Songlin language

Songlin
Songlin
Native to	China
Region	Zayu County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet
Native speakers	1,000 (2020)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan (unclassified) Songlin; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Songlin (Chinese: 松林话) is a divergent, unclassified Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Zayu County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet. A linguistic description of Songlin has been published in a monograph by Song (2019).[2]

Demographics

The language is spoken in Songlin Village 松林村, Upper Chayu Town 上察隅镇 by approximately 1,000 people. The local lingua franca of the area is the Zayu dialect of Khams Tibetan. Some Songlin speakers can speak Idu and gSerkhu, both of which are also spoken in Upper Chayu Town 上察隅镇.[1]

Classification

Song & Lin (2020) shows that Songlin is not closely related to any of the surrounding Tibeto-Burman languages and cannot be classified as a Tibetic language.[1] A computational phylogenetic study by Jiang (2023) also shows the divergent position of Songlin.[3] Songlin and the Mishmi languages all are spoken in Zayu County, but Songlin is not closely related to any of them.

Sentence examples

The following Songlin sentence examples are from Yan (Song 2020:656). Songlin has SOV word order.[1]

ŋɑ⁵⁵

1.SG

tɕi³¹tɕi⁵⁵

water

tɕʰɑŋ⁵⁵

drink

koŋ⁵⁵

PROG

nəŋ³¹

PRT

I am drinking water.

pin⁵⁵wu⁵⁵

sky

kʰu³¹mu⁵⁵

rain

ju⁵⁵

fall

koŋ⁵⁵

PROG

nəŋ³¹

PRT

Rain is falling. (lit. ''The sky is falling rain.'')

Vocabulary

The following are Songlin words cited from Song (2020).[1]

Chinese gloss	English gloss	Songlin
一	one	tɕi³¹tɑ⁵⁵
二	two	kʰɑ³¹ȵi⁵⁵
三	three	sɯŋ⁵⁵
四	four	ʑi²⁴
五	five	po³¹ŋoŋ²⁴
六	six	tʂʰɯ²⁴
七	seven	ȵ̥in²⁴
八	eight	pu³¹ndʑe²⁴
九	nine	gu²⁴
风	wind	kʐi²⁴
虹	rainbow	zɑ⁵⁵
右	right (side)	tʂoŋ⁵⁵lɑ⁵⁵
外面	outside	pɑ³¹tɕy²⁴
跳蚤	flea	kɑ³¹ji⁵⁵
(牛)角	horn (of cattle)	goŋ²⁴kʰʐɿ⁵⁵
尾巴	tail	ndʑoŋ⁵⁵mɑŋ⁵⁵
脖子	neck	kɑ⁵⁵loŋ⁵⁵
背	back	ci²⁴tsʰɿ⁵⁵
(树)叶子	leaf (of tree)	kʰɑ³¹pɑ²⁴
汗	sweat	tsʰɑ¹³pɑ²⁴
尿	urine	tɕʰi³¹li⁵⁵
官	government official	ngə⁵⁵tʂʰɿ⁵⁵
孙子	grandson	noŋ³¹tɕy⁵⁵
鞋	shoe	ku³¹ȵu⁵⁵
刀子	knife	nba³¹ju⁵⁵
船	boat	tʂɿ³¹dzin⁵⁵
鬼	ghost, spirit	tɕʰo²⁴
走	walk	ci⁵⁵
飞	fly (v.)	ku²⁴
吃	eat	ndzo⁵⁵
烤	roast, bake	pu⁵⁵
拔	pull	pʰʐo²⁴
捆	tie (v.)	pɯi⁵⁵
睡	sleep	ŋoŋ²⁴
敢	dare	pin⁵⁵
他	he	pu²⁴
好	good	ȵe²⁴ȵe⁵⁵
小	small	kɑ³¹tsɛ⁵⁵
旧	old (of things)	bi²⁴
很	very	ʐɛ²⁴
星星	star	kɑ⁵⁵mɑ⁵⁵
地、土	earth, soil	pʐo²⁴
山	mountain	ʐɿ²⁴
金子	gold	sie⁵⁵
水獭	otter	nɑ⁵⁵sɛn⁵⁵
毛	hair (body)	n̥oŋ²⁴
柱子	pillar	kɑ⁵wɑ⁵⁵
针	needle	kʰɛ²⁴
布	cloth	ʐe²⁴
寺	temple (Buddhist)	nɟø⁵⁵nba⁵⁵
镰刀	sickle	ɕin⁵⁵koŋ⁵⁵
锯子	saw (tool)	su⁵⁵li⁵⁵
绳子	rope	nbɑ³¹je²⁴
听	listen	ndʑo⁵⁵
大	big	hɑ⁵⁵ndu⁵⁵
高	high, tall	sen⁵⁵
你	you (sg.)	nu⁵⁵
干净	clean	ɕɑŋ⁵⁵ngʐɑŋ⁵⁵
软的	soft	ȵɛ²⁴ȵɛ²⁴
黄的	yellow	sɛ⁵⁵sɛ⁵⁵
轻的	light (weight)	jɑŋ²⁴jɑŋ⁵⁵
新的	new	ɕi³¹tso²⁴
桥	bridge	dɑŋ²⁴
火柴	firewood	mi³¹tʂʰe⁵⁵
树	tree	tɕʰɑŋ²⁴

References

Song, Cheng 宋成; Lin, Xin 林鑫 (2020). "On Songlin Language Status from the Chatacterisitics of Tibetic Branch 从藏语支语言的特点看松林语的语言地位". Linguistic Sciences 语言科学. 19 (6): 649–659. doi:10.7509/j.linsci.202010.034481. ISSN 1671-9484. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
Song, Cheng 宋成 (2019). Xizang Chayu Songlin yu 西藏察隅松林语. Beijing: The Commercial Press. ISBN 9787100175234. OCLC 1152175771.
Jiang, Huo 江荻 (2023-02-28). "Linguistic diversity and classification in Tibet 西藏的语言多样性及其分类". Chinese Tibetology Center 中国藏学研究中心. Retrieved 2023-03-16.

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[Song2020-1] Song, Cheng 宋成; Lin, Xin 林鑫 (2020). "On Songlin Language Status from the Chatacterisitics of Tibetic Branch 从藏语支语言的特点看松林语的语言地位". Linguistic Sciences 语言科学. 19 (6): 649–659. doi:10.7509/j.linsci.202010.034481. ISSN 1671-9484. Retrieved 2023-03-16.

[Song2019-2] Song, Cheng 宋成 (2019). Xizang Chayu Songlin yu 西藏察隅松林语. Beijing: The Commercial Press. ISBN 9787100175234. OCLC 1152175771.

[JiangHuo2023-3] Jiang, Huo 江荻 (2023-02-28). "Linguistic diversity and classification in Tibet 西藏的语言多样性及其分类". Chinese Tibetology Center 中国藏学研究中心. Retrieved 2023-03-16.