Pumi
Prinmi
Native toChina
RegionSichuan, Yunnan
EthnicityPumi
Native speakers
(54,000 cited 1999)[1]
Hangui (rarely)
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
pmi – Northern Pumi
pmj – Southern Pumi
Glottologpumi1242
ELP

The Pumi language (also known as Prinmi) is a Qiangic language used by the Pumi people, an ethnic group from Yunnan, China, as well as by the Tibetan people of Muli in Sichuan, China.[2][3] Most native speakers live in Lanping, Ninglang, Lijiang, Weixi and Muli.

The autonym of the Pumi is pʰʐə̃55 mi55 in Western Prinmi, pʰɹĩ55 mi55 in Central Prinmi, and pʰʐõ55 mə53 in Northern Prinmi with variants such as pʰɹə̃55 mə55 and tʂʰə̃55 mi53.[3][4]

In Muli Bonist priests read religious texts in Tibetan, which needs to be interpreted into Prinmi. An attempt to teach Pumi children to write their language using the Tibetan script has been seen in Ninglang.[5] A pinyin-based Roman script has been proposed, but is not commonly used.[6]

Dialects

Earlier works suggest there are two branches of Pumi (southern and northern), and they are not mutually intelligible. Ding (2014) proposes three major groups: Western Prinmi (spoken in Lanping), Central Prinmi (spoken in southwestern Ninglang, Lijiang, Yulong and Yongsheng) and Northern Prinmi (spoken in northern Ninglang and Sichuan).[7]

Lu (2001)

Dialects of Pumi include the following (Lu 2001).[3]

Southern (22,000 speakers)
Northern (55,000 speakers)

Sim (2017)

Sims (2017)[8] lists the following dialects of Pumi.

  • Northern
    • Sanyanlong 三岩龙 [Jiulong County] (B. Huang & Dai 1992)[9]
    • Taoba 桃巴 [Muli County] (Sun 1991)[10]
    • Shuiluo 水洛 [Muli County] (Jacques 2011)[11]
  • Central
    • Wadu 瓦都[12] [Ninglang County] (Daudey 2014)[13]
    • Niuwozi 牛窝子[14] [Ninglang County] (Ding 2001, etc.)[15]
  • Southern
    • Dayang [Lanping County] (Matisoff 1997)[16]
    • Qinghua 箐花 [Lanping County] (Sun 1991; B. Huang & Dai 1992)[10][9]

Sims (2017)[8] reconstructs high tones and low tones for Proto-Prinmi.

Documentation

Transcribed, translated and annotated audio documents in the Pumi language are available from the Pangloss Collection.[17] They concern Northern dialects of Pumi.

Phonology

Pumi Consonants
Labial Dental Retroflex Palatal Velar
Nasal voiceless [m̥] [n̥] [ŋ̥]
voiced [m] [n] [ŋ]
Plosive voiceless [p] [t] [ʈ] [k]
aspirated [pʰ] [tʰ] [ʈʰ] [kʰ]
voiced [b] [d] [ɖ] [ɡ]
Affricate voiceless [ts] [ʈʂ] [tɕ]
aspirated [tsʰ] [ʈʂʰ] [tɕʰ]
voiced [dz] [ɖʐ] [dʑ]
Fricative voiceless [s] [ʂ] [ɕ] [x]
voiced [z] [ʐ] [ʑ] [ɣ]
Lateral voiceless [ɬ]
voiced [l]
Approximant voiceless [ɹ̥]
voiced [w] [ɹ] [j]
Oral Vowels of Pumi
Front Central Back
Close [i/iᵊ] [ɨ] [ʉ] [u]
Close-Mid [e] [ɤ] [o]
Mid [ə]
Open-Mid [ɛ] [ɜ]
Near-Open [ɐ]
Open [a] [ɑ]
Nasal Vowels of Pumi
Front Central Back
Close [ĩ]
Close-Mid [õ]
Mid [ə̃]
Open-Mid [ɛ̃]
Near-Open [ɐ̃]

Orthography

The pinyin-based Roman script for Pumi has been proposed, but yet to be promoted.

Initials:
LetterIPALetterIPALetterIPALetterIPALetterIPA
b[p]p[pʰ]bb[b]m[m]hm[m̥]
d[t]t[tʰ]dd[d]n[n]hn[n̥]
g[k]k[kʰ]gg[ɡ]h[x]hh[ɣ]
j[tɕ]q[tɕʰ]jj[dʑ]x[ɕ]xx[ʑ]
z[ts]c[tsʰ]zz[dz]s[s]ss[z]
zh[ʈʂ]ch[ʈʂʰ]zzh[ɖʐ]sh[ʂ]ssh[ʐ]
zr[ʈ], [ʈʂ/kʴ]cr[ʈʰ], [ʈʂʰ/kʴʰ]zzr[ɖ], [ɖʐ/ɡʴ]l[l]lh[ɬ]
brpʴprpʴʰbbrbʴr[ɹ]hr[ɹ̥]
ng[ŋ]hng[ŋ̥]w[w]y[j]
Rimes:
LetterIPALetterIPALetterIPALetterIPA
i[i/iᵊ]u[u]ui[ɥi/wi]e[ə]
ie[jɛ/e]iu[ju]uee[ɥe/we]
ii[ɨ/ə]uu[uə/ʉ]ue[ɥɛ/wɛ/wə]üa[ɥɐ]
in[ĩ/ə̃]ien[(j)ɛ̃/ĩ]uen[ɥɛ̃/wɛ̃/wĩ]uin[ɥĩ]
o[o/ɤ]io[(j)ɐw/ɨɤ]on[õ]ion[jõ]
a[ɑ]ia[jɐ/jɜ]ua[wɑ/wɜ]uan[wɐ̃/wɜ̃]
aa[a]uaa[wa]an[ɐ̃]
ea[ɜ/ɛ]ai[ɜj]uai[wɜj]

Tones:

  • Monosyllabic words
    • f – falling tone
    • v – high tone
    • none – rising tone
  • Polysyllable words
    • f – nonspreading of the high tone
    • v – spreading of the high tone to the next syllable
    • r – rising tone
    • none – default low tone

Grammar

A reference grammar of the Wadu dialect of Pumi is available online.[18] A grammar of Central Pumi is also available.[19]

Example

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pumi writing.
PumiEnglish
Tèr gwéjè dzwán thèr phxèungphxàr sì.
Timitae llìnggwe zreungzrun stìng.		 He has broken several hammers.
This man is crying and shouting all the time.

References

  1. ↑ Northern Pumi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Southern Pumi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Ding, Picus S. (2003). "Prinmi: A Sketch of Niuwozi". In Thurgood, Graham; LaPolla, Randy (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan Languages. London: Routledge Press. pp. 588–601.
  3. 1 2 3 Lu 2001
  4. ↑ Ding 2014, chapter 1
  5. ↑ "Shínián, xiāngcūn "hánguī" zǒujìn xiànxué "pǔmǐbān"" 十年，乡村“韩规”走进县学“普米班”. Dàzhòng wǎng 大众网 (in Chinese). 2011-10-07.
  6. ↑ Ding, Picus Sizhi (2007). "Challenges in Language Modernization in China: The Case of Prinmi" (PDF). In David, Maya; Nicholas Ostler; Caesar Dealwis (eds.). Working Together for Endangered Languages: Research Challenges and Social Impacts (Proceedings of FEL XI). Bath, England: Foundation for Endangered Languages. pp. 120–126. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-26.
  7. ↑ Ding 2014, chapter 1
  8. 1 2 Sims, Nathaniel (2017). The Suprasegmental Phonology of Proto-Rma (Qiang) in Comparative Perspective. Presented at the 50th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Beijing, China.
  9. 1 2 Huang, Bufan 黄布凡; Dai, Qingxia 戴庆厦, eds. (1992). Zàng-Miǎn yǔzú yǔyán cíhuì 藏緬語族語言詞匯 [A Tibeto-Burman Lexicon] (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongyang minzu xueyuan chubanshe.
  10. 1 2 Sun, Hongkai 孙宏开; et al. (1991). Zàng-Miǎnyǔ yǔyīn hé cíhuì 藏缅语语音和词汇 [Tibeto-Burman Phonology and Lexicon] (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.
  11. ↑ Jacques 2011b
  12. ↑ "Nínglàng Yízú Zìzhìxiàn Yǒngníng Xiāng Yǒngníng Cūnwěihuì Zhōngwǎ Zìráncūn" 宁蒗彝族自治县永宁乡永宁村委会中瓦自然村 [Zhongwa Natural Village, Yongning Village Committee, Yongning Township, Ninglang Yi Autonomous County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2019-01-22.
  13. ↑ Daudey 2014
  14. ↑ "Nínglàng Yízú Zìzhìxiàn Xīnyíngpán Xiāng Xīnyíngpán Cūnwěihuì Niúwōzǐ Zìráncūn" 宁蒗彝族自治县新营盘乡新营盘村委会牛窝子自然村 [Niuwozi Natural Village, Xinyingpan Village Committee, Xinyingpan Township, Ninglang Yi Autonomous County]. ynszxc.net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2019-01-22.
  15. ↑ Ding, Picus Shizhi (2001). "The Pitch-Accent System of Niuwozi Prinmi" (PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 24 (2): 57–83.
  16. ↑ Matisoff, James A. (1997). "Dàyáng Pumi Phonology and Adumbrations of Comparative Qiangic" (PDF). The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. 27: 171–213.
  17. ↑ "Pumi corpus". The Pangloss Collection.
  18. ↑ Daudey 2014
  19. ↑ Ding 2014

Bibliography

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