Situ language
Situ is a Rgyalrong language spoken in Sichuan, China. The name "Situ", literally "four Tusi", comes from a historical name of the Ma'erkang region.
Distribution
Gates lists the following locations where Situ is spoken. It is spoken by over 35,000–40,000 people in 57 villages.- southern half of Ma’ěrkāng/'Bar-kams County
- *Zhuókèjī, Mǎ’ěrkāng/'Bar-kams, and Sōnggǎng/rDzong-'gag Towns, including surrounding villages
- *Sūomò/Somang and Báiwān/Brag-bar Townships
- *Báiwān/Brag-bar and Dǎngbà/Dam-pa Townships
- Jīnchuān/Chu-chen County
- *Jímù/Kye-mo Township
- *possibly also Kǎlājiǎo and Sāwǎjiǎo Townships
- northwestern Li County, Sichuan
- southernmost Hóngyuán County
Dialects
Gates lists 7 dialects of Situ.- Jiaomuzu Township 脚木足乡, western Barkam County
- Jimu Township 集木乡, Jinchuan County
- Dangba Township 党坝乡, southwestern Barkam County
- Bawang-Songgang Townships 巴旺乡-松岗镇, west-central Barkam County
- Ben Town 本镇, central Barkam County
- Zhuokeji Town 卓克基镇, central Barkam County
- Suomo Township 梭磨乡, eastern Barkam County
Phonology
- can be realized as its voiceless equivalent, before a voiceless consonant. is heard as in middle position, and may also be heard as a bilabial fricative, in free variation.
- can appear in Chinese loans, and can also be heard as a voiceless bilabial fricative.
- can be heard as a voiceless retroflex before a voiceless consonant. is heard as in middle position and can also be heard as a voiced retroflex in free variation.
| Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | |||
| Mid | |||
| Near-open | |||
| Open |
- The diphthong can be heard as more open-front, after being followed by a velar consonant.
- can be heard as a front-mid, when between a front and central vowel, or between a back and central vowel.
- The distinction between the central grade and the non-central grade is fundamental in the vowel system of the brag-bar.
Grammar
Verbal agreement
Data adapted from Lin. Columns indicate the patient, and rows the agent. For example, the item tə-no-n in row "2sg" and column "3" means "you drive him/her/it/them.two/them".Stem alternation
Some Situ dialects have rich stem changes. For example, stem alternations is quasi-ubiquitous in Brag-bar, observed in both inflectional and derivational morphology.Inflectional stem changes
Inflectional stem alternations in Brag-bar occur in different TAME and argument indexation categories. Generally speaking, stem I is used in most non-past categories as well as inferential past, and stem II in non-inferential past and egophoric present contexts. In most cases, stem II is derived from stem I by tonal inversion between a high and falling tones, sometimes with vowel alternations between the central grade and non-central grade.Verbs with particular syllable structures distinguish stem I’ or stem II’, sensitive to phonological environment. Verbs with an open syllable and a high tone, as well as those with a closed syllable ending in a stop, distinguish stem I’ from stem I, occurring in non-suffixing non-past and inferential forms; verbs with an open syllable and a falling tone may distinguish stem II’ from stem II in non-suffixing non-inferential past and egophoric present forms. Stem I’ and stem II’ are formed by a unidirectional vowel shift to the non-central grade.
| Citation form | Stem I-suffix | Stem I’-ø | Stem II-suffix | Stem II’-ø |
| ka-phô 'to flee' | phô | phó | ||
| ka-lát 'to release' | lát | liɛ̂t | ||
| ka-siɛ́t 'to kill' | sát | siɛ́t | siɛ̂t | |
| ka-viɛ̂ 'to do' | viɛ̂ | vá | viɛ́ |