be, seeBelarusian language.| Be | |
|---|---|
| Lingao | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Hainan |
Native speakers | (600,000 cited 2000)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | onb |
| Glottolog | ling1270 |
 | |
Be (native pronunciation:[ʔɑŋ˧ɓe˧]), also known asOng Be,Bê, orVo Limgao (Mandarin: 臨高話Lín'gāohuà), is a pair of languages spoken by 600,000 people, 100,000 of them monolingual, on the north-central coast ofHainan Island, including the suburbs of the provincial capitalHaikou. The speakers are counted as part of theHan Chinese nationality in census. According toEthnologue, it is taught in primary schools.[5]
Be speakers refer to themselves asʔaŋ³³vo³³, withʔaŋ³³ being the prefix for persons andvo³³ meaning 'village'.[6] Liang (1997) notes that it is similar to the autonymŋaːu¹¹fɔːn¹¹ (fromŋaːu¹¹ 'person' andfɔːn¹¹ 'village'), by which Gelong 仡隆 (Cun language) speakers refer to themselves.
The Be languages are a pair ofKra–Dai languages, but its precise relationship to other branches within the Kra-Dai family has yet not been conclusively determined. Hansell (1988)[2] considers Be to be asister of theTai branch based on shared vocabulary, and proposes aBe–Tai grouping.
Based on toponymic evidence from place names with the prefixdya- (调 diao),Jinfang Li considers Be to have originated from theLeizhou peninsula ofGuangdong province.[7] Liang (1997:16) considers Be to have migrated to Hainan from theLeizhou Peninsula ofGuangdong about 2,500 years ago during theWarring States Period, but not over 3,000 years ago. Liang & Zhang (1996:21–25)[8] also believe that Be had migrated from the Leizhou Peninsula to northern Hainan about 2,500 years ago during theWarring States period.
Weera Ostapirat (1998),[9] analyzing data from Zhang (1992),[10] notes that Be andJizhao share many lexical similarities and sound correspondences, and that Jizhao may be a remnant Be-related language on the Chinese mainland.
Be consists of the Lincheng 临城 (Western) and Qiongshan 琼山 (Eastern) dialects.[11] Liang (1997:32) documents the following varieties of Be.
Be of Chengmai is intermediate between the Lincheng and Qiongshan dialects, and has features of both.[11]
Chen (2018) contains extensive comparative lexical data for the Be dialects of Changliu (長流), Yongxing (永興), Longtang (龍塘), Qiaotou (橋頭), Huangtong (皇桐), and Xinying (新盈). The Qiaotou, Huangtong, and Xinying dialects are unintelligible with the Changliu, Yongxing, Longtang, and Shishan (石山) dialects. Chen (2018) also reconstructs Proto-Ong-Be on the basis of this comparative lexical data.
Chen (2018: 82) classifies the Ong-Be dialects into two groups, which are mutually unintelligible with each other.
Schmitz (2024) suggests three dialects:
| Labial | Alveolar | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | (p) | t | k | ʔ | |
| glottalized | ʔb | ʔd | ||||
| Affricate | ts | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ɕ) | x | h |
| voiced | v | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ȵ | ŋ | ||
| Approximant | l | j | ||||
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k | ʔ |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| (ɛ) | (ɐ) | ɔ | |
| Low | a | ||
Be is atonal language. It has 5 tones:
The Bolian dialect has also a high checked tone (⁸).