Jino | |
---|---|
Jinuo, Buyuan Jino, Youle Jino, 基諾語補遠方言 [1] | |
Jinuo | |
Pronunciation | [tɕy˦no˦] or [ki˦ɲo˦] [2] |
Region | Sipsongpanna, Dai autonomous prefecture of southern Yunnan ( People's Republic of China) |
Ethnicity | Jino |
Native speakers | 21,000 (2007) [3] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:
jiu – Youle Jinuo
jiy – Buyuan Jinuo |
Glottolog |
youl1235 |
ELP |
The Jino language (Jinuo 基諾語; [4] autonyms: tɕy˦no˦, ki˦ɲo˦) constitutes a pair of Loloish language varieties spoken by the Jino people of Yunnan, China.
In total, there are about 28,320 Jinuo people living in China. [5] A total of 70–80% of Jinuo people can speak either of the Jino varieties fluently. [6] The Jino language constitutes the two subdialects of Youle Jino and Buyuan Jinuo, [7] and they are not mutually intelligible.
Buyuan Jino is spoken by 21,000 people; [8] most of the speakers are monolingual, which means they only speak Buyuan Jino. [4] There is no official written form. Most Jino people also speak one of the Tai languages or Chinese. The ISO 639-3 code for the Jino varieties are "jiu" for Youle Jino and "jiy" for Buyuan Jino. [8] The Glottocodes for the Jino varieties are "youl1235" for Youle Jino [9] and "buyu1238" for Buyuan Jino. [10]
The exact classification of Jino within the Loloish branch of Sino-Tibetan language family remains uncertain. Jino is classified as a Southern Loloish (Hanoish) language by Ziwo Lama (2012), [2] but as a Central Loloish language by Bradley (2007). [11] Jino is also classified as a Southern Loloish language in Satterthwaite-Phillips' (2011) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Lolo-Burmese languages. [12]
The use of Jino is rapidly declining: in the 1980s, 70–80% of the Jino people used Jino; in 2000, less than 50% of the population could speak Jino. [13]
The Jino people were recognized by the state council on 6 June 1979 as the last recognized minority nationality in China. [13]
Historically, the Jino people were organized as a matriarchal culture, and “Jino” means “descending from the uncle,” and it refers to the importance of mother’s brother in matriarchal societies. [14]
From a language aspect, Jino is similar to other languages under the branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages, because the Jino people moved from the northwest of Yunnan province to the territories they are at now, but the timing and routes of this migration remain uncertain, [1]
Jino is spoken in Jinuo Township (Jinuo Mountain), located in Jinghong City of the Sipsongpanna Dai autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province, China. [13]
There are five tonemes in Buyuan Jino. Gai believes that the function of tonemes are distinguishing lexical meanings and grammatical meanings. [15]
/˥˧/ (53) tone is considered difficult to distinguish when listening to a native speaker. [7]
Jino does not have an official writing system, but it developed several systems of signs to cover communication in different situations. [1] The Jino used engraved wooden or bamboo boards to record debts between villages.