She Chinese

For the Hmongic language of Guangdong, see She language.

She
Shehua
Shanha
Native to	Fujian, Zhejiang
Ethnicity	She
Native speakers	400,000 (2002)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Hakka–She? She
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Proto-Hakka–She
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Linguasphere	79-AAA-gbf

She or Shehua (畲话, Shēhuà, meaning 'She speech') is an unclassified Sinitic language spoken by the She people of Southeastern China. It is also called Shanha, San-hak (山やま哈) or Shanhahua (山やま哈话). She speakers are located mainly in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces of Southeastern China, with smaller numbers of speakers in a few locations of Jiangxi (in Guixi and Yanshan County), Guangdong (in Chaozhou and Fengshun County) and Anhui (in Ningguo) provinces.

She (畲话) is not to be confused with Shēyǔ (畲语, also known as Ho Ne), which is a Hmong–Mien language spoken in East-Central Guangdong. She and Sheyu speakers have separate histories and identities, although both are officially classified by the Chinese government as She people. The Dongjia of Majiang County, Guizhou are also officially classified as She people, but speak a Western Hmongic language closely related to Chong'anjiang Miao (重じゅう安江やすえ苗なえ语).

History

During the Tang dynasty, She speakers lived in the Jiangxi-Guangdong-Fujian border region. Afterwards, they moved to their present locations further to the northeast.

Classification

Some linguists consider She to be a variety of Hakka Chinese, while others consider it to be an unclassified variety of Chinese that has received some influence from Hakka and is part of Hakka. Hiroki Nakanishi (2010) considers She to be a Hakka dialect that may have a Sheyu (Hmongic) substratum. However, Zhao (2004) considers She to be an independent branch of Chinese, and that it should not be classified within Hakka.

Depending on their locations, She dialects have been variously influenced by Hakka, Gan, Wu, and Min.

Dialects

You (2002:31-35) divides She into 9 dialectal areas (fangyan qu 方言ほうげん区く), and with respective locations and speaker demographics from You (2002) listed as well. The Eastern Fujian and Southern Zhejiang dialectal areas each have over 100,000 speakers, while the smallest dialectal areas are in Guangdong and Jiangxi, with each having only a few thousand speakers. Altogether, there are more than 400,000 She speakers in China.

• Mindong (闽东区く, Eastern Fujian), spoken in the counties of Fu'an 福ぶく安やす, Fuding 福ぶく鼎かなえ, Xiapu 霞浦かすみうら, Ningde 宁德, Shouning 寿ことぶき宁, Zhouning 周しゅう宁, Zherong 柘荣, Pingnan 屏へい南みなみ, Luoyuan 罗源, Lianjiang 连江, Fuzhou 福ふく州しゅう郊区, Minhou 闽侯, Minqing 闽清, and Yongqin 永えい泰やすし. 184,000 speakers. In contact with Eastern Min.
• Minbei (闽北区く, Northern Fujian), spoken in the counties of Nanping 南平なべら, Jian'ou 建けん瓯, Jianyang 建けん阳, Shaowu 邵武, Shunchang 顺昌, and Guangze 光こう泽. 21,000 speakers. In contact with Northern Min.
• Minzhong (闽中区く, Central Fujian), spoken in the counties of Sanming 三明さんめい, Yong'an 永安えいあん, Shaxian 沙すな县, and Ninghua 宁化. Also spoken in Shuangguishan 双そう贵山, Youxi County, Fujian. 12,000 speakers. In contact with Central Min.
• Minnan (闽南区く, Southern Fujian), spoken in the counties of Licheng District 鲤城区く (in Quanzhou), Anxi 安あん溪けい, Dehua 德化とっか, Yongchun 永なが春はる, Hua'an 华安, Longyan 龙岩, and Zhangping 漳平. 12,000 speakers. In contact with Southern Min. In Zhangping City, Shanyangge She 山羊やぎ隔へだた畲话 is spoken by over 800 people in the two villages of Shanyangge 山羊やぎ隔へだた, Guilin Township 桂かつら林りん乡, and Jianci 尖とんが祠ほこら, Xi'nan Township 溪けい南みなみ乡. Shanyangge She is distinct from Shejiake 畲家客きゃく, which is a Southern Min dialect spoken by over 100 people in Zhangping County in the two villages of Changta Village 长塔村むら, Xianghu Township 象ぞう湖みずうみ乡 and Wei Village 尾お村むら, Shuangyang Township 双そう洋よう乡.
• Zhenan (浙南区く, Southern Zhejiang), spoken in the counties of Pingyang 平ひら阳, Cangnan 苍南, Rui'an 瑞みず安やす, Wencheng 文成ふみなり, Taishun 泰たい顺, Lishui 丽水, Jingning 景けい宁, Yunhe 云うん和わ, Longquan 龙泉, Songyang 松まつ阳, Qingtian 青田あおた, and Wuyi 武たけ义. 120,000 speakers. In contact with Wu Chinese.
• Zhezhong (浙中区く, Central Zhejiang), spoken in the counties of Longyou 龙游, Quxian 衢县, Lanxi 兰溪, Jinhua 金きん华, and Suichang 遂とげ昌あきら. 23,000 speakers. In contact with Wu Chinese.
• Zhebei (浙北区く, Northern Zhejiang), spoken in the counties of Tonglu 桐きり庐, Jiande 建德けんとく, Lin'an 临安, Fuyang 富とみ阳, and Anji 安吉やすよし. 13,000 speakers. In contact with Wu Chinese.
• Yuedong (粤东区く, Eastern Guangdong), spoken in the counties of Chaozhou 潮うしお州しゅう and Fengshun 丰顺. 2,200 speakers. In contact with the Teochew dialect of Southern Min. In Fengshun County, it is spoken in Fengping Village 凤坪村むら, Tanjiang Town 潭江镇. You, Lei & Lan (2005) document the She variety of Fenghuangshan 凤凰山さん ("Phoenix Mountain") in eastern Guangdong.
• Gandong (赣东区く, Eastern Jiangxi), spoken in the counties of Guixi 贵溪 and Yanshan 铅山. 4,000 speakers. In contact with Gan Chinese. The She variety of Taiyuan 太源たいげん畲族乡, Yanshan County, Jiangxi has been documented in detail by Hu & Hu (2013), while the She variety of Zhangping Township 樟くすのき坪つぼ畲族乡, Guixi City, Jiangxi has been documented in detail by Liu (2008).

In Anhui Province, there is also a She dialect spoken by about 2,400 people in Yunti She Ethnic Township (云うん梯はしご畲族乡), Ningguo City that has been influenced by Lower Yangtze Mandarin.

You (2002) provides a comparative vocabulary list for the following 13 datapoints. The Zhebei dialectal area 浙北方言ほうげん区く has not been included by You (2002).

1. Fu'an 福ぶく安やす, Ningde, Fujian (Mindong dialectal area 闽东方言ほうげん区く)
2. Fuding 福ぶく鼎かなえ, Ningde, Fujian (Mindong dialectal area 闽东方言ほうげん区く; includes Xiamen She Ethnic Township 硖门畲族乡)
3. Luoyuan 罗源, Fuzhou, Fujian (Mindong dialectal area 闽东方言ほうげん区く)
4. Sanming 三明さんめい, Fujian (Minzhong dialectal area 闽中方言ほうげん区く)
5. Shunchang 顺昌, Nanping 南平みなみだいら, Fujian (Minbei dialectal area 闽北方言ほうげん区く)
6. Hua'an 华安, Zhangzhou 华安, southern Fujian (Minnan dialectal area 闽北方言ほうげん区く)
7. Guixi 贵溪, Yingtan 鹰潭, Jiangxi (Gandong dialectal area 赣东方言ほうげん区く)
8. Cangnan 苍南, Wenzhou 温州うんしゅう, Zhejiang (Zhe'nan dialectal area 浙南方言ほうげん区く)
9. Jingning 景けい宁, Lishui 丽水, Zhejiang (Zhe'nan dialectal area 浙南方言ほうげん区く)
10. Lishui 丽水, Zhejiang (Zhe'nan dialectal area 浙南方言ほうげん区く)
11. Longyou 龙游, Quzhou 衢州, Zhejiang (Zhezhong dialectal area 浙中方言ほうげん区く; includes Muchen She Ethnic Township 沐尘畲族乡)
12. Chaozhou 潮うしお州しゅう, Guangdong (Yuedong dialectal area 粤东方言ほうげん区く)
13. Fengshun 丰顺, Meizhou 梅うめ州しゅう, Guangdong (Yuedong dialectal area 粤东方言ほうげん区く)

Distribution

The following maps show ethnic She townships and other administrative divisions (highlighted in magenta) in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi provinces. The She people of these three provinces speak She, while the She of central Guangdong and Guizhou speak Hmongic languages.

The most She speakers are located in Ningde Prefecture, Fujian, and Wenzhou and Lishui Prefectures, Zhejiang. Smaller communities of She speakers are located in central Zhejiang, southern Fujian, the mountainous interior of western Fujian, southeastern Anhui, eastern Guangdong, and northeastern Jiangxi near its border with Fujian. It is not known whether She is spoken by She people living in central and southern Jiangxi.

• 
  She ethnic county, townships and towns in Zhejiang
• 
  She ethnic townships in Fujian
• 
  She ethnic townships in Jiangxi

Phonology

She is a very dialectally uniform language. Like many southern Chinese languages, it has syllables with stop codas, traditionally considered as part of a separate tone class. Much like its sister branch Hakka Chinese, it has the same three nasal codas as well as three stop codas. However, the /k/ coda has evolved into a glottal stop.

Consonants

In addition to the consonants listed below, She also has a null initial, often realized as a glottal stop.

		Labial	Dental	Alveopalatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	tenuis	p	t		k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
Affricate	tenuis		ts	(tʃ)
	aspirated		tsʰ	(tʃʰ)
Fricative	central		s	(ʃ)		h
	lateral		(ɬ)
Approximant			l

Some dialects of She in eastern Fujian (including the Fú'ān and Fúdǐng varieties) have the initial voiceless lateral fricative ɬ- where other She dialects have an initial s-.

Only a limited number of consonants can act as a coda, including the nasals and the plain labial, dental, and glottal stops.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded
Close	i	y		u
Close-mid	e	(ø)		o
Open-mid	(ɛ)			ɔ
Open			a

The syllabic coronal consonant /z̩/, frequently known in Chinese linguistics as the apical vowel, is also found in some dialects of She.

Tones

She has 4 phonemic contour tones, which can be organized into the following 6 tone categories (You 2002:80-83); the Dark Going tone has merged into the Dark Level tone in the development of She. Almost all She dialects have identical tone values in each tone category, which are provided below.

		Tone category
		Level 平ひらた	Rising 上じょう	Going 去さ	Entering 入いれ
Tone register	Dark 陰かげ	1. 陰平かげひら [˦] (44) Dark Level	3. 上聲じょうせい [˧˥] (35) Rising tone		7. 陰かげ入いれ [˥] (5) Dark Entering
	Light 陽ひ	2. 陽平ようへい [˨] (22) Light Level		6. 陽ひ去さ [˨˩]/[˦˨] (21 or 42) Light Going	8. 陽ひ入いれ [˨] (2) Light Entering

The Tàiyuán dialect may have more divergent tone values. Hú recorded the dialect as having [˨˩˨] (212) for its Light Level tone, [˨˥] (25) on its Rising tone, and [˦] (4) for its Dark Entering tone.

Lexicon

Unique vocabulary

You (2002:183-216) notes that She has many unique vocabulary items that have no cognates in Hakka, Gan, Wu, or any other Chinese language. Instead, many words have parallels in Hmong-Mien languages (You 2002:490-504), and in Tai and Kam-Sui languages (You 2002:458-489). Other words appear to have no parallels in any other language family or branch (You 2002:505-518).

Swadesh list

Below is a vocabulary table comparing Swadesh lists of She (Fengshun), Hakka (Boluo), and She (Boluo), from Gan (2011:188-191).

Chinese gloss	English gloss	She (Fengshun)	Hakka (Boluo)	She (Boluo)
我わが	I	ŋai1	ŋai2	vaŋ4
你	you	ŋi1	ŋi2	muŋ2
我わが们	we	ŋai1nai6ŋin2	ŋai2ne6	pa1
这	this	kai6	lia6	lja3
那な	that	hɔŋ6	kai6	u3
谁	who	mɔi6ŋin2	nai5ŋin2	pe4le2
什么	what	mat7kai1	mat7kai5	ha5la5
不ふ	not	—	m1	a6
全部ぜんぶ	all	—	tsʰiɛn2pu5	tsʰjen5pʰu4
多おお	many	tɔ1	tɔ1	u5
一いち	one	ʒit7	it2	i6
二に	two	ŋi6	ŋi5	u1
大だい	big	tʰai6	tʰai6	vɔŋ2
长	long	tʃʰɔŋ2	tsʰɔŋ2	ka1ta3
小しょう	small	sai1	sɛ5	sɔŋ1
女人にょにん	female	pu1ŋioŋ2ŋin2	ŋi3ŋin2	le2va3
男おとこ人じん	male	nam2ŋin2	lam2ŋin2	le2pu3
人ひと	person	ŋin2	ŋin2	le2
鱼	fish	ŋiu2	ŋ̩2	pja4
鸟	bird	tau3	tiau1	lɔ4taŋ1
狗いぬ	dog	kou3	kiu3	kja3
虱しらみ子こ	louse	sɛt7ŋioŋ2	set7	taŋ5
树	tree	ʃu6	su6	tɔŋ5
种子	seed	—	tsuŋ3tsi3	ka3lɔ1
叶かのう子こ	leaf	ʒep3	jap8	pjɔŋ2
根ね	root		kin1	kʰjuŋ2
树皮	bark	—	su5pi2	tɔŋ5kʰu5
皮かわ肤	skin	pʰi2	pʰi2	kʰu5
肉にく	meat	pi3	ŋiuk7	kwe2
血ち	blood	—	hiet7	si3
骨ほね头	bone		kut7	suŋ3kɔ3
脂肪しぼう	fat	—	—	—
鸡蛋	egg	lan3	kai1tsʰun2	kwe1kja5
角かく	horn	—	kɔk7	kaŋ1
尾お	tail	mui1	mui1	ka1tɔ3
羽毛うもう	feather	—	iuŋ2mau1	pi1
头发	hair	tʰeu2mou1	tʰiu2mau1	kaŋ6kʰu5pi1
头	head	tʰeu2	tʰiu2	kaŋ6kʰu5
耳みみ朵	ear	ŋi3kʰuŋ6	ŋi3kuŋ1	ka2kʰuŋ3
眼睛がんせい	eye	ȵian3kʰiʔ8	ŋan2	ka1kʰɔ3
鼻はな子こ	nose	pʰi6kuŋ6	pʰi6	ŋ̩3pju4
嘴くちばし	mouth	tsɔi1	tsɔi5	tjɔ2
牙きば齿	tooth	ŋa2tʃʰi3	ŋa2	mun3
舌した头	tongue	ʃet8ma2	set8ma2	pi6
爪つま子こ	claw	tsau3	tsau3	tsau5
脚あし	foot	kioʔ7	kiɔk7	tɔ5
膝ひざ	knee	kioʔ7puʔ7tʰeu3	tsʰit7tʰiu2	tɔ5tʰju4kui3
手て	hand	ʃeu3	siu3	kʰwa4
肚子	belly	tu3ʃi3	tu3pʰat8	ŋiɔ3ka3
脖子	neck	kiaŋ3	kjaŋ3	ka3kjen1
乳房ちぶさ	breast	—	ŋiɛn5pʰɔŋ2	ŋjuŋ3
心こころ脏	heart	ɕim1	sim1	fun1
肝きも	liver	kan1	kɔn1	fun1
喝かつ	drink	—	hɔt7	hɔ6
吃ども	eat	ʃiʔ8	sit8	luŋ2
咬	bite	ŋieʔ8	ŋau1	tʰu6
看み见	see	tʰai3	tʰe3tʰau2	mɔ6pʰu6
听见	hear	tʰaŋ5	tʰaŋ5tʰau2	kuŋ5
知道ともみち	know	tɛ1	ti1	pe1
睡ねむ	sleep	fun2	sɔi5	pɔ5
死し	die	—	si2	tʰa4
杀	kill	laʔ7	sat7	ta5
游泳ゆうえい	swim	—	ju2sui3	ka1tu6kwe2
飞	fly	pui1	fui1	ŋi5
走はし	go	ham2	tsiu2	ka1pi1
来き	come	lɔi2	lɔi4	lu4
躺	lie	—	sɔi5	ɔŋ2
坐すわ	sit	tsʰɔŋ3	tsʰɔ1	ŋjuŋ1
站	stand	kʰi1	kʰi1	su3
给	give	pun1	pi1	puŋ1
说	say	va6kɔŋ3	kuŋ3	kuŋ1
太ふとし阳	sun	ŋiet8tʰeu2	tʰai5jɔŋ1	lɔ1kɔ3
月つき亮あきら	moon	ŋiɔt8hau6	ŋiet7kɔŋ1	le5
星ほし星ぼし	star	saŋ6	sin1	le5taŋ1
水みず	water	ʃui3	sui3	ɔŋ2
雨あめ	rain	ʃui3	sui1	luŋ1
石いし头	stone	ʃaʔ8	sak8tʰiu2	za1kɔ3
沙子いさご	sand	ʃa6	sa1	hja1
土地とち	earth	tʰi6	tu2	ta1
云うん	cloud	vun2	vun2	tsɔŋ1ɔŋ2
烟けむり	smoke	ien1	iɛn1	in1
火ひ	fire	—	fɔ3	tʰɔ4
灰はい	ash	fɔi1	fɔi1	si3
烧	burn	—	sau1	fa3
路みち	road	lu6	lu6	kja3
山やま	mountain	san1	san1	kje6
红	red	fuŋ2	fuŋ2	si5
绿	green	luʔ8	luk8	ka6pʰu2
黄き	yellow	vɔŋ3	vɔŋ2	kʰun2
白しろ	white	pʰaʔ8	pʰak8	kjɔ1
黑くろ	black	vu1	u1	kjaŋ1
晚ばん上じょう	night	am1pu6ʃi2	man1sɔŋ5	lɔ3kaŋ4tsʰi2
热	hot	ŋiet8	ŋiet8	kʰaŋ1
冷ひや	cold	laŋ1	laŋ1	kjɔŋ5
满	full	—	man1	paŋ3
新しん	new	ɕin1	sin1	tu6fun1
好このみ	good	hou3	hau2	ŋɔŋ5
圆	round	ʒen2	jin2	zin2
干ひ	dry	—	kɔn1	kʰui1
名字みょうじ	name	—	miaŋ2	mui2

Further reading

• Liu Lunxin 刘纶鑫. 2008. Guixi Zhangping Shehua yanjiu 贵溪樟くすのき坪つぼ畲话研究けんきゅう. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国ちゅうごく社会しゃかい科学かがく出版しゅっぱん社しゃ.
• Zhao Zeling 赵则玲れい. 2004. Zhejiang Shehua yanjiu 浙江せっこう畲话硏究けんきゅう. Hangzhou: Zhejiang People's Press 浙江せっこう人民じんみん出版しゅっぱん社しゃ.
• Wu Chong-chieh 吳ご中ちゅう杰. 2004. Languages of She Minority / Shezu yuyan yanjiu 畬族語ご言げん研究けんきゅう. Ph.D. dissertation. Hsinchu, Taiwan: National Tsing Hua University 國立こくりつ清華せいか大學だいがく語ご言げん研究所けんきゅうじょ.
• Chang Kuang-yu 張ちょう光ひかり宇. 2008. Guangdong Chao'an Shehua diaocha yanjiu 廣東かんとん潮しお安やす畬話調ちょう查研究けんきゅう. Hsinchu, Taiwan: National Tsing Hua University 國立こくりつ清華せいか大學だいがく語ご言げん研究所けんきゅうじょ.
• Fujian Provincial Gazetteer 福建ふっけん省しょう志こころざし 方言ほうげん志こころざし. Appendix: The Fujian She language 附ふ：福建ふっけん畲语.
• 曹志耘. 2002. 南部なんぶ吴语语音研究けんきゅう. 北京ぺきん: 商しょう务印书馆. 2002年ねん9月がつ. ISBN 7-100-03533-3
• 傅でん国こく通どおり. 2010. 方言ほうげん丛稿. 北京ぺきん: 中ちゅう华书局きょく. 2010年ねん9月がつ. ISBN 978-7-101-06896-2 （繁しげる体たい中ちゅう文ぶん）
• Luo Meizhen 罗美珍めずらし. 1980. Shezu suo shuo de Kejiahua 畲族所しょ说的客きゃく家か话. In 中央ちゅうおう民族みんぞく学院がくいん学がく报 1980年ねん01期き.
• 傅でん根ね清きよし. 2003. 从景宁畲话的语音特とく点てん论其与客きゃく家か话的关系. 山やま东大学がく学がく报, 2003, (5).
• Deng, Xiaohua 邓晓华. 1999. Kejiahua gen Miao-yao Zhuangdongyu de Guanxi wenti 客きゃく家か话跟苗なえ瑶よう壮たけし侗语的てき关系问题. Minzu Yuwen 民族みんぞく语文 3:42-49.
• Hsiu, Andrew. 2018. The origins of Shehua. Archive.org : https://web.archive.org/web/20190420131003/https://sites.google.com/site/msealangs/home/blog/shehua

References

Sources

• Nakanishi, Hiroki (2010). "On the genetic affiliation of Shehua 《论畬话的归属》". Journal of Chinese Linguistics (in Chinese). 24. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press: 247–267. JSTOR 23825447 – via JSTOR.
• Hu Songbai 胡えびす松柏しょうはく; Hu Derong 胡えびす德とく荣. 2013. Yanshan Taiyuan Shehua yanjiu 《铅山太源たいげん畲话研究けんきゅう》. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国ちゅうごく社会しゃかい科学かがく出版しゅっぱん社しゃ.
• You Wenliang 游ゆう文ぶん良りょう. 2002. Shezu yuyan 《畲族语言》. Fuzhou: Fujian People's Press 福建ふっけん人民じんみん出版しゅっぱん社しゃ. ISBN 7-211-03885-3
• Coblin, W. South (2019). Common Neo-Hakka: A Comparative Reconstruction. Language and linguistics Monograph Series 63. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica. ISBN 978-986-54-3228-7.