Qapqal, Sibe-language programming is allocated 15 minutes per day of radio broadcasting and 15- to 30-minute television programmes broadcast once or twice per month.[13]
Sibe is taught as a second language at theIli Normal University in theIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of northernXinjiang; it established anundergraduate major in the language in 2005.[14] A fewManchu language enthusiasts from Eastern China have visited Qapqal Sibe County in order to experience an environment where a variety closely related to Manchu is spoken natively.[15]
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
