Muya language explained

Muya
Nativename:Munya
States:China
Region:Sichuan
Speakers:Eastern: 2,000
Date:2020
Ref:e25
Speakers2:Western: (2020)
Familycolor:Sino-Tibetan
Fam2:Tibeto-Burman
Fam3:Qiangic
Fam4:Northern
Lc1:emq
Ld1:Eastern Minyag
Lc2:wmg
Ld2:Western Minyag
Glotto:muya1239
Glottorefname:Muya
Dia1:East
Dia2:West
Map2:Lang Status 80-VU.svg

Munya or Muya (Chinese: t=木雅語|s=木雅语; also Manyak Chinese: 曼牙科,[1] Menia 么呢阿;[2] [3]) is one of the Qiangic languages spoken in China. There are two dialects, Northern and Southern, which are not mutually intelligible. Most research on Munya has been conducted by Ikeda Takumi. There are about 2,000 monolinguals.

Names

The language has been spelled in various ways, including Manyak, Menya, Minyag, and Minyak. Other names for the language are Boba and Miyao.

Dialects

Ethnologue (21st edition) lists two Muya dialects, namely Eastern (Nyagrong) and Western (Darmdo). Muya is spoken in

Sun (1991) documents Muya (木雅) of Liuba Township (六坝乡), Shade District (沙德区), Kangding County (康定县), Sichuan.

Phonology

!Labial!Alveolar!Retroflex!Alveolo-palatal!Velar!Uvular!Glottal
Plosiveoralpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
prenasalizedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Affricateoralpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
prenasalizedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Fricativepronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Approximantpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
! colspan="2"
FrontCentralBack
UnroundedRounded
Highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Mid-highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Mid-lowpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Lowpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /yi/, /ui/, /ie/, /ye/, /ue/, /uø/, /iɛ̃/, /yɛ/, /yɛ̃/, /uɛ/, /uæ/, /uæ̰/, /yɐ/, /yɐ̰/, /uɐ/, /yɯ/, /uɯ/, /yɑ/, /yɑ̃/, /uɑ/.

Muya also has four tones:

Popular culture

In 2008, Bamu, a singer with the Jiuzhaigou Art Troupe in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, recorded an album of Muya songs (木雅七韵).[4]

Bibliography

Studies in Asian Geolinguistics 1. 72–78.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Manyak . 2021-11-02 . Asia Harvest.
  2. Web site: Menia . https://web.archive.org/web/20150610224513/https://www.asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/M/Menia.pdf . 2015-06-10 . Asia Harvest.
  3. Web site: Minyak . . . . March 24, 2023.
  4. News: Huang . Zhiling . 2014-05-27 . Chasing the Fading Music . China Daily USA . One woman's passion for the songs of a remote ethnic people may save not only the Muya's music, but the language itself. Huang Zhiling reports from Chengdu. Muya music might already be lost if Yang Hua had not given up her job as a mathematics teacher." ..."After the recording was over, Bamu told Yang it was a folk song of the Muya people. The song told how a girl working outside her hometown misses her mom, who says jewelry does not mean anything if one is not educated, and the singer wishes her mom good health. "It was the first time I heard the word 'Muya'," Yang says..