Telue (pinyin transcription: Duoluo 多罗; Tolo) or White Gelao is a Gelao language spoken in China and Vietnam.[2][3]

Telue
White Gelao
Duoluo
Native toChina, Vietnam
RegionGuizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan, Ha Giang Province
Native speakers
(1,220 cited 1987)[1]
Kra–Dai
Language codes
ISO 639-3giw
Glottologwhit1267
ELPWhite Gelao

Dialects

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The primary dialectal areas where Telue (White Gelao) is still spoken are:[4]

Phonology

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Duoluo has many uvular and prenasalized consonants.[7]

Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
(Alveolo-)
palatal
Velar Uvular Glottal
plain pal. lat. plain pal. plain pal. lab. plain pal.
Stop voiceless p t k q ʔ ʔʲ
aspirated pʲʰ pˡʰ tʲʰ kʲʰ kʷʰ
voiced b d ɡ
Affricate voiceless ts
aspirated tsʰ (tɕʰ)
voiced dz
Fricative voiceless f s ɕ h
voiced v z ɣ
Nasal voiceless ɲ̟̊ ŋ̊
voiced m n ɲ̟ ŋ
Lateral fricative ɬ
glide l ˀl
labial
Approximant j (w)
  • The sound of the affricates /ts, tsʰ, dz/ are frequently close to interdental affricate sounds [tθ, tθʰ, dð].
  • The pronunciation of /j/ can sometimes be close to an alveolo-palatal sound [ʑ], but not as fully articulated.
  • /ŋ/ can also form a syllabic nasal [ŋ̍].
  • Sounds /tɕʰ, w/ mainly appear in modern Chinese loanwords.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i y ɯ u
Mid e ə o
Open a ɑ
Syllabic ɹ̩
  • /ɹ̩/ only is heard after dental/alveolar fricatives and affricates only, /i/ is never heard in this position.
  • /ə/ and /ɯ/ are typically free variants of each other. When used as a single vowel, it is commonly heard as [ɯ], but when followed by a back vowel /ɯ, u/ it is pronounced as [ə].[8]

References

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  1. ^ Telue at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021)  
  2. ^ Zhang Jimin 张済民. 1993. Gelao yu yan jiu 仡佬语研究 (A study of Gelao). Guiyang, China: Guizhou People's Press 贵州民族出版社.
  3. ^ Zhou Guoyan 周国炎. 2004. Gelao zu mu yu sheng tai yan jiu 仡佬族母語生态硏究 (Studies on the linguistic ecology of the Gelao people). Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House 民族出版社.
  4. ^ Li Jinfang [李锦芳]. 2006. Studies on endangered languages in the Southwest China [西南地区濒危语言调查研究]. Beijing: Minzu University [中央民族大学出版社].
  5. ^ Li, Jinfang 李锦芳 (2019). Guizhou Liuzhi Gelaoyu 贵州六枝仡佬语. Beijing: The Commercial Press. OCLC 1112270585.
  6. ^ Samarina, Irina Vladimirovna [Самарина, Ирина Владимировна]. 2011. The Gelao language: materials for a Kadai comparative dictionary [Языки гэлао: материалы к сопоставительному словарю кадайских языко]. Moscow: Academia. ISBN 9785874443917
  7. ^ Edmondson, Jerold A. "Kra or Kadai languages" (PDF). Ling.uta.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  8. ^ Zhuo, Guoyan (2000). The phonology system of Judu Gelao language. The Fifth International Symposium on Languages and Linguistics: Hochiminh City: Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City University.