Hyow Chin

Language name and locationː Hyow, Chittagong, Bangladesh [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 赫尤语, 孟加拉国东部吉大港山区东南部

1. hngát / ŋ̥át /, ák / ák/ *	21. kùlɡólhngát (twenty-and-one)
2. hníʔ /n̥íʔ /	22. kùlɡólhníʔ
3. thûm /tʰúm /	23. kùlɡólthûm
4. hlí /l̥í /	24. kùlɡólhlí
5. hnɡɔ́ /ŋ̥ɔ́ /	25. kùlɡólhnɡɔ́
6. shə́k /ʃə́k/	26. kùlɡólshə́k
7. shǽʔ /ʃǽʔ/	27. kùlɡólshǽʔ
8. shǽt /ʃæt/	28. kùlɡól shǽt
9. kóʔ / kóʔ	29. kùlɡólkóʔ
10. há /há/	30. thúnɡɡíp /tʰúŋɡíp/ (three-ten) ***
11. páyléyák /pájléják / (after.ten-one)	40. hlìɡíp /l̥ìɡíp/ (four-ten)
12. páyléhníʔ (after.ten-two)	50. hnɡɔ̀ɡíp /ŋ̥ɔ̀ɡíp/ (five-ten)
13. páyléthûm	60. shə́kɡíp /ʃə́k̯ɡíp/ (six-ten)
14. páyléhlí	70. shǽʔɡíp /ʃæʔ ɡíp/ (seven-ten)
15. páyléhngɔ́	80. shǽtɡíp /ʃǽtɡíp/ (eight-ten)
16. páyléshə́k	90. kóʔɡíp /kɔ́ʔɡíp/ (nine-ten)
17. páyléshǽʔ	100. khrák /kʰrák/ (hundred-one)
18. páyléshǽt	200. khràhníʔ / kʰràn̥íʔ / (hundred-two)
19. páylékóʔ (after.ten-nine)	1000. thónɡhnɡát /tʰúŋŋ̥át /(thousand-one)
20. kúl /kúl / **	2000. thónɡhníʔ / tʰúŋ n̥íʔ / (thousand-two)

Linguist providing data and dateː

Sourceː Muhammad Zakaria. A Grammar of Hyow, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2017.

提供资料的语言学家:

Other comments: Hyow employs a decimal numeral system for counting things. In fact, the decimal system starts from thirty, where the morpheme gíp is used in the decimal slot. There are two forms for numeral one in Hyow. The unbound numeral hngát originates in the PKC *khat*ʔat*hat. Myanmar variety of Laitu Hyow has the similar form for numeral one.

The numeral ák is bound, because it has to be attached to classifiers in order to form a numeral compound, as in hɔ̂ lù-ák (bird CLS-one) 'one bird'.

The form of numeral twenty originates in the PTB *(m-) kul (Benedict 1972) or *kul (Matisoff 2003). After the numeral twenty, the form of the numerals take twenty as base until the numeral twenty-nine, as in kúl-gól-hníʔ (twenty-and-two/twenty-two). The morpheme gôl seems to function as a conjunctive morpheme, which means 'add' or 'and'. The conjunctive morpheme gôl possibly originates in PTB *ral (Matisoff 2003), which means 'connect'. From the numeral thirty, Hyow employs a decimal system by adding the old numeral gîp 'ten' with the bases, as in thûng-gíp (three-ten) 'thirty', hlí-gíp (four-ten) 'forty', etc. Though the numeral for three is thûm. Hyow seems to have velarized the final nasal for the numeral thúng-gíp 'thirty' (the numeral three in Khumi, one of the Southern Chin languages, is thung). From thirty-one, the Hyow speakers add the conjunctive morpheme gôl to form the numerals.

Hyow is a tonal language with three lexical tones – high level (H), low level (L) and high falling (F). Interestingly, different varieties of Hyow have distinct tonal systems. Kontu Hyow employs two falling tones starting from two different pitch levels, while the western Gungrupara Laitu Hyow employs two rising tones. The Laitu dialect in Myanmar has one convex tone and two falling tones, which are recognized as high, mid and low in the orthography. The convex tone and the falling tones of southern Laitu (Minbya Township, Rakhine State) correspond to the falling tone and the level tones of Gungrupara variety respectively.

Hyow is a Southern Chin language with all its varieties spread from the present day Rakhine State on the southwest of modern Myanmar to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (henceforth, CHT) in the southeast of Bangladesh. The exonym of the Hyow is khyang. The varieties of this language are known by different names in Myanmar. The common names are Laitu, Laisaw and Kongtu. An approximate population of 4,000 speakers of two varieties, Laitu (the people who live in the plain or who live in the valley) and Kontu (the people who live in the highland or upper land), are found in three districts of Bangladesh, namely Chittagong, Rangamati and Bandarban. The population of Myanmar varieties is very hard to determine, as there are no extensive studies on these languages. However, one of the language consultants from Myebon (Myanmar) estimates approximately 2,000 families of Laitu living in the Mrauk-U, Minbya and Myebon townships. Moreover, he suggests that there is another variety in the delta area called Sumtu, although an article by Watkins (2013) suggests that the morphosyntax of Sumtu is rather different from other Hyow varieties in Bangladesh. According to SIL (2007), there are 14,000 Sumtu living in Myebon, Minbya and Ann townships in Rakhine State. There are roughly 5,000 Kongtu (the term for the similar people in Bangladesh is Kontu) in the Southern hills, next to the Laitu in Minbya Township. This grammar is principally based on the Laitu Hyow spoken by around 1,200 people who live at Gungrupara in Bandarban of the CHT.

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