Nung language (Sino-Tibetan)

This article is about the endangered Southern Anung language. For the Tai language, see Nùng language (Tai). For the Northern Anung language that is intelligible with Derung, see Derung language § Geographic distribution.

Southern Anung (autonym: [ɑ˧˩ nuŋ˧˥]; Chinese: 阿侬语; pinyin: Ānóngyǔ;^[a] Lisu: Fuche Naw^{[citation needed]}) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Nung people in Fugong County, China, and Kachin State, Myanmar. The Anung language is closely related to the Derung and Rawang languages. Most of the Anung speakers in China have shifted to Lisu, although the speakers are classified as Nu people. The Northern Anung people speak a dialect of Derung, which is also called Anung ([ə˧˩ nuŋ˥˧]), but is not the same Anung discussed in this article.

Anung
Anong, Nung
Pronunciation	[ɑ˧˩ nuŋ˧˥]
Native to	China, Myanmar
Region	Fugong County
Ethnicity	(Southern) Anung of Nu nationality
Native speakers	450 (2000–2007)^[1] 7,000 in China
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Nungish Anung
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nun
Glottolog	nung1282
ELP	Anong
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The Burmese and Chinese dialects of Anung have 87% lexical similarity with each other.^[2] Anung has 73-76% lexical similarity with Derung, and 77-83% lexical similarity with the Matwang dialect of Rawang.^[2]

Demographics

Besides China and Myanmar, there are Anong people in Thailand and India.

China

Anong is spoken by over 7,000 people in China in the following townships.^[3]

• Shangpa (上帕镇): 2,200 people
• Lijia (里甲乡): 1,100 people
• Lumadeng (鹿马登乡): 2,100 people
• Lishadi (利沙底乡): 2,200 people

Myanmar

The majority of Anong speakers in Myanmar are found in Kachin State, specifically Myitkyina, Putao, Naungmun, Machanbaw, Tannai, and Khaunglangphu. There are over 5000 Naw (Anong) people in Kachin State, Myanmar.

• Putao: 2000 people
• Myitkyina: 3000 people
• Tanai: 500 people

In Myitkyina and Putao, there are literacy and language trainings every year.

Some Naw people live in Shan State, but it is not clear whether they still use Anong or not. There are also many living in cities such as Yangon, Khamti, and Taunggyi. Naw people are still mixed with the Lisu population.

Phonology

Consonants

Nung has 43 single consonants.^{[47 listed below][3]}

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiceless	m̥	n̥	ɳ̥	ɲ̥	ŋ̊
	voiced	m	n	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	ʈʰ		kʰ
	tenuis	p	t	ʈ		k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	ɖ		ɡ
Affricate	aspirated		tsʰ	tʂʰ	tɕʰ
	tenuis		ts	tʂ	tɕ
	voiced		dz	ɖʐ	dʑ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʂ	ɕ	x	h
	voiced	v	z	ʐ	ʑ	ɣ
Lateral	voiceless		l̥
	voiced		l	ɭ
Rhotic	voiced			ɹ

Notes

1. Sometimes misread as Āyī 阿依

References

1. Anung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. . Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
3. 孙宏开; 刘光坤 (2005). 阿侬语研究 [A Grammar of Anong]. 北京: 民族出版社. ISBN 978-7-105-06814-2.

• Sun Hongkai; Liu Guangkun (2009). A Grammar of Anong. Language Death Under Intense Contact. Leiden • Boston: Brill. ISBN 90-04-17686-1.
• Wu, Nye. 2013. A Sociolinguistic Study of the Vitality of Anung (Anong) In Myanmar. Master’s thesis, Payap University.
• Shintani, Tadahiko. 2018. The Khwingsang language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area, no. 113. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).