Japhug language


Japhug is a Gyalrong language spoken in Barkam County, Rngaba, Sichuan, China, in the three townships of Gdong-brgyad, Gsar-rdzong and Da-tshang.
The endonym of the Japhug language is. The name Japhug refers in Japhug to the area comprising Gsar-rdzong and Da-tshang, while that of Gdong-brgyad is also known as , but speakers of Situ Gyalrong use this name to refer to the whole Japhug-speaking area.

Phonology

Japhug is the only toneless Gyalrong language. It has 49 consonants and seven vowels.

Consonants

The phoneme /w/ has the allophones and .
The phoneme is realized as an epiglottal fricative in the coda or preceding another consonant.
The prenasalized consonants are analyzed as units for two reasons. First, there is a phoneme /ɴɢ/, as in /ɴɢoɕna/ "large spider", but neither /ɴ/ nor /ɢ/ exist as independent phonemes. Second, there are clusters of fricatives and prenasalized voiced stops, as in /ʑmbri/ "willow", but never clusters of fricatives and prenasalized voiceless stops.
Japhug distinguishes between palatal plosives and velar plosive + j sequences, as in /co/ "valley" vs. /kjo/ "drag". These both contrast with alveolo-palatal affricates.
There are at least 339 consonant clusters in Japhug, more than in Old Tibetan or in most Indo-European languages. Some of these clusters are typologically unusual: in addition to the previously mentioned clusters of fricatives and prenasalized stops, there are clusters where the first element as a semivowel, as in /jla/ "hybrid of a yak and a cow".

Vowels

Japhug has eight vowel phonemes:,,,,,, and. The vowel is attested in only one native word and its derivatives, but appears in Chinese loanwords.

Grammar

Jacques is a short grammar and Jacques and Chen a text collection with interlinear glosses. Other studies on morphosyntax include Jacques on Direct–inverse marking, Jacques on valency, Jacques on incorporation and Jacques on associated motion.