Santa language

Short description: Mongolic language of Northwest China

Santa

Dunxian kielen
لھجکءاءل
Native to| China
Region| Gansu (mainly Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture) and Xinjiang (Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture)[1]

Native speakers

| 200,000 (2007)[2]

Language family

Mongolic

* Southern Mongolic
* Shirongolic (fr)
* Santa

Writing system

| Arabic, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3| `sce`
Glottolog| `dong1285`[3]

Santa is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Santa language, also known as Dongxiang (simplified Chinese: 东乡语; traditional Chinese: 東鄉語; pinyin: Dōngxiāngyǔ), is a Mongolic language spoken by the Dongxiang people in Northwest China.

## Contents

* 1 Dialects
* 2 Phonology
* 2.1 Consonants
* 2.2 Vowels
* 3 Grammar
* 3.1 Morphology
* 3.1.1 Plural marking
* 3.2 Cases
* 3.3 Possessive
* 3.3.1 Pronoun
* 3.3.2 Reflexive
* 3.4 Pronoun Declension
* 3.4.1 1st Person
* 3.4.2 2nd Person
* 3.4.3 3rd Person
* 3.5 Verb suffix
* 3.5.1 正动词
* 3.5.2 副动词
* 3.5.3 形动词
* 3.5.4 存在动词 bi 和 wi
* 3.6 Syntax
* 4 Writing system
* 5 Numerals
* 6 The Tangwang language
* 7 References
* 8 Bibliography
* 9 Further reading
* 10 External links

## Dialects

There are no dialects in strict sense,[clarification needed] but three local varieties (tuyu) can be found: Suonanba (ca. 50% of all Dongxiang speakers), Wangjiaji (ca. 30% of all Dongxiang speakers) and Sijiaji (ca. 20% of all Dongxiang speakers).

## Phonology

Except for a limited number of cases there is no vowel harmony and the harmonic rules governing the suffix pronunciation are by far not as strict as those of Mongolian.[2]

### Consonants

Dongxiang has 29 consonants:[4]

| Labial  | Alveolar  | Retroflex  | Palatal  | Velar  | Uvular  | Glottal

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Plosive  | plain | p | t |  |  | k | q |
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ |  |  | kʰ | qʰ |
Fricative  | voiceless | f | s | ʂ | ɕ | x |  | h
voiced |  |  | ʐ |  |  | ʁ |
Affricate  | plain |  | t͡s | t͡ʂ | t͡ɕ |  |  |
aspirated |  | t͡sʰ | t͡ʂʰ | t͡ɕʰ |  |  |
Nasal  | m | n |  |  | ŋ |  |
Approximant  | w | l |  | j |  |  |
Trill  |  | r |  |  |  |  |

### Vowels

Dongxiang has 7 vowels.[4] Unlike other neighboring Mongolic languages, it has neither vowel harmony nor distinctions of vowel length.[2]

| Front  | Central  | Back

|
|
|

plain | retroflex | unrounded | rounded
High  | i |  |  | ɯ | u
Mid  |  | ə | ɚ |  | o
Low  |  |  |  | ɑ |

## Grammar

### Morphology

#### Plural marking

* -la (remaining of nouns)

Script error: No such module "Interlinear".

* -sla/-sila (certain nouns and pronouns)

Script error: No such module "Interlinear".

* -pi (relatives)

Script error: No such module "Interlinear".

### Cases

Santa/Dongxiang has 6 cases.[5]

| Function  | Marker  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|
|

Nominative  | nominative  | (nothing)  | morei holuwe  | 马跑了
Connective  | genitive-accusative  | -ni (yi) | bula-ni usu  | 泉里的水
Dative  | dative-locative-benefactive  | -de | ula-de khirei  | 登上山
Ablative  | ablative-comparative  | -se | udani hon-se gaowe  | 比去年好
Comitative  | comitative (联合格)  | -le | chi ibura-le hhantu echi  | 你和伊卜拉一起去
Comitative  | comitative (方面格)  | -re | bi chima-re sanane  | 我要和你算帐
Sociative  | sociative-instrumental  | -gh(u)ala | khidei-ghala kielie  | 用汉话说
Prosecutive  | locative-prosecutive  | -gvun | moronghizha-gvun nie uzhe  | 沿河边看一下

### Possessive

#### Pronoun

Word  | Note  | Meaning

|
|

morei-mini  | (also -miyi, -miy)  | my horse
morei-matanni  | (also -matayi, -matay)  | our (inclusive) horse
morei-bijienni  | (also -bijieyi, -bijiey)  | our (exclusive) horse
morei-chini  | (also -chiyis, -chiy)  | your horse
morei-tani  | (also -tayi, -tay)  | your (plural) horse
morei-ni  |  | him/ her/ their (any 3rd person pronoun) horse

#### Reflexive

Particle  | Word  | Meaning

|
|

-ne | chi gaga-ne uru  | 你叫你哥哥来

### Pronoun Declension

#### 1st Person

Case  | Singular  | Plural

|
|

Exclusive  | Inclusive
Nominative  | bi / orun (quotation)  | bijien  | matan / oruntan (quotation)
Genitive accusative  | mi-ni / nama-ni (namiyi)  | bijien-ni  | matan-ni / ma-ni
Dative locative  | nama-de / ma-de  | bijien-de  | matan-de
Ablative comparative  | nama-se / ma-se  | bijien-se  | matan-se
Comitative (联合格)  | nama-le / ma-le  | bijien-le  | matan-le
Sociative instrumental  | bi-ghala  | bijien-ghala  | matan-ghala

#### 2nd Person

Case  | Singular  | Plural

|
|

Nominative  | chi  | ta / tan
Genitive accusative  | chi-ni  | ta-ni
Dative locative  | chima-de  | tan-de
Ablative comparative  | chima-se / cha-se  | tan-se
Comitative (联合格)  | chima-le  | tan-le
Sociative instrumental  | chi-ghala  | ta-ghala

#### 3rd Person

Case  | Singular  | Plural

|
|

Nominative  | hhe  | tere  | egven  | hhela  | terela  | egvenla
hhesila  | teresila  | egvesila
Genitive accusative  | hhe-ni  | tere-ni  | egen-ni  | hhela-ni  | terela-ni  | egvenla-ni
Dative locative  | hhe-nde  | tere-(n)de / ten-de  | egven-de  | hhela-de  | terela-de  | egvenla-de
Ablative comparative  | hhe-nse  | tere-(n)se  | egven-se  | hhela-se  | terela-se  | egvenla-se
Comitative (联合格)  | hhe-nle  | tere-le  | egven-le  | hhela-le  | terela-le  | egvenla-le
Sociative instrumental  | hhe-ghala  | tere-ghala  | egven-ghala  | hhela-ghala  | terela-ghala  | egvenla-ghala

### Verb suffix

#### 正动词

Type 式(语气或情态)的范畴

Case  | Particle  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|

Imperative  | -ye  | matanghala yawu-ye  | 我们两个走吧
-gie  | chini gien ghujingvan gaoda-gie  | 让你的病尽快痊愈
Declarative  | -we  | bi uzhe-we  | 我看了

Aspect 体(动词行为方式或状态)范畴

Aspect  | Particle  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|

Perfect  | -we  | bi bazade echi-we  | 我到临夏去了
Imperfect  | -ne  | chi khala echi-ne  | 你到哪里去?
Continuative  | -zhiwe (zho)  | ana-miyi budan gie-zhiwe  | 我妈正在做饭

Voice 态(行为与其主体之间的关系)的范畴

Voice  | Particle  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|

主动态  | (nothing)  |  |
使动态  | -gva  | bai-gva  | 建立
共动态  | -ndu  | jie-ndu  | 吃

Numeral: Singular has no suffix, plural suffix is -ndu, same as 共动态.

数:单数没有附加成分,复数的附加成分是-ndu,与共动态附加成分一样

#### 副动词

Adverb  | Particle  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|

并列副动词  | -zhi  | shira-zhi ijie  | 烤着吃
重复副动词  | -n  | wila-n wila-n yawulawe  | 哭着哭着走了
目的副动词  | -le  | bi nie uzhe-le irewe  | 我来看一看
分离副动词  | -dene or -de  | chi ijie-dene bi ijieye  | 你吃完后我再吃
条件副动词  | -se  | ghura bao-se bi ulie irene  | 如果下雨,我就不来了
选择、界限副动词  | -tala  | khara olu-tala wilie giewe  | 干活到天黑
让步副动词  | -senu  | eqiemagva bosi-senu shu uzhezho  | 早晨起来后看书

#### 形动词

Tense  | Particle  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|

Past  | -san (sen)  | ene baodei bolu-sanwe  | 这小麦是成熟的
Future  | -ku / -wu  | echi-ku mo gholowe  | 要去的路远
Present  | -chin  | enende sao-chin kun wainu uwe  | 有没有在这儿住的人?

#### 存在动词 bi 和 wi

| bi  | wi

|
|

正动词  | wai-ne  | wi-we
形动词  | 过去时形动词  | bi-san  | wi-san
将来时形动词  | bi-ku  | wi-ku
现在时形动词  | bi-chin  | wi-chin
副动词  | 并列副动词  | bi-zhi  | wi-zhi
分离副动词  | bi-dene  | wi-dene
条件副动词  | bi-se  | wi-se
选择、界限副动词  | bi-tala  | wi-tala
让步副动词  | bi-senu  | wi-senu
Tense  | Particle  | Example  | Meaning (Chinese)

|
|
|

表示推测的  | bi-mu  | hhen-de baer bi-mu  | 他有钱吧
表示回忆的  | bi-lai  | hhe nasun giedun bi-lai bi matawe  | 我忘了他多少岁了

### Syntax

In common with other Mongolic languages, Dongxiang is spoken as an SOV language. In Linxia, however, under the influence of the Mandarin Chinese dialects spoken by the neighbouring Hui people, sentences of the SVO type have also been observed.[6]

## Writing system

Knowledge of Arabic is widespread among the Sarta and as a result, they often use the Arabic script to write down their language informally (cf. the Xiao'erjing system that was used by Hui people); however, this has been little investigated by scholars. (As of 2003), the official Latin alphabet for Dongxiang, developed on the basis of the Monguor alphabet, remained in the experimental stage.[7]

## Numerals

Numeral  | Classical Mongolian | Dongxiang | IPA

|
|
|

1  | Script error: The function "transl" does not exist. | nie | niə
2  | qoyar  | ghua  | ɢua
3  | ghurban  | ghuran  | ɢuraŋ
4  | dörben  | jieron  | dʑiəroŋ
5  | tabun  | tawun  | tawuŋ
6  | jirghughan  | dzigvon  | dʐiʁoŋ
7  | dologhan  | dolon  | doloŋ
8  | naiman  | naiman  | naimaŋ
9  | yisün  | yesun  | jəsuŋ
10  | arban  | hharan  | haraŋ

Some numbers in Dongxiang language was heavily influenced by Mandarin. Examples include 30 (sanshi) and 40 (sishi). Meanwhile both khorun /qoruŋ/ and ershi /'ɚʂi/ for 20.

## The Tangwang language

Main page: Social:Tangwang language

There are about 20,000 people in the north-eastern part Dongxiang County, who self-identify as Dongxiang or Hui people who do not speak Dongxiang, but natively speak a Dongxiang-influenced form of Mandarin Chinese. The linguist Mei W. Lee-Smith calls this the "Tangwang language" (Chinese: 唐汪话), based on the names of the two largest villages (Tangjia and Wangjia, parts of Tangwang Town) where it is spoken and argues it is a creolized language.[8] According to Lee-Smith, the Tangwang language uses mostly Mandarin words and morphemes with Dongxiang grammar. Besides Dongxiang loanwords, Tangwang also has a substantial number of Arabic and Persian loanwords.[8]

Like Standard Mandarin, Tangwang is a tonal language, but grammatical particles, which are typically borrowed from Mandarin, but are used in the way Dongxiang morphemes would be used in Dongxiang, don't carry tones.[8]

For example, while the Mandarin plural suffix -men (们) has only very restricted usage (it can be used with personal pronouns and some nouns related to people), Tangwang uses it, in the form -m, universally, the way Dongxiang would use its plural suffix -la. Mandarin pronoun ni (你) can be used in Tangwang as a possessive suffix (meaning "your"). Unlike Mandarin, but like Dongxiang, Tangwang has grammatical cases as well (however only four of them, unlike eight in Dongxiang).[8]

## References

1. ↑ Bao (2006).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Santa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "Dongxiang". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/dong1285.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Field (1997), p. 37.
5. ↑ Kim (2003), p. 354.
6. ↑ Bao (2006), 1.1: 东乡语的语序特点.
7. ↑ Kim (2003), p. 348.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Lee-Smith, Mei W.; International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (1996), "The Tangwang language", in Wurm, Stephen A.; Mühlhäusler, Peter; Tyron, Darrell T., Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. (Volume 13 of Trends in Linguistics, Documentation Series)., Walter de Gruyter, pp. 875–882, ISBN 978-3-11-013417-9, https://books.google.com/books?id=glU0vte5gSkC

## Bibliography

* Bao, Saren (包萨仁) (2006), Journal of the Second Northwest University for Nationalities (Social Science Edition) (2), ISSN 1008-2883, http://www.ilib2.com/A-ISSN~1008-2883(2006)02-0035-05.html
* Cheng, Joyce (2013-05-10), Dongxiang – people of the northwest, http://gbtimes.com/life/dongxiang-people-northwest
* Field, Kenneth Lynn (1997), A grammatical overview of Santa Mongolian, PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara, http://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/Field_Santa.pdf
* Kim, Stephen S. (2003), "Santa", in Janhunen, Juha, The Mongolic Languages, Routledge Language Family Series, pp. 346–363, ISBN 978-0-203-98791-9
* People's Daily (2012-08-08), http://cn.hujiang.com/new/p411605, retrieved 2016-02-12

## Further reading

* Baker, Craig (April 2000), The Dongxiang Language and People, http://journal.acs-cam.org.uk/data/archive/2013/201302-article4.pdf, retrieved 2016-02-12 [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
* Chuluu, Üjiyediin (Chaolu Wu) (November 1994), Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Dongxiang, SINO-PLATONIC, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp055_dongxiang_language.pdf
* Jorigt, G.; Stuart, Kevin (1998), "Problems Concerning Mongolian Case", Central Asiatic Journal (Harrassowitz Verlag) 42 (1): 110–122
* Ma, Guozhong (马国忠) (2001), Lanzhou: Gansu Nationalities Publishing House (甘肃民族出版社), ISBN 978-7-5421-0767-1
* Wei, Li Xue; Stuart, Kevin (1989), "Population and Culture of the Mongols, Tu, Baoan, Dongxiang, and Yugu in Gansu", Mongolian Studies (Mongolia Society) 12 (The Owen Lattimore Memorial Issue): 71–93

## External links

* The Dongxiang Mongols and Their Language
* An example of the Dongxiang language being spoken

* v
* t
* e

Languages of China

Official|

* Standard Mandarin

Regional|

| ARs / SARs|

* CantoneseHK/MC
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* MongolianNM
* PortugueseMC
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* UyghurXJ
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|

Prefecture|

* Hmong
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Counties/Banners|

numerous

Indigenous|

Sino-Tibetan languages

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* Kathu
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|

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|

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Qiangic|

* Baima
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Tibetic|

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Other|

* Bai
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Other languages

| Austroasiatic|

* Bit
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* Hu
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* Mang
* Man Met
* Muak Sa-aak
* Palaung
* Riang
* U
* Va
* Wa

|

Hmong-Mien|

| Hmongic|

* A-Hmao
* Bu-Nao
* Gejia
* Guiyang
* Hm Nai
* Hmong
* Hmu
* Huishui
* Kiong Nai
* Luobohe
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|

Mienic|

* Biao Min
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Mongolic|

* Bonan
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* Oirat
* Ordos
* Santa
* Torgut

Kra-Dai|

| Zhuang|

* Bouyei
* Dai
* Min
* Ningming
* Nong
* Tai Dam
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* Tai Lü
* Tai Nüa
* Tai Ya
* Yang
* Yei

|

Other|

* Ai-Cham
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* Then

Tungusic|

* Evenki
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Turkic|

* Äynu
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Minority|

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Creole/Mixed|

* E
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Extinct|

* Ba-Shu
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* Ruan-ruan
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* Tangut
* Tocharian
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* Tuyuhun
* Xianbei
* Zhang-Zhung

Sign|

* Chinese Sign
* Hong Kong SignHK/MC
* Tibetan SignXZ

* GX = Guangxi
* HK = Hong Kong
* MC = Macau
* NM = Inner Mongolia
* XJ = Xinjiang
* XZ = Tibet

* v
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* e

Mongolic languages

Contemporary|

| Central|

* Buryat
* Khamnigan
* Mongolian
* Baarin
* Chakhar
* Khalkha
* Khorchin
* Oirat
* Alasha
* Kalmyk
* Torgut
* Ordos

|

Southern|

* Bonan
* Kangjia
* Santa
* Eastern Yugur
* Monguor

other|

* Dagur
* Moghol

mixed|

* Tangwang
* Wutun

Historical|

* Proto-Mongolic
* Classical Mongolian
* Middle Mongol

Para-Mongolic|

* Khitan
* Tuyuhun

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