Muya language

Munya or Muya is one of the Qiangic languages spoken in China. There are two dialects, Western and Eastern, which are not mutually intelligible. Most research on Munya has been conducted by Ikeda Takumi. There are about 2,000 monolinguals.

Names

The language has been spelled in various ways, including Manyak, Menya, Minyag, and Minyak. Other names for the language are Boba and Miyao.

Dialects

Ethnologue lists two Muya dialects, namely Eastern and Western. Muya is spoken in

Sun documents Muya of Liuba Township, Shade District, Kangding County, Sichuan.

Phonology

/ʑ/ can sometimes be heard as .

Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /yi/, /ui/, /ie/, /ye/, /ue/, /uø/, /iɛ̃/, /yɛ/, /yɛ̃/, /uɛ/, /uæ/, /uæ̰/, /yɐ/, /yɐ̰/, /uɐ/, /yɯ/, /uɯ/, /yɑ/, /yɑ̃/, /uɑ/.
Muya also has four tones:

- high, level
- high-falling
- high-rising
- mid, level

Popular culture

In 2008, Bamu, a singer with the Jiuzhaigou Art Troupe in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, recorded an album of Muya songs.