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Na
Narua
Native to China
Region Sichuan
Ethnicity Mosuo
Native speakers
47,000 (2010) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nru
Glottolog yong1270

Na (or Narua, Mosuo) is a language of the Naish subbranch of the Naic group of the Sino-Tibetan languages.

Varieties

Yongning Na, which is spoken in Yongning Township, Ninglang County, Lijiang, Yunnan, China, has been documented by Jacques and Michaud (2011). [2]

Lataddi Narua is notable for having only two tonal levels. [3]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ( ɳ) ɲ ( ŋ)
Stop voiceless p t ( ʈ) k q ( ʔ)
aspirated ( ʈʰ)
voiced b d ( ɖ) ɡ ɢ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʂ t͡ɕ
aspirated t͡sʰ t͡ʂʰ t͡ɕʰ
voiced d͡z d͡ʐ d͡ʑ
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ ɕ ( x) h
voiced ( v) z ʐ ʑ ɣ ( ʁ)
Lateral fricative ɬ
glide l ( ɭ)
Approximant w j
  • /t, tʰ, d, n, l/ can be heard as [ʈ, ʈʰ, ɖ, ɳ, ɭ] when preceding vowel sounds /ɯ, u, v̩, ɤ, æ/.
  • /p, pʰ, b, m, w/ can be heard as [ʙ̥, ʙ̥ʰ, ʙ, ɱ, v] when preceding vowel sounds /ɯ, u, v̩/.
  • /ɣ/ can also be heard as uvular [ʁ] in word-initial position.
  • /w, h/ is also heard as voiceless [w̥, x] in free variation.
  • /n/ is heard as velar [ŋ] when before velar stops.
  • [ʔ] is heard in initial position before vowels. [4]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ɯ u
Mid ɛ ə ɤ ɔ
Open æ, æ̃ ɑ
Syllabic
  • /ɯ/ can be heard as [ɨ] in syllable-initial position and as retroflex [ɻ̩] when after retroflex consonants. [5]

References

  1. ^ Na at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Jacques, Guillaume, and Alexis Michaud. 2011. " Approaching the historical phonology of three highly eroded Sino-Tibetan languages." Diachronica 28:468-498.
  3. ^ Dobbs, Roselle, and La Mingqing. 2016 "The two-level tonal system of Lataddi Narua." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, Vol. 39:1 (2016), 67–104. doi: 10.1075/ltba.39.1.04dob
  4. ^ Lidz, Liberty A. (2010). A Descriptive Grammar of Yongning Na (Mosuo). University of Texas at Austin.
  5. ^ Zhenhong, Yang (2009). An overview of the Mosuo language. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 32. pp. 1–43.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location ( link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)