Salar: A Study in Inner Asian Language Contact Processes, Part 1This is a detailed fieldwork-based study of Salar, a mixed, unwritten language of Turkic origin spoken in Northwestern China. Due to its geographic isolation it has become an important object of research for language contact and creolization, since both its dialects have diverged sharply under the influence of Sino-Tibetan and other Turkic languages, incorporating many Chinese and Tibetan elements. The work emphasizes diachrony, and contains an overview of the origins and history of the Salars and their language. The phonemic inventory, synchronic and diachronic phonology, syllable structure, and areal features (obstruent voicing and consonantal preaspiration) are presented and analyzed. |
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Common terms and phrases
affricates Amdo Tibetan Arabic back vowels back-vocalic Bashkïr C.Tkc Chag Chinese loans cognate Common Turkic consonant consonantal corresponds to Oghuz deletion devoicing diachronic dialects diphthongs distinction Eastern epenthesis example final fricative front rounded vowels front vowels Gāndū Gedem Hán high front historical Huàlóng intervocalic Jahriyya Kälpin Kash Kazakh Khakas Kipchak Kïr lbTb lexemes lexical Lín loan words long vowels Modern Salar modern Uyghur Mongolian Mongolic Monguor Munda nasal non-initial Northwest Chinese Northwestern Chinese NWCxn obstruents occurs Oghuz languages Old Turkic onset ONWC palatal Persian phonemic phonological Poppe Potanin's preaspiration Qinghai retroflex Salar language Sarïg Yugur Siberian Turkic speakers spirantization stems stop stress suffix syllable syllable-final syllable-initially Tatar Tenishev Tksh Turkic languages Turkish Turkmen Tuva underlyingly uvular Uyghur velar verb voiced voiceless aspirated vowel length Western Salar word-final Xúnhuà