Notes on the T'en (Yanghuang) Language Part I: Introduction and Phonology

Notes on the T'en (Yanghuang) Language Part I: Introduction and Phonology

The speakers of the T'en language, known to the Chinese as Yaughuang 羊黃 or 楊黃, are now found in a small number of villages in the district of Huishui 惠水 (formerly Tingfan 定番), just south of the provincial capital Kweiyang 貴陽 They live among the Northern Tai speakers, and usually know the local Tai dialect. In the Kweichow T'ung-chih 貴州通志 (1741), the Yanghuang people are said to be very numerous and to be found all over the provice with many subgroups, but in the Kweiyang Fu Chih 貴陽府志 (1850), they are said to be found only in Tingfan, namely Huishui. The statement in Kweichow T'ung-chih apparently follows T'ien Wen's Chien Shu 田雯, 黔書 (1690), in which the Yanghuang people are said to be found as far northeast as in Lungch'uan 龍泉 (now called Fengkang 鳳岡), as far southeast as in Lip'ing 黎平. and also in Tuyün 都勻 and Lungli 龍里, almost in the center of the province. The interpretation of these different statements about the distribution of this group is a difficult one.