Figure 9.5. Intelligibility clusters chapter 8. Figure 9.6. Traditional clusters SDB 1958.
9.2 Dialect clusters indicated by wordlist analysis
In terms of wordlist analysis, dialectometric and historical comparative approaches lead to different dialect taxonomies. The most obvious example is the positioning of Yang’an dialect within Kam-Sui.
Similarity of phonological systems SDB 1958, Zhang Junru 1980 previously led linguists to classify Yang’an dialect as a particularly distinctive variety of Sui figure 9.6. Both a lexical comparison figure
9.2 and phonetic distance calculations based on narrow IPA transcriptions figure 9.4 indicate that Yang’an Sui groups with Sandong dialects and that the Pandong dialect is the real outlier. The
comparative method figure 9.1 and chapter 5, figure 5.1, however, shows that Yang’an is genetically more closely related to Kam and is not a variety of Sui at all. Cultural distinctives, such as the fact that
Chinese New Year is celebrated in the Yang’an region in common with Kam peoples instead of the Sui’s own Dwa New Year, back up this hypothesis. It is likely that speakers of the Yang’an dialect are
descended from Kam speakers who migrated to the Sui area many centuries ago and subsequently acquired a Sui identity.
Lexical comparison counts, phonetic distance and intelligibility testing all back up the traditional taxonomy for Pandong as a distinct Sui dialect on the same level as Sandong and Yang’an. However,
historical comparative analysis paints a different picture. Pandong dialect appears to be genetically most closely related to Western Sui varieties. Along with Western Sui, it branched off from Central and Eastern
much more recently than Southern Sui did.
All of our analyses confirm Castro’s 2011 conclusion that Southern Sui varieties form a distinct dialect cluster, either completely separate from the other Sandong lects historical or as a subdialect
within Sandong lexical, phonetic and intelligibility. The comparative method actually indicates that Southern Sui is less closely related to Central Sui than Pandong dialect is. Cultural distinctives such as
the fact that Southern Sui celebrate the Mao festival instead of the Dwa festival celebrated in other Sui areas including Pandong, back up the Southern dialect hypothesis see Castro 2011, for more
discussion.
Historical, lexical and phonemic LD figure 9.3 analyses confirm SDB’s 1958 original hypothesis that the Rongjiang lects sometimes including DJ and perhaps other eastern areas of Sandu county,
collectively referred to as the Eastern lects form a separate mini-cluster within Sandong.
9.3 Dialect clusters indicated by intelligibility testing
Intelligibility test results refute the claim Zhang Junru 1980, Pan and Wei 2004, etc. that all Sui dialects are mutually intelligible. Rather, they show that Southern Sui speakers, particularly in Libo
county SY and JR have difficulty communicating with Central Sui speakers as originally reported by Zhang Zhenjiang 2009 and that Pandong dialect speakers have low intelligibility with other Sui lects
figure 9.5. RTT results also suggest that inherent intelligibility between Yang’an dialect and other Sui lects is low, although there are high levels of comprehension of Central Sui among Yang’an dialect
speakers due to close and extended contact. We suspect that this is true across the Yang’an region which is geographically extremely small.
9.4 Implications for language development
All of our research confirms the choice of Central Sui as spoken in Sandong district as the best dialect on which to base mother tongue materials. Such materials should be able to be used by speakers across the
Sui region with the exception of the Pandong dialect area and Southern Sui areas in Libo county. Speakers from the latter areas may need materials in their own respective dialects. For Southern Sui
speakers, SY Shuiyao, Libo county is unlikely to be the ideal reference lect as it is the most distinctive dialect within the Southern Sui region. Further research is needed to determine the best reference lects
for both Pandong and Southern Sui speakers.
9.5 Final remarks
In a fast-changing world in which languages are dying out at an unprecedented rate, the documentation and research of lesser-known languages is of the utmost importance. They contain within them a rich,
intangible cultural heritage which, if not recorded, will soon be lost to mankind. Furthermore, language maintenance and fortification efforts often focus on a standard form of a language. This can have a
detrimental effect on dialect diversity. Therefore studies like this one into the development of and interaction between dialects are extremely valuable for furthering our understanding of language
acquisition, language change, human prehistory, social interaction, clan identity, and even human nature itself.
When measured according to UNESCO’s 2003 “evaluative factors of language vitality”, Sui certainly cannot yet be described as an endangered language. It has a large number of speakers, it is
used in a wide variety of domains and, most importantly, it is still being passed on from generation to generation in most parts of the Sui homeland. Indeed, it has survived centuries, if not millenia, of close
contact with the Chinese language. It retains elements of prehistorical Tai-Kadai languages as well as preserving many features of Old and Middle Chinese in its vast inventory of ancient loanwords.
Nevertheless, mass Chinese-medium education and large-scale migration to urban centres pose grave threats to the ultimate survival of the Sui language. We therefore believe that the research
presented in this work is of great value both to the Sui people themselves and to future linguists. To our knowledge, it is the only such multi-strand dialect study that focusses on a Kam-Sui language. It is our
hope that it will be the first of many.
Many unanswered questions about Sui dialectology remain. Perhaps the most intriguing questions concern the migratory history of the Yang’an dialect speakers, the linguistic influences which caused
rapid divergence of the Pandong lexicon, and the language contact factors which resulted in shared tonal flip-flops or indeed, tonogenesis in unrelated languages spoken in and around the Sui region. All of
these warrant further investigation. We trust that the present volume will assist future historians, anthropologists and linguists in these and other quests.
183
Appendix A: Tone values of languages in the Guizhou-Guangxi region
Table A.1 showing tone values in Sui compared with other regional languages and dialects. The lower overall pitch in each
yīn-yáng 1–2 tone pair is highlighted in grey. Where it is difficult to make a judgment as to “lower overall pitch” based on the Chao tone number transcriptions Chao 1930, both
cells are left unshaded. Proto-Tai-Kadai tone
Middle Chinese tone A
（平） C
（上） B
（去） D
（入） long vowel
short vowel 阴
yīn 阳
yáng High H Low L
阴 H
阳 L
阴 H
阳 L
阴 H
阳 L
阴 H
阳 L
阴 H
阳 L
Modern Tai-Kadai tone 1
2 3
4 5
6 7
8 79
810 Tai-Kadai tone letters
A1 A2
C1 C2
B1 B2
D1S D2S
D1L D2L
Bouyei 布依语
Wangmo Fuxing 24
42 52
31 35
33 35
34 -
- Luodian Poqiu
24 323
33 31
35 41
35 31
35 53
Zhenning Banle 33
31 55
42 35
24 35
24 -
- Dushan Shuiyan
24 41
33 51
35 55
35 32
35 44
Libo Fucun 13
21 33
53 35
55 35
21 35
55 Then
佯偟语 11
35 213
33 42
53 55
42 213
33
Sui 水语
Central SD 13
31 33
53 35
5556 55
44 24
33 Eastern DJ
12 41
33 52
24 45
45 44
24 41
Southern JQ 13
51 33
43 24
45 45
44 24
43 Pandong PD
21 42
33 51
24 44
44 42
24 51
Yang’an TN 22
41 33
51 35
24 4445
33 24
32 Central ZH
212 42
32 53
35 14
4555 33
35 32
Ai-Cham 锦语
22 31
33 53
24 13
55 31
24 -
Mak 莫语
12 31
44 51
35 24
35 31
44 51
Kam 侗语
N Baojing 22
42 33
55 24
44 55
33 -
- N Shidong
35 22
33 31
55 44
55 13
33 31
S Chejiang 55
11 24
31 53
33 55
31 24
11 Maonan
毛南语 42
231 553
24 44
312 55
23 44
24 Mulam
仫佬语 42
132 54
214 44
21 55
12 54
21 Wuming Zhuang
武鸣壮语 24
31 55
42 35
33 55
33 35
42
Iu-Mien 勉语
33 331
553 231
35 311
55 31
- -
Wusehua 五色话
42 231
44 35
24 55
22 -
24 -
Miao Rongshui 融水苗语
33 55
35 21
44 22
13 213
- -
Gelao Buliu 仡佬语布流
13 33
44 31
53 21
55 31
55 11
185
Appendix B: Summary of parallel tone development in Chinese and Sui
Early Middle Chinese EMC is from Pulleyblank 1991 and Proto-Kam-Sui PKS from Thurgood 1988. EMC and PKS only had four tones, A, B, C and D. The tone usually designated B in Chinese philology generally corresponds to Proto-Tai-Kadai C and vice versa. We include
Cantonese because it has undergone a voiced onset split in all tone categories note that Cantonese also distinguishes between high and mid tones on checked syllables, for example
測 ‘to gauge’ [tsʰaːk̚⁵⁵] and
策 ‘scheme’ [tsʰaːk̚³³]; this is the result of a split in the D1
阴入 tone category. In
Mandarin, tones on checked syllables which originally bore D tone have been redistributed among the other tones. The historical development of modern Mandarin’s four tones are colourfully described by Jamin Pelkey 2005 in his poem “Mandarin tone in historical epic quest
perspective.”
Chinese tone
category Chinese post
tone-split tone category
Chinese example Proto Tai-
Kadai tone category
Sui tone category
Sui example Gloss
EMC Mandarin Cantonese
Gloss PKS
Sui SD A
平 A1
阴平 听
‘to listen’ tʰɛjŋ
A
tʰiŋ⁵⁵ tʰɛːŋ⁵⁵
A 1
‘vegetable’ ʔma
A
ʔma¹ A2
阳平 停
‘to stop’ d
ɛjŋ
A
tʰiŋ³⁵ tʰeŋ²¹
2 ‘tongue’
ma
A
ma² B
上 B1
阴上 稳
‘stable’ ʔwən
B
w ən²¹³
w ɐn³⁵
C 3
‘rat’ hnu
C
n̥o³ B2
阳上 允
‘to permit’ jwin
B
ɥyn²¹³ w
ɐn¹³ 4
‘younger sibling’ nu
C
nu⁴ C
去 C1
阴去 半
‘half’ pan
C
p æn⁵¹
p ʊn³³
B 5
‘middle’ ta
B
ta⁵ C2
阳去 叛
‘to rebel’ ban
C
pʰæn⁵¹ p
ʊn¹¹ 6
‘to cross’ da
B
ta⁶ D
入 D1
阴入 释
‘to explain’ ɕiajk
D
ʂʅ⁵¹ sek̚⁵⁵
D 7
‘rope’ ʔlaːk
D
laːk⁷ D2
阳入 食
‘to eat’ ʑik
D
ʂʅ³⁵ sek̚¹¹
8 ‘offspring’
laːk
D
laːk⁸
186
Appendix C: RTT questionnaire
1. Ask for informed consent
2. RTT screening questions
1. Are you Sui? 2. Where were you born and where did you grow up?
3. How old are you? 4. What languages can you speak?
5. What language did you learn to speak first when you were small? 6. What language do you now speak best?
7. What year of school were you educated to? 8. Where did your father grow up?
a. What is your father’s ethnicity? b. What languages does your father speak?
9. Where did your mother grow up? a. What is your mother’s ethnicity?
b. What languages does your mother speak? c. Is the Sui that your mother speaks the same as the Sui that is spoken here?
10. Where did your spouse grow up? a. What is your spouse’s ethnicity?
b. What languages does your spouse speak? c. Is the Sui that your spouse speaks the same as the Sui that is spoken here?
11. Have you been away to do migrant work? a. Which places did you go to?
b. How long did you spend in each place? c. How many other Sui were working in each place that you spent time in?
d. Where did the other Sui at each location come from originally? e. Did you or were you able to speak Sui with these other Sui people at each location?
3. Post-RTT questions
1. To be asked after listening to the first set of sentences: a. How much did you understand? all, most, half, a little, none at all
b. Is the Sui that you speak the same, a little different or completely different? c. Where do you think this person that you have been listening to comes from?
d. Do people from here often go to that place? e. Do people from that place often come here?
2. To be asked after listening to the second set of sentences: a. How much did you understand? all, most, half, a little, none at all
b. Is the Sui that you speak the same, a little different or completely different? c. Where do you think this person that you have been listening to comes from?
d. Do people from here often go to that place? e. Do people from that place often come here?
3. To be asked after listening to the first set of sentences: a. How much did you understand? all, most, half, a little, none at all
b. Is the Sui that you speak the same, a little different or completely different? c. Where do you think this person that you have been listening to comes from?
d. Do people from here often go to that place? e. Do people from that place often come here?
4. Final questions
1. When you are at home, what language do you use when you speak to: a your grandparents?
b your parents? c your siblings?
d your spouse? e your children?
f your grandchildren?
2. What language do the children here speak as they are playing with each other? 3. Do you hope that your children and grandchildren will continue to speak Sui?
188
Appendix D: RTT sentences
1 Base sentences for translation
1.1 Group A
