A'ou (阿欧方言) or Red Gelao (红仡佬语) is an endangered Gelao language spoken by fewer than 100 people in Guizhou, China.[2] Only the Hongfeng (红丰) and Bigong (比贡) dialects are still spoken, each with only a few dozen speakers.

A'ou
Native toChina
RegionGuizhou
Native speakers
50 (2011)[1]
Kra–Dai
Language codes
ISO 639-3aou
Glottologaoua1234

Dialects

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The main dialects of A'ou, which all have limited mutual intelligibility, are:

  • Hongfeng (红丰)[3]
  • Bigong (比贡)[4]
  • Qiaoshang (桥上)[5] (extinct)

Only one elderly speaker of the Houzitian (猴子田) dialect was found in 2013, and it is likely now extinct.[6]


Mulao (木佬) is sometimes also included, in addition to Yi (羿), an extinct A'ou variety of Sichuan.[7]

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar (Alveolo-)
palatal
Velar Uvular Glottal
plain retroflex
Stop voiceless p t k q ʔ
aspirated
voiced b d
Affricate voiceless ts
aspirated tsʰ tɕʰ
Fricative voiceless f s ɕ (x) χ h
voiced v z ʑ ɣ ʁ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral central l ɭ (ˀl)
fricative ɬ
Approximant w j
  • Consonant clusters may include /pl, bl, vl, ml/.
  • /d/ may have an allophone of [ˀl], heard in free variation.
  • Nasal sounds /m, n, ŋ/ may be heard as prenasal sounds [ᵐb, ⁿt, ᵑɡ] when in combination with low tones in initial position.
  • /χ/ may also be heard as velar [x] in free variation.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i (ɯ) u
Mid ɛ (ə) (ɤ) ɔ
Open a
Syllabic ɹ̩
  • Sounds /ə, ɯ, ɤ/ are only heard when in vowel diphthongs /əu, aɯ, əɯ, ɤu/ or triphthongs /iəɯ, iəu, uəɯ/.
  • /ə/ only rarely occurs as a monophthong.
  • /ɛ/ may also be heard as [e] in free variation.[4]

References

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  1. ^ A'ou at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Li Jinfang [李锦芳]. 2006. Studies on endangered languages in the Southwest China [西南地区濒危语言调查研究]. Beijing: Minzu University [中央民族大学出版社].
  3. ^ Zhou Guoyan 周国炎. 2004. Gelao zu mu yu sheng tai yan jiu 仡佬族母語生态硏究 (Studies on the linguistic ecology of the Gelao people). Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House 民族出版社.
  4. ^ a b Li Xia; Li Jinfang; Luo Yongxian. 2014. A Grammar of Zoulei, Southwest China. Bern: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-0343-1344-5
  5. ^ Ostapirat, Weera. 2000. "Proto-Kra." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 23 (1): 1-251.
  6. ^ Hsiu, Andrew. 2017. Red Gelao (Houzitian) audio word list. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1122531
  7. ^ Zhang Jimin 张済民. 1993. Gelao yu yan jiu 仡佬语研究 (A study of Gelao). Guiyang, China: Guizhou People's Press 贵州民族出版社.