Na language
Na is a language of the Naish subbranch of the Naic group of the Sino-Tibetan languages.
Varieties
Yongning Na, which is spoken in Yongning Township, Ninglang County, Lijiang, Yunnan, China, has been documented by Jacques and Michaud. It has three tonal levels. A trilingual dictionary is available online.Lataddi Narua is notable for having only two tonal levels.
Phonology
Consonants
- /t, tʰ, d, n, l/ can be heard as when preceding vowel sounds /ɯ, u, v̩, ɤ, æ/.
- /p, pʰ, b, m, w/ can be heard as when preceding vowel sounds /ɯ, u, v̩/.
- /ɣ/ can also be heard as uvular in word-initial position.
- /w, h/ is also heard as voiceless in free variation.
- /n/ is heard as velar when before velar stops.
- is heard in initial position before vowels.
Vowels
- /ɯ/ can be heard as in syllable-initial position and as retroflex when after retroflex consonants.
Grammar
Syntax
Narua's default word order is agent–object–verb, although expression of all verb arguments is not obligatory.Narua marks sentence topics with jjo after a topicalized clause or noun phrase.