Santa language

The Santa language, also known as Dongxiang (Template:Lang-zh), is a Mongolic language spoken by the Dongxiang people in Northwest China.

Dialects

There are no dialects in strict sense,Template:Clarify but three local varieties (tuyu) can be found: Suonanba (ca. 50% of all Dongxiang speakers), Wangjiaji (ca. 30% of all Dongxiang speakers) and Sijiaji (ca. 20% of all Dongxiang speakers).

Phonology

Compared to other Mongolic languages, there is no vowel harmony, except for a handful of suffixes. However, the rules governing this phenomenon are by far not as strict as those of Mongolian.Template:Sfnp

Consonants

Santa has 29 consonants:Template:Sfnp

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	plain	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	aspirated	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced			(Template:IPA link)			Template:IPA link
Affricate	plain		(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	aspirated		(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Trill			Template:IPA link

• The aspirated stops , at varying degrees, tend to be affricated before close vowels as respectively:Template:Sfnp
  • : This has the most noticeable affrication, seen in (knife).Template:Sfnp
  • : Still commonly affricated, e.g. (belt).Template:Sfnp
  • : Affrication is salient, but seems to be more apparent with than , as in (chicken).Template:Sfnp
  • : This consonant is the least affricated, but is still attested in (to lie down).Template:Sfnp
• Likewise, before non-close vowels non-aspirated stops do not show affrication e.g. (to guess), (footprint), or (hot).Template:Sfnp
• Phonemes are only found in loanwords:
  • is only found in Chinese-derived words, as in (vegetable; from Chinese ). It is frequently deaffricated to the native .Template:Sfnp
  • is found within Chinese and Persian borrowings, with Persian (earth) rendered as .Template:Sfnp
  • in the same way is seen in words of Chinese and Arabic origin, as in (ginseng; Chinese ).Template:Sfnp
• The nasals assimilate to before labials, as in (to swim) and (cudgel) respectively. also has another allophone Template:IPAblink before uvulars, cf. (walnut).Template:Sfnp
• Nasals are commonly deleted in the coda, which is an areal feature around the border between Gansu and Qinghai. Although it is not restricted to word-final situations, it is rarer to find deletion there as the following consonantal onsets somehow reinforce the nasal. It should also be noted that vowels preceding nasal consonants are also nasalized themselves.Template:Sfnp
• The central approximants are fricativized when syllable-initial, mainly before close vowels. can further be found before front vowels and even low back vowels. An example of fricatization for each is (one hundred) and (to cry).Template:Sfnp This phenomenon can also be found in neighboring languages, including Dungan and Monguor.Template:Sfnp
• , which is usually realized as a fricative, can be pronounced as an approximant in fast speech.Template:Sfnp
• is usually a trill, and length is dependent on the speed of speech; similarly in rapid speech it can become a tap Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp

Vowels

Dongxiang has 7 vowels.Template:Sfnp Unlike other neighboring Mongolic languages, it has limited vowel harmony and no distinctions of vowel length.Template:Sfnp

	Front	Central		Back
		plain	rhotacised	unrounded	rounded
Close	Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Mid		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open				Template:IPA link

• , which is usually a close front vowel, has a backened allophone Template:IPAblink after retroflex consonants, and a slightly opened one Template:IPAblink after alveolar affricates and fricatives. Compare (you [2nd sing.]) with (to fly).Template:Sfnp
• Close vowels are devoiced when in an unstressed initial syllable and between voiceless consonants, for example: (ear), (to catch fire) and (hard). This is not the case though before a voiced consonant, especially if it is of native Mongolic origin, as evidenced with (to be exhausted) and (arrow).Template:Sfnp
  • In Chinese loans, devoicing is optional, i.e. (cupboard; from ) can be pronounced either or .Template:Sfnp
  • The mid-central vowel has also been recorded voiceless in the aforementioned environment: (again).Template:Sfnp
  • Devoicing of can also occur regardless of the following sound and in non-initial syllables, under the condition it occurs after : (tiger) or (children). Interestingly, it is not often the case, as in (pregnant).Template:Sfnp
• is always a syllabified as its own, as in (twenty), with the exception of one Arabic loanword with glottal as the onset: (spirit; from ).Template:Sfnp
• is often pronounced with a considerable degree of labialization , however this can be inconsistent, even in the same utterance; cf. (cloud) vs. (to shout).Template:Sfnp
• When stressed, is typically realized as mid-front Template:IPAblink: (donkey). Before , Template:IPAblink is used instead: (rice). Otherwise in unstressed syllables it is mid-central .Template:Sfnp
• is typically an open back vowel, e.g. (barley), but before alveolar nasals it is fronted to Template:IPAblink; an example is (carrying pole with loads). Before velar nasals, as in ([political] party), the back form is used.Template:Sfnp

Glides

Although true diphthongal sequences (i.e. complex vowel combinations) do not exist in Santa, combinations with the vowels and the glides do.Template:Sfnp The glides are phonetically realized as non-syllabic vowels and the vowels have the following phonetic realizations below, regardless of any previous allophonic rules as mentioned above.Template:Sfnp

Glide/vowel combinationsTemplate:Sfnp

		Vowel + Glide	Glide + Vowel	Additional
		—		—	—
		—	—	—	—
				—	—
			—		—
				—
					—

Distinct phonetic vowel realizations (note that vowels in other environments take the cardinal form):

• :
  • Before , the vowel is raised to , e.g. (pig), falling somewhere in between and .Template:Sfnp
    • If also after , the vowel is optionally dropped, as in (to become).Template:Sfnp
  • After , it is pronounced like stressed ; for instance (one) or (wife).Template:Sfnp
  • Before , backness is often applied so that it varies between : (maggot).Template:Sfnp
• :
  • Before , it may be raised, varying from , see (to stop), (navel).Template:Sfnp
  • Before , the vowel is often raised and backed, ranging from in (to hit the mark), (old).Template:Sfnp

Phonotactics

The general syllable template for Santa is (C)(G)V(G/N), where the brackets represent optional phonemes. C represents any consonant apart from or a glide, G is one of the glides , V is a vowel and G/N is either a glide or a nasal (occasionally also ).Template:Sfnp However, there are further constraints to this scheme:

• The obstruents in words of Monogolic origin can only be found at the beginning of words.Template:Sfnp
• Also, can occur at any position syllable-initially, but not after nasals of glides.Template:Sfnp
• on the other hand can only occur after vowels. It is also possible for to occur after nasals, but not due to the sonorant rule.Template:Sfnp
• can occur word-initially but between syllables only after vowels.Template:Sfnp
• It is impossible for non-compounded words of Mongolic origin for a sonorant (with the exception of the glide ) to follow a nasal after a syllable boundary. However, three exceptions exist: (forehead), (palate) and (to listen).Template:Sfnp
  • Words borrowed from Mandarin Chinese do not follow this rule, seen with (people; from ).Template:Sfnp

Stress

The majority of words in Santa are stressed on the final syllable. Examples include (to walk), (fox) and (village). Stress also shifts to the suffix when added to a word: (fox, genitive case), (village, locative case).Template:Sfnp

However, several exceptions to this rule exist:

• Certain suffix clitics prevent the stress from shifting to the final syllable, as seen in (walk!, imperative), (hammer, instrumental). However, not every clitic follows this rule.Template:Sfnp
• The suffixes and receive penultimate stress: (to walk, progressive) and (as soon as one comes).Template:Sfnp
• Similarly, (tiger) and (cloth) are stressed on the initial syllable. There is a minimal pair with where the stress on the final syllable ()means 'to wake up'.Template:Sfnp
• Loanwords may also violate the final stress rule; this is discussed below.Template:Sfnp

In loanwords

In Chinese loanwords, stress is not predictable; this is likely due to the tonal influence from the original pronunciation. However, these tones are based on the dialects of the Hui people rather than the standard dialect. Examples of non-final stress include (nurse; from ), (rice paddy; from ) and (soybean; from ). Minimal pairs, though uncommon, also exist. One example is (persimmon; from ) and (lion; from ).Template:Sfnp

There are a number of Arabic loanwords which also violate ultimate stress; these include (wisdom; from ), (dowry; from ), (body, form; from ), etc.Template:Sfnp

Some words with unknown origin may also stress on other syllables, including (wild goose), (urinary bladder) and (great-grandfather).Template:Sfnp

Grammar

Morphology

Plural marking

• -la (remaining of nouns)

• -sla/-sila (certain nouns and pronouns)

• -pi (relatives)

Cases

Santa has 6 cases.Template:Sfnp

Case	Marker	Example	Meaning
Nominative	-∅		the horse ran
Genitive-accusative	()		water of the spring
Dative-locative-benefactive			climb the mountain
Ablative-comparative			better than last year
Comitative (joint case)			you go together with Ibura
Comitative (aspect case)			I want to settle accounts with you
Sociative-instrumental			speak in Chinese
Locative-prosecutive			look along the river

Possessive

Pronoun

Word	Note	Meaning
	(also -miyi, -miy)	my horse
	(also -matayi, -matay)	our (inclusive) horse
	(also -bijieyi, -bijiey)	our (exclusive) horse
	(also -chiyis, -chiy)	your horse
	(also -tayi, -tay)	your (plural) horse
		him/her/their (any 3rd person pronoun) horse

Reflexive

Particle	Word	Meaning
		you call your elder brother to come

Pronoun declension

1st person

Case	Singular	Plural
		Exclusive	Inclusive
Nominative	bi / orun (quotation)	bijien	matan / oruntan (quotation)
Genitive-accusative	mi-ni / nama-ni (namiyi)	bijien-ni	matan-ni / ma-ni
Dative-locative	nama-de / ma-de	bijien-de	matan-de
Ablative-comparative	nama-se / ma-se	bijien-se	matan-se
Comitative (joint case)	nama-le / ma-le	bijien-le	matan-le
Sociative-instrumental	bi-ghala	bijien-ghala	matan-ghala

2nd person

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	chi	ta / tan
Genitive-accusative	chi-ni	ta-ni
Dative-locative	chima-de	tan-de
Ablative-comparative	chima-se / cha-se	tan-se
Comitative (joint case)	chima-le	tan-le
Sociative-instrumental	chi-ghala	ta-ghala

3rd person

Case	Singular			Plural
Nominative	hhe	tere	egven	hhela	terela	egvenla
Genitive-accusative				hhesila	teresila	egvesila
Dative-locative	hhe-ni	tere-ni	egen-ni	hhela-ni	terela-ni	egvenla-ni
Ablative-comparative	hhe-nde	tere-(n)de / ten-de	egven-de	hhela-de	terela-de	egvenla-de
Comitative (joint case)	hhe-nse	tere-(n)se	egven-se	hhela-se	terela-se	egvenla-se
Sociative-instrumental	hhe-nle	tere-le	egven-le	hhela-le	terela-le	egvenla-le
Sociative instrumental	hhe-ghala	tere-ghala	egven-ghala	hhela-ghala	terela-ghala	egvenla-ghala

Verb suffix

Active verb

Type category (mood or modality)

Case	Particle	Example	Meaning
Imperative	-ye	matanghala yawu-ye	let's go (dual)
	-gie	chini gien ghujingvan gaoda-gie	may your illness heal quickly
Declarative	-we	bi uzhe-we	I watched

Aspect category (manner or state of verb action)

Aspect	Particle	Example	Meaning
Perfect	-we	bi bazade echi-we	I have gone to Linxia
Imperfect	-ne	chi khala echi-ne	where are you going?
Continuative	-zhiwe (-zho)	ana-miyi budan gie-zhiwe	my mum is cooking

Voice category (relationship between action and its subject)

Voice	Particle	Example	Meaning
Active voice	-∅
Causative voice	-gva	bai-gva	to establish
Cooperative voice	-ndu	jie-ndu	to eat

Numeral: Singular has no suffix, plural suffix is -ndu, the same as Cooperative voice.

Numbers: Singular has no additional component, plural's additional component is -ndu, the same as the additional component for Cooperative voice.

Adverbial verb

Adverb	Particle	Example	Meaning
Coordinative adverbial verb	-zhi	shira-zhi ijie	to roast and eat
Repetitive adverbial verb	-n	wila-n wila-n yawulawe	walking while crying and crying
Purpose adverbial verb	-le	bi nie uzhe-le irewe	I came to take a look
Separative adverbial verb	-dene (-de)	chi ijie-dene bi ijieye	you eat first, then I'll eat
Conditional adverbial verb	-se	ghura bao-se bi ulie irene	if it rains, I won't come
Choice, Limit adverbial verb	-tala	khara olu-tala wilie giewe	work until it gets dark
Concessive adverbial verb	-senu	eqiemagva bosi-senu shu uzhezho	read a book after getting up in the morning

Stative verb

Tense	Particle	Example	Meaning
Past	-san (-sen)	ene baodei bolu-sanwe	this wheat is ripe
Future	-ku / -wu	echi-ku mo gholowe	the road that needs to be taken is long
Present	-chin	enende sao-chin kun wainu uwe	is there anyone living here?

Existential verbs bi and wi

		bi	wi
Active verb		wai-ne	wi-we
Stative verb	Past stative verb	bi-san	wi-san
	Future stative verb	bi-ku	wi-ku
	Present stative verb	bi-chin	wi-chin
Adverbial verb	Coordinative adverbial verb	bi-zhi	wi-zhi
	Separative adverbial verb	bi-dene	wi-dene
	Conditional adverbial verb	bi-se	wi-se
	Choice, Limit adverbial verb	bi-tala	wi-tala
	Concessive adverbial verb	bi-senu	wi-senu

Tense	Particle	Example	Meaning
Speculative	bi-mu	hhen-de baer bi-mu	he might be rich
Recollective	bi-lai	hhe nasun giedun bi-lai bi matawe	I forgot how old he is

Syntax

In common with other Mongolic languages, Dongxiang is spoken as an SOV language. In Linxia, however, under the influence of the Mandarin Chinese dialects spoken by the neighbouring Hui people, sentences of the SVO type have also been observed.Template:Sfnp

Writing system

Knowledge of Arabic is widespread among the Sarta and as a result, they often use the Arabic script to write down their language informally (cf. the Xiao'erjing system that was used by Hui people); however, this has been little investigated by scholars. Template:As of, the official Latin alphabet for Dongxiang, developed on the basis of the Monguor alphabet, remained in the experimental stage:Template:Sfnp

Consonants

Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA
	Template:Efn
	Template:Efn

Vowels

Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA	Letter	IPA
Template:Efn

Numerals

Numeral	Dongxiang	IPA	Classical Mongolian
1			Template:Transliteration
2			Template:Transliteration
3			Template:Transliteration
4			Template:Transliteration
5			Template:Transliteration
6			Template:Transliteration
7			Template:Transliteration
8			Template:Transliteration
9			Template:Transliteration
10			Template:Transliteration

Some numbers in Dongxiang have been heavily influenced by Mandarin. These include 30 () and 40 (). Meanwhile, both and are used for 20.

The Tangwang language

There are about 20,000 people in the north-eastern part Dongxiang County, who self-identify as Dongxiang or Hui people who do not speak Dongxiang, but natively speak a Dongxiang-influenced form of Mandarin Chinese. The linguist Mei W. Lee-Smith calls this the "Tangwang language" (Template:Lang-zh), based on the names of the two largest villages (Tangjia and Wangjia, parts of Tangwang Town) where it is spoken and argues it is a creolized language.Template:Sfnp According to Lee-Smith, the Tangwang language uses mostly Mandarin words and morphemes with Dongxiang grammar. Besides Dongxiang loanwords, Tangwang also has a substantial number of Arabic and Persian loanwords.Template:Sfnp

Like Standard Mandarin, Tangwang is a tonal language, but grammatical particles, which are typically borrowed from Mandarin, but are used in the way Dongxiang morphemes would be used in Dongxiang, do not carry tones.Template:Sfnp

For example, while the Mandarin plural suffix -men (们) has only very restricted usage (it can be used with personal pronouns and some nouns related to people), Tangwang uses it, in the form -m, universally, the way Dongxiang would use its plural suffix -la. Mandarin pronoun ni (你) can be used in Tangwang as a possessive suffix (meaning "your"). Unlike Mandarin, but like Dongxiang, Tangwang has grammatical cases as well (however only four of them, unlike eight in Dongxiang).Template:Sfnp

Further reading

• Template:Dead link

External links

• The Dongxiang Mongols and Their Language
• An example of the Dongxiang language being spoken