Horpa

Errata: I no longer believe that the uvular initial is voiced in /ɢo/ 'be peeled', and it should rather be transcribed with the voiceless uvular stop /q/, i.e., /qo/.  This is also true for /ɢre/ 'collapse (vi)', which now should be transcribed as /qre/. Thus, these verb stems should be removed from the evidence in favor of voiceless to voiced directionality. However, this does not have a bearing on the main evidence and conclusion of this paper, which still are a voiceless to voiced and transitive to intransitive directionality.

This paper offers new evidence from Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs to address the question of directionality in valency-changing derivations in Sino-Tibetan. Examining Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs causative and anticausative verb stem pairs adds to the evidence that in Proto-Sino-Tibetan a number of intransitive stems are derived from transitive stems, in some cases as the result of *N-prefixation, and in other cases from voicing alternation independent of *N-prefixation. In addition, the proto-sigmatic prefix (*s-) does not cause devoicing in Stau, Geshiza, and Khroskyabs, but rather often undergoes voicing assimilation, and has more than just a causativization function. Furthermore, by looking at Gyalrong, Minyag, Tangut, Middle Chinese, and Old Chinese we emphasize that there is no synchronic evidence to support devoicing induced by *s-, nor is there historical evidence to support the claim that *s-caused devoicing in Proto-Gyalrongic, and even genetically deeper stages.

This paper proposes that Tangut should be classified as a West Gyalrongic language in the Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan family. We examine lexical  commonalities,  case  marking,  partial  reduplication,  and  verbal morphology in Tangut and in modern West Gyalrongic languages, and point out nontrivial shared innovations between Tangut and modern West Gyalrongic languages. The analysis suggests a closer genetic relationship between Tangut and Modern West Gyalrongic than between Tangut and Modern East Gyalrongic.This paper is the first study that tackles the exact linguistic affiliation of the Tangut language based on the comparative method.

Please only cite the published version. If you want a copy please write to me.

In this paper, we propose that in Stau (>Rgyalrongic >Sino-Tibetan) there is a system of four vowel pairs (i/ə, e/ɛ, æ/ɑ, u/o) that undergo regressive fronting-backing/height vowel harmony. Like prototypical examples of vowel harmony across the world’s languages, there is evidence for vowel harmony from two sources: “within morphemes and by alternations in vowels when morphemes are combined into complex words” (van der Hulst 2016). Specifically in Stau, the following combinations of VCV are disallowed: iCə, əCi, eCɛ, ɛCe, uCo, oCu, æCɑ, ɑCɑ.2 When combining morphemes to create complex words, the vowel of the first morpheme assimilates to the vowel of the second (e.g., æCɑ --> ɑCɑ), if the vowels of the two morphemes belong to the same vowel pair set (e.g., æ/ɑ). The regressive vowel harmony system allows for the following assimilatory changes, displayed in (1) and (2) below.
(1) Raising/Fronting:
əCi-->iCi, ɛCe-->eCe, oCu-->uCu, ɑCɑ-->æCæ
(2) Lowering/Backing:
iCə-->əCə, eCɛ-->ɛCɛ, uCo-->oCo, æCɑ-->ɑCɑ
There are, however, several systematic exceptions where vowel harmony does not occur.
This is the first full-length paper on vowel harmony in any Rgyalrongic language, and it is the first time vowel harmony has been systematically analyzed in Stau.

The rich oral culture of the Stau of Rta'u (Daofu) County, Dkar mdzes (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China has not been studied, nor have any of their folklore been published. The two stories presented here originating from Mazi Township are supplemented with background information on Stau storytelling culture. Stau stories that were once a popular form of entertainment and a means of transmitting knowledge now face rival forms of entertainment from television and mobile phones. Consequently, collecting traditional oral culture is important for the speakers and their local community, and research communities.