Be languages

Be speakers refer to themselves as {{IPA|ʔaŋ³³vo³³}}, with {{IPA|ʔaŋ³³}} being the prefix for persons and {{IPA|vo³³}} meaning 'village'.{{sfn|Liang|1997|p=1}} Liang (1997) notes that it is similar to the autonym {{IPA|ŋaːu¹¹fɔːn¹¹}} (from {{IPA|ŋaːu¹¹}} 'person' and {{IPA|fɔːn¹¹}} 'village'), by which Gelong 仡隆 (Cun language) speakers refer to themselves.

The Be languages are a pair of Kra–Dai languages, but its precise relationship to other branches within the Kra-Dai family has yet not been conclusively determined. Hansell (1988){{Cite book |last=Hansell |first=Mark |title=Comparative Kadai: Linguistic Studies Beyond Tai |date=1988 |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington |editor-last=Edmondson |editor-first=Jerold A. |series=Publications in Linguistics No. 86 |pages=239–288 |language=en |chapter=The Relation of Be to Tai: Evidence from Tones and Initials |editor-last2=Solnit |editor-first2=David B.}} considers Be to be a sister of the Tai branch based on shared vocabulary, and proposes a Be–Tai grouping.

Based on toponymic evidence from place names with the prefix dya- (调 diao), Jinfang Li considers Be to have originated from the Leizhou peninsula of Guangdong province.{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Xiaoshu 谭晓舒 |date=2015-04-22 |title=Lǐ Jǐnfāng jiàoshòu: "Bīnwēi yǔyán jízhào huà yánjiū" |script-title=zh:李锦芳教授：“濒危语言吉兆话研究” |url=https://wxy.gxun.edu.cn/info/1224/2008.htm |access-date=2021-09-01 |website=Wén xuéyuàn |script-work=zh:文学院 |archive-date=2021-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613054836/http://wxy.gxun.edu.cn/info/1224/2008.htm |url-status=dead }} Liang (1997:16) considers Be to have migrated to Hainan from the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong about 2,500 years ago during the Warring States Period, but not over 3,000 years ago. Liang & Zhang (1996:21–25){{Cite book |last1=Liang |first1=Min 梁敏 |title=Dòng-Tái yǔzú gàilùn |last2=Zhang |first2=Junru 张均 |date=1996 |publisher=Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe |isbn=7-5004-1681-4 |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:侗台语族概论 |trans-title=An Introduction to the Kam–Tai Languages}} also believe that Be had migrated from the Leizhou Peninsula to northern Hainan about 2,500 years ago during the Warring States period.

Weera Ostapirat (1998),{{Cite journal |last=Ostapirat |first=Weera |date=1998 |title=A Mainland Bê Language? / Dàlù de bê yǔyán? |journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=338–344 |jstor=23756759}} analyzing data from Zhang (1992),{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Zhenxing 张振兴 |date=1992 |title=Guǎngdōngshěng wúchuān fāngyán jì lüè |script-title=zh:广东省吴川方言记略 |journal=Fāngyán |language=zh |volume=1992 |issue=3 |script-journal=zh:方言}} notes that Be and Jizhao 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.{{sfn|Liang| 1997}} Liang (1997:32) documents the following varieties of Be.

• Lingao County (including Lincheng 临城镇 and Xinying 新盈镇 towns)
• Bailian 白莲, Chengmai County
• Longtang Township 龙塘镇, Qiongshan District

Be of Chengmai is intermediate between the Lincheng and Qiongshan dialects, and has features of both.{{sfn|Liang|1997}}

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.

{{tree list}}

• Ong-Be
• Western Ong-Be
• Qiaotou 桥头
• Huangtong 皇桐
• Maniao 马尿
• Lincheng 凌城
• Jialai 加來
• Meiliang 美良
• Xinying 新盈
• Eastern Ong-Be
• Longtang 龙塘
• Longqiao 龙橋
• Longquan 龙泉 (formerly Shizilu 十字路)
• Yongxing 永兴
• Shishan 石山
• Changliu 长流
• Laocheng 老城

{{tree list/end}}

Schmitz (2024) suggests three dialects:

{{tree list}}

• Ong-Be (Lingao)
• Lingao County Lingao
• Bohou 博厚
• Jialai 加来
• Lincheng 临城
• Chengmai County Lingao
• Haikou City Lingao

{{tree list/end}}

• {{IPA|[p]}} is mainly heard in finals, rarely in initials.
• {{IPA|/s/}} can also be heard as {{IPA|[ɕ]}} in free variation.
• {{IPA|/f/}} can be heard as {{IPA|[pʰ]}} in the dialect of Xindengyi.

• Vowels in word-initial position are phonetically heard beginning with a glottal {{IPA|[ʔ]}}.
• An open-mid vowel {{IPA|[ɛ]}} occurs in the Chengmai and Qiongshan dialects.
• A near-open central vowel sound {{IPA|[ɐ]}} also occurs in the Qiongshan dialect.{{Cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=Yuansheng |title=Hǎinán Língāo huà |last2=Ma |first2=Jialin |last3=Wen |first3=Mingying |last4=Wei |first4=Xinglang |date=1985 |publisher=Guangxi minzu chubanshe |location=Nanning |language=zh |script-title=zh:海南临高话}}

Be is a Tonal language. It has 5 tones:

• Rising (¹)
• High (²)
• Mid (³)
• Low (⁴)
• Mid checked (⁷)

The Bolian dialect has also a high checked tone (⁸).

• List of Proto-Ong-Be reconstructions (Wiktionary)

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last=Liang |first=Min 梁敏 |title=Língāo yǔ yánjiū |date=1997 |publisher=Shanghai yuandong chubanshe 上海远东出版社 |location=Shanghai |language=zh |script-title=zh:临高语研究 |trans-title=A Study of Lingao}}
• {{Cite thesis |last=Chen |first=Yen-ling |title=Proto-Ong-Be |date=2018 |type=Ph.D. dissertation |publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa |url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/ChenYenlingFinal.pdf}}

{{refend}}

• Schmitz, Timo. 2024. Family Tree: Tai-Kadai Languages. {url=https://www.academia.edu/114687690/Family_Tree_Tai_Kadai_Languages}

• Zhang, Yuansheng 张元生. 1985. Hainan Lingaohua 海南临高话. Nanning: Guangxi People's Publishing House 广西民族出版社.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110520125355/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=724 ABVD: Ong Be word list]
• [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Tai–Kadai_languages Ong Be–language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

{{Languages of China}}

{{Tai-Kadai languages}}

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Category:Kra–Dai languages

Category:Languages of Hainan