E language

For the computer programming language, see E (programming language). For the grammar theory, see E-language.

E
Ei, Wuse
Kjang E
Region	Guangxi, China
Native speakers	5,000 (2016)[1]
Language family	mixed Tai–Pinghua
Language codes
ISO 639-3	eee
Glottolog	eeee1240
Guangxi, of which E is spoken in a small area
Wuse is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

E (IPA: [ɛ⁵⁵]), Ei or Wuse/Wusehua (simplified Chinese: 五色话; traditional Chinese: 五色話; pinyin: Wǔsèhuà; lit. 'Colored Language') is a Tai–Chinese mixed language spoken primarily in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi, China. It contains features of both Tai and Chinese varieties, generally adopting Chinese vocabulary into Tai grammar. E is a tonal language—distinguishing between seven tones—and contains a few rare phonemes: voiceless versions of the more common nasal consonants and alveolar lateral approximant.

Etymology

The E language's unusual name, which is also an autonym, derives from the pinyin transliteration of the rare Mandarin syllable 诶; 誒; ê (IPA: [ɛ⁵⁵]), which conventionally denotes an expression of affirmation (and is distinguished from the usual pronunciation of e by the use of a circumflex).^[2][3] The language's speakers also refer to their language as Kjang E [kiaŋ⁵⁵ ɛ⁵⁵].^[2] Wusehua is a derogatory name for E.^[4]

Geographical distribution

Zhuang people in Guilin

In 1992, E was spoken by about 30,000 people,^[5][2] but by 2008 this number had dwindled to 9,000.^[6] Gao (2016) reported that there were 5,000 speakers of E.^[1] Most E speakers are classified as Zhuang by the Chinese government. E speakers live in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County and border areas of Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County in Guangxi. In Rongshui County, the three main villages inhabited by E speakers are Xiatan 下覃村, Simo 四莫村, and Xinglong 兴隆村 in Yongle Township 永乐乡.^[1] E speakers' most commonly spoken other languages are the Liujia dialect (六甲话) of Yue Chinese and the Guiliu variant of Southwestern Mandarin.^[1]

Phonology

E's consonant and vowel inventories are mostly similar to those of its parent languages. However, it contains a few unusual consonants: the voiceless nasal consonants [n̥], [ŋ̥], [m̥], and the voiceless alveolar lateral approximant [l̥]. All are voiceless versions of consonants that, in most languages, are always voiced. E allows syllabic consonants and diphthongs.^[6]

E consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar		Palatal	Velar		Glottal
			plain	sibilant		plain	labialized
Nasal	voiced	m	n			ŋ
	voiceless	m̥	n̥			ŋ̥
Plosive	unaspirated	p	t	t͡s		k	kʷ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	t͡sʰ		kʰ
Fricative		f		s	ɕ			h
Approximant	voiced		l		j		w
	voiceless		l̥

E vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i	y		u
Mid	e		ə	o
Open	ɛ		a

Like most Southeast Asian languages, including Tai and the varieties of Chinese, E is tonal.^[7] The language is described as having seven tones, with the seventh varying allophonically with the length of the vowel it is attached to. With numbers ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest tone and 5 the highest, the contours of the various tones in E are as follows.^[6]

Tone contours

Number		Contour	Tone letter
1.		42	˦˨
2.		231	˨˧˩
3.		44	˦
4.		35	˧˥
5.		24	˨˦
6.		55	˥
7.	short	24	˨˦
	long	22	˨

Grammar and lexicon

E is usually classified as a mixed language deriving ultimately from the Tai-Kadai and Sino-Tibetan families, which both inhabit southern China and Southeast Asia.^[4] Some non-Chinese scholars, however, consider it a Tai-Kadai language with Chinese influence.^[8] Whatever its classification, the grammar resembles that of the Tai branch of Tai-Kadai. E's grammatical features appear to be a mix of Northern Zhuang, Mulam, and Kam.^[1][7] The Caolan language of Vietnam also displays many similarities with E.^[7]

The vocabulary, however, is mostly Chinese, based on Guiliu and the Tuguai variant of Pinghua.^[1][7] Out of the 2,000 most commonly used E words, only about 200 are of Tai-Kadai origin.^[9] E also inherits elements of these Chinese dialects' phonology and compound word formation.^[1] E morphology is primarily analytic, with concepts such as negation expressed with auxiliary words (pat⁶, m²) and no pronominal agreement.^[6]

In its pronouns, E distinguishes for person between first, second, and third; in number between singular and plural; and, in the case of the first-person plural, between inclusive and exclusive we. E does not, however, make distinctions for grammatical gender.^[6]

Pronouns Person Singular Plural 1. ku^1 lau^2 (incl.) kju^1 (excl.) 2. ŋ^2 su^1 3. mo^5 mo^5 kjau^1

Numbers No. E No. E 1 je꞉t^6 6 l̥ok^6 lok^7 2 soŋ^1 ŋ̥i^5 7 tshat^6 3 sam^1 8 pe꞉t^6 4 si^4 9 kjəu^3 5 ŋ̥a^3 ŋo^3 10 tɕəp^7 ɕəp^7

Notes

1. Gao, Huan 高欢. 2016. Guangxi Ronghsui Aihua yanjiu 广西融水诶话研究. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社.
2. Edmondson 1992, p. 138.
3. Unihan Database 1991.
4. Encyclopedia of Linguistics 2003, p. 207.
5. E language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
6. Greenhill, Blust & Gray 2008.
7. Edmondson 1992, pp. 135–144.
8. Moseley 2012, p. 72.
9. Sun, Hu & Huang 2007, pp. 2596–2620.

References

• Edmondson, Jerold A. (1992). "Fusion and Diffusion in E, Guangxi Province, China". In Dutton, Tom; Ross, Malcolm; Tyron, Darrell (eds.). The Language Game: Papers in Memory of Donald C. Laycock. Canberra: Australian National University. pp. 135–144. hdl:1885/145788.
• Gao, Huan 高欢. 2016. Guangxi Ronghsui Aihua yanjiu 广西融水诶话研究. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社.
• Greenhill, S. J.; Blust, R.; Gray, R. D. (2008). "The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics – Language: Wusehua (Rongshui)". University of Auckland. Archived from the original on 2017-04-13. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
• Sun, Hongkai 孙宏开; Hu, Zengyi 胡增益; Huang, Xing 黄行, eds. (2007). Zhōngguó de yǔyán 中国的语言 [The Languages of China] (in Chinese). Shangwu yinshuguan. ISBN 978-7100043632.
• Moseley, Christopher (2012). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-0-956-60524-5.
• International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: AAVE–Esperanto. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 978-0-195-16783-2.
• "Unihan Data for U+8A92". Unicode.org. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
• Wei, Maofan 韦茂繁 (2011). 五色话研究 [A Study of Wusehua] (in Chinese). Beijing Shi: Minzu chubanshe. ISBN 978-7-105-11365-1.