Pronunciation [pa˧˩ŋ̊ŋ˧˥] Native speakers 34,000 (1995–2009) Glottolog pahn1237 | Native to China, Vietnam ISO 639-3 pha | |
Language family Hmong–Mien
Hmongic
Bahengic
Pa-Hng | ||
Pa-Hng (also spelled Pa-Hung; Chinese: 巴哼语 Bāhēng yǔ) is a divergent Hmongic (Miao) language spoken in Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan in southern China as well as northern Vietnam.
Contents
Classification
Pa-Hng has long been recognized as divergent. Benedict (1986) argued that one of its dialects constituted a separate branch of the Miao–Yao family. Ratliff (2010) found it to be the most divergent Hmongic (Miao) language that she analyzed. This Bahengic branch also includes Younuo (Yuno) and Wunai (Hm Nai).
Names
Pa-Hng speakers are called by the following names (Mao & Li 1997).
In Liping County, Guizhou, the Dong people call the Pa-Hng ka˧˩jiu˧ (嘎优), while the Miao people call them ta˥tia˦˨ju˧ (大达优). In Tongdao County, Hunan, the Pa-Hng (xeŋ˧) are also known as the Seven Surname Yao 七姓瑶, since they have the seven surnames of Shen 沈, Lan 兰, Dai 戴, Deng 邓, Ding 丁, Pu 蒲, and Feng 奉.
In China, Pa-Hng speakers are classified as Yao, even though their language is Hmongic rather than Mienic.
Varieties
Mao & Li (1997) splits Pa-Hng into the following subdivisions, and most closely related to Hm Nai:
Vocabulary word lists for these three Pa-Hng varieties can be found in Mao & Li (1997). An additional dialect is found in Vietnam.
The Na-e dialect (also known by the Vietnamese rendition of Pa-Hng, Pà Then [Pateng]), is a geographic outlier. Paul Benedict (1986) argued that it is not actually Pa-Hng, or even Hmongic, but a separate branch of the Miao–Yao language family. However, Strecker (1987) responded that it does appear to be a Pa-Hng dialect, though it has some peculiarities, and that Pa-Hng as a whole is divergent.
Jerold A. Edmondson has reported Pa-Hng dialects in Bac Quang District and Hong Quang Village of Chiem Hoa District in northern Vietnam, and found that they were most closely related to the Pa-Hng dialect spoken in Gaoji Township 高基, Sanjiang County, Guangxi.
China
Pa-Hng speakers are distributed in the following counties in China. Most of the counties have 1,000 - 6,000 Pa-Hng speakers (Mao & Li 1997).
Vietnam
Pa-Hng is also spoken in small pockets of northern Vietnam. In Vietnam, the Pa-Hng are an officially recognized ethnic group numbering around a few thousand people, where they are called Pà Thẻn. Na-e as reported by Bonifacy (1905) is also found in northern Vietnam.
According to Vu (2013:12-15), the ancestors of the Pà Thẻn had first migrated from Guangxi to Hải Ninh (now Quảng Ninh Province), and then from Hải Ninh to the Thái Nguyên area. The Pà Thẻn then split off to settle in three main areas.