Horpa language

Horpa are a cluster of closely related Gyalrongic languages of China. Horpa is better understood as a cluster of closely related yet unintelligible dialect groups/languages closely related to Horpa Shangzhai or Stodsde skad. The term Stodsde skad is a Tibetan name meaning "language of the upper village".

Names

Ethnologue lists alternate names and dialect names for Horpa as Stau/Daofuhua, Bawang, Bopa, Danba, Dawu, Geshitsa/Geshiza/Geshizahua, Hor, Huo’er, Hórsók, Nyagrong-Minyag, Pawang, Rgu, Western Gyarong/Western Jiarong, Xinlong-Muya, and rTa’u.

Classification

Horpa is a type of Gyalrongic language, a branch of the Qiangic languages of the Sino-Tibetan family. Gyalrong, Khroskyabs, and Horpa are in the Gyalrongic subgroup. From a genetic perspective, Horpa is a branch within West Gyalrongic, the other being Khroskyabs. Shangzhai is a sub-type of Horpa. To date, the Horpa languages are the closest attested ones to the medieval language Tangut.

Geographic distribution

Horpa is spoken primarily in western Sichuan province, China, including in Dasang District, Danba County of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan. There are about 50,000 Horpa speakers in the northwestern Sichuan. It is also spoken in nearby Dawu County, where it is called 'Stau', pronounced .Ergong is a non-tonal language.

Varieties

Varieties of Horpa include Shangzhai Horpa and Gexi Horpa.
Jackson Sun lists the following five varieties of Horpa.

Central Horpa is widely spoken in Rta’u County and Rongbrag County, Dkarmdzes Prefecture, as well as a few villages in western Chuchen County, Rngaba Prefecture. It consists of 3 dialects.
*Rta’u . Also documented in Genxia Wengmu.
*Dgebshesrtsa
*Upper Stongdgu
Northern Horpa is spoken in southern Dzamthang County, Rngaba Prefecture. It is the most conservative Horpa variety, and preserves many archaic morphological features. There are 3 mutually intelligible dialects. For this lect, Ethnologue lists the name sTodsde. According to Ethnologue, sTodsde is spoken in Shangzhai district, southern Rangtang County, where it is spoken in the townships of Puxi, Shili, and Zongke townships, and around the Duke and Zhongke rivers' confluence. There are 4,100 speakers as of 2004. Dialects are Dayili, Zongke, and Puxi. Phonologically, the Northern and Western dialects are similar to each other, while the Eastern dialect is divergent. Additionally, Gates considers Erkai to be a "Western rGyalrongic" language. Jackson Sun classifies Erkai as a variety of sTodsde.
*Phosul
*Yunasche
*Sili-Rtsangkhog
Western Horpa is a tonal language scattered throughout several small areas of central and southern Nyagrong County, Dkarmdzes Prefecture. Although speakers refer to themselves as Minyag, Western Horpa is not the same language as the Minyag or Muya language. There are 3 dialects that are significantly different from each other. The Nyagrong Minyag language has also been documented by Van Way.
*rGyarwagshis
*Yangslagshis
*Bangsmad
Northwestern Horpa, an endangered Horpa variety, is spoken in southern Brag’go County and adjacent areas of Rta’u County. There is heavy Tibetan influence and minor internal diversity. It is non-tonal.
Eastern Horpa is a divergent Horpa variety spoken in Dpa’bo and Nyindkar townships, eastern Rongbrag County. Beaudouin & Honkasalo suggest that Tangut is likely closely related to present-day Eastern Horpa varieties.
Phonology

Consonants

/q/ is heard as when following a nasal consonant.
A glottal stop is also heard, but only when occurring before word-initial onset-less vowel syllables.
/v/ can be heard as voiceless when preceding or following voiceless consonants.
/x/ can also be heard as glottal in free variation among speakers.
The uvular nasal is only heard when appearing together with uvular consonants /q/, /qʰ/ and .
Rhotic consonant

/r/ has four allophones as either retroflex voiceless or voiced fricatives, as a trill , or as a result of vowel rhotacization . It is heard as when preceding or following voiceless consonants or also as a word-final coda. It is heard as when in free variation in initial position or when preceding or following voiced consonants. The occurrence of it as a trill is heard word-medially when after a vowel and before a consonant, but is for the most part less predictable in that it overlaps in distribution with and especially . When words with /r/ are heard in isolation, the sound is heard as , but then it becomes a trill when in word context or within compounds. also alternates with when it is in context word-final position. The rhotacization of vowels occurs on the preceding vowel before /r/ in word-final position, however it can also be heard word-medially when before a lateral approximant /l/. The rhotacization is attested on the vowels /ɛ/, /ə/, /u/ and /ɑ/.

Vowels

/i/ is also heard as , when in word-final position by a coda consonant.
Vocabulary

The following comparative table of Horpa diagnostic vocabulary items is from Sun. The Central Horpa data is from Niwan Village, Dgebshes Township, Rta’u County, Sichuan. The Rgyalrongic languages Khroskyabs and Rgyalrong are also provided for comparison, since Horpa is one of the Rgyalrongic languages. Cognates are highlighted in bold.

Gloss	Central Horpa	Northern Horpa	Western Horpa	Eastern Horpa	Northwestern Horpa	Khroskyabs	Rgyalrong
sun	ɣbə	ʁɟə̀	ɣbə̀	ʁʷbə	ɣbə	ɣnəʔ ~ ʁbjə	tɐ́-ŋɐ
water	ɣrə	grə̀	ɣrə̀	wrə	ɣrə	ɣdə	tə-ciʔ
person	vdzi	vdzì	vdzì	vdzi-sme	vdzi	vɟoʔ	kə-rnbjoʔ
mouth	jɑ	ɣmú	ɬó	ʁmo	ja	qʰo	tə-ɣmor
heart	zjar	zɟwàʶ	jzò-rdá	zdzʌr	zʒar	sjar	tə-sni
liver	sʰi	sʰə̀	sʰə̀	sʰi	si	fseʔ	tə-mtsʰi
meat	bjoŋnoŋ	bdʒànó	ntʰú	mdʒʌno	pcene	tʰəmʔ	ʃe
horse	rɣi	rì	rjí	rji	rji	breʔ	ⁿbri
chicken	ɣra	χsó-vjá	?	wə-rja	ɣə́-ra	pa-kuʔ	pɣe
yellow	rȵə-rȵə	ʁrɲə̀ʶ	rȵə̀-rȵə́	rɲə	rɲə	ʁrɲəɣ	kə-qɐ-rŋɛʔ
bitter	sȵa-sȵa	sɲáʶ	sɲà	sɲæ	sɲa	tʃʰaχ	kə-qjev
eat	ⁿgə	dzə́	dzə́	dzi	ⁿgə ~ tsə	dzeʔ	ⁿdze
ill	ŋo	ŋò	ŋú	ŋwa	ŋo	ⁿge	nⁿgiʔ
sleep	rgə	ⁿjáp ~ rgə́	rgə́	rgə	rgə	jəv	rⁿgu
one	ro	réɣ	ré	raw	rəɣ	rʌɣ	cet
ten	zʁa	zʁàʶ	zʁò	zʁa	zʁa	sɣə	sqeʔ

Beaudouin shows that most of these cognates can be found in Tangut, and that there is a tonal correspondence between most of the tones of Rtsangkhog and Rgyarwagshis Horpa and those of Tangut.
Jacques et al. list the following words as lexical innovations shared by Stau and Khroskyabs, but not by the Core rGyalrong languages.

Gloss	Stau	Khroskyabs	Japhug
heart	zjar	sjɑ̂r	tɯ-sni
smoke	mkʰə	mkʰə́	tɤ-kʰɯ
be big	cʰe	cʰæ̂	wxti
bread	ləkʰi	lækʰí	qajɣi
writing	tɕədə	dʑədə́	tɤscoz
wind	χpərju	χpə̂rju	qale
skin	tɕədʑa	dʑədʑɑ̂	tɯ-ndʐi
water	ɣrə	jdə̂	tɯ-ci
experience	zdar	zdɑ̂r	rɲo
general classifier	ə-lɞ	ə̂-lo	tɯ-rdoʁ
human classifier	a-ʁi	ə̂-ʁæi	tɯ-rdoʁ
exist	ci/ɟi	ɟê	tu
exist	stʰə	stî	tu

Grammar

Shangzhai Horpa is a dialect of the Horpa language noted by a single consistently non-syllabic causative prefix "s-", which exerts pressure on the already elaborate onset system and triggers multiple phonological adjustments. Gexi Horpa language not only has split verbal agreement system like rGyalrong but also has a hybrid system involving a more intricate interplay of functional and syntactic factors. The verbs in the rGyalrongic family are marked for person and agreement, and Horpa language also has subtype of hierarchical agreement.
Stau is often used as an alternative name for Horpa, but in fact Stau is one of several Horpa languages. The Stau language is primarily spoken in Daofu County of Ganzi Prefecture, but is also spoken in the southeastern corner of Luhuo County and in the village of Dangling of western Danba County. Currently Jesse P. Gates is writing a comprehensive grammar of the Stau language. Other articles on aspects of Stau grammar include Gates, Gates & Kim, Gates et al., and Gates et al..
Stau language follows some traits of the Tibetan language . As a Qiangic language, Horpa has unique verb inflection and morphology such as the strategy of inverting the aspiration feature in the formation of the past and progressive stem.