Habei language

Habei (Chinese: 哈备; also known as Mani 玛尼[1]) is a Southern Loloish language of Yunnan, China. Hsiu (2018)[2] suggests that Habei belongs to the Bisoid branch.

Background

Habei is spoken in only one village, namely Habei village 哈备村,[3] Zhemi Township 者米乡, Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County, Yunnan (Jinping County Ethnic Gazetteer 2013:89, 101).[4] The Habei people refer to their village as Kuang An (况安), meaning 'old village' (< kuang 'village' + an 'old').[5]

The Habei still preserve traditional animist rituals.[1]

The Habei language has been documented by Yan (1995) and He & Liu (2011).

Names

Autonyms and exonyms for the Habei are as follows (Yan 1995:60).

  • autonym: ma˧nɛ˧ (蛮尼)
  • Yao exonym: ta˥ka˧ (单嘎)
  • Lahu exonym: xa˦˨pe˥ (哈背)
  • Miao exonym: xa˧pe˥˧ (哈备)
  • Zhuang exonym: je˧u˥ (牙乌)
  • Hani exonym: xa˧pi˥, xa˧bø˥ (哈备)

Phonology

Habei has 32 onsets and 62 rimes (Yan 1995:67). The consonant inventory is similar to that of standard Hani of Lüchun County, but also has /f/ and /v/, which Lüchun Hani does not have. Final consonants are -p, -t, -k, -m, -n, and -ŋ.

There are 6 tones. In songs, only 4 tones are recognizable (Yan 1995:67).

Phrase examples

The following Habei phrase examples are from Yan (1995:69-70). Adjectives follow head nouns.

tɕen˥ ɲi˧˨˧ lum˨˦
bowl two CLS
Two bowls
ɣa˧ sum˥ na˥
chicken three CLS
Three chickens
kʰɤ tɕʰɔ˧ ŋa˨˦ tɕuŋ˥
shoe five pair
Five pairs of shoes
na˧ ŋɤ˧ tɕʰɛ˧˨˧ma˧
2.SG POS hoe
Your hoe
ja˧tɕʰa˧˨˧ ŋɤ˧ a˧xɤn˧
friend POS sound
Friend's voice

Sentence examples

The following Habei sentence examples are from Yan (1995:68-69). Habei has SOV word order.

ŋa˧ xaŋ˨˦ iaŋ˨˦
1.SG rice eat
I eat rice.
na˧ ti˧kʰa˥ taŋ˥
2.SG liquor drink
You drink liquor.
ŋa˧ ja˧pjɔ˥ sum˥ jo˧ tɕa˥
1.SG children three CLS have
I have three children.
na˧ jɔ˥ka˥ tɕʰa˥ xa˧lo˧˨˧ lo˧ tɕa˥
2.SG household people how.many CLS have
How many people does your household have?
ja˧ la˥ a˧˨˧ la˥
3.SG come NEG come
Is he coming?
ve˧˨˧ le˧ ɣa˧ lɔ˧˨˧ dʑɛ˧˨˧za˧˨˧a˥ bɤ˧
pig and chicken both livestock PRT
Pigs and chickens are both domestic livestock.

References

  1. ^ a b 哈备村玛尼人传统思维方式探析
  2. ^ Hsiu, Andrew. 2018. Classifications of some lesser-known Lolo-Burmese languages.
  3. ^ 金平苗族瑶族傣族自治县者米拉祜族乡顶青村委会哈备村
  4. ^ 金平苗族瑶族傣族自治县民族志1979-2010. 金平苗族瑶族傣族自治県民族宗教事務局編. 雲南民族出版社. 2013年8月. ISBN 9787536757028
  5. ^ Dao Jie [刀洁] . 2012. 哈备村:哈尼文化兼收并蓄的缩影. In Ethnic Today [今日民族], 2012(9).
  • He Shaoming 何绍明; Liu Jieting 刘洁婷. 2011. 国际哈尼/阿卡区域文化调查: 中国金平县者米哈尼族哈备人文化实录. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press 云南人民出版社. ISBN 978-7-222-07408-8
  • Yan Hongxin [晏红兴]. 1995. "Jinpingxian Hanizu Habeiren qingkuang diaocha" [金平县哈尼族哈备人情况调查]. In Jinping shaoshu minzu de lishi he wenhua [金平少数民族的历史和文化], p. 59-72. Kunming: Yunnan Ethnic Publishing House [云南民族出版社].
  • You Weiqiong [尤伟琼]. 2013. Classifying ethnic groups of Yunnan [云南民族识别研究]. Beijing: Nationalities Press [民族出版社].