Be languages

{{Short description|Kra–Dai languages spoken in China}} {{About|a pair of languages in China|the language with ISO code <code>be</code>|Belarusian language}} {{Infobox language | name = Be | altname = Lingao | states = China | region = Hainan | speakers = 600,000 | date = 2000 | ref = e18 | familycolor = Tai-Kadai | fam2 = Kam–Tai? | fam3 = Be–Tai?<ref name="Hansell1988" /> | fam4 = Be–Jizhao?<ref name="Ostapirat1998">Ostapirat, W. (1998). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23756759 A Mainland Bê Language? / 大陆的Bê语言？]. ''Journal of Chinese Linguistics'', 26(2), 338-344</ref><ref name="glottoBeic">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/beic1239 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Beic |date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=Glottolog |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020040823/glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/beic1239 |archive-date=2023-10-20 |url-status=live |publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |author-link=Harald Hammarström |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |publication-place=Leipzig |doi=10.5281/zenodo.7398962 |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |author-link3=Martin Haspelmath |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian |doi-access=free}}</ref> | iso3 = onb | glotto = ling1270 | glottorefname = Lingao | map = Langues Be-Jizhao.png }}

'''Be''' ({{IPA|onb|ʔɑŋ˧ɓe˧|label=native pronunciation:}}), also known as '''Ong Be''', '''Bê''', or ''Vo Limgao'' ({{zh|t=臨高話|p=Lín'gāohuà}}), is a pair of languages spoken by 600,000 people, 100,000 of them monolingual, on the north-central coast of Hainan Island, including the suburbs of the provincial capital Haikou. The speakers are counted as part of the Han Chinese nationality in census. According to ''Ethnologue'', it is taught in primary schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lingao |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/onb |access-date=2018-12-18 |website=Ethnologue |language=en}}</ref>

==Names== Be speakers refer to themselves as ''{{IPA|ʔaŋ³³vo³³}}'', with ''{{IPA|ʔaŋ³³}}'' being the prefix for persons and ''{{IPA|vo³³}}'' meaning 'village'.{{sfn|Liang|1997|p=1}} Liang (1997) notes that it is similar to the autonym ''{{IPA|ŋaːu¹¹fɔːn¹¹}}'' (from ''{{IPA|ŋaːu¹¹}}'' 'person' and ''{{IPA|fɔːn¹¹}}'' 'village'), by which Gelong {{lang|zh|仡隆}} (Cun language) speakers refer to themselves.

==Classification== The Be languages are a pair of Kra–Dai languages, but its precise relationship to other branches within the Kra-Dai family has yet not been conclusively determined. Hansell (1988)<ref name="Hansell1988">{{Cite book |last=Hansell |first=Mark |title=Comparative Kadai: Linguistic Studies Beyond Tai |date=1988 |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington |editor-last=Edmondson |editor-first=Jerold A. |series=Publications in Linguistics No. 86 |pages=239–288 |language=en |chapter=The Relation of Be to Tai: Evidence from Tones and Initials |editor-last2=Solnit |editor-first2=David B.}}</ref> considers Be to be a sister of the Tai branch based on shared vocabulary, and proposes a ''Be–Tai'' grouping.

Based on toponymic evidence from place names with the prefix ''dya''- ({{lang|zh|调}} diao), Jinfang Li considers Be to have originated from the Leizhou peninsula of Guangdong province.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Xiaoshu 谭晓舒 |date=2015-04-22 |title=Lǐ Jǐnfāng jiàoshòu: "Bīnwēi yǔyán jízhào huà yánjiū" |script-title=zh:李锦芳教授：“濒危语言吉兆话研究” |url=https://wxy.gxun.edu.cn/info/1224/2008.htm |access-date=2021-09-01 |website=Wén xuéyuàn |script-work=zh:文学院 |archive-date=2021-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613054836/http://wxy.gxun.edu.cn/info/1224/2008.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Liang (1997:16) considers Be to have migrated to Hainan from the Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong about 2,500 years ago during the Warring States Period, but not over 3,000 years ago. Liang & Zhang (1996:21–25)<ref name="Liang 1996">{{Cite book |last1=Liang |first1=Min 梁敏 |title=Dòng-Tái yǔzú gàilùn |last2=Zhang |first2=Junru 张均 |date=1996 |publisher=Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe |isbn=7-5004-1681-4 |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:侗台语族概论 |trans-title=An Introduction to the Kam–Tai Languages}}</ref> also believe that Be had migrated from the Leizhou Peninsula to northern Hainan about 2,500 years ago during the Warring States period.

Weera Ostapirat (1998),<ref name="Ostapirat 1998">{{Cite journal |last=Ostapirat |first=Weera |date=1998 |title=A Mainland Bê Language? / Dàlù de bê yǔyán? |journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=338–344 |jstor=23756759}}</ref> analyzing data from Zhang (1992),<ref name="Zhang 1992">{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Zhenxing 张振兴 |date=1992 |title=Guǎngdōngshěng wúchuān fāngyán jì lüè |script-title=zh:广东省吴川方言记略 |journal=Fāngyán |language=zh |volume=1992 |issue=3 |script-journal=zh:方言}}</ref> notes that Be and Jizhao share many lexical similarities and sound correspondences, and that Jizhao may be a remnant Be-related language in China.

According to Ostapirat (2026), Be originated from the present-day borderlands of Guangxi, China and northern Vietnam. The ancestors of Be speakers migrated to northern Hainan via the Leizhou Peninsula.<ref name="Ostapirat2026">{{cite book |last=Ostapirat |first=Weera |chapter=Kra-Dai Migration and Austro-Tai Numerals |publisher=Brill |date=2026 |editor-last1=Kikusawa |editor-first1=Ritsuko |editor-last2=Okamoto |editor-first2=Susumu |editor-last3=Suzuki |editor-first3=Hiroyuki |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004762077/BP000011.xml |page=41–54 |title=Establishing Spatiotemporal Linguistics: Toward an Interdisciplinary Approach to the History of Language and of Human Movement |isbn=978-90-04-76207-7 |doi=10.1163/9789004762077-004}}</ref>

==Dialects== Be consists of the Lincheng ({{lang|zh|临城}}, Western) and Qiongshan ({{lang|zh|琼山}}, Eastern) dialects.{{sfn|Liang|1997}} Liang (1997:32) documents the following varieties of Be. *Lingao County, including Lincheng ({{lang|zh|临城镇}}) and Xinying ({{lang|zh|新盈镇}}) towns *Bailian ({{lang|zh|白莲}}), Chengmai County *Longtang Township ({{lang|zh|龙塘镇}}), Qiongshan District

Be of Chengmai is intermediate between the Lincheng and Qiongshan dialects, and has features of both.{{sfn|Liang|1997}}

Chen (2018) contains extensive comparative lexical data for the Be dialects of Changliu ({{lang|zh|長流}}), Yongxing ({{lang|zh|永興}}), Longtang ({{lang|zh|龍塘}}), Qiaotou ({{lang|zh|橋頭}}), Huangtong ({{lang|zh|皇桐}}), and Xinying ({{lang|zh|新盈}}). The Qiaotou, Huangtong, and Xinying dialects are unintelligible with the Changliu, Yongxing, Longtang, and Shishan ({{lang|zh|石山}}) dialects. Chen (2018) also reconstructs Proto-Ong-Be on the basis of this comparative lexical data.

===Classification=== Chen (2018: 82) classifies the Ong-Be dialects into two groups, which are mutually unintelligible with each other.

{{tree list}} *'''Ong-Be''' **Western Ong-Be ***Qiaotou {{lang|zh|桥头}} ***Huangtong {{lang|zh|皇桐}} ***Maniao {{lang|zh|马尿}} ***Lincheng {{lang|zh|凌城}} ***Jialai {{lang|zh|加來}} ***Meiliang {{lang|zh|美良}} ***Xinying {{lang|zh|新盈}} **Eastern Ong-Be ***Longtang {{lang|zh|龙塘}} ***Longqiao {{lang|zh|龙橋}} ***Longquan {{lang|zh|龙泉}} (formerly Shizilu {{lang|zh|十字路}}) ***Yongxing {{lang|zh|永兴}} ***Shishan {{lang|zh|石山}} ***Changliu {{lang|zh|长流}} ***Laocheng {{lang|zh|老城}} {{tree list/end}}

Schmitz (2024) suggests three dialects:

{{tree list}} *'''Ong-Be (Lingao)''' **Lingao County Lingao ***Bohou {{lang|zh|博厚}} *** Jialai {{lang|zh|加来}} *** Lincheng {{lang|zh|临城}} **Chengmai County Lingao **Haikou City Lingao {{tree list/end}}

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===

==== Initials ==== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Be consonant initials ! colspan="2" | !Labial !Alveolar !(Alveolo-)<br>palatal !Velar !Glottal |- ! rowspan="2" |Plosive !<small>voiceless</small> |({{IPA link|p}}) |{{IPA link|t}} | |{{IPA link|k}} |{{IPA link|ʔ}} |- !<small>glottalized</small> |{{IPA|ʔb}} |{{IPA|ʔd}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Affricate | |{{IPA link|ts}} | | | |- ! rowspan="2" |Fricative !<small>voiceless</small> |{{IPA link|f}} |{{IPA link|s}} |({{IPA link|ɕ}}) |{{IPA link|x}} |{{IPA link|h}} |- !<small>voiced</small> |{{IPA link|v}} | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} |{{IPA link|ȵ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant | |{{IPA link|l}} |{{IPA link|j}} | | |}

* {{IPA|[p]}} is mainly heard in finals, rarely in initials. * {{IPA|/s/}} can also be heard as {{IPA|[ɕ]}} in free variation. * {{IPA|/f/}} can be heard as {{IPA|[pʰ]}} in the dialect of Xindengyi.

==== Finals ==== {|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center |+Be consonant finals ! colspan=1| ! Labial ! Alveolar ! Velar ! Glottal |- ! colspan="1" |Plosive |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} |{{IPA link|k}} |{{IPA link|ʔ}} |- ! colspan=1| Nasal |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | |}

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Be vowels ! !Front !Central !Back |- !High |{{IPA link|i}} | |{{IPA link|u}} |- ! rowspan="2" |Mid |{{IPA link|e}} |{{IPA link|ə}} |{{IPA link|o}} |- |({{IPA link|ɛ}}) |({{IPA link|ɐ}}) |{{IPA link|ɔ}} |- !Low | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|a}} | |}

* Vowels in word-initial position are phonetically heard beginning with a glottal {{IPA|[ʔ]}}. * An open-mid vowel {{IPA|[ɛ]}} occurs in the Chengmai and Qiongshan dialects. * A near-open central vowel sound {{IPA|[ɐ]}} also occurs in the Qiongshan dialect.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=Yuansheng |title=Hǎinán Língāo huà |last2=Ma |first2=Jialin |last3=Wen |first3=Mingying |last4=Wei |first4=Xinglang |date=1985 |publisher=Guangxi minzu chubanshe |location=Nanning |language=zh |script-title=zh:海南临高话}}</ref> === Tones === Be is a tonal language. It has 5 tones: * Rising ({{not a typo|¹}}) * High ({{not a typo|²}}) * Mid ({{not a typo|³}}) * Low ({{not a typo|⁴}}) * Mid checked ({{not a typo|⁷}})

The Bolian dialect has also a high checked tone ({{not a typo|⁸}}).

==See also== *List of Proto-Ong-Be reconstructions (Wiktionary)

==References== {{reflist}}

==Works cited== {{refbegin}} * {{Cite book |last=Liang |first=Min 梁敏 |title=Língāo yǔ yánjiū |date=1997 |publisher=Shanghai yuandong chubanshe 上海远东出版社 |location=Shanghai |language=zh |script-title=zh:临高语研究 |trans-title=A Study of Lingao}} * {{Cite thesis |last=Chen |first=Yen-ling |title=Proto-Ong-Be |date=2018 |type=Ph.D. dissertation |publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa |url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/ChenYenlingFinal.pdf |archive-date=2023-06-05 |access-date=2019-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605121229/http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/ChenYenlingFinal.pdf |url-status=dead }} {{refend}} *Schmitz, Timo. 2024. ''Family Tree: Tai-Kadai Languages''. {url=https://www.academia.edu/114687690/Family_Tree_Tai_Kadai_Languages}

==Further reading== *Zhang, Yuansheng {{lang|zh|张元生}}. 1985. ''Hainan Lingaohua'' {{lang|zh|海南临高话}}. Nanning: Guangxi People's Publishing House {{lang|zh|广西民族出版社}}.

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110520125355/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=724 ABVD: Ong Be word list] * [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Tai–Kadai_languages Ong Be–language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

{{Languages of China}} {{Tai-Kadai languages}}

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Category:Kra–Dai languages Category:Languages of Hainan