Variation, contact, and change in language varieties in Yul shul (northern Khams)
Abstract
This article describes Tibetan dialect standardization due to rural-urban migration and participation in formal schooling in Yul shul Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. As socio-economic development of China’s Tibetan regions accelerates in the twenty-first century, rural people travel and relocate to regional urban centers more frequently, and are thus exposed to a variety of dialects. Meanwhile, participation in formal state-sponsored schooling is also increasing. Both these phenomena create new sociolinguistic environments in which regiolect standardization is occurring. To investigate this situation, I conducted a survey of one middle school class and one associate diploma class at two different educational institutions in Khams, in order to investigate how students’ accents shift to standard regional regiolects, such as Sga ba regiolect in Yul shul.
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Appendix 1. List of place names
| Wyllie | Tibetan | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skye dgu mdo | སྐྱེ་དགུ་མདོ། | 结古 | Jiegu |
| ‘Bri stod | འབྲི་སྟོད། | 治多 | Zhiduo |
| Amdo | ཨ་མདོ། | 安多 | Anduo |
| Bla rang | 拉布楞 | labuleng | |
| Chab mdo | ཆབ་མདོ། | 昌都 | Changdu |
| Chu dmar leb | ཆུ་དམར་ལེབ། | 曲麻莱 | Qiumalai |
| Dkar mdzes | དཀར་མཛེས། | 甘孜 | Ganzi |
| Dge rgyas | 杂多 | ||
| Gron chen |  | 珍秦 | Zhenqin |
| Gser rta |  | 色达 | Seda |
| Khams na | ཁམས་ན། | 卡那 | Kana |
| Khri ‘di |  | 称多 | Chengduo |
| Lha sa | ལྷ་ས། | 拉萨 | Lasa |
| Mgo log | མགོ་ལོག | 果洛 | guoluo |
| Nang chen | ནང་ཆེན། | 囊谦 | Nangqian |
| Rag shul |  | 拉秀 | Laxiu |
| Rdza chu kha |  | 石渠 | Shiqu |
| Rdza stod |  | 杂多 | Zaduo |
| Seng ze | སེང་ཟེ། | 新寨 | Xinzhai |
| Yul shul |  | 玉树 | Yushu |
| Sga ba | སྒ་བ་ | 噶瓦 | Gawa |
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: the transformation of Tibet’s language ecology in the twenty-first century
- Henan Oirat: a shrinking pool of unique linguistic features
- Language evolution and vitality of Lhagang Tibetan: a Tibetic language as a minority in Minyag Rabgang
- Variation, contact, and change in language varieties in Yul shul (northern Khams)
- Is Lhasa Tibetan Sign Language emerging, endangered, or both?
- Language vitality and glottonyms in the Ethnic Corridor: The rTa'u language
- Social network structure and language change in Amdo Tibetan
- Book Review
- Yangbin Chen: Minority education in China: balancing unity and diversity in an era of critical pluralism
- Small languages and small language communities 82 Editor: Bernadette O’Rourke
- Language management and language managers: who are the Irish language managers in Breacbhaile?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: the transformation of Tibet’s language ecology in the twenty-first century
- Henan Oirat: a shrinking pool of unique linguistic features
- Language evolution and vitality of Lhagang Tibetan: a Tibetic language as a minority in Minyag Rabgang
- Variation, contact, and change in language varieties in Yul shul (northern Khams)
- Is Lhasa Tibetan Sign Language emerging, endangered, or both?
- Language vitality and glottonyms in the Ethnic Corridor: The rTa'u language
- Social network structure and language change in Amdo Tibetan
- Book Review
- Yangbin Chen: Minority education in China: balancing unity and diversity in an era of critical pluralism
- Small languages and small language communities 82 Editor: Bernadette O’Rourke
- Language management and language managers: who are the Irish language managers in Breacbhaile?
