Comprehensive Documentation of Four Peripheral and Undocumented Rma Languages – Tsharza

Language	Tsharza
Depositor	Nathaniel Sims, Agnes Conrad
Affiliation	University of Oregon
Location	People’s Republic of China
Collection ID	0862
Grant ID	MDP1095
Funding Body	ELDP
Collection Status	Forthcoming
Landing Page Handle	http://hdl.handle.net/2196/4bc7fb1d-0850-4d03-9a3c-6617da4938d5

 

Summary of the collection

English: This collection will contain audiovisual documentation inclusive of natural conversations, folktales, and digital resources showcasing lexicon/narratives related to weaving, farming, and architecture.

中文: 该档案集将包含视听记录材料，其中包括自然会话、民间故事，以及展示与编织、农业和建筑相关词汇与叙事的数字资源。

 

Group represented

English: Within the ethnic classification scheme of the People’s Republic of China, speakers of Rma languages are classified as members of either the Tibetan nationality or the Qiang nationality, two of 56 recognized nationalities of the People’s Republic of China (LaPolla & Huang 2003). The Rma-speaking area is located in the northern reaches of one of the most
culturally and linguistically diverse areas of China, known in the local literature as the ‘Sichuan ethnic corridor’. The cultural diversity of the Rma-speaking people is reflected in widely different types of traditional dress for both men and women (LaPolla & Huang 2003: 9-11), as well as different native non-buddhist religious practices. Heīshuí County is particularly diverse; in addition to Rma speakers, there are speakers of at least five or six different non-Amdo Tibetan languages and Situ Gyalrong (Sun 2025).

Internally, the various Rma-speaking communities employ autonyms such as [m̥a˞, rme, ʐmæ, χmà] among others. Different groups may or may not recognize each other as belonging to the same autonym, but may still identify each other as belonging to one of the nationally recognized ethnic groups, i.e. Qiang or Tibetan. Rma languages have been traditionally split into two major groups: Northern (ISO 639-3 cng) and Southern (ISO 639-3 qxs) (Liu 1998; Sun 1981). It is now recognized that the initial division into Northern and Southern is not justified (Evans & Huang 2007, Huang 2010; LaPolla & Huang 2003; Sims 2016;). There have been published grammars of a number of Rma languages (Huang 2004; Huang & Zhou 2006; LaPolla & Huang 2003; Liu 1998; Sun 1981; Wang 2017; Zheng 2017). Evans (2001), LaPolla and Huang (2003), and Chirkova (2008) give bibliographies of research on Rma languages. At first glance, the apparent volume of sources would indicate fuller documentation than actually exists. However, almost no previous studies have made their source data publicly available and present descriptions do not fully reflect the diversity of these languages.

中文: 尔玛语区位于中国最具文化与语言多样性的地区之一北部边缘，该区域在中国本土文献中被称为“四川民族走廊”。尔玛族群的文化多样性体现在男女传统服饰风格的巨大差异（LaPolla & Huang 2003: 9–11），以及不同的本土非佛教宗教实践。
在内部认同上，各尔玛语社群使用诸如 [m̥a˞]、[rme]、[ʐmæ]、[χmà] 等自称。不同群体可能并不彼此承认属于同一自称体系，但仍可能将彼此认定为国家承认民族中的羌族或藏族。传统上，尔玛语被划分为两大类：北部（ISO 639-3 cng）与南部（ISO 639-3 qxs）（Liu 1998；Sun 1981）。如今人们已经认识到，这种南北划分并不成立（Evans & Huang 2007；Huang 2010；LaPolla & Huang 2003；Sims 2016）。目前已有若干尔玛语的语法著作出版（Huang 2004；Huang & Zhou 2006；LaPolla & Huang 2003；Liu 1998；Sun 1981；Wang 2017；Zheng 2017）。Evans（2001）、LaPolla 与 Huang（2003）以及 Chirkova（2008）对尔玛语研究提供了书目综述。乍看之下，大量研究文献似乎意味着这些话已有较完整的记录；然而，几乎没有先前研究公开其原始数据，而现有描述也未能充分反映这些话的真实多样性。

 

Language information

English: Tsharza is spoken by at most 300 individuals in three villages in northwestern Heishui County (黑水县) who use the autonym [m̥aɹ]. The language is severely endangered. While many speakers in the 20-30 age range grew up using the language to some degree within the home sphere, the language is no longer being passed on to the youngest generation. At present, at home communication typically occurs in Sichuanese Mandarin. There are a few monolingual speakers over the age of 60, but multilingualism is the norm. To the immediate west of the Tsharza speaking area are speakers of Situ Rgyalrong, a morphologically conservative Rgyalrongic language with which the language has certainly been in
historic contact, but in which not many Tsharza speakers are presently fluent.

The Tsharza speaking villages are located in the far northwesternmost corner of the Rma speaking region. Tsharza has a number of linguistic features which are either not known to be shared with other Rma languages (voiceless nasals) or of interest for languages in the north of the Rma-speaking area (conservative person indexation morphology and disyllabic words, robust encoding of evidentiality) (see Evans & Sun 2016).

中文: 查拉话最多约有300名使用者，分布于黑水县西北部三个村寨中，使用自称 [m̥aɹ]。该话已处于严重濒危状态。虽然20至30岁年龄段中的许多人在成长过程中仍在家庭环境中一定程度地使用该话，但该话已不再传给最年轻一代。目前家庭交流通常使用四川官话。60岁以上仍有少量单语使用者，但多语现象是常态。查拉话区西侧紧邻嘉绒话（Situ Rgyalrong）使用者区域。嘉绒话是一种形态结构较为保守的嘉绒语支话，与查拉话在历史上显然存在接触，但目前能熟练掌握嘉绒话的查拉话使用者并不多。
查拉话村寨位于尔玛语区最西北角。查拉话具有若干语言学特征，其中一些尚未发现与其他尔玛语共享（如清鼻音），另一些则对研究北部尔玛语区的话具有重要意义（如保守的人称标记形态、双音节词以及强健的证据性系统）（见 Evans & Sun 2016）。

 

Acknowledgement and citation

English: When referring to any data from this collection, please cite it as follows:
Sims, Nathaniel, Conrad, Agnes, Zhaxi, Rong, and Ludwig Adisiswoyo. 2026. Comprehensive Documentation of Four Peripheral and Undocumented Rma Languages. Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/9474b1c8-3bae-4f89-8135-6c3aa573d8c8/a>.. Accessed on [insert date here].

中文:
Sims, Nathaniel, Conrad, Agnes, Zhaxi, Rong and Ludwig Adisiswoyo. 2026.《四种边缘且未记录尔玛语的综合记录》(Comprehensive Documentation of Four Peripheral and Undocumented Rma Languages). 濒危话档案馆 (Endangered Languages Archive). Handle：http://hdl.handle.net/2196/9474b1c8-3bae-4f89-8135-6c3aa573d8c8/a>. 访问日期：[此处插入日期]。