區域視野下的羌語支語言：木里縣語言的個案研究

The Qiangic Subgroup from an Areal Perspective: A Case Study of Languages of Muli

本文針對羌語支為漢藏語系亞語族這一假設進行研究並考察其實證效度。該假設認為中國西南地區的 13 種尚未得到充分研究的語言擁有一個共同的起源（即它們具有親緣關係）。本研究通過對四川省木里藏族自治縣內的四種羌語支語言的長時間實地調查及研究，並將其與相鄰的亞語族（彝語、納西語、藏語、漢語）作出比較。在搜集到的材料研究基礎上，本文對羌語支自成一支這個假設提出質疑，認為目前被看作羌語支成員之定義特徵應該是由於相鄰的語言之間的特徵相互擴散。我們進一步提出木里縣內目前被同時劃分為羌語支的四種當地語言各自相異，不大可能有密切的親緣關係，因此，我們認為“羌語支＂應被看作是一個以區域特徵來定義的概念，並提出有關目前被認為是屬於羌語支成員的語言之間的親緣歸屬問題的幾個假設。本文反思羌語支作為亞語族這一問題，並將這一思考推擴到漢藏語系語言之歸屬分類這一問題上。

In this paper, I study the empirical validity of the hypothesis of “Qiangic” as a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan, that is, the hypothesis of a common origin of thirteen little-studied languages of South-West China. This study is based on ongoing work on four Qiangic languages spoken in one locality (Muli Tibetan Autonomous County, Sichuan), and seen in the context of languages of the neighboring genetic subgroups (Yi, Na, Tibetan, Sinitic). Preliminary results of documentation work cast doubt on the validity of Qiangic as a genetic unit, and suggest instead that features presently seen as probative of the membership in this subgroup are rather the result of diffusion across genetic boundaries. I furthermore argue that the four local languages currently labeled Qiangic are highly distinct and not likely to be closely genetically related. Subsequently, I discuss Qiangic as an areal grouping in terms of its defining characteristics, as well as possible hypotheses pertaining to the genetic affiliation of its member languages currently labeled Qiangic. I conclude with some reflections on the issue of subgrouping in the Qiangic context and in Sino-Tibetan at large.