The Kam language, also known as Gam (

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

: ''lix Gaeml''), or in Chinese, Dong or Tung-Chia, is a Kam–Sui language spoken by the

Dong people The Kam people, officially known in China as Dong people (; endonym: , ), a Kam–Sui people of Southern China, are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They are famed for their native-bred ''Kam ...

. '' Ethnologue'' distinguishes three Kam varieties as separate but closely related languages.

Dialects

The Kam language can be divided into two major subdivisions, Southern Kam and Northern Kam (Yang & Edmondson 2008).Yang Tongyin and Jerold A. Edmondson (2008). "Kam." In Diller, Anthony, Jerold A. Edmondson, and Yongxian Luo ed. ''The Tai–Kadai Languages''. Routledge Language Family Series. Psychology Press, 2008. Northern Kam displays more Chinese influence and lacks vowel length contrast, while Southern Kam is more conservative. Language varieties closely related to or part of Kam include Cao Miao and Naxi Yao. A northern Pinghua variety called

Tongdao Pinghua The Tongdao Pinghua is a variety of Guibei Pinghua (桂北平话) influenced by Kam (Dong). It is spoken by about 25,000 people in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan, China (Shi 2015:137). Although Tongdao Pinghua speakers are classified b ...

, spoken in Tongdao County, Hunan, has also been significantly influenced by Kam. ;Southern Kam *First lectal area: Róngjiāng Zhānglǔ (), Lípíng Hóngzhōu (), Jǐnpíng Qǐméng () in Guizhou; Tōngdào () in Hunan; Longsheng () and Sanjiang Dudong () in Guangxi *Second lectal area: Lípíng Shuǐkǒu (), Cóngjiāng Guàndòng (), Róngjiāng Píngjiāng () in Guizhou; Sānjiāng Hélǐ () in Guangxi *Third lectal area: Zhènyuǎn Bàojīng () in Guizhou *Fourth lectal area: Róngshuǐ () in Guangxi ;Northern Kam *First lectal area: Tiānzhù Shídòng (), Sānsuì Kuǎnchǎng (), Jiànhé Xiǎoguǎng () in Guizhou; also Jǐnpíng Jiǔzhài () in GuizhouTu, Guanglu 涂光禄; Yang, Jun 杨军. 2008. ''Jinpingxian Han, Dong, Miao yu fangyan zhi'' 锦屏县汉侗苗语方言志. Guiyang: Guizhou University Press 贵州大学出版社. *Second lectal area: Tiānzhù Zhǔxī () in Guizhou *Third lectal area: Jǐnpíng Dàtóng () in Guizhou Long (2012:19-20)Long Yaohong []. 2012.
A study of Dong dialectology
[ Dongyu fangyin yanjiu]''. Ph.D. dissertation, Shanghai Normal University []. http://www.taodocs.com/p-5926320.html classifies the Kam lectal areas (dialects) as follows. ;Southern Kam *Lectal area 1 **Chejiang,

Rongjiang County Rongjiang County () is a county in southeastern Guizhou province, China. It is under the administration of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. Administration Rongjiang County is divided into 9 towns and 4 townships and 6 Ethnic t ...

**Longcheng, Tongdao County **Pingdeng,

Longsheng County Longsheng Various Nationalities (Gezu) Autonomous County ( zh, s=龙胜各族自治县, t=龍勝各族自治縣, p=Lóngshèng Gèzú Zìzhìxiàn; za, Lungzhingz Gakcuz Swciyen; usually referred to as "Longsheng County" ) is a county in the nort ...

**Chengyang, Sanjiang County **Hongzhou,

Liping County Liping County () is a county in the southeast of Guizhou province, China, bordering Hunan to the east and Guangxi to the southeast. It is part of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. History The county was affected by the Miao re ...

*Lectal area 2 **Zhaihao,

**Shuikou,

**Guidong,

Congjiang County Congjiang County () is a county in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou, China. It is divided by the Duliu River (), the upper reaches of the Liu River, and borders Guangxi to the south. It is an important transit point as t ...

**Heli, Sanjiang County *Lectal area 3 **Zhaihuai,

Rongshui County Rongshui Miao Autonomous County (; Standard Zhuang: ) is under the administration of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The seat of Rongshui County is Rongshui Town. It borders the prefecture-level divisions of Qiandongnan (Guizhou ...

*Lectal area 4 **Pindong,

;Northern Kam *Lectal area 1 (Highland Dong ) **Shidong, Tianzhu County **Kuanchang,

Sansui County Sansui County () is a county in eastern Guizhou province, China, bordering Hunan province to the east. It is under the administration of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and is one of the province's eastern gateways. Geography ...

**Jiuzhai, Jinping County **Xiaoguang,

Jianhe County Jianhe County () is in the southeast of Guizhou Province, China. Under the administration of Qiandongnan Prefecture, it is from the provincial capital of Guiyang, and from Kaili City, the prefectural seat. Administration Jianhe County admini ...

*Lectal area 2 (River Dong ) **Datong, Jinping County **Sanmentang, Tianzhu County **Lannichong,

Jingzhou County Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County (; usually referred to as Jingzhou County, commonly abbreviated as Jingzhou, ) is an autonomous county of Miao and Dong peoples in Hunan Province, China, the county is under the administration of the pref ...

*Lectal area 3 **Zhuxi, Tianzhu County **Zhongzhai, Xinhuang County *Lectal area 4 **Qimeng, Jinping County *Lectal area 5 **Baojing, Zhenyuan County In

, Dong consists of three dialects: ''Jiudong '' (similar to Chejiang Dong), ''Liudong'' (similar to Liping Dong), and another dialect spoken in Xishan , Bingmei , and Guandong (similar to Sanjiang Dong) (''Congjiang County Gazetteer'' 1999:109). In Suining County, Hunan, Dong is spoken in Lianfeng (including Duolong ), Huangsangping , Le'anpu , and other nearby locations. In

Chengbu County Chengbu Miao Autonomous County (; usually referred to as "Chengbu County", commonly abbreviated as "Chengbu", ) is an autonomous county of Miao people in the Province of Hunan, China, it is under the administration of Shaoyang City. Located on ...

, Hunan, Dong is spoken in Yanzhai , Chang'anying , and Jiangtousi . Kam is also spoken in the single village of Đồng Mộc, Trung Sơn Commune, Yên Sơn District, Tuyên Quang Province, northern Vietnam, where there are about 35 Kam people (Edmondson & Gregerson 2001). The Kam of Đồng Mộc had migrated to Vietnam from China about 150 years ago. The Kam variety spoken in Đồng Mộc is most similar to that of Lípíng Shuǐkǒu () in southeastern Guizhou, China. In China, a total of six counties designated as Dong Autonomous Counties (). *

Yuping Dong Autonomous County Yuping Dong Autonomous County () is an autonomous county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Tongren, in the east of Guizhou Province, China, bordering Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People' ...

, Guizhou *

Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County (; Standard Zhuang: ) is under the administration of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It is a region traditionally inhabited by the Dong people, bordering the prefecture-level divisions of Qiandongn ...

, Guangxi *

Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County (; usually referred to as "Xinhuang County", commonly abbreviated as Xinhuang, ) is an autonomous county of Dong people and the westernmost county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of the pref ...

, Hunan * Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan *

Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County (; usually referred to as Jingzhou County, commonly abbreviated as Jingzhou, ) is an autonomous county of Miao and Dong peoples in Hunan Province, China, the county is under the administration of the pref ...

, Hunan *

Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Tongdao (the full name: "''Tongdao Dong Autonomous County''", ; usually referred to as "''Tongdao County''", ) is an autonomous county of Dong people in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Huaihu ...

, Hunan

Others

According to the ''Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer'' (1997), language varieties closely related to Southern Kam are spoken in Naxi ,

Dongkou County Dongkou County () is a county in the Province of Hunan, China, it is under the administration of Shaoyang City. Located in west-central Hunan, the county is bordered to the northeast by Longhui County, to the northwest by Xupu County and Hongji ...

(which had 4,280 ethnic Yao in 1982 (Chen 2013:39)) and Lianmin , Suining County. However, they are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Yao, not Dong. Chen Qiguang (2013:39) reports that the ancestors of ''Naxihua'' speakers had migrated to their current location from Tianzhu, Liping, and Yuping counties of southeastern Guizhou during the early 15th century. Sanqiao 三锹 (三橇) is a mixed Dong– Miao language spoken in

and Jinping County, Guizhou, China by about 6,000 people.Yu Dazhong ��达忠 2017. "Ethnic Interactions and the Formation of the Sanqiu People in the Borderland of Modern Hunan，Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces ��代湘黔桂边区的族群互动和“三锹人”的形成. In ''Journal of Guizhou Education University'' ��州师范学院学报 Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan 2017).

Phonology and orthography

Kam has two main orthographies: The Chinese academic developed system and the independently developed system by Ngo Van Lyong for Southern Kam as spoken in Rongjiang.Article in ''Omniglot''
/ref> The Chinese system is most commonly used by linguists and has similarities to other Chinese Kra–Dai language orthographies (Such as Zhuang). The Ngo Van Lyong system was inspired by the

Vietnamese alphabet The Vietnamese alphabet ( vi, chữ Quốc ngữ, lit=script of the National language) is the modern Latin writing script or writing system for Vietnamese. It uses the Latin script based on Romance languages originally developed by Portuguese m ...

and is made for speakers and learners. While the Chinese system is the most well known, most Kam speakers are not literate.

Initials

The Chinese orthography for Kam orthography has 32

syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of Phone (phonetics), speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered t ...

-initial consonants; seven of them (, , , , , and ) only occur in recent loanwords from Chinese. The Ngo Van Lyong orthography for Southern Kam has 28 syllable-initial consonants.

Finals

The Chinese orthography for Kam has 64 syllable finals; 14 of them occur only in Chinese loans and are not listed in the table below. The phonetic value of the vowel in the finals spelled ''-ab'', ''-ad'' and ''-ag'', is in syllables that have the tones ''-l'', ''-p'' and ''-c'' (see table below); in syllables with tones ''-s'', ''-t'' and ''-x'', it is . The phonetic value of the vowel in the finals spelled ''-eb'', ''-ed'' and ''-eg'', is in syllables that have the tones ''-l'', ''-p'' and ''-c''; in syllables with tones ''-s'', ''-t'' and ''-x'', it is . The Ngo Van Lyong orthography for Southern Kam has 116 syllable finals.

Tones

Kam is a tonal language. Open syllables can occur in one of nine different tones, checked syllables in six tones (so-called entering tones), so that the traditional approach counts fifteen tones. As with the Hmong alphabet, the Chinese orthography marks tones with a consonant at the end of each syllable. The Ngo Van Lyong orthography marks tones via diacritics written above or below the vowel as with the

and only features 6 tones.

References

* Ōu Hēngyuán 欧亨元: Cic deenx Gaeml Gax / Dòng-Hàn cídiǎn 侗汉词典 (''Kam–Chinese dictionary''; Běijīng 北京, Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 2004), .

External links

Southern Dong word list from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database

Dong-language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words
(from Wiktionary'
Swadesh-list appendix
{{Tai-Kadai languages Languages of China Kam–Sui languages