. Postfixed to pronouns to specify location. The association is usually person specific: 该 with the first person, 宁 second, and 穷 third. For example [ŋɔi33 kɔi215] (我该) means where I am, my place, my location, etc. Thus, to the question [gim33 man21 hiaŋ55 nai215 ?a55 ma22 diak55 ?a33] (今晚响乃打麻雀啊?) where will we play mahjong tonight? The answer could be
[siam55 kǝŋ215] (Sam 穷) Sam's place
. In certain usage, the distal form (穷) is not used, and the medial form (宁) is used as distal to contrast the proximal (该):
[kɔi21 ?ɔ335] (该多) this much, [nein21 ?ɔ335] (宁多) that much
[kɔu215] (contraction of [kɔi21 ɔu215]) in this manner, [nein21 ɔu215] in that manner
Mandarin, Cantonese, and English make a two-way distinction with demonstratives i.e. this/that in English, 呢/嗰 in Cantonese, and 这/那 in Mandarin. Other languages make three-way distinctions, i.e. これ/それ/あれ in Japanese and este/ese/aquel in Spanish.
Taishanese, unlike Mandarin or Cantonese, has three demonstrative pronouns as shown above. Surprised, I did a quick research on Hakka and Teochew, two other dialects spoken around the area. However, like Mandarin and Cantonese, they have only two demonstratives pronouns also. Where were the Taishanese demonstratives originated from?
One day, in the middle of reading
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang it suddenly dawned on me that the
Yao people (瑶), an ethnic group closely related to the Hmong (known as Miao 苗 in China), lived in the present-day Taishan area prior to the arrival of the Han immigrants. Historical records from Taishan mentioned the Yao people up until the late eighteenth century. It is well known that the two groups had extensive interactions and they intermarried. Today, Yao villages can still be found in less populated areas of the province, although not in the Four Counties area anymore.
An entry on
the Website of China's Ethnic Languages Studies revealed that the Yao demonstratives distinguish three levels of proximity, just like Taishanese.
It is also known that Taishanese and Tai, a language family spoken in southwestern China, seem to share a good number of words. I also found out that Siamese, Vietnamese, and a number of languages spoken by the various non-Han ethnic groups in southwestern China also make three-way distinctions with their demonstratives.
It is very likely that Taishanese demonstratives were of Tai-Hmong/Miao-Yao origin. After all, it is hard to find Chinese characters that would match the Taishanese demonstratives well. The characters 宁 and 穷 were picked purely for their sound values.
It is worth noting the medial demonstrative [nein21] has the same sound as its Thai or Lao equivalent, although personally I think we could also make an argument that medial and distal demonstratives [nein21]/[kǝŋ21] were derived by the addition of a nasal stop to the corresponding second and third person pronouns 你 [ni33] / 佢 [kui33]. Note the similar pattern that the plurals of these two pronouns are formed by the addition of an ending velar stop: [niak21/kiak21].
I am deeply moved by Yang's graceful description of her family history, and feel an extra level of connection with her because of the little exercise above. Human beings surely have more in each other than we've assumed all along.