Comprehensive Documentation of Four Peripheral and Undocumented Rma Languages – Qinglang

Language	Qinglang
Depositor	Nathaniel Sims, Agnes Conrad
Affiliation	University of Oregon
Location	People’s Republic of China
Collection ID	0863
Grant ID	MDP1095
Funding Body	ELDP
Collection Status	Forthcoming
Landing Page Handle	http://hdl.handle.net/2196/56e98130-82cc-4b02-b625-bd248137877b/a>

 

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: Qinglang is spoken by around 300 individuals in seven villages in northern Heishui County (黑水县) who use the autonym [rme]. 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, and there are no monolingual speakers. While Qinglang and Tsharza have a greater degree of intelligibility with each other than with the other Rma languages covered in this project, Qinglang is a point of interest and selected for the current study partly as a result of its unique contact situation. To the immediate north of the Qinglang speaking area are a number of
underdescribed Tibetic languages distinct from the better known Amdo languages farther north (Sun 2025). Qinglang has had sustained contact with at least two of these languages: Dake and Chunag.

The Qinglang speaking villages are located in the northernmost extreme of the Rma speaking region. According to Liu’s (1998) classification of Rma languages, Qinglang is a member of the Cimulin language group (Glottolog code [luhu1242]). Beyond basic mention of their existence and a few words from the Cimulin language–the namesake of the group as a whole–listed in Evans and Sun (2016), no languages in this group have been documented in any way and there is no published or publicly available data.

中文: 青朗话约有300名使用者，分布于黑水县北部的七个村寨，使用自称 [rme]。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，家庭内部的交流通常使用四川官话，且已不存在单语使用者。虽然青朗话与查拉话之间的互通程度高于它们与本项目所涵盖其他尔玛语之间的互通程度，但青朗话之所以被纳入本研究，部分原因在于其独特的语言接触环境。青朗话区正北方分布着若干描述不足的藏话，它们不同于更北方较为知名的安多藏话（Sun 2025）。
青朗话村寨位于尔玛语区最北端。根据刘光坤（1998）对尔玛语的分类，青朗话属于茨木林话组（Glottolog 编码 [luhu1242]）。除 Evans 与 Sun（2016）对作为该话组名称来源的“茨木林话”有基本提及并列出少量词汇外，该话组中的话尚未以任何形式得到记录，也没有公开发表或可获取的数据。

 

Acknowledgement and citation

English: To refer to any data from the collection, please cite 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: Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/d4a456bc-d4da-4533-b85f-14c4a56050cf/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/d4a456bc-d4da-4533-b85f-14c4a56050cf/a>. 访问日期：[此处插入日期]。