Khroskyabs (, previously known as Lavrung, native name in the Wobzi dialect: bósʁæi "Tibetan language") is a Gyalrongic language of China. It is called Guanyinqiao in Ethnologue after a town in western Sichuan where one dialect of the language is spoken, Thugsrje Chenbo (). It has been referred to as Lavrung in previous publications.
Speakers are classified as ethnic Tibetans by the Chinese government.
Dialects Based on shared phonological and morphological innovations, identifies two major branches of Khroskyabs: Core Khroskyabs dialects and Njorogs (业隆话). Core-Khroskyabs dialects are further divided into Phosul and Thugschen. The Thugschen dialects include Siyuewu (斯跃武), Wobzi (俄热), 'Brongrdzong (木尔宗) and Guanyinqiao (观音桥).
'Jorogs (Yelong 业隆) Core Khroskyabs dialects Phosul (Puxi 蒲西) Thugschen Siyuewu (斯跃武) Eastern Thugschen Wobzi (Ere 俄热) Thugs-'Brong 'Brongrdzong (Muerzong 木尔宗) Guanyinqiao (观音桥)
Huang (2007:155) recognizes 3 main dialects of Khroskyabs (, using the term Lavrung Chinese: Lawurong 拉坞戎) by a total of about 10,000 people dispersed along the Duke River (杜柯河) Valley of northwestern Sichuan, just to the west of Barkam Town. The dialects are: Guanyinqiao (观音桥): spoken by over 8,800 people across a relatively wide geographic area, mostly in Jinchuan County (in the townships of Guanyinqiao 观音桥乡, Ere 俄热乡, Ergali 二嘎里乡, Taiyanghe 太阳河乡 (in Maidigou village 麦地沟村)), and also in Muerzong Township 木尔宗乡 of Barkam County and in Siyuewu Village 斯跃武村, Puxi Township 蒲西乡 of Rangtang County. Huang (2007) uses the Maisika Hamlet 麦斯卡寨 variety in Sitao Village 斯滔村, Guanyinqiao Township 观音桥乡 as the representative datapoint, for which a lengthy word list is provided in the appendix. Lai (2017) refers to this dialect as Thugschen (the Tibetan name for Guanyinqiao 观音桥). Extensive lexical data and recordings for the four Thugschen varieties of Guanyinqiao 观音桥乡, Muerzong 木尔宗乡, Ere 俄热乡, and Siyuewu 斯跃武村 are provided in Nagano & Prins (2013).Nagano, Yasuhiko (長野 泰彦); Prins, Marielle (eds.) (2013). rGyalrongic Languages Database. Osaka: Minpaku. Yelong (业隆): spoken in Yelong Village 业隆村 in Jimu Township 集沐乡, Jinchuan County and also in Nianke 年克村 and Dashidang 大石凼村 Villages in Baiwan Township 白湾乡, Barkam County. Total of about 1,000 speakers. As the easternmost dialect, the Yelong dialect has undergone areal influence from Situ (a rGyalrong language). Huang (2007) uses the Zhousai Hamlet 周塞寨 variety in Yelong Village 业隆村 as the representative datapoint, for which a lengthy word list is provided in the appendix. Lai (2017) refers to this dialect as Njorogs, and considers it to be the most divergent dialect. Xiaoyili (小依里): spoken in Puxi 蒲西村 and Xiaoyili 小依里村 Villages in Puxi Township 蒲西乡, Rangtang County by just over 120 people. Within Xiaoyili Village, it is spoken by a total of 15 households in Luoxi Hamlet 罗西寨 (Khroskyabs name: lo33 ʃi33), Luosituo Hamlet 罗斯托寨 (Khroskyabs name: rəɣ33 stʰu55), and Hamlet 88 八十八寨 (Khroskyabs name: bə55 jəm33) (Huang 2007:2). Within Puxi Village (Khroskyabs name: pʰu33 se55), it is spoken by a total of 8 households in Se'erya Hamlet 色尔亚寨 (Khroskyabs name: fsər33 jɐ55). As the westernmost dialect, the Xiaoyili dialect has undergone areal influence from Northern Horpa. Huang (2007) uses the Luoxi Hamlet 罗西寨 variety as the representative datapoint. Lai (2017) refers to this dialect as Phosul.
Khroskyabs names and speaker populations for Guanyinqiao dialect locations are (Huang 2007:1-2): Location Khroskyabs name County Speakers Guanyinqiao 观音桥乡 grəm53 de33 Jinchuan County 2,200+ Ere 俄热乡 ʁo55 vzi33 Jinchuan County 2,500+ Ergali 二嘎里乡 rga55 ne33 Jinchuan County 2,000+ Maidigou 麦地沟村 ʁji55 ba33 Jinchuan County 300+ Muerzong 木尔宗乡 mbruŋ55 zuŋ33 Barkam County 1,280+ Siyuewu 斯跃武村 sjo33 rgən53 Rangtang County 523
Khroskyabs names and speaker populations for Yelong dialect locations are (Huang 2007:1-2): Location Khroskyabs name County Speakers Yelong 业隆村 dʑa33 ro55 Jinchuan County 530+ Nianke 年克村 ȵam55 kʰe33 Barkam County 188+ Dashidang 大石凼村 sto55 de33 Barkam County 286+
Phonology Onsets The Wobzi dialect has 42 consonantal phonemes, shown in the table below. Other Khroskyabs dialects exhibit similar systems.
+Wobzi Khroskyabs consonantsLabialDentalAlveolarRetroflexAlveolo-palatalPalatalVelarUvularOcclusivenasal ()voicedvoicelessaspiratedContinuantvoiced, ()voiceless()Trill
Khroskyabs dialects present complex consonant clusters. A consonant cluster in Wobzi is composed of three parts, preinitial(s), initial and medial, which can be tested through a partial reduplication process. 757 consonant clusters are attested according to . A single cluster can contain up to six consonants in a row: ʁjnlzdə̂ "to be made to buy for one's benefit".
The ordering of preinitials in a consonant cluster follows a language-specific sonority hierarchy :
ʁ- > j- > N-, m- > v- > r-, l- > s-, z-
Rhymes Wobzi Khroskyabs has 9 vowel phonemes, listed in the table below. One diphthong is found, æi. Most Core-Khroskyabs dialects have similar vowel systems. In Phosul, a complete series of velarised vowels are attested : iˠ, uˠ, eˠ, oˠ, ʌˠ.
+Wobzi Khroskyabs vowelsFrontCentralBackCloseNear-closeClose-midMid/Near-openOpen
Except for conjugated verb forms, Khroskyabs does not allow complex codas. In the Wobzi dialect, complex codas are prohibited even in conjugated verbs. The rhymes attested in Wobzi Khroskyabs are listed in the table below, with forms in conjugated verbs between parentheses.
+Wobzi Khroskyabs rhymes-m-v-t-n-l-r-j--ɣ-ŋi -iv(-in)(-ɪj)(-ɑŋ)e -em -en -er(-æj)(-ɑŋ)æ -æm -æv -æt -æn -æl -ær(-æj)(-ɑŋ)a(-an)(-aj)(-aŋ)ɑ -ɑv(-ɑn)(-ɑl) -ɑr(-æj) -ɑɣ -ɑŋə -əm -əv -ət -ən -əl -ər(-ɪj) -əɣ(-ʊŋ)o -ov -ot -on -ol -or(-oj)(-ʊŋ)u(-un) -ur(-uj)(-ʊŋ)əˠ(-əˠn)æi(-æin)(-æɪj)(-ɑŋ)
Tones Two tones are attested in Khroskyabs, a high (H) tone, noted σ́, and a high-falling (HL) tone, noted σ̂. Some minimal pairs in Wobzi Khroskyabs are illustrated in the table below.
+Wobzi Khroskyabs tonesHGlossHLGlossjlérabbitjlêfluteʁbɑ́ɣto explodeʁbɑ̂ɣto be numeroussʁǽilanguage, soundsʁæ̂ito return, to give back
Only one syllable in a phonological word can bear a tone, and the surface tones of the other syllable(s), if existent, are derived from the tone-bearing syllable.
Grammar
Noun phrase
Number Khroskyabs dialects have two number markers, =ne for dual and =ɟi for plural: kɑpə̂=ne (book=) "two books", kɑpə̂=ɟi (book=) "(more than two) books". Like many East Asian languages, number markers are prohibited when a numeral is present:
Khroskyabs presents a rich array of classifiers. A non-exhaustive list of classifiers in the Wobzi dialects is shown below (with the numeral prefix ə̂- "one").
+ClassifierGlossə̂-logeneral classifierə̂-ʁæihumansə̂-rgɑɣround objects, humansə̂-ɬpʰathin and flat objectsə̂-gilong objectsə̂-bjæclothesə̂-χpʰotrees
Vocative
Vocative is formed by assigning a high-falling tone to the penultimate syllable of a noun phrase.
+Noun phraseVocative formtʂɑɕî 'Bkrashis'tʂɑ̂ɕilŋá=ɟi (child=PL) 'children' lŋâ=ɟivluvzɑ̂ŋdondʐəv 'Blobzang Dondrub'vluvzɑŋdôndʐəv
Case marking
A series of enclitic case markers are attested in Khroskyabs. The Wobzi case markers are listed in the table below.
+Case markerFunction=jigenitive, allative=kʰedative, ablative=ɣəergative, instrumental=scecomitative=ʁɑlocative=scilocative=tʰɑsuperessive=lɑinessive=gəinessive=spərəinessive (be covered)=kʰuinessive (be wrapped in)=visubessive=çtʰusubessive (lower part of places)
Definiteness and demonstratives Khroskyabs possesses a definite article tə. The article follows the noun it marks as definite, but comes before plural and case markers.
Khroskyabs also has two demonstratives, cə̂(tə) "this" and æ̂tə "that". They precede the noun they attach to, and are obligatorily accompanied by the definite article tə.
In the Wobzi dialect, the obligatory definite article when paired with demonstratives is suppressed in the dual and plural numbers, but in Siyuewu no such suppression occurs.
Verbal template
The Khroskyabs verb exhibits a templatic morphology with a strong prefixing preference, which means every affix is obligatorily positioned in its own slot which is impossible to change. The table below shows the verbal template of Wobzi Khroskyabs . +-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1012sə̂a-æ-, næ-, etc.u-mə-zə̂-ʁ-N-v-s-ʁjæ̂-NOUNVERB -ŋ, -j, -n -Cɑ/usə̂b-ɑ̂-tə-z-ə̂-ɕə-InflectionalDerivationalStemInflectionalReduplication
Prefixes: Incorporated noun; Reflexive ʁjæ̂; Causative s- and z-; Causative v-; Autobenefactive N-; Intransitive-passive ʁ-; Conditional zə̂-; Negative mə-/mɑ-/mæ-/tə-, interrogative ɕə-; Inverse u-, irrealis ɑ̂-, interrogative ə̂-; Orientational prefixes æ-, næ-, kə-, nə-, læ-, və-, rə-; Progressive sə̂a-, superlative sə̂b-.
Suffixes: Person endings: -ŋ, -j, -n; Reduplication
In the following subsections, some characteristics of the affixes are presented.
Compatibility
The superlative prefix sə̂b- is compatible with stative verbs and only very few dynamic verbs: sə̂b-tsʰa (SUPERL-be.good1) 'best', but *sə̂b-və (SUPERL-go1).
Negative has four allomorphs. mə- is used when no other prefix precedes: mə-tsʰâ (NEG1-be.good) (it is not good); mæ- is used when an orientational prefix precedes: næ-mæ-tsʰâ (IPFV.PST-NEG2-be.good1); mɑ- is used in perfective or past forms of a verb that prohibits the use of orientational prefixes in such situations: mɑ-vdé (NEG3-see2) '(s)he did not see' (vdê 'to see' does not allow any orientational prefix in past form); tə- is used in irrealis situations, imperative, jussive and conditional with ɑ̂- (not zə̂-): æ-tə-dzî-n (IMP-NEG4-eat1-2) 'Don't eat!'; ɑ̂-tə-dzi (JUSS-NEG4-eat1) 'Let her/him not eat. '
The interrogative prefixes ə̂- and ɕə- cannot coexist.
The irrealis prefix ɑ̂- and the conditional prefix zə̂- cannot coexist.
Causative s-
The causative prefix s- in Wobzi Khroskyabs undergoes various morphophonological processes, including voicing assimilation, lateral dissimilation, affrication, metathesis and lateral assimilation.
Voicing assimilation: s- becomes voiced z- before voiced stops and stays voiceless before voiceless consonants and sonorants. s- + kʰɑ̂ 'to give' → s-kʰɑ̂ 'to cause to give' s- + gí 'to wear' → z-gí 'to cause to wear' s- + mó 'to be hungry' → s-mó 'to cause to be hungry' Lateral dissimilation: s- becomes l- or ɬ- (depending on the voicing of the following consonant) when it precedes dental fricatives and affricates. s- + sɑ̂ 'to kill' → ɬ-sɑ̂ 'to cause to kill' s- + dzî 'to eat' → l-dzî 'to cause to eat' Affrication: Affrication is not productive in Wobzi Khroskyabs. Its trace can be found in the causativisation of the verb rʑə̂ 'to wash', l-dʑə̂ 'to cause to watch', in which the fricative ʑ- becomes an affricate, dʑ-. Metathesis: There are two types of metatheses in Wobzi Khroskyabs, prefix ordering metathesis and vCVr metathesis. The prefix ordering metathesis follows the sonority hierarchy of the preinitials. If the prefix s- is to be added to a verb stem already containing preinitials that ranks higher in the sonority hierarchy, it must be metathesised. s- + ʁbɑ́ɣ 'to explode' → ʁ⟨z⟩bɑ́ɣ 'to cause to explode' s- + jbə̂v 'to be swollen' → j⟨z⟩bə̂v 'to cause to be swollen' The preinitials l- and r-, N- and m- drop when the causative prefix s- is added, while the case is optional for the preinitials j- and v-. s- + mkʰæ̂ 'to be expert' → m⟨s⟩kʰæ̂ → s-kʰæ̂ 'to cause to be expert' s- + rlǽ 'to peel' → r⟨s⟩lǽ → s-lǽ 'to cause to peel' s- + ɬqʰǽl 'to be dirty' → ɬ⟨s⟩qʰǽl → s-qʰǽl 'to cause to be dirty' vCVr metathesis, as its name suggests, concerns verbs with v- as preinitial and -r as coda. s- + vzɑ́r 'to be spicy' → l-zɑ́v 'to cause to be spicy' vcVr metathesis is a Wobzi-specific process, not found in other Khroskyabs dialects. Some verbs with a falling tone undergo tone change into a high one when causative s- is applied. The process is not productive.