The origins of Jiamao
Andrew Hsiu
December 2017
Please cite as: Hsiu, Andrew. 2017. The origins of Jiamao. <https://sites.google.com/site/msealangs/home/blog/jiamao>.
Please note that this is a working draft that will be periodically updated.
Jiamao, an aberrant Kra-Dai language of southern Hainan, has multiple strata, which I have listed from earliest to latest.
Austroasiatic [Thurgood 1992] (unknown branch that has parallels with eastern branches such as Vietic, Katuic, and Bahnaric)
Tibeto-Burman (unknown Burmo-Qiangic / Eastern Tibeto-Burman branch or branches)
Central Tai [Norquest p.c.]
Pre-Hlai [Norquest 2007]
late Hlai [Norquest 2007]
Hainanese (Min Chinese) [Norquest 2007]
This points to an origin of Jiamao on the mainland, most likely in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. Lexical analysis of non-Kra-Dai words in Jiamao points to its origin as a mixed language that came together from (1) a "missing" Eastern Austroasiatic branch that originated from south of the Red River Delta, and (2) a "missing" Burmo-Qiangic branch that had migrated from Yunnan via the Red River. This mixing may have taken place more than 1,500 or 2,000 years ago. This mixed Eastern Austroasiatic-Burmo-Qiangic language was then influenced by Central Tai in southern Guangxi as well as perhaps "missing" Kra-Dai branches, and then borrowed from early forms of Hlai as it entered Hainan.
Such mixed languages still exist today in southern China, such as the mixed Hmongic-Kam-Sui language Sanqiao of southeastern Guizhou.
Jiamao is not the only Kra-Dai language with words of Austroasiatic origin. Be and Kra languages also have Austroasiatic loanwords. Jiamao and Be also have various loanwords that likely came from an unknown branch of Austroasiatic, perhaps a "missing branch" that is currently extinct. Below are some Be words from Liang (1997), Jizhao words from Li & Wu (2017), and Austroasiatic branch reconstructions by Sidwell from the MKED.
new -- Be (Lincheng) nau4 : P-Bahnaric *ʔnaːw
moon -- Be (Lincheng) [mai4] sai1, Jizhao ʦaːi21 [ɗe55] : P-Katuic *ksaj
two -- Be (Qiongshan) bɐn5, Jizhao man55 : P-Bahnaric/P-Katuic *ɓaːr
grass -- Be (Qiongshan) bat7', Jizhao ɓat55 : P-Bahnaric/Katuic/Palaungic *ɓat
smoke -- Be (Lincheng) duai4 : P-Khmuic *ptoʔ / P-Palaungic *təəʔ (?)
Jiamao has a mish-mash of words from different languages families and missing branches. It is a melting pot of linguistic relicts from a time when South China was much more linguistically diverse.
The Jiamao forms of non-Hlai origin below are from Norquest (2007), while comparisons are from the ABVD, MKED, and STEDT databases. Pletase note that these are initial look-alikes compiled for further analysis. No sound correspondences have been worked out, and there are no claims about whether the Jiamao forms and the compared forms are indeed related.
1. Jiamao-Austroasiatic comparisons
snake
Jiamao ɓuət7
Proto-Bahnaric *ɓəs
Proto-Khmuic *bəs
wide
Jiamao vi:4
Stieng wii
Proto-Katuic *tawah
Proto-Khmuic *wah wide, vast
Proto-Palaungic *waas / *wah
Lawa wïah
shrimp
Jiamao ʔɔː5
*ʔɲcɔŋ shrimp (proto Katuic)
*ʔə[c/ɟ]ɔŋ shrimp (freshwater) (proto West-Bahnaric)
road
Jiamao tin1
*ɗeeŋ road, way (proto Palaungic)
sesame
Jiamao tiaw4 < PMK *t2rawʔ 'taro'
swim
Jiamao lɔn1
Mang (Jinping) luaŋ31
earring
Jiamao tshiaw1
*tial earring (proto West-Bahnaric)
tiaw earrings (boucle d'oreilles) (Nyaheun)
tiaw earrings; wear something inside one's belt (Nyaheun)
tiɛw earring (Cheng)
kill
Jiamao tse:2
Bolyu ɬi:t10
Proto-Vietic
3.2. Jiamao-Tibeto-Burman comparisons
star
Jiamao tsap7 tsin5
cf. Qiangic, Loloish, Ersuish forms
crab
Jiamao tsha:k9
*Karen chwɛ́q
*Karen tsɣɑi
vomit
Jiamao ʔɔŋ1
*TB ʔon nauseated / vomit
Meithei ong
Written Burmese ʔan
Jingpho ʔan
lung
Jiamao vuəŋ4
PTB *pwar
Tangkhulic *pʰaar
urine
Jiamao tsem5
Pakanic
PTB *tśi
TGTM ᴮtsjam
Tamang, Tani, etc.
pangolin
Jiamao tsa:4
Loloish *krap
arrow
Jiamao pe:1
PTB *b-la
to give
Jiamao mɯan1
Tangkhulic *mi
Kuki-Naga *pe(k)
squirrel
Jiamao ləːn5
PTB *s-ley/ŋ ~ s-rey/ŋ
WB hrañ
black
Jiamao tshey1
*Tangkhulic tsik
Tshangla, Central tsaŋ
Mondzish
to eat
Jiamao tey5
*Tani do
*Northern Naga they
3.3. Jiamao-Kra-Dai (non-Hlai) comparisons
breast
Jiamao ȵen5
Jingxi ni:n3
Daxin nin5
Shangsi nen5
flower
Jiamao ŋɯa1
Proto-Kra *hŋa C
Kra (Gelao, etc.)
new
Jiamao ɬaw4
Proto-Hlai (Ostapirat) *ala:u C
Lachi (Tân Lợi) la0 ʔm45
Gelao (Fengyan) la55 mi55
Gelao (Judu) mi31
sand
Jiamao ɗey1
Mak/Ai-Cham de1
Ong Be (Lincheng) taŋ1
ear
Jiamao kɔ:1
Proto-Tai *krwɯ: A
Dong, Northern ka11
Paha ðɛŋ322 ka322
bird
Central Tai / Kam-Sui
fruit
Jiamao mɯat7
cf. PMP *buaq
right (side)
Jiamao pha:y5 pet10
Gelao (Bigong) pha13 pəɯ31
3.4. Jiamao words of unknown origin
face
Jiamao phan1
not Tai
good
Jiamao maŋ1
none
bite
Jiamao ɗa:n1
cf. Biao Min (Dongshan) than42 to bite (of dogs)
thin
Jiamao ŋa:w1
none
References
Li Jinfang [李锦芳]; Wu Yan [吴艳]. 2017. "Guangdong Wuchuan Jizhaohua gaikuang" [广东吴川吉兆话概况]. In Minzu Yuwen [民族语文] 2017:4.
Liang Min [梁敏]. 1997. A study of Lingao [临高语研究]. Shanghai: Shanghai Far Eastern Publishing House [上海远东出版].
Norquest, Peter K. 2007. A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai (Ph.D. dissertation). Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
Thurgood, Graham. 1992. The aberrancy of the Jiamao dialect of Hlai: speculation on its origins and history. In Ratliff, Martha S. and Schiller, E. (eds.), Papers from the First Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 417-433. Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies.