mDungnag Tibetan (or mDung-nag; also known as Dongna 东纳话) is a divergent Tibetic language of western Gansu, China.
Distribution mDungnag is spoken in Qifeng Tibetan Ethnic Township (祁丰藏族乡), Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu, China.Shao, Mingyuan 邵明园 (2018). Hexi Zoulang binwei Zangyu Dongnahua yanjiu 河西走廊濒危藏语东纳话研究 [Study on the mDungnag dialect, an endangered Tibetan language in Hexi Corridor]. Guangzhou: Zhongshan University Publishing House 中山大学出版社.
Classification Shao (2018) notes that mDungnag is not mutually intelligible with either Khams Tibetan or Amdo Tibetan. It may possibly be a divergent form of Amdo Tibetan due to some shared vocabulary, although these similarities could also be due to contact. The exact classification of mDungnag within Tibetic remains uncertain.
Phonology mDungnag is a non-tonal language.
Dialects mDungnag can be divided into two dialects: Hexi 河西 ("West River"): spoken in Baozitan Village 堡子滩村 Hedong 河东 ("East River"): spoken in Qingkedi Village 青稞地村 and Ciyaokou 瓷窑口村 Village. This is the dialect that is primarily documented in Shao (2018).
Some lexical differences between the Hexi and Hedong dialects include the following. Translated English glosses have also been provided to supplement the original Chinese glosses from Shao (2018).
Chinese gloss English gloss Hexi Hedong 乌鸦 crow (bird) kʰɐtʰɐ hɐtʰɐ 黄羊 Mongolian gazelle ʱgʷɐ ʱgo 旱獭 marmot ʂʮ ʂʷa 开水 boiling water tʂʰənkʰo tʂʰəkʰo 大坂 large mountain lʷɐ lɐ 红嘴鸦 Red-billed chough ʰtʂoŋχʷa ʰtʂoŋhɐ 馒头 mantou (steamed bun) kɔrɐ kʷɐrɐ 骆驼 camel ʱŋɐmaŋ ʱŋɐməŋ 白胸黑狗 white-chested black dog taŋkʰar taŋɣar 踩 to step on ʱdə ʱdi 耕地 to plow, till ʰtʂɐk ʱmi (perfective; imperative); ʱmɔ (imperfective) 穿 to wear kon kʷan 骑 to ride ʂon ʂʷan 点火 to ignite, light (fire) ʱdʑon ʱdʑʷan 吵 to quarrel kʰon kʰʷan 使役/使用 to use kʰɔ ko 疼痛 pain ʱdzer zer 舀 to scoop ʰtʂʷi (perfective; imperative); tʂʮ (imperfective) sʷi (perfective; imperative); sʮ (imperfective) 数字连词 numeral affix sɔ ʰtsɐ 棉袄 cotton jacket tʂyɣɔtsə orə 杏子 apricot ɣorək xaŋrə 山羊羔子 kid (of mountain goat) eᶳtsə rəᶳtsə 帽子 hat ⁿgɔʂɐ kɐli 两口子 married couple ʱdzɐwɐ ʱdzɐⁿgɔ 头面 face; woman's head ornaments ʰtəkgʷɔ ʰtəkdʑap
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