Japhug language

Japhug is the only toneless Gyalrong language. It has 49 consonants and seven vowels.

The phoneme /w/ has the allophones [β] and [f].

The phoneme {{IPAslink|ʁ}} is realized as an epiglottal fricative in the coda or preceding another consonant.

The prenasalized consonants are analyzed as units for two reasons. First, there is a phoneme /ɴɢ/, as in /ɴɢoɕna/ "large spider", but neither /ɴ/ nor /ɢ/ exist as independent phonemes. Second, there are clusters of fricatives and prenasalized voiced stops, as in /ʑmbri/ "willow", but never clusters of fricatives and prenasalized voiceless stops.

Japhug distinguishes between palatal plosives and velar plosive + j sequences, as in /co/ "valley" vs. /kjo/ "drag". These both contrast with alveolo-palatal affricates.

There are at least 339 consonant clusters in Japhug (Jacques 2008:29), more than in Old Tibetan or in most Indo-European languages. Some of these clusters are typologically unusual: in addition to the previously mentioned clusters of fricatives and prenasalized stops, there are clusters where the first element is a semivowel, as in /jla/ "hybrid of a yak and a cow".

Japhug has eight vowel phonemes: {{IPA link|a}}, {{IPA link|o}}, {{IPA link|u}}, {{IPA link|ɤ}}, {{IPA link|ɯ}}, {{IPA link|y}}, {{IPA link|e}} and {{IPA link|i}}. The vowel {{IPA link|y}} is attested in only one native word ({{IPA|/qaɟy/}} "fish") and its derivatives, but appears in Chinese loanwords.

The mid-open unrounded vowels /ɤ/ and /e/ are only marginally contrastive: /ɤ/ does not occur in word- final open syllables except in unaccented clitics (like the additive nɤ), and /e/ only occurs in the last (accented) syllable of a word. They are clearly contrastive only with the coda /-t/.{{cite book |last1=Jacques |first1=Guillaume |title=A grammar of Japhug |url=https://hal.science/hal-03190627/document |publisher=Language Science Press |access-date=19 September 2024 |isbn=978-3-96110-305-8 |date=6 April 2021}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}

Not all speakers of Kamnyu Japhug have a phoneme /y/ in the native vocabulary. Even for those speakers, it is only attested in the word ‘fish’ and the verbs derived from it. It nevertheless contrasts with /ɯ/ and /u/, as shown by the quasi-minimal pairs /qaɟy/ ‘fish’, /waɟɯ/ ‘earthquake’ and /ɟuli/ ‘flute’. Other speakers pronounce ‘fish’ with a medial /w/ as /qaɟwi/. However, [y] is found in the speech of all Japhug speakers in Chinese loanwords such as 洋芋 ‘potato’.

Jacques (2008) is a short grammar and Jacques and Chen (2010) a text collection with interlinear glosses. Other studies on morphosyntax include Jacques (2010) on direct–inverse marking, Jacques (2012a) on valency (passive, antipassive, anticausative, lability etc.), Jacques (2012b) on incorporation and Jacques (2013) on associated motion.

Japhug lacks case inflection. However, Japhug does have few adverbializing derivations that display functions for oblique cases, for example, the comitative kɤ́- and perlative reduplication. In noun phrases, grammatical relations are denoted by following clitics:

Japhug lacks grammatical number. It has two clitic number determiners, dual ni and plural ra, both do not have syntactic relationship with noun argument.Guillaume (2021:367)

{{Interlinear|indent=3|ɯ-pi ni ndʑi-sroʁ ko-ri tɕe|3SG.POSS-elder.sibling DU 3DU.POSS-life IMPERF-save LK|"He saved the life of his two brothers."}}

Demonstratives in Japhug can be either pronominal or post-nominal.Guillaume (2021:374–375)

:

Many Japhug nouns are prefixed with noun class markers, most of which are unproductive.Guillaume (2021:167-169)

In Japhug, verbal inflection is overwhelmingly dominated by prefixes, though it does support limited suffix slots. The Japhug verb template can be described as following:Guillaume (2021:474)

Japhug finite verbs can form agreement with one or two arguments, depending on the transitivity of the verb. Verb indexation can use a combination of prefixes, suffixes and stem alternation. Person indexation in Japhug in general have neutral alignment, though ergative-absolutive alignment can occur.

{{Interlinear|indent=3|ma tú-wɣ-ndza tɕe, ɲɯ-kɯ-z-nɯtɯfɕɤl ɕti|LK IPFV-INV-eat LK IPFV-general:S/O-CAUS-have.diarrhea be.AFF:FACT|"If you eat mold, it causes you diarrhea."}}

Japhug noun incorporation is attested in denominal derivations. The complex verb, formed from the prefixation of a noun-verb compound, has its direction following the head movement with a strong head-final tendency. The IN precedes the verb root. A Japhug verb can incorporate intransitive subject, object and semi-object, goal/location adjunct, and instrument. Indirect objects and transitive subjects are never incorporated into the verb. Japhug likely has an antipassive NI effect; the noun incorporation subject is not marked with the ergative.

{{Interlinear|indent=3|abbreviations=DENOM:denominalizator|tɤ-tɕɯ ra ko-ɣɯ-cʰɤ-tsʰi-nɯ|3SG.POSS-son PL IMPERF-DENOM-alcohol-drink-3PL.SUBJ|'The guys drank alcohol'}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{Cite thesis |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |title=Phonologie et morphologie du Japhug (rGyalrong) |date=2004 |degree=Doctoral |publisher=Université Paris VII |url=http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/13/85/68/PDF/these-japhug.pdf |language=fr |author-link=Guillaume Jacques}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |date=2007 |title=La réduplication partielle en japhug, révélatrice des structures syllabiques |journal=Faits de Langues |language=fr |volume=29 |pages=9–21 |doi=10.1163/19589514-029-01-900000003}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume 向柏霖 |last2=Chen |first2=Zhen 陈珍 |date=2007 |title=Chábǎohuà de bù jíwù qiánzhuì jí xiāngguān wèntí |script-title=zh:茶堡話的不及物前綴及相關問題 |trans-title=An Intransitive Prefix in Japhug rGyalrong and Related Problems |url=http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/Files/LL/Docments/Journals/8.4/j2007_4_03_9696.pdf |journal=Language and Linguistics / Yǔyán jì yǔyánxué |language=zh |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=883–912}}
• {{Cite book |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume 向柏霖 |title=Jiāróngyǔ yánjiū |date=2008 |publisher=Minzu chubanshe |location=Beijing Shi |language=zh |script-title=zh:嘉绒语研究 |trans-title=A Study on the Gyalrong Language}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2010 |title=The inverse in Japhug Rgyalrong |url=https://www.academia.edu/968767 |journal=Language and Linguistics |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=127–157}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2012 |title=From Denominal Derivation to Incorporation |url=https://www.academia.edu/1627216 |journal=Lingua |volume=122 |issue=11 |pages=1027–1231 |citeseerx=10.1.1.383.1 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2012.05.010}}
• {{Cite book |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |title=Ergativity, Valency and Voice |date=2012 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |editor-last=Authier |editor-first=Gilles |location=Berlin |pages=199–225 |language=en |chapter=Argument demotion in Japhug Rgyalrong |editor-last2=Haude |editor-first2=Katharina |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/1789058}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2013 |title=Ideophones in Japhug (Rgyalrong) |url=https://www.academia.edu/5951569 |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=256–287 |doi=10.1353/anl.2013.0014 |s2cid=143579082}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2013 |title=Applicative and tropative derivations in Japhug Rgyalrong |url=https://www.academia.edu/4159603 |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=1–13}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2013 |title=Harmonization and disharmonization of affix ordering and basic word order |url=https://www.academia.edu/2008163 |journal=Linguistic Typology |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=187–215 |doi=10.1515/lity-2013-0009 |s2cid=55555480}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2014 |title=Denominal affixes as sources of antipassive markers in Japhug Rgyalrong |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01244876/file/antipassive6.pdf |journal=Lingua |volume=138 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2013.09.011}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2014 |title=Clause linking in Japhug |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01244873/file/linking.pdf |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=264–328 |doi=10.1075/ltba.37.2.05jac}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2015 |title=The spontaneous-autobenefactive prefix in Japhug Rgyalrong |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01287471/file/spontaneous.pdf |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=271–291 |doi=10.1075/ltba.38.2.08jac}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2015 |title=The origin of the causative prefix in Rgyalrong languages and its implication for proto-Sino-Tibetan reconstruction |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01244869/file/causative.pdf |journal=Folia Linguistica Historica |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=165–198 |doi=10.1515/flih-2015-0002 |s2cid=151841620}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2016 |title=Subjects, objects and relativization in Japhug |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01287472/file/object-relative.pdf |journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.1353/jcl.2016.0005 |s2cid=160031499}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |author-link=Guillaume Jacques |date=2016 |title=From ergative to index of comparison: multiple reanalyses and polyfunctionality |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01566133/document |journal=Diachronica |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1075/dia.33.1.01jac}}
• {{Cite book |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |url=https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/295 |title=A Grammar of Japhug |date=2021 |publisher=Language Science Press |isbn=9783961103058 |location=Berlin |doi=10.5281/zenodo.4548232 |author-link=Guillaume Jacques}}
• {{Cite book |last=Jacques |first=Guillaume |title=Une version Rgyalrong de l'épopée de Gesar |last2=Chen |first2=Zhen |date=2010 |publisher=National Museum of Ethnology |location=Osaka |language=fr}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Lin |first=Youjing 林幼菁 |last2=Luo |first2=Erwu 罗尔武 |date=2003 |title=Chábǎo Jiāróngyǔ Dàzànghuà de qūxiàng qiánzhuì yǔ dòngcí cígàn de biànhuà |script-title=zh:茶堡嘉戎语大藏话的趋向前缀与动词词干的变化 |trans-title=Directive Prefixes and Changes of Verb Stems in Dazang rGyalrong |journal=Mínzú yǔwén |language=zh |volume=2003 |issue=4 |pages=19–29 |script-journal=zh:民族語文}}

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{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}

{{Na-Qiangic languages}}

{{Languages of China}}

Category:Qiangic languages

Category:Languages of Sichuan

Category:Non-tonal languages in tonal families