Yang Zhuang (Káang Thó / 佒壯)

Yang Zhuang is a central Tai language spoken in southern China, mainly in Napo (那坡县), Jingxi (靖西市) and Debao (德保县) counties in southernwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区). Yang Zhuang speakers call also be found in Funning county (富宁县) of Yunnan province (云南省). In 2004 there were about 765,000 speakers of Yang Zhuang in China. There are also some speakers of Yang Zhuang in Hà Quảng district of Cao Bằng province in northern Vietam.

In each of the areas where the language is spoken, there are numerous dialects. These include Yang, Tianbao, Fouh, Sengh and Caj coux. The Yang dialect, with 371,892 speakers in Jingxi County, is the most spoken.

There is no standard way of writing Yang Zhuang, however Yang Zhuang stories have been written traditionally with a version of the Chinese script known as Sloey Ndep since the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). The Nüshu (𛆁𛈬) script is also used to some extent, although only by women.

Ways to write Yang Zhuang with the Latin alphabet has been developed by Lyáawh Háanh-Poh (廖漢波), a Yang Zhuang scholar, and Sampson Lee, a student of Yang Zhuang from Hong Kong, and are shown below.

Yang Zhuang alphabet

Yang Zhuang alphabet

Notes

Acute (á) and grave (à) accents are used to indicate tones. The tones in each dialect of Yang Zhuang differ significantly. More details.

Download an alphabet chart for Yang Zhuang (Excel)

Sample text in Yang Zhuang

Long joong kin kháw ngyang lum thòw
Cengh-sênh kwey qyòw moy lhaay-lhaay
Nhin lèe hat yaay hóy slak gòw
Són kháw tháw ròw nhin kwà daay

Source: https://abcsampson.github.io/YangZhuang/

Sample video about and in Yang Zhuang

Links

Information about the Yang Zhuang language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Zhuang_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/zyg
https://abcsampson.github.io/YangZhuang/documentation

Tai-Kaidai languages

Ahom, Aiton, Bouyei, Isan, Kam, Khamti, (Tai) Khün, Lao, Lue, Northern Thai (Kam Mueang), Nùng, Shan, Sui, Tai Dam, Tai Dón, Tai Hongjin, Tai Laing, Tai Nuea, Tai Phake, Tai Ya, Thai, Thai Song, Yang Zhuang, Zhuang

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 04.08.23

[top]


Green Web Hosting - Kualo

Why not share this page:

 

Talk in Arabic - Learn Egyptian, Iraqi, Levantine, Sundanese, Moroccan, Algerian or Saudi Arabic

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

Get a 30-day Free Trial of Amazon Prime (UK)

If you're looking for home or car insurance in the UK, why not try Policy Expert?

[top]

iVisa.com