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Dialectology as Dialectic

Trends in Linguistics
Studies and Monographs 229
Editor
Volker Gast
Founding Editor
Werner Winter
Editorial Board
Walter Bisang
Hans Henrich Hock
Matthias Schlesewsky
Niina Ning Zhang
Editor responsible for this volume
Hans Henrich Hock
De Gruyter Mouton

Dialectologyas
Dialectic
Interpreting Phula Variation
by
Jamin R. Pelkey
De Gruyter Mouton

ISBN 978-3-11-024584-4
e-ISBN 978-3-11-024585-1
ISSN 1861-4302
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataPelkey, Jamin R., 1974
Dialectology as dialect : interpreting Phula variation / by Jamin
R. Pelkey.
p. cm.(Trends in linguistics: studies and monographs ; 229)
Revision of author’s (doctoral) thesisLaTrobe University, Aus-
tralia, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-11-024584-4 (alk paper)
1. Yi languageDialectology. 2. Yi LanguagePhonology.
3. Yi (Chinese people)Languages. 4. Yi (Chinese people)
Ethnic identity. 5. Anthropological linguisticsChinaYunnan
Province. 6. Anthrological linguisticsVietnam. I. Title.
PL3311.Y5P45 2011
495dc22
2011009360
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
”2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/New York
Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
Printed on acid-free paper
Printed in Germany.
www.degruyter.com

To Stephanie Jill & Quynh Iris

Preface

In this work I propose a more integrative approach to dialectology and apply
the approach to the previously undefined Phula languages of China and Vi-
etnam using original fieldwork and analysis. My hope is that the efficacy of
the argument, and hence the merit of the book, will emerge from its self-
contained integration of theory, methodology and praxis. The Phula lan-
guages are in need of definition: a task that would seem to fall to the dialec-
tologist. If traditional approaches to dialectology are found to be inadequate
to the task, more complex approaches are called for. Such is the case. In fact,
this work adds volume to a mounting murmur that is already rising from the
halls of language variation research. Numerous recent appeals (e.g., Preston
1999a; Croft 2000; Koyama 2001; Kortmann 2004b; Bisang 2004; Neva-
lainen, Klemola and Laitinen 2006) suggest that mine is not a solitary voice
‘crying in the wilderness’: language variation research is currently being
called to task for re-evaluation, particularly in terms of more integrative
approaches to dialectology.
Dialectology proper has traditionally focused on the geographic distribu-
tion of language variation as an end in itself and has remained relatively
segregated from other branches of linguistic (and extra-linguistic) inquiry.
Although the field has slowly been opening up to interdisciplinary perspec-
tives since the late 1990’s, dialectologists still tend to approach their data as
classical modern reductionists – asking exclusively synchronic or exclus-
ively diachronic questions, using exclusively qualitative or exclusively
quantitative analysis, often neglecting insights from history, culture, socio-
linguistics, language contact, historical-comparative linguistics and/or lan-
guage typology. The reductive results of traditional dialectology are
intriguing and instructive in their own right, of course; but they are not well-
suited for engaging the gradient, interdependent dynamics that surround the
actual operationalization of language and dialect definitions, whether syn-
chronically or diachronically conceived. Bringing opposing linguistic, and
extralinguistic, variables into dialectic exchange, on the other hand, results
in emergent equilibria useful for language definition at multiple levels – or
so I have found in seeking to understand Phula.
The languages affiliated with the ancient ethnonym ‘Phula’ descend
from the Ngwi (formerly Loloish) branch of Burmic in the Tibeto-Burman
family and are spoken in remote mountainous regions of southeastern

viii Preface
Yunnan Province, China, and adjacent pockets of northwestern Vietnam, by
a scattered array of ethnic groups whose populations now total some
367,000. The data considered in this book are the results of my personal
fieldwork in 41 Phula villages gathering lexical, textual, ethnohistorical, ge-
olinguistic and perceptual information in cooperation with numerous re-
search and administrative units of Yunnan. Prior to the research leading up
to this publication, these language varieties were undefined – not only in
terms of synchronic identification and diachronic situation but also in terms
of degrees of separation, historical contact, status of endangerment, general
demographics, geographic distribution and dialect diversity.
As suggested above, in order to arrive at such definitions, I argue that
both data collection and data analysis should be approached from multiple
perspectives – typological-descriptive, historical-comparative and socio-
cognitive alike; using diagnostics that are both qualitative and quantitative;
blending insights from history, geography, ethnology, language contact and
sociolinguistics into an organic whole. The approach incorporates complexi-
ty, asserting that dialectology best flourishes as an interdependent dialectic –
a dynamic synthesis of correlative perspectives.
The overarching dialectic treated in this work is framed in terms of the
familiar ‘synchronic-diachronic’ opposition indicative of 20th century lin-
guistic dualism. Taken as a strict dichotomy, synchrony and diachrony are,
ipso facto, irreconcilable. If we distance ourselves from the old essentialist
presuppositions and approach the actual unfolding of language use and lin-
guistic cognition in time and space with more probing, phenomenological
attitudes, the distinction itself becomes liable to an ontological-conceptual
shift. Instead of generating artificial binary choices (e.g., between past vs.
present, history vs. typology, reconstruction vs. description), synchrony and
diachrony emerge as profoundly involved in each other’s affairs in limitless
combinations of underlying complementary tensions – tensions that might
be more aptly re-framed in interdependent biological terms (see dialogue
between Croft 2010 and Mufwane 2010 for precedence and potential prob-
lems). In place of the ‘synchronic-diachronic’ dyad, a biology-oriented triad
suggests itself, including ‘ecological’, ‘phylogenetic’ and ‘ontogenetic’ con-
tingencies: linguistic ecology including both synchronic context and dia-
chronic contact; linguistic phylogeny including both diachronic lineage and
synchronic inheritance; and linguistic ontogeny mediating between the two
in the form of specific, polylectal speech varieties growing through space
and time. Whatever the case, I use the traditional labels in this work if for no
other reason than to demonstrate their inadequacy as discrete categories –
and their interdependence as dialectic categories. Attempting to choose
between the two seems, at best, more and more shortsighted.

Preface ix
Theoretical and conceptual considerations aside, the necessity of treating
the ‘synchronic-diachronic’ dialectic as central to the current study grows
out of a practical bid to disprove and refine the following hypothesis:
all synchronic languages traditionally affiliated with the Phula ethnonym
also belong to a single exclusive diachronic clade linguistically. In order to
actually make this claim falsifiable, two key sets of knowledge are needed:
1) ‘synchronic’ definitions: the number of distinct, contemporary languages
affiliated with the Phula ethnonym and 2) ‘diachronic’ definitions: the
nature of the genetic relationships they share. Understanding the nature of
either, however, is best accomplished through the lens of the other. Syn-
chronic language definitions are shown to provide the categories necessary
for diachronic subgrouping, and diachronic subgroupings are shown to pro-
vide validation for synchronic language definitions. The two sets of
knowledge are interdependent; neither can be adequately defined in a vacu-
um. Numerous other analogous dynamics are illustrated. A chiastic model
emerges as a structure well suited for the dialogic task of complex
integration, and the mediation of paradox is affirmed as a fruitful mode of
scientific discovery.
My approach to fieldwork and analysis are, then, essentially hermeneutic
or ‘pragmatist’ in nature – curiosity and doubt seeking understanding, rather
than confidence and mastery seeking control. Perhaps I may even lay claim
to the ancient sign-based tradition of scientific investigation best articulated
and practiced by Charles Sanders Peirce, eminent American scientist, logi-
cian and founder of hermeneutic semiotics. According to Peirce (e.g.,
[1903] 1998), abductive inference, or hypothesis formation, is indispensible
for rational inquiry. Peirce demonstrates that deductive and inductive logic
depend on abductive inference, though they can by no means be reduced to
it; rather, the three work in tandem – abduction responding to problems
discovered through inductive testing of deductive assertions, which are
themselves habits taken up by assuming the truth of an abduction, due to the
elegant explanatory power of the latter. Under this approach, analysis is re-
flexive with interpretation, or riddle solving; hence the subtitle of this book:
‘interpreting Phula variation.’
The book opens with a review of the contemporary Phula varieties in
their historical context and offers a critical evaluation of background issues
in dialectology. Fieldwork methods and theoretical assumptions are made
transparent in Chapter 2, and synchronic language definitions are presented
in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 discusses the status of language vitality among the
Phula varieties while Chapter 5 sketches five comparative phonologies of
representative Phula languages. Chapters 6 and 7 demonstrate grounds for
subgrouping the Phula languages along with their next-of-kin, and the final

x Preface
chapter reverses the perspective of the first by examining the newly defined
diachronic categories in terms of their newly defined synchronic constitu-
ents. Findings are presented in a variety of charts, tables and maps. Appen-
dices include quantitative matrices, field note samples, and a sample
comprehension test.
The results of Phula language definition fill substantial gaps in our gen-
eral knowledgebase of an immensely complex ethnolinguistic region and
add to the total number of world languages on record. Most of the Phula
languages are endangered to varying degrees; thus, the book calls attention
to the often overlooked reality that language definition must precede lan-
guage preservation. Neglected diversity in the Sinosphere is also highlighted,
and research results have implications for regional ethnohistory, geolinguis-
tics and our understanding of the interaction between language contact and
genetic inheritance. For Tibeto-Burmanists in particular, the process of sub-
grouping based on the newly available Phula data provides grounds for
rethinking several other Ngwi-branch relationships.
In summary, Dialectology as Dialectic demonstrates multiple grounds
for insisting on a more robust, integrative approach to dialectology while
simultaneously demonstrating grounds for defining the Phula languages: 24
synchronic languages belonging to three distinct macro-clades genetically.
In the process of interpretation, 22 of these languages are demonstrated to
descend from two exclusive clades of the Southeastern Ngwi sub-branch. I
would be pleased, of course, if others were drawn into the celebration, and
validation, of this zesty array of overlooked speech communities near the
Sino-Vietnam border. I would be doubly pleased if this work contributes, in
some miniscule way, toward encouraging the realization of a dawning ‘on-
tology of relations’ – a radical shift in taste, if you please, such that the in-
terpretive mediation of complementary tensions (in language and in life)
comes to seem preferable to artificial choices between static dichotomies.

Jamin Pelkey
February 22, 2011
Fort Langley, British Columbia

Acknowledgements

This work is the culmination of a twelve year venture (or compulsion), to
define the Phula languages. Little did I know during the early stages of my
inquiry, begun in 1998, just how many individuals and organizations would
eventually assist me in the process.
From 2005–2009 I was a postgraduate student in the La Trobe Universi-
ty (LTU) Linguistics department, and this volume constitutes a revised ver-
sion of my 2008 LTU PhD dissertation. Financial support for the La Trobe
period of research was provided by an LTU International Postgraduate Re-
search Scholarship, an Australia International Postgraduate Research Schol-
arship, an LTU FHSS 2005 fieldwork grant, and an SIL-International
project funding grant – along with a number of contributors who donated
funds toward a Beijing Jeep, enabling travel to rural datapoints in Yunnan.
My two formal advisors during the La Trobe sojourn were David Brad-
ley and Randy LaPolla – an enviable duo for any budding Tibeto-Burmanist
to study under. Of course, their guidance meant the difference between fail-
ure and success. The long hours they spent laboring through my drafts and
talking over the details of my analysis were essential for my progress and
sacrificial on their part. As my primary advisor, David’s extensive
knowledge of the Burmic group, in both breadth and depth, along with his
natural appreciation for language variation in the Sinosphere and his wealth
of experience in Asian linguistic fieldwork, made for an ideal source of in-
spiration. In addition to his eye for details that I had missed or mistaken Da-
vid was also quick to point out practicalities, theories and implications that I
had overlooked. My appreciation goes to Randy for introducing me to
Charles Sanders Peirce during this period, for priming me with Sinitic per-
spectives, and for refining my philosophy of language, among many other
insights noted in the text and endnotes. Jerold Edmondson, Graham Thur-
good and Harold Koch were the outside examiners of my final dissertation
draft, and each provided important affirmation and advice.
My appreciation goes to Brian Migliazza, James Matisoff, Keith Slater,
Bryan Allen, Peter Lester, Chris Stokland, Lim Chong, Jason Pounders, Na-
than Davis, Sung Kim, Brandt Robbins, Andy Castro, Fraser Bennett, Alec
Coupe, Cathryn Yang, and Eric Johnson for helping me gain momentum
early in the process of research and writing. Dialogue with Cathryn and Eric,
in particular, helped define and refine my approach to research and analysis.

xii Acknowledgements
He Lifeng and Bai Keyang were instrumental in opening the gates to of-
ficial fieldwork in Yunnan Province. My primary field research partners
were Yang Liujin of Honghe University (formerly of the Honghe Prefecture
Nationalities Research Institute), Bai Bibo of the Nationalities Research In-
stitute of Yuxi Normal University and Wang Mingfu of the Wenshan Pre-
fecture Nationalities Research Institute. These three men coordinated
logistics, secured permissions, provided invaluable advice along the way
and became my trusted friends. Multiple other government and educational
leaders in southeastern Yunnan also granted their permission and logistical
assistance in the fieldwork effort, and hundreds of local level Phula speakers
patiently provided language data and hospitality in their mountain villages.
My data analysis can be broken down into four primary components as
will be discussed in Chapter 1. Behind each component is a key source of
influence (though, as always, I am solely responsible for remaining errors).
Ken Manson introduced me to the Neighbor-Net algorithm when I was sore-
ly in need of a valid quantitative component for diachronic analysis, and
Noel Mann helped me think through a number of issues related to synchron-
ic quantitative analysis. The major influence shaping my synchronic qualita-
tive analysis was David Bradley; and, in addition to Bradley’s work on
Ngwi relationships, Randy LaPolla’s advice on subgrouping criteria had a
substantial influence on my diachronic qualitative analysis.
A number of non-academic influences helped sustain me through the
thickest stages of the analysis and drafting, such as the encouragement of
my parents, Rob and Joan Pelkey, and in-laws, Bud and Marilyn Hopkins.
The Equip Training Centre at Kangaroo Grounds provided a private office
space for a crucial three month stretch of writing. A jazz ensemble named
“Virus”, playing on Saturday evenings at the Laundry pub in Fitzroy, taught
me that live jazz, whatever else it may be, is potent therapy. The novels and
essays of Walker Percy kept me human, as did extended reflection on Co-
lossians, Ephesians, 2Peter, 1John and other poetry (that of W.H. Auden,
Dylan Thomas and T.S. Eliot, in particular). Other sustaining influences in-
cluded conversations with my friend Matt Rojahn and the birth of Quynh
Iris (a.k.a. the Seahorse).
Stephanie has been my orientation point and closest companion for nine
of the past twelve years of research and writing. She accompanied me to
most of the fieldwork datapoints discussed in this volume and helped with
video recordings, equipment maintenance, expense accounts, and a host of
other crucial details. Thank you again, Stephie.

Once again, thank you all.

Contents

Preface vii
Acknowledgements xi
Contents xiii
List of maps xxii
List of tables xxiii
List of figures xxvi
General abbreviations xxviii
Data source abbreviations xxxi

1. Introduction: Synchronic Phula in diachronic perspective 1
1.1. The Phula hypothesis 1
1.1.1. Falsifiability and the Phula hypothesis 3
1.1.2. Chapter overview 4
1.2. Historical background 5
1.2.1. Phula, Puzu, Yizu and other classifications 7
1.2.2. The Phula-Lolo distinction in historical records 9
1.2.3. Retracing Phula migration patterns from oral and 11
written histories
1.2.3.1. Macro-migration patterns 11
1.2.3.2. Micro-migration patterns 15
1.2.4. Previous research on the Phula languages 18
1.3. Field data orientation 21
1.3.1. Administrative orientation of Phula villages 21
1.3.2. Fieldwork data point locations 28
1.3.3. Overview of field data collection 28
1.3.4. External data sources 29
1.4. Research scope, assumptions and approach 31
1.4.1. Theoretical assumptions: toward an integrative 31
dialectology
1.4.2. On the viability of integrational standards for 36
language definition
1.4.3. Research scope and limitations 40
1.5. Argument structure and organization 41

xiv Contents
2. Research background: Field methods, theory, and dialectology 44
2.1. Introduction 44
2.2. Nature and scope of the fieldwork 45
2.2.1. Navigating research approval and fieldwork sponsorship 45
2.2.2. Navigating administrative terrain 45
2.2.3. Navigating data point travel 46
2.2.4. Scope of data collection 47
2.2.5. Data reciprocity with language communities 49
2.2.6. Digital archiving and analysis 50
2.3. Recording equipment and use 51
2.3.1. Overview of recording equipment 51
2.3.2. Recording scenarios and setup 52
2.3.3. Evaluation of equipment and recording methods 54
2.4. Elicitation instruments and methodology 55
2.4.1. Sociolinguistic questionnaires 55
2.4.1.1. Questionnaire goals and design 56
2.4.1.2. Questionnaire administration 57
2.4.1.3. Working revisions 57
2.4.2. Wordlist design and elicitation 58
2.4.2.1. Wordlist design 58
2.4.2.2. Elicitation printouts 60
2.4.2.3. Consultant selection and screening 60
2.4.2.4. Elicitation framing 61
2.4.2.5. Cognate fishing 64
2.4.2.6. Use of elicitation illustrations 65
2.4.2.7. Non-IPA Chinese phonetic conventions 65
2.4.2.8. Pronunciation imitation 67
2.4.2.9. Working revisions 67
2.4.3. Natural text elicitation 68
2.5. Assessing identity, demography and vitality 69
2.5.1. Ethnic identity research 69
2.5.2. Demographic research 72
2.5.3. Geolinguistic mapping research 73
2.5.4. Endangerment, vitality, and language contact research 74
2.6. Assessing dialect intelligibility and internal contact 78
2.6.1. Perceptual dialectology 79
2.6.2. Recorded text testing and the high-intelligibility 80
threshold
2.6.3. Core lexical comparison and the low-intelligibility 82
threshold
2.7. Assessing language variation and change 84

Contents xv
2.7.1. Phonological description in light of language variation 84
2.7.2. Grammaticalization, lexicalization and variational 85
semantics
2.7.3. The comparative method 87
2.8. Assessing phylogenetic relationships 88
2.8.1. Clustering, subgrouping and phylogenetic situation 90
2.8.2. Baileyan dialectology and the dynamic wave model 91
2.8.3. Tree diagrams and other models 93
2.8.4. The Neighbor-Net algorithm and distance-based 94
relationships
2.9. An experiment in triadic dialectics: ecology-phylogeny-ontogeny 94

3. Synchronic language definitions: Identity, intelligibility, contact 96
3.1. Preliminaries 96
3.2. Phula ethnic identities 99
3.2.1. West-regional identities 101
3.2.2. South-central identities 102
3.2.3. North-central identities 110
3.2.4. East-regional identities 114
3.2.5. Trends and observations 118
3.3. Core lexical comparisons 119
3.3.1. West-regional comparisons 120
3.3.2. South-central comparisons 122
3.3.3. North-central comparisons 124
3.3.4. East-regional comparisons 126
3.3.5. Perspective 126
3.4. Recorded text testing 128
3.4.1. West-regional results 128
3.4.2. South-central results 129
3.4.3. North-central testing results 132
3.4.4. East-regional testing results 133
3.5. Reported dialect perceptions and intelligibility indices 133
3.5.1. West-regional perceptions and indices 134
3.5.2. South-central perceptions and indices 136
3.5.3. North-central perceptions and indices 144
3.5.4. East-regional perceptions and indices 149
3.6. Language contact issues 153
3.6.1. External contact 154
3.6.2. Internal contact 155
3.7. Integrating identity, contact, and intelligibility 159
3.7.1. West-regional integration 159

xvi Contents
3.7.2. South-central integration 160
3.7.3. North-central integration 162
3.7.4. East-regional integration 163
3.8. Conclusion: The synchronic Phula languages 163
3.8.1. Phala [ISO 639-3: ypa] 164
3.8.2. Phola [ISO 639-3: ypg] 164
3.8.3. Phola, Alo [ISO 639-3: ypo] 165
3.8.4. Muji, Qila [ISO 639-3: ymq] 165
3.8.5. Muji, Southern [ISO 639-3: ymc] 166
3.8.6. Muji, Northern [ISO 639-3: ymx] 167
3.8.7. Muzi [ISO 639-3: ymz] 167
3.8.8. Bokha [ISO 639-3: ybk] 168
3.8.9. Phuma [ISO 639-3: ypm] 168
3.8.10. Alugu [ISO 639-3: aub] 168
3.8.11. Phupa [ISO 639-3: ypp] 169
3.8.12. Phupha [ISO 639-3: yph] 169
3.8.13. Phuza [ISO 639-3: ypz] 169
3.8.14. Phowa, Ani [ISO 639-3: ypn] 171
3.8.15. Phowa, Labo [ISO 639-3: ypb] 171
3.8.16. Phowa, Hlepho [ISO 639-3: yhl] 171
3.8.17. Azha [ISO 639-3: aza] 172
3.8.18. Zokhuo [ISO 639-3: yzk] 172
3.8.19. Khlula [ISO 639-3: ykl] 174
3.8.20. Moji [ISO 639-3: ymi] 174
3.8.21. Phukha [ISO 639-3: phh] 174
3.8.22. Laghuu [ISO 639-3: lgh] 176
3.8.23. Pholo [ISO 639-3: yip] 176
3.8.24. Thopho [ISO 639-3: ytp] 176

4. Ethnolinguistic vitality: Contact, endangerment and shift 178
4.1. Introduction 178
4.2. Phola and Alo 182
4.2.1. Luodie and Natang 182
4.2.2. Adipo 183
4.3. Phala 184
4.4. Muji, Southern 186
4.4.1. Pujiazhai 186
4.4.2. Shizitou 187
4.5. Muji, Northern 188
4.5.1. Xiepo 188
4.5.2. Loushuidong 189

Contents xvii
4.6. Muzi 190
4.6.1. Nuoguzhai 190
4.6.2. Malutang 191
4.7. Bokha 192
4.7.1. Yibaizu 192
4.7.2. Dixibei 193
4.8. Phuma 194
4.9. Alugu 195
4.10. Phupa 196
4.11. Phupha 197
4.12. Phuza 198
4.13. Muji, Qila 199
4.14. Phowa, Ani 200
4.15. Phowa, Labo 201
4.15.1. Jiajie and Lugumu 201
4.15.2. Wudupi 202
4.16. Phowa, Hlepho 203
4.16.1. Feizuke 203
4.16.2. Chekabai 204
4.16.3. Weibazhu/Xiaozhai 206
4.16.4. Suozhiwan 207
4.16.5. Meizichong 207
4.17. Azha 209
4.17.1. Luojiayi, Xiaopingba and Huangzhai 209
4.17.2. Faduke Dazhai 211
4.18. Zokhuo 212
4.19. Khlula 213
4.19.1. Laozhai 213
4.19.2. Maxi 215
4.20. Laghuu and Phukha 215
4.21. Moji 216
4.22. Pholo 216
4.22.1. Xiji 216
4.22.2. Fayixiazhai 217
4.22.3. Shangxinzhai 217
4.23. Thopho 219
4.24. Overview of Phula ethnolinguistic vitality 220

5. Phula phonologies: Five representative sketches 223
5.1. Preliminaries 223
5.1.1. General Phonological Features 224

xviii Contents
5.1.2. Structure of the sketches 226
5.2. Hlepho-FZK and the Phowa Clade 227
5.2.1. Syllable 228
5.2.2. Consonant Initials 228
5.2.3. Vowel Finals 235
5.2.4. Tone 238
5.2.5. Phonation 240
5.3. Muji-PJZ and the Muji Clade 240
5.3.1. Syllable 241
5.3.2. Consonant Initials 241
5.3.3. Vowel Finals 243
5.3.4. Tone 245
5.4. Phuza-BJB and the Downriver Phula clade 247
5.4.1. Syllable 248
5.4.2. Consonant initials 248
5.4.3. Vowel Finals 251
5.4.4. Tone 253
5.5. Phola-LDC and the Upriver Phula clade 254
5.5.1. Syllable 255
5.5.2. Consonant initials 255
5.5.3. Vowel Finals 259
5.5.4. Tone 261
5.5.5. Phonation 263
5.6. Azha Phonology 264
5.6.1. Syllable 264
5.6.2. Consonant Initials 265
5.6.3. Vowel Finals 267
5.6.4. Tone 268
5.7. Summary 270

6. The language clades of Phula Proper: Establishing historical 271
subgroupings
6.1. Methodology for historical subgrouping 271
6.1.1. Overview of Ngwi tone 272
6.1.2. Overview of Proto-Ngwi *initial classes and guide 273
to notation
6.1.3. Overview of Phula tonal reflexes 275
6.2. A distance-based network of Phula languages 278
6.2.1. Neighbor-Net and distance-based phylogenetic 279
relationships

Contents xix
6.2.2. The Phula neighbor network and preliminary 281
subgroupings
6.3. The Muji meso-clade 285
6.3.1. Tone system innovations 285
6.3.1.1. Tone-class 1 288
6.3.1.2. Tone-class 2 289
6.3.1.3. Tone-class 3 291
6.3.1.4. The *checked tone classes 293
6.3.2. Other independent innovations 300
6.3.2.1. Phonological innovations 301
6.3.2.2. Morphological innovations 304
6.3.2.3. Lexico-semantic innovations 305
6.3.3. Historical dialectology 308
6.4. The Phowa meso-clade 313
6.4.1. Tone system innovations 314
6.4.1.1. Tone-class 1 316
6.4.1.2. Tone-class 2 317
6.4.1.3. Tone-class 3 319
6.4.1.4. The *checked-tone classes 320
6.4.2. Other Innovations 322
6.4.3. Historical dialectology 325
6.5. The Highland Phula macro-clade 330
6.5.1. Lexico-semantic innovations 330
6.5.2. Phonological innovations 334
6.6. The Riverine Phula macro-clade 335
6.6.1. Tone system developments 336
6.6.1.1. Tone-class *1 337
6.6.1.2. Tone-class *2 338
6.6.1.3. Tone-class *3 340
6.6.1.4. The *checked tone classes 340
6.6.2. Other Innovations 342
6.6.2.1. Phola-Phala (Upriver Phula) 342
6.6.2.2. Phupha-Alugu 343
6.6.2.3. Phuza-Phupa 345
6.6.3. Historical dialectology 346
6.7. Conclusion 350

7. Phula and Southeastern Ngwi: Sani, Axi, Azhe, Azha, Nisu, and 352
Phula Proper
7.1. Introduction 352
7.2. Expanded neighbor network 353

xx Contents
7.3. Southeastern Ngwi 355
7.3.1. Permutations of the alveolar-lateral cluster innovation 356
7.3.2. Sani, Axi, Azhe, Azha, Southeastern Ngwi and 366
Central Ngwi
7.3.3. Nisu, Southeastern Ngwi and Northern Ngwi 368
7.3.4. Summary of preliminary subgrouping criteria for 372
SE Ngwi
7.4. Azha, Azhe and Sani-Axi 375
7.4.1. The status of Azha 376
7.4.2. The Sani-Axi clade 378
7.4.3. Tone system developments for Sani-Axi-Azhe-Azha 380
7.4.3.1. Tone-class *1 383
7.4.3.2. Tone-class *2 384
7.4.3.3. Tone-class *3 386
7.4.3.4. The *checked tone classes 387
7.4.4. Working conclusion on the internal relationships of 388
the SA clade
7.5. Pholo 389
7.6. Conclusions 391

8. Conclusion: Diachronic Phula in synchronic perspective 394
8.1. Review 394
8.1.1. Phula language definition as chiastic dialectic 395
8.1.2. Folk Phula and Phula Proper 398
8.2. The Riverine Phula Macro-clade in synchronic perspective 401
8.2.1. Riverine Phula demographics and distribution 401
8.2.1.1. Upriver demographics and distribution 403
8.2.1.2. Downriver demographics and distribution 404
8.2.2. Riverine Phula perceptual dialectology 404
8.2.2.1. Upriver perceptual dialectology 406
8.2.2.2. Downriver perceptual dialectology 406
8.3. The Muji meso-clade in synchronic perspective 407
8.3.1. Current demographics and distribution of the Muji 407
meso-clade
8.3.2. Muji meso-clade perceptual dialectology by 411
synchronic language
8.4. The Phowa meso-clade in synchronic perspective 413
8.4.1. Current demographics and distribution of the Phowa 413
meso-clade
8.4.2. Phowa meso-clade perceptual dialectology by 416
language

Contents xxi
8.5. Review of contributions and key findings 418
8.5.1. Contributions to areal language recognition 419
8.5.2. Contributions to research on areal language 419
endangerment
8.5.3. Contributions to Ngwi linguistics and regional 420
ethnohistory
8.5.4. Contributions to language contact research 420
8.5.5. Contributions to ethnic identity research 421
8.5.6. Contributions to tone system analysis 421
8.5.7. Contributions to distance-based phylogenetics 421
8.5.8. Contributions to intelligibility testing 422
8.5.9. Contributions to regional demography 422
8.5.10. Contributions to geolinguistics 423
8.5.11. Contributions to field methods in linguistic survey 423
8.5.12. Toward a hermeneutic dialectology 423
8.5.13. Toward a chiastic dialectic model of reasoning 425
8.6. Extra-disciplinary perspectives on neglected diversity 426
8.6.1. Neglected diversity and onomastic ambiguity 426
8.6.2. Neglected diversity, homoplasy and genetics 427
8.6.3. Neglected diversity and the survival of the cutest 428
8.7. Suggestions for future studies 429
8.7.1. Remaining research questions 430
8.7.2. New research suggestions 431
8.8. Coda 432

Appendix A: Sociolinguistic questionnaires 433
Appendix B: Lexical elicitation datasheet sample 442
Appendix C: Similarity and distance matrices 444
Appendix D: Sample RTT translations 447
Notes 449
References 460
Index 487

List of maps

1.1. Broad geographic orientation of Yunnan Province, China, and Phula 6
distribution area
1.2. Major river systems of Yunnan and ancient Phula settlement sites 13
1.3. Administrative overview of Yunnan and NW Vietnam with 22
contemporary administrative Phula regions shaded
1.4. Phula village distribution patterns by township 24
1.5. County level overview of Phula distribution marking data point 25
locations
3.1. Orientation of geographic regions and maps discussed in Chapter 3 98
3.2. General distribution of Phola, Phala, and Alo 165
3.3. Distribution of Muji, Qila and location of the three Muji, Qila 166
villages
3.4. Distribution of Southern Muji, Northern Muji, Muzi, Bokha, 170
Phuma, Phupa, Alugu, Phupha and Phuza
3.5. Distribution of Ani, Labo, Hlepho, Azha and Zokhuo 173
3.6. Distribution of Khlula, Moji, Laghuu, and Phukha 175
3.7. Distribution of Pholo and Thopho 177
4.1. Locations of Phula language endangerment maps plotted by region 181
4.2. Overview of language vitality in the core western region 185
4.3. Overview of language vitality in the core central region 208
4.4. Overview of Phula language vitality in the core eastern region 218
8.1. Spatial distribution of Phula Proper and Folk Phula delineated by 400
major genetic clade
8.2. Current distribution of Riverine Phula 403
8.3. Perceptual dialect affiliation by village and subgroup for Riverine 405
Phula
8.4. Current distribution of the Muji Clade 408
8.5. Perceptual dialect affiliation by village for Core Muji 412
8.6. Current distribution of the Phowa Meso-clade 414
8.7. Perceptual dialect affiliation by village for Phowa clade 417
(minus Phukha)

List of tables

1.1. Summary of Phula data collection linked to Map 1.5 26
2.1. Major stages of approval and sponsorship for Phula field research 46
2.2. Translated overview of elicitation frames used in lexical data 63
collection
3.1. West-regional onomastic identities 101
3.2. Onomastic identity overview for Muji and Muzi autonym groups 103
3.3. Other Phula onomastic identities in the south-central region 106
3.4. North-central onomastic identities 111
3.5. East-regional onomastic identities 115
3.6. Core lexical comparison results for the west-regional Phula 121
varieties
3.7. Core lexical comparison results for south-central Phula varieties 123
3.8. Core lexical comparison results for Phula varieties in the 125
north-central region
3.9. Core lexical comparison results for Phula varieties in the eastern 127
region
3.10. Phula intelligibility testing results for the south-central region 130
3.11. Results and evaluation of preliminary testing with 131
Muji-PJZ RTT
3.12. Intelligibility and internal contact summary for the south-central 161
region
4.1. Threatened language status estimates by village and language 221
5.1. Hlepho Phowa-FZK consonant initial phonemes 229
5.2. Hlepho Phowa-FZK consonants contrasts 230
5.3. Status of the lateral affricate series in the Phowa clade 233
5.4. Evidence for velar reflexes of Phula lateral clusters in Zokhuo 233
5.5. Reflexes of Proto-Ngwi prenasalized stops in the Phowa clade 234
5.6. Hlepho Phowa-FZK monophthong final contrasts 235
5.7. The Muji-PJZ consonant system 241
5.8. Muji-PJZ consonants in contrastive environments 242
5.9. Preliminary overview of phone reflexes for Muji lateral-cluster 243
series
5.10. Muji-PJZ vowels in contrastive environments 245
5.11. The Phuza-BJB consonant system 248
5.12. Phuza-BJB consonant initial contrast set one 249
5.13. Phuza-BJB consonant initial contrast set two 250
5.14. Phuza-BJB vowel final contrasts 252

xxiv List of tables
5.15. Phola consonant initials 255
5.16. Phola consonants in contrastive environments 256
5.17. Phola vowel finals in contrastive environments 260
5.18. Azha-LJY consonant initial phonemes 265
5.19. Azha-LJY consonants in contrastive environment 266
5.20. Azha-PJZ vowel phonemes in contrastive environment 268
6.1. Guide to shorthand for major natural classes of PNg initials 274
6.2. Overview of Phula tonal reflexes with reference to other Ngwi 276
languages
6.3. Unmarked tonal reflex patterns in Phula and other Ngwi 277
languages
6.4. Muji clade tone correspondences for TC-1 288
6.5. Muji clade tone correspondences for TC-2 290
6.6. Muji clade tone correspondences for TC-3 292
6.7. Muji clade tone correspondences for *checked classes TC-L 293
and TC-H
6.8. *H > 33/ *[+continuant]_ in Core Muji 294
6.9. *H > 21/ *[-continuant]_ in Core Muji 295
6.10. *L > 21/ *[+continuant]_ in Core Muji 296
6.11. *L > 33/ *[-continuant]_ in Core Muji 297
6.12. *L > 21 and *H > 33 / *[-continuant] > PM *[+medial]_ for 298
Core Muji
6.13. An unusual rhyme reflex pattern in Core Muji 301
6.14. Summary of 14 Muji clade innovations 308
6.15. Phowa clade tone correspondences for TC-1 316
6.16. Phowa clade tone correspondences for TC-2 318
6.17. Phowa clade tone correspondences for TC-3 320
6.18. Phowa clade tone correspondences for TC-L and TC-H 321
6.19. Summary of 14 Phowa clade innovation sets 325
6.20. Highland Phula lexico-semantic innovation set one 331
6.21. Highland Phula lexico-semantic innovation set two 332
6.22. TC-1 tone correspondences for the Riverine Phula macro-clade 338
6.23. TC-2 tone correspondences for the Riverine Phula macro-clade 339
6.24. TC-3 tone correspondences for the Riverine Phula macro-clade 340
6.25. *Checked tone correspondences for the Riverine Phula 341
macro-clade
6.26. Summary of Riverine Phula innovation sets 347
7.1. *bl/y and *pl/y cluster reflexes in various Ngwi languages: 358
Dataset 1
7.2. *bl/y and *pl/y cluster reflexes in various Ngwi languages: 359
Dataset 2

List of tables xxv
7.3. *ʔ-, *b- and *p- prefixed *resonant initial reflexes and the 362
exclusion of *b-l and *pr
7.4. Further lateral cluster conditioning environments and the 364
exclusion of *k-l syllables
7.5. Family group classifier samples from Azha and Phula Proper 367
7.6. ‘egg’ and ‘lay(an egg)’ in SE Ngwi, Nuosu and Nasu 371
7.7. ‘bat’ < ‘flyer’ in SE Ngwi 373
7.8. Three Azha lexical isoglosses 377
7.9. Exclusive devoicing of TC-1 *stop initials in Sani and Axi 379
7.10. Comparison of Sani tone transcription conventions 379
7.11. TC-1 tone correspondences for Sani, Axi, Azhe and Azha 383
7.12. TC-2 tone correspondences for Sani, Axi, Azhe and Azha 384
7.13. Problematic tone reflexes of TC-2 *s initial syllables in the 385
SA clade
7.14. TC-3 tone correspondences for Sani, Axi, Azhe and Azha 386
7.15. *Checked tone correspondences for Sani, Axi, Azhe and Azha 387
7.16. Pholo reflexes of SE Ngwi lateral cluster conditioning 390
environments
8.1. Riverine population and village distribution estimates by 402
language and county
8.2. Muji-clade population estimates by language and county 409
8.3. Muji-clade village distribution estimates by language and 410
county
8.4. Phowa-clade population and village distribution by language 415
and county

List of figures

1.1. Per-county proportion of total Phula villages 23
1.2. Theoretical orientation of dialectology assumed in this work: 33
linguistic and extra-linguistic considerations
1.3. Proposed dialogic approach to dialectology: Questions and 34
methods
1.4. Organization of the featured dialectic argument 42
2.1. Illustration of lexical elicitation recording setup 53
2.2. Supplementary IPA vowel conventions used by linguists in China 66
2.3. Bailey’s dynamic wave model of cross-lectal innovations 92
3.1. The Phowa dialect continuum 159
4.1. Summary of Phula threatened language status by village totals 220
5.1. The Hlepho Phowa-FZK vowel system 235
5.2. Hlepho-FZK pitch plots and tonemes: nasal initial environment 239
5.3. Hlepho-FZK pitch plots and tonemes: stop initial environment 239
5.4. Allophonic gradience and the PJZ vowel system 244
5.5. PJZ pitch plots and tonemes: Nasal initial environment 246
5.6. PJZ pitch plots and tonemes: Stop initial environment 246
5.7. The Phuza-BJB vowel system 251
5.8. Phuza-BJB pitch plots and tonemes: nasal initial environment 253
(male#1)
5.9. Phuza-BJB pitch plots and tonemes: stop initial environment 253
(male#2)
5.10. Phola prenasalized voiceless onsets:
ɴ
qɑ³¹ ‘buckwheat’ and ⁿtɔ³³ 257
‘drink’
5.11. Phola-LDC phonemic monophthong and diphthong finals 259
5.12. Phola pitch plots and tonemes: nasal initial environment 261
5.13. Phola pitch plots and tonemes: stop initial environment 262
5.14. Azha-LJY vowel final phonemes 267
5.15. LJY pitch plots and tonemes: Nasal initial environment 269
5.16. LJY pitch plots and tonemes: Stop initial environment 269
6.1. Simple network illustrating ambiguous weighted splits 280
6.2. Distance-based phylogenetic neighbor network phenogram of 282
Phula language varieties
6.3. Phula neighbor network marking languages and genetic/contact 283
clusters
6.4. Summary of PNg tonal reflex patterns in the nine known Muji 286
clade languages

List of figures xxvii
6.5. Correlative redistribution of *H and *L in the Muji clade 299
6.6. Traditional isoglossic diagram of Muji clade innovations 310
summarized in Table 6.14
6.7. Simplified dynamic wave model of Muji’s core and periphery 311
6.8. Internal subgrouping hypothesis for the Muji meso-clade 312
6.9. Summary of PNg tonal reflex patterns in six Phowa clade 314
languages
6.10. Traditional wave diagram of Phowa clade innovations 327
summarized in Table 6.19
6.11. Simplified dynamic wave model of Phowa clade innovations 328
6.12. Internal subgrouping hypothesis for the Phowa clade 329
6.13. Proto-Ngwi tonal reflex patterns in the Riverine Phula languages 336
6.14. Traditional isoglossic diagram of Riverine innovations 348
summarized in Table 6.26
6.15. Internal subgrouping hypothesis for the Riverine Phula 349
macro-clade
6.16. Full Phula subgrouping hypothesis marking external contact 351
languages
7.1. Expanded Phula neighbor network incorporating Sani, Axi, 354
Azhe and Nisu
7.2. Diachronic development of *pl/y and *ʔ-kl initials in Ngwi 361
7.3. Diachronic development of lateral clusters in Southeastern 365
Ngwi
7.4. PNg tonal reflex patterns in Northern Nisu 370
7.5. PNg tonal reflex patterns in Sani-Axi-Azhe-Azha 381
7.6. Proposed internal genetic-contact composition of the 389
SA Meso-Clade
7.7. Working hypothesis on the genetic composition of 392
Southeastern Ngwi
8.1. Chiastic structure of the underlying dialectic argument 396
8.2. Dialectology as dialectic: Featuring Ontogeny as analogic 424
mediator

General abbreviations

AN ‘after next’ (e.g. ‘yearAN’= ‘year after next’; ‘yearAAN’ =
‘three years from now’, etc.)
asp Aspirated (phonetic feature: [+asp] = aspirated, [-asp] = unaspi-
rated)
AUG Augmentative
C Consonant initial
C2 Consonant coda
CLF Numeral classifier (vs. NCL)
cont Continuant (phonetic feature: [+/-cont])
CPV Completive
DEM Demonstrative
DIA Local dialect form (e.g., from Xinan Guanhua ‘dialect’ of Man-
darin)
DIM Diminutive
DRG Derogatory
DR Downriver
EXT Existential (have ~ be)
EXC Exclusive
G Glide segment
HON Honorific
HUM Humor (said with more jest than malice)
HP Highland Phula (macro-clade: sister node to RP, daughter node
of PP)
ITF Intensifier
LCh Chinese loan
LOC Locative
Lx Lexeme (Lx² = the second lexeme in a pair or set)
Mph Morpheme (used to refer to a specific morpheme: e.g., Mph² =
the second morpheme)
NA Not applicable
NCL Noun classifier (vs. CLF)
NC No cognate
ND No data
Ng Ngwi (formerly known as ‘Loloish’, ‘Yipho’, ‘Yiish’ and ‘Ni’)
NUM Number
(n) Noun (denoting otherwise ambiguous part of speech for a given
lexeme)

General abbreviations xxix
P (tense voice) Phonation
PB Proto-Burmic (a.k.a ‘Burmese-Lolo’, ‘Lolo-Burmese’, etc.)
PtLCh Partial Chinese loan or lexeme calqued from Chinese
PFV Perfective
PM Proto-Muji (meso-clade: sister node to PW, daughter node of
HP)
PW Proto-Phowa (meso-clade: sister node to PM, daughter node of
HP)
PNg Proto-Ngwi
PP Phula Proper (perceptual clade including RP and HP)
Q Questionnaire
REA Reanalysis
RP Riverine Phula (macro-clade: sister node to HP, daughter node
of PP)
RTT Recorded text test
RTP Pilot tested RTT
S Syllable (used in lexicon to refer to a specific syllable: e.g., S² =
the second syllable)
SA Sani-Axi-Azhe-Azha (macro-clade: sister node to HP and RP,
SE Ngwi daughter node)
SE Southeastern
SFX Suffix
SPV Superlative
T Tone
TAM Tense-Aspect-Mood/Modality
TOA Term of address
TOR Term of reference
UR Upriver
(v) Verb (denoting the otherwise ambiguous part of speech of a
given lexeme)
V Vowel final (or syllable nucleus)
VGQ Village Group Questionnaire
VLQ Village Leader Questionnaire
voc Voice (phonetic feature: [+voc] = voiced, [-voc] = unvoiced)

Kinship terms are abbreviated as follows but are only used in tandem
(i.e., to abbreviate a kinship relationship; e.g., FBW= ‘father’s
brother’s wife’ MOS= ‘mother’s older sister’):
B ‘brother’
F ‘father’
G ‘grand-’ (i.e., parent)

xxx General abbreviations
H ‘husband’
O ‘older’
M ‘mother’
P ‘parent’
S ‘sister’
W ‘wife’
Y ‘younger’

Data source abbreviations

ADP (Phola): Honghe County, Menglong, Adipo
4Ò"ã ï UÉ‘LoÅ‘
BJB (Phuza): Mengzi County, Lengquan, Bujibai
:É8 ïç"ùKw>•TQ,
BSC (Phala): Honghe County, Baohua, Beishe
4Ò"ã ïÍ ~‘.ÁCz
CKB (Phowa, Hlepho, Phole): Wenshan County, Dehou, Chekabai
·¡ ïç ÊKwŸ ‘,
CTL (Alugu): Gejiu County (Shi), Manhao, Chongtianling
Z2;C6GKwâYÝ
DHN (Phowa, Ani): Mengzi County, Xibeile, Daheineng
:É8 ï?¯ G ‘WU7-
DFC (Azha): Yanshan County, Ganhe, Faduke Dazhai (‘Dafa’)
.D¡ ï¢"ã‘#G-W
DPD (Axi, YNYF 1984): Mile County, Xiyi Township, Dapingdi
U ï?¯0KwW£`
DXB (Bokha, Bokho): Jinping County, Ma’andi, Dixibei
H£ ïPœM½Å`?¯ G
DXZ (Zokhuo): Wenshan County, Zhuiligai, Daxingzhai
·¡ ïF-G>‡KwW¤
FKC (Phupha): Gejiu County (Shi), Jiasha, Fengkou
Z2Cn"É‘Nþ
FNS (Phala): Honghe County, Yisa, Feinishao
4Ò"ã ïF:XKwÀl
FYX (Pholo): Guangnan County, Wuzhu, Fayixiazhai
¯ ‡ ïÄK‘#>“;
FZK (Phowa, Hlepho): Pingbian County, Xinhua, Feizuke
Eé ïà ~‘:"0{

xxxii Data source abbreviations
GDC (Azha, Wu Z. 1996aandb): Wenshan County, Panzhihua, Gaodeng
·¡ ï0Í8áKwQ,«à
GMD (Phupa): Mengzi County, Shuitian, Gamadi
:É8 ï"d+`‘>PœÅ
HLT (Phowa, Labo; Wang 2004): Kaiyuan, Mazheshao, Hulutang
0F2Pœ65‘:›8Öˆ
HZC (Azha): Wenshan County, Dongshan, Huangzhai
·¡ ïL¡‘9‚
JJC (Phowa, Labo): Kaiyuan County (Shi), Beige, Jiaji
0F2.Ál‘æ9
LCC (Moji): Xichou County, Lianhuatang, Luchaichong
?¯+¤ ï9â8áˆ8Öâ
LDC (Phola): Yuanjiang County, Wadie, Luodie
s" ï#lÔ‘5‡Ô
LGM (Phowa, Labo): Kaiyuan County (Shi), Beige, Lugumu
0F2.Ál‘R±!ý
LJY (Azha): Wenshan County, Binglie Luojiayi
·¡ ï/ù&ø‘^æFÁ
LPC (Phukha, Edmondson 2002, Fried 2000): Lào Cai Province,
Vietnam
LSD (Muji, Northern): Pingbian County, Xinxian, Luoshuidong
Eé ïà)àKw:m"d#N
LZC (Khlula): Wenshan County, Liujin, Laozhai
·¡ ï#Å‘61
MCD (Nisu, N., Pu et al. 2005): Shiping, Shaochong, Mocedian
.# ïâKw9Û#{+h
MLT (Muzi): Gejiu County (Shi), Laochang, Malutang
Z261 ²KwPœT¯@
MXC (Khlula): Maguan County, Muchang, Maxi
Pœ£ ïX ²KwPœ?¯
MZC (Phowa, Hlepho): Mengzi County, Mingjiu, Meizichong
:É8 ïTST›Kwµ€â

Data source abbreviations xxxiii
NGZ (Muzi): Gejiu County (Shi), Kafang, Nuoguzhai
Z2 ??Kw3Bg
NSC (Laghuu, Edmondson 2002): Nậm Sang, Sa Pa,
Lào Cai Province, Vietnam
NTC (Phola): Yuanjiang County, Lijiang, Natang
s"? ?%?"?KwF??
PJZ (Muji, Southern): Jinping County, Adebo, Pujiazhai
H? ?Lo? ????
QLC (Muji, Qila): Jinping County, Jinshuihe, Qila
H? ?H"d"?KwO7z
SZT (Muji, Southern, Muzi): Jinping County, Tongchang, Shizitou
H£ ïK ²‘)€d
SXZ (Pholo): Yanshan County, Ganhe, Longyong Shangxinzhai
.D? ??"??U?"h:?
SZW (Phowa, Hlepho): Wenshan County, Baxin, Suozhiwan
?? ???p__
WBZ (Phowa, Hlepho): Kaiyuan, Beige, Xiaozhai (‘Weibazhu’)
0F2.?l?n$)Z?
WDP (Phowa, Labo, Asaheipho): Kaiyuan, Mazheshao, Wudupi
0F2P?65?|G-,?
WZC (Sani, Dai et al. 1992): Shilin County, Weize, Weize
.#? ?5$I?5$I
XBL (Phowa, Ani): Mengzi County, Xibeile, Xibeile
:É8 ï?¯ G ‘?¯ G
XJC (Pholo): Guangnan County, Zhulin, Xiji
? ? ?*?Kw??9
XPC (Muji, Northern): Mengzi County, Shuitian, Xiepo
:É8 ï"d+`‘Ì‘
XPB (Azha): Wenshan County, Binglie, Xiaopingba
?? ?/?&?????
XZC (Thopho): Guangnan County, Zhetu, Xinzhai
? ? ?65???

xxxiv Data source abbreviations
YBZ (Bokha): Pingbian County, Dishuiceng, Yibaizu
Eé ï%$"dr‘FÁ 0
YZT (Phuma): Pingbian County, Beihe, Yanzitou
Eé ï,"ã‘Ù€d
ZZC (Azhe, YNYF 1984): Mile County, Wushan, Zhongzhai
U ïÄ¡‘]

Chapter 1
Introduction
Synchronic Phula in diachronic perspective
1.1. The Phula hypothesis
The title ‘Phula’
1
is a historical ethnonym with affiliates living on both sides
of the Sino-Vietnam border. The population in question currently stands at
around 367,000
2
and is distributed over an area of 100,000 square kilome-
ters – roughly the size of Arunachal Pradesh or the country of Guatemala
(see Maps 1.1 and 1.3). The ethnic title itself has traditionally been applied
to an array of related ethnolinguistic groups, consolidating them under a
common category; but, prior to the analysis and synthesis behind this book,
neither the category nor its constituency had ever been defined. In most in-
stances of its application, the category-cum-title is accepted by in-group
members and out-group locals alike, but the range and implications of its
usage have remained unclear – and, for that matter, largely unexamined.
The Phula varieties speak languages belonging to the Ngwi
3
branch of the
Burmic group in the Tibeto-Burman language family, but the actual number
of languages spoken under the Phula ethnonym and the nature of their his-
torical relationships are two questions that have never been formally asked
or answered. In this work I attempt to define Phula by answering both ques-
tions: ‘synchronically’ speaking, how many Phula languages are there? and,
‘diachronically’ speaking, how do they fit together? To answer these ques-
tions, dialectology is called upon – and then called to task – to incorporate
Thus, whether we appeal to oriental or western philosophy, to
Christian Scholasticism or to contemporary science, we find
among the deepest thinkers a resoluteness to steer clear of what
is fragmentary and to go for wholeness … a tertium quid that
provides the unifying relation that prevents these oppositions
from being antagonistic and truncated and instead makes them
complementary and mutually fulfilling.
– Charles-James N. Bailey (1982: 7)
On the Yin and Yang Nature of Language

2 Introduction

more complex syntheses of interdisciplinary inquiry into traditional dialect
geography.
After several years of inquiry, in the early 2000’s – after dozens of visits
to libraries great and small and scores of trips into the countryside of Yun-
nan Province, China – a strong, universal hypothesis slowly emerged that
provided focus for Phula data collection and analysis. The hypothesis was
explored in more tentative terms in Pelkey (2004, 2005a) and is presented in
more transparent terms in (1.1) below:

(1.1) The Phula hypothesis:
All synchronic languages traditionally affiliated with the Phula
ethnonym also belong to a single exclusive diachronic clade
linguistically.

In scientific research, assertive hypotheses making vulnerable claims
tend to be more productive than timid hypotheses making safe claims.
Whether or not the claims of a given hypothesis are actually interesting is
another question. I personally find the Phula hypothesis to be of interest for
reasons related to undocumented diversity, undefined taxonomy, regional
ethnohistory, ethnolinguistic endangerment, intangible heritage maintenance,
linguistic human rights, cartographic experiment, dialectological reform and
general curiosity, among other interests. My assumption is that the research
question should also be of interest to others, such as Tibeto-Burmanists, are-
al ethnohistorians, areal language development workers, future dialectolo-
gists and Phula speakers themselves. Instead of arguing for the value of the
hypothesis in detail here, however, I will let the book speak for itself and
return to the theme intermittently.
Having asserted a transparent hypothesis of some interest in (1.1), then,
the ultimate business of this book is a thoroughgoing attempt to test it, dis-
prove it, and refine it. By the final chapter, if I may spoil the suspense, the
Phula hypothesis is both disproved and refined; but six intervening chapters
of analysis are needed to illustrate how this is accomplished. The current
chapter is concerned with orienting the Phula research endeavor in time and
space, with some theoretical preliminaries thrown in for good measure; but
before we continue, and lest we forget, it will be useful to underscore my
intention to actually make the Phula hypothesis itself falsifiable.

The Phula hypothesis 3
1.1.1. Falsifiability and the Phula hypothesis
In order to disprove the Phula hypothesis, it must first be falsifiable. This
tautology bears stating in order to underscore a problem: as it stands in (1.1),
the Phula hypothesis is not falsifiable; after all, ‘synchronic languages’ and
‘diachronic clades’ must be carefully defined, or ‘operationalized’, so that
their relationships can be tested and affirmed or disproved and refined. Both
must meet certain generally acceptable, sufficiently complex criteria in or-
der to be validated (as falsifiable), and specific instances of each should be
defined through numerous layers of analysis – preferably engaging both
qualitative and quantitative measures in something of a dialectic synthesis.
In fact, the majority of this book is dedicated to making the premises of
the Phula hypothesis falsifiable. Falsifiability is asserted by Karl Popper
([1934] [1959] 2002) to be the touchstone for scientific inquiry – that stand-
ard which distinguishes science from other pursuits. Following up on prob-
lems pointed out by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and C. S. Peirce, Popper
argues that purely inductive arguments, including appeals to probability, do
not constitute valid scientific claims. No quantity of positive testing can
render an empirical hypothesis verifiable. The empirical hypothesis may
still seem meaningful, or even warranted, but such claims may also be made
by non-scientific disciplines. The scientist (qua detective) hopes to learn
from experience by discarding false claims. In Popper’s own words (2002:
281), “The wrong view of science betrays itself in the craving to be right;
for it is not his possession of knowledge, of irrefutable truth, that makes the
man of science, but his persistent and recklessly critical quest for truth.”
Popper’s perspectives have gained ground among scientists and philoso-
phers of science alike over the last 70-odd years (see discussion in Stone
1991 and Miller 2007). A falsifiable prediction provides the courtesy of a
clear scientific agenda on one hand, while discouraging the tempting fallacy
of assuming one’s ultimate conclusion, on the other. Popper’s claims also
provide a working interpretation of the natural history of science itself,
4
but
do his claims constitute grounds for an essentialist segregation, or ‘demarca-
tion’, of scientific inquiry from other modes of inquiry? Popper’s demarca-
tion criterion seems most plausible if we allow ‘science’ to be identified
with the pragmatist hermeneutic approach in general: the approach of the
detective, the riddle solver, the child immersed in language acquisition, the
interpreter of poems, the dialectologist puzzling over ambiguous variation –
in short, anyone genuinely seeking understanding – all who are willing to
dispense with faulty assumptions in the search for fresh truth.
Taken on his own terms, Popper’s thoroughgoing skepticism may well
be self-defeating: after all, one’s ‘recklessly critical quest for truth’ must not

4 Introduction

negate itself. C. S. Peirce ([1903] 1998) examines this and related paradoxes
in detail, noting that working hypotheses must at least be entertained, and
even assumed at some level, in order for them to be critiqued and cultivated
at all. Naturally, a certain tension emerges once a hypothesis is assumed to
be true, however tentative the assumption may be at first. Peirce provides
helpful perspective on Popper’s claims by introducing abductive inference
as the necessary grounds for both deduction and induction. The three work
in tandem in rational inquiry, with abduction (hypothesis formation) and in-
duction (hypothesis testing) being mediated by deduction (hypothesis as-
sumption) – inductive testing seeking to disprove and refine what abductive
guesswork has introduced before deductive certainty fossilizes and the orig-
inal hypothesis is ultimately taken for granted. Thus, imagination, belief and
skepticism comprise the irreducible core of scientific logic, without any one
of which progress cannot be made. In this work, I seek to affirm all three
and, more importantly, seek to hold them in dialectic tension; thus, I hope,
pointing the way to a hermeneutic dialectology.
For the Phula hypothesis in (1.1) to qualify as a valid prediction accord-
ing to Popper’s criteria, two primary courses of investigation are required: 1)
the identification and definition of synchronic language varieties putatively
affiliated with the ethnic category and 2) the identification and definition of
unique shared innovations that qualify its constituents as members of exclu-
sive phylogenetic clades at successively higher levels. The first course of
investigation is traditionally framed as ‘synchronic’, the second as ‘dia-
chronic’. In fact, the two are not discrete; each needs the other and both
require numerous layers of interdependent fieldwork and analysis.
1.1.2. Chapter overview
Research stages and book content will be outlined at the end of the current
chapter. This introductory chapter provides a time-space orientation to Phu-
la and a broad theoretical orientation to my assumptions on Phula dialectol-
ogy. Having introduced the Phula hypothesis, we may move on to the heart
of the chapter in §1.2 – a discussion of the historical context of synchronic
Phula. Varieties affiliated with the Phula ethnonym are sketched out in
terms of official and folk classifications, ancient records and oral histories.
The chapter then moves on to situate the Phula varieties in space by discuss-
ing the range of their distribution in geopolitical terms and introducing
fieldwork datapoint locations in §1.3. I then discuss my approach to dialec-
tology in §1.4 along with related assumptions and research scope. The
chapter concludes with an overview of the book itself.

Historical background 5
1.2. Historical background
In order to approach the Phula varieties in their synchronic situation, it is
helpful to understand something of their ethnic history and historical geog-
raphy. Where did they originate? How did they end up where they are? How
were they identified in ancient times? How are they classified today? What
do oral histories and official records have to say about their migration routes
and relationships? Sketching answers to these questions from the available
records provides a useful backdrop for thinking about the languages by plac-
ing their speakers in a historical context. Underlying these questions is the
much more brief history of my own interest in the Phula languages.
My interest in Phula began in 1997. Fresh out of university, I was study-
ing Chinese and slaking my wanderlust in the hidden realm of marvels that
is Yunnan Province, China (see Maps 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3). Of the 26 official
ethnic nationalities of Yunnan, the internal diversity of the Yi Nationality is
the most complex, and it had captured my imagination even before I arrived
in Chuxiong, Yunnan’s Yi Autonomous Prefecture, for Chinese studies.
After arriving in Yunnan, I started tracing the diversity of the Yi Nation-
ality like an amateur sleuth (with more zeal than knowledge), and the clues I
followed sent me to the four corners of the province in search of understand-
ing. Most talk of Yi that I came across in English sources at the time dis-
cussed only the Nuosu varieties of the Great Cool Mountains to the north
across the Jinsha (a.k.a. Yangtse/Changjiang) River in south-central Sichuan
Province – to the apparent neglect of Yi diversity in Yunnan. But here in
Yunnan were scores and scores of distinct groups classified as Yi who were
wearing unique ethnic dress, using unique ethnic titles, hosting distinct eth-
nic festivals and maintaining diverse languages and cultures. Many were
even given discrete acknowledgement in local ethnohistorical sources. Was
I just naïve or had there been some mistake? Why wasn’t there more
discussion and research on the Yi varieties of Yunnan?
One Yi title that surfaced repeatedly in local sources and in conversa-
tions with locals alike was ‘Phula’ – with written and spoken variations in-
cluding ‘Pula’ öù, žù, &ù, d·, ‘Bola’ Œù, ‘Puzu’ öÿ , and
‘Pulapo’ öùN·. Phula seemed to be the most complicated knot in the Yi
Nationality to untangle, so I spent more and more time picking at it. There
seemed to be at least a dozen unique ethnic groups affiliated with the title.
How closely related were they? Phula was (and is) an official nationality in
Vietnam. Was it once a traditional nationality in China also? The only two
Phula groups classified by Bradley (1997a) were assigned to distinct genetic
clades linguistically. Was Phula once a single language or not?

6 Introduction

Map 1.1. Broad geographic orientation of Yunnan Province, China, and Phula dis-
tribution area

Hence, my overriding interest in dialectology from the outset has been
marked by a distinctly pragmatist, hermeneutic drive – a strong compulsion
to understand Phula that required the development of theory, methodology
and praxis adequate to the task. My early linguistic research on Phula
(Pelkey 2004) was carried out through Payap University in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, in cooperation with Honghe University in Mengzi, Yunnan. The
research focused on a polylectal variety in northern Mengzi County which I
now refer to as ‘Ani Phowa’.
The Phula category itself, I came to realize early on, also contains nu-
merous distinct ethnolinguistic groups such as Azha, Muji, Phola, Phowa
and Zokhuo. As the years passed, I came to understand that not only is Phu-
la embedded in Yi, but several of the groups embedded within Phula also
contain their own embedded ethnolinguistic varieties. So much ethnic em-
bedding once seemed odd to me; especially since, generally speaking, it
does not seem odd to the individuals who are thus embedded.

LAOS
VIETNAM
Yunnan
Sichuan
Guangxi
Tibet
Qinghai
Gansu
Hunan
Jiangxi
Fujian
Anhui
Hubei
Henan Jiangsu
Zhejiang
Hainan
Guangdong
Shaanxi
Maps 1.2 and 1.3
Maps 1.4 and 1.5
Phula
Distribution
Area
C H I N A
Guizhou
0 200 400km

Historical background 7
1.2.1. Phula, Puzu, Yizu and other classifications
To better account for the ethnic embedding of the Phula groups, it is useful
to understand the various classifications, both official and traditional, under
which the Phula varieties are known to have been subsumed. Two key eth-
nic classification movements from the twentieth century that are relevant to
the discussion are the ‘Minzu Shibie’ project in China and the ‘Dân Tộc’
project in Vietnam. A contemporary local-level dichotomy between ‘Puzu’
and ‘Yizu’ is also of interest.
In the early days of my zeal for Yi diversity, I wondered if the condensed
ethnolinguistic status of the Yi Nationality did not simply represent an injus-
tice; after all, shouldn’t diversity be described and celebrated? What I did
not understand is that this condensed status actually represents the continua-
tion of an ancient tradition of ethnic agglomeration in the region (see dis-
cussion in Bradley 2005a: 11–12) – a tradition of agglomeration that most
regional ethnic groups happen to be fairly comfortable with.
Critical stances toward surface peculiarities are usually best tempered by
an emic understanding of underlying traditions. Take a group like Phole-
CKB
5
of northwestern Wenshan County, for example. Even before the 1954
ethnic classification project, Phole-CKB group members would already
have been operating under five layers of embedded ethnic identity (see
§2.5.1, §3.2.3): 1) village-level: ‘Chekabai’, 2) autonym-level: ‘Phole’, 3)
endoautonym-level: ‘Hlepho’, 4) endoethnonym-level: ‘Phowa’ and 5) his-
torical-ethnonym-level: ‘Phula’ – none of which they would have been like-
ly to deny. With five layers of embedded identity, each incorporating a
given Phole-CKB speaker in a successively larger, more diversified group,
what difference would a sixth superordinate category make – especially if it
included the speaker in one of the largest, most celebrated Nationalities in
China? While ethnic agglomeration may lead to the neglect of ethnolinguis-
tic diversity (see further discussion in §8.6), outside researchers should un-
derstand that the tradition is not new, and, in most cases at least, embedded
members of the Yi Nationality are not displeased with the additional layer.
The 1954 Minzu Shibie "A?A?[ ethnic classification project in China is
now thoroughly documented in Mullaney (2011). One consequence of this
grand ethnic downsizing was the deep embedding of Yunnan’s Phula lan-
guages within the new agglomerate Yi Nationality. Keyes (2002) provides a
comparable description of the 1979 Dân Tộc classification project in Vi-
etnam which classified various Phula languages along more traditional lines
under the Phù Lá Nationality. One unfortunate consequence of such embed-
ding is the loss of official census statistics for specific language groups (see
further discussion in §2.5.2). However, at lower administrative levels,

8 Introduction

traditional categories remain in the collective consciousness of in-group and
out-group locals alike, even if they are not included in official census
reports.
One clue to the traditional, pre-1954, status of Phula in southeastern
Yunnan is the informal use of ‘Puzu’ &ÿ to refer to groups and individuals
affiliated with the Phula ethnonym. Since the 1950’s, the morpheme, or
character, ‘zu’ ÿ, which formerly meant simply ‘clan’ or ‘(ethnic) group’
when used in an ethnographic context, has taken on semantic restrictions
and is now used almost exclusively in reference to official nationalities in
China – i.e., in reference to one of the 56 official ‘minzu’ "Aÿ. In a formal
situation, then, a reference such as ‘Puzu’ might seem to imply that Phula
has ‘minzu’ status. Since Phula is not an official nationality in China, such a
reference is formally frowned upon. In casual conversation, however, I have
noticed that even local government officials are not above using the term –
especially as a vernacular shorthand for distinguishing between a given Nisu
language (another Ngwi-branch cluster in the region also classified under
the Yi Nationality) and a given Phula language at the local level. In such a
situation, it is simply more convenient to say ‘Yizu’ and ‘Puzu’ than ‘Yizu
Nisu Zhixi’ (The Nisu Branch of the Yi Nationality)
6
and ‘Yizu Pula Zhixi’,
(the Phula branch of the Yi Nationality), respectively. Locals functioning in
casual settings tend to use the Puzu title liberally in order to distinguish be-
tween various Nisu and Phula varieties, a point that is discussed further in
§1.2.2.
The title is more than a shorthand, however, as became apparent numer-
ous times during various stages of fieldwork. A Phula official in Jinping
County, for example, reported that she hadn’t known she was officially Yizu
until she registered for high school (in the 1960’s or 1970’s). All of her
growing up years she had thought of herself as ‘Puzu’. Even official docu-
ments sometimes use ‘Puzu’ in reference to various Phula ethnic groups,
e.g., WSDZ (1988: 112), which introduces Azhabo Lo~2h, a place name in
Xigu Township of central Wenshan County, and then explains that although
the village is now a Miao Village, it was originally an Azha village, hence
the first two syllables in the name ‘Azha’, the autonym used by the Boji
(‘winnowing basket’) Pu. The third syllable is a transliteration of the Azha
lexeme for mountain. Thus, the editor translates the village name as ‘Puzu
Mountain’.
7
As mentioned in Pelkey (2005a: 52) a local tourist poster / bro-
chure set in Mengzi County was recently recalled for editing after a Phula
group in the County was described using a ‘Puzu’ label. Thus, even though
the title is no longer officially acceptable, its continued usage suggests the
presence of an ethnic category with long historical precedence.

Historical background 9
The six Yi fangyan é@0 (usually translated, ‘dialect’) regions outlined
in Chen, Bian and Li (1985) present a more recent classification of Yi lan-
guages, slightly more oriented toward linguistic criteria, that include the
Phula varieties by matter of course. As discussed in Pelkey (2005a), differ-
ent Phula languages in China are now classified as ‘Southeastern Yi’ and/or
‘Southern Yi’ depending on their respective geographic locations. In at least
one marginal case between the two regions, Chinese linguists note that a
Phula variety (which turns out to be a variety of ‘Muji’) might well be clas-
sified as either Southern or Southeastern Yi (HHYC 2002: 14). Although
some prototypical features have been outlined in support of the six Yi Fang-
yan hypothesis in Chen, Bian, and Li (1985), the criteria are rather more ty-
pological than diachronic; also, most boundaries fall into tidy patterns along
geographical regions, so this classification should not be thought of as
rigorously linguistic even at the typological level.
All other classifications of Phula languages at lower levels are less offi-
cial and involve folk linguistics, material culture and ethnic identity issues.
Classifications at lower levels often overlap or are contradictory between
locations. Ethnonyms such as Hua Phula (Flowery Phula), Niuweiba Phula
(Cowtail Phula), Labopho (Highland Pho), Muji, and Phowa all function on
different levels and indicate different relationships, perspectives and as-
sumptions. Discussion of this level of folk-classification is deferred until
Chapter 3, where ethnic identity issues are discussed in detail as part of the
process of synchronic language definition. For now, we turn to the Phula-
Lolo distinction asserted in historical records from ancient times through to
the twenty-first century.
1.2.2. The Phula-Lolo distinction in historical records
Perhaps the best evidence for accepting Phula as an ancient ethnic category
is the long-standing distinction between Lolo and Phula asserted across
southeastern Yunnan and Northwestern Vietnam in a range of historical
records. The scope and importance of the traditional Phula-Lolo distinction
were first discussed in Pelkey (2005a).
In the contemporary local vernacular, as discussed in §1.2.1 above, the
distinction is usually represented as Yizu (Lolo) and Puzu (Phula) since the
older titles ‘Lolo’ and ‘Phula’ are now considered derogatory in many re-
gions; but in Vietnam, where ethnic categories are slightly more specific,
the traditional Lolo-Phula distinction is trenchant enough for the two to be
assigned to distinct nationalities. In Yunnan the distinction is reinforced in
local historical documents and by the accounts of European explorers and

10 Introduction

anthropologists who traveled in Yunnan during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
Many modern-day Chinese ethnohistorical sources of southeastern Yun-
nan present brief summaries of the internal diversity of the Yi Nationality at
the local level. Such sources (e.g., WSZZ 2000, WSXZ 1999, MZXZ 1995,
HHXZ 1991) frequently reference the traditional Phula-Lolo distinction
with a zhixi _3+ ‘branch’ modifier – i.e., Pula Zhixi &ù_3+ ‘Phula
Branch’ and ^^_3+Lolo Zhixi ‘Lolo Branch’ – and cite historical
documents as old as the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) for precedence.
European explorers and ethnologists of the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries also call attention to this tradition in passing. Three ex-
amples may be noted in the writings of d’Orléans ([1898] 1999), Henry
(1903) and Davies (1909).
Prince Henri d’Orléans (1999) passed through the Phula region in early
1895 as part of an expedition surveying French interests overland from Ha-
noi to Calcutta. He notes many encounters with Phula (transcribed ‘Poula’)
in Mengzi and near the Honghe River in Manhao and adjacent regions dur-
ing the early stages of his journey. His ethnic classifications are adopted
from casual conversation with locals, and, on these grounds, he makes a
clean distinction between Lolo and Phula.
8

Linguist-anthropologist Augustine Henry (1903) affirms a Lolo-Phula
distinction to apply to the region between Yuanjiang and Mengzi (see Map
1.3). He refers to the Phula groups as ‘pigmy’ populations
9
and assumes that
they have an aboriginal status compared to the Lolo.
H. R. Davies (1909), a British military surveyor and amateur linguist/
ethnologist, also makes use of the Phula-Lolo distinction in his proposed
linguistic taxonomy of the languages of Yunnan. He erroneously classifies
Phula as a subtype of Woni, however – which, in turn, he identifies as a
sub-type of Lolo (in this case represented by Nisu).
Although nineteenth century European conclusions based on the Phula-
Lolo distinction were not always sound, the appearance and re-appearance
of the contrast in so many historical sources provide further grounds for af-
firming the title as a historical ethnonym. To pick up on an earlier theme, an
important point that should be noted about the Phula historical ethnonym is
its function in history past – a function much the same as the Yizu ethno-
nym today: a general cover term for numerous distinct, but related, ethno-
linguistic groups
10
. Some of the earliest of these groups are also noted in
Chinese historical records.

Historical background 11
1.2.3. Retracing Phula migration patterns from oral and written histories
No Phula language is known to have had a written form prior to 1987.
11
All
non-linguistic details about Phula history must rely on passing mention in
official Chinese records and oral traditions passed down between genera-
tions. Such details are not always historically reliable, but they at least pro-
vide a good starting place for further inquiry. Official ethnohistorical
documents in rural Yunnan have long recorded selected details on the origin
and status of ethnic groups under the purview of a given administrative re-
gion. Such information often includes oral traditions of ancient migration
routes. During the fieldwork component of this research project I also elicit-
ed a small collection of oral traditions concerning migration patterns. Com-
bining this information and tracing some of the major themes enables a
tentative sketch of Phula history useful for approaching synchronic varieties
and forming initial hypotheses about their relationships. Reported patterns
may be sub-divided into ancient macro-geographical movements and more
recent micro-movements.
1.2.3.1. Macro-migration patterns
The earliest records of reported migration routes involve the ancestors of at
least six contemporary groups affiliated with the Phula ethnonym: Azha,
Phowa/Muji, Zokhuo and Phola/Phala. Two locations of origin and four mi-
gration routes can be traced for these five groups. Azha and the Phowa/Muji
groups reportedly trace their ancestry back to the shores of Dianchi Lake
near modern-day Kunming, while most Zokhuo and Phola reportedly trace
their ancestry back to the Dali region in northwestern Yunnan, as do the
Sani of Shilin County. These locations are marked on Map 1.2.
Based on genetic linguistic findings discussed in Chapters 6 and 7, we
may assume that one of these Phula settlements was prior to the other. The
best candidate for this proto-homeland would seem to be the Dali region
since speakers of two widely distinct Phula languages, Zokhuo and Phala,
both trace their ultimate ancestry to the region. The region near Dali was a
center of political power for two successive kingdoms which were inde-
pendent of Chinese rule for a combined total of more than 500 years: the
Nanzhao Kingdom (718–902) and the Dali Kingdom (937–1253)
12
. Given
this scenario, the ancestors of Sani-Axi-Azhe-Azha and Highland Phula
may well have moved (or been relocated) to the shores of Dianchi Lake
from Dali along with the ancestors of the Nisu sometime during the
Nanzhao Kingdom (see also MLXZ 1987: 698).

12 Introduction

In support of this theory, Backus (1981: 63–66) describes the events sur-
rounding the Nanzhao conquest of the divided Cuan (Xkingdom during the
740’s which would have precipitated such an emigration from Dali. He
notes that in the year 748 more than 200,000 Cuan families (the majority of
the Cuan population) were forcibly removed from the area that is now
northeastern Yunnan, including the shores of Dianchi Lake, and resettled in-
to western and southwestern Yunnan (Backus 1981: 66). This resettlement
enabled the Nanzhao kingdom to gain control of a region that was slowly
yielding to the influence of the Tang Dynasty. After deporting the local
population and cutting their leadership off from further negotiations and al-
liances with Tang rulers, Nanzhao authorities would have naturally repopu-
lated the region with their own loyal citizens and soldiers. This historical
scenario provides a plausible rationale for the relocation of the ancestors of
modern-day language groups such as Phowa, Muji, Azha and Sani from the
Dali region to the shores of Dianchi Lake sometime during after the middle
of the eighth century.
Some 150 years later, in the waning years of the Nanzhao, near the be-
ginning of the tenth century and sometime before the end of the Tang Dyn-
asty in 907, the ancestors of modern-day Azha are said to have begun
moving into the region which is now northeastern Wenshan County (WSZZ
2000: 389; WSXZ 1999: 184). To this day Azha speakers consider Milewan
F' $® in Binglie Township
13
to be the home of their ancestors’ spirits –
this being the place they send the spirits of their deceased, according to
custom (WSZZ 2000: 389) as discussed in Pelkey, Wang and Johnson
(2005).
The early ancestors of the Phola and Phala languages, which I dub ‘Riv-
erine Phula’ in Chapter 6, reportedly migrated into Yuanjiang, Shiping and
Honghe Counties along the Honghe River from their ancestral homeland in
the Diancang Mountains, just west of Erhai Lake (HHYC 2002: 53, 83). The
headwaters of the Honghe begin just south of Dali. HHYC (2002: 83) rec-
ords a composite oral history from Phola and Phala speakers in Menglong
UÉ Dayangjie W5º>‡, Baohua Í ~ and Yisa F:Xthat traces the River-
ine Phula migration route along the Honghe river basin from modern-day
Weishan County through Shuangbai, Xinping and Yuanjiang Counties into
Honghe. The time of this migration is unknown but is unlikely to have been
later than the end of the Dali Kingdom in 1253 at which time numerous Bai
and Ngwi-speaking inhabitants in the area fled from Mongolian invaders.
14

In support of this hypothesis, the middle waters of the Honghe River were
known as Pu Shui &"d
15
in ancient times, presumably named after the

Historical background 13
Phula inhabitants whose villages lined its banks (HHYC 2002: 53, 83;
WSZZ 2000: 388).

Map 1.2. Major river systems of Yunnan and ancient Phula settlement sites

The ancestors of modern-day Phowa and Muji groups, which I collec-
tively dub ‘Highland Phula’ in Chapter 6, reportedly dwelled along the
shores of Dianchi Lake for several hundred years until the middle of the
thirteenth century. Speakers of the Highland Phula ancestor language are
said to have begun migrating south sometime between the fall of the Dali
Kingdom in 1253 and the advent of the Yuan Dynasty in 1271. Chinese his-
torical records and oral histories (HHYC 2002: 43, 50, 83; MZXZ 1995:
131) hold that this wave of Phula migration passed into the fertile basin that
lies between the Mengzi and Kaiyuan County seats via what is now Huan-
ing County – a slow migration that continued into the Ming Dynasty (1368–
1644). In support of this migration route, Huaning County historical records
Kaiyuan
S I C H U A N
Y U N N A N
G U I Z H O U
T I B E T
M Y A N M A R
L A O S
Kunming
Dali
Mengzi
Wenshan
Huaning
Honghe
Erhai
Dianchi
Fuxian
0 50 100 km
Yuanjiang
V I E T N A M
G U A N G X I

14 Introduction

(HNMZ 1990: 46) note the presence of Phula in ancient times (location and
time period unspecified) with an ethnonym transliterated Pulaù and a
possible exonym transcribed Heipu U‡ ‘Black Phu’, but the source notes
these former inhabitants left no trace of their presence in the contemporary
local Ngwi population – neither in terms of identity nor in terms of oral
traditions.
The earliest known mention of the ethnonym ‘Muji’ shows up in local
Ming Dynasty records. The title is transliterated !ý* (HHYC 2002: 48).
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, what is now northern Mengzi County
(see Map 1.3) was part of a distinct administrative region known as ‘Ami
Zhou’, whose capital, Ami, corresponds with modern-day Kaiyuan City (see
You 1994: 273 and Map 1.2). HHYC (2002: 50) and MZXZ (1995: 131)
record that in the year 1573 the Muji of Mengzi and the Phowa of Ami
joined forces to revolt against the oppression of a local monarch. They ap-
pointed their own king and rallied the mountain peoples into a revolt. The
conflict lasted three years, but was finally unsuccessful (HHYC 2002: 50).
Thus, by the middle of the sixteenth century speakers of the Phowa and Mu-
ji ancestor languages had already developed somewhat distinct identities. In
the case of Muji, the identity was loconym-based (see §3.2.2 for further dis-
cussion). After the revolt failed, however, Muji descendants moved further
south into the mountains of Gejiu, Mengzi, Pingbian and Jinping Counties
(HHYC 2002: 50, 65–66, 83), among other places. Thus, a likely Muji-
Phowa split can at least be traced back to the middle of the sixteenth century,
as MZXZ (1995: 131) concurs.
A final ancient migration route that can be traced with relative certainty
is that of the ancestors of the Zokhuo. This overland migration route from
Dali to Wenshan seems to have been established during the Nanzhao King-
dom period when soldiers were sent southeast into what is now Wenshan.
Zokhuo speakers report that their ancestors came into the area over a period
of four hundred years for military and commercial purposes alike. Details of
the various stages are somewhat hazy, but they are recorded in multiple
sources such as WSZZ (2000: 389), WSXZ (1999: 184), WSJZ (1990: 117),
Lu (1987: 5–6) and YNSJ (2000: 97–99). Clearly, the most dramatic event
that led, in turn, to the most massive migration, occurred in the year 1253
when the Dali Kingdom fell to Mongolian invaders. The memory was ap-
parently vivid since many Zokhuo speakers are still able to recount the spe-
cific details and stages of the journey which passed from Dali through what
is now Yuxi Prefecture and northern Honghe Prefecture into Wenshan – a
route that would have potentially reunited them with their (not-so-)long-lost
compatriots, the Highland Phula, along the way.

Historical background 15
Further macro-migration details related to Phula are available in Chinese
sources, but the above movements constitute a sketch of the major, most
widely cited, themes. As will become clear in Chapters 6 and 7, these details
do not account for all Phula groups or historical relationships, nor can they
all be accepted as historical fact, but they present us with a starting place for
understanding the diachronic background of the Phula milieu in its modern,
or ‘synchronic’ context.
1.2.3.2. Micro-migration patterns
Micro-migration patterns reported by the inhabitants of single villages are
also sometimes revealing, and the reported age of a given village site pro-
vides a further gauge of time depth useful for understanding population
movements. These questions were included in interviews with locals at most
of the datapoints researched during the fieldwork component of this project.
The oldest reported village sites will be reviewed here along with a more de-
tailed treatment of Muji-affiliated migration patterns which are by far the
most complex in the Phula milieu. See Map 1.6 for county and datapoint
locations.
Phupa residents of Gamadi (GMD) in Shuitian Township of southern
Mengzi County estimate that the old upper-village site has been there for
over 500 years. Locals reports that their ancestors arrived at this site by
passing through Jianshui, presumably by following the Honghe River, down
to Hekou and then back up to their current location.
Phola residents of Luodie (LDC) in Wadie Township of Yuanjiang
County claim their village site is anywhere from 200–500 years old. Local
ethnohistorians, including those of Nisu descent, affirm that the village was
ethnically Phula at the time of its founding. Across the Honghe River and
slightly upstream, Phola residents of Adipo village, Lijiang Township,
Yuanjiang County report their village site to be more than 300 years old.
Phala residents of Feinishao (FNS) note that their village site was origi-
nally located in the heart of Yisa Zhen – the area that is now home to the
downtown shops and streets of the Honghe County seat. Feinishao residents
moved to their current location on the outskirts of town some 300 years ago,
but other Phala residents still live in pockets closer to downtown Yisa. This
micro-migration pattern lends evidence to the general folk knowledge in the
area that Honghe County seat was founded by Phula.
Phowa residents of Weibazhu (WBZ, more recently known as ‘Xiaozhai’)
in southeastern Beige Township of Kaiyuan County, claim their village has
been established for some 300–400 years, but most of the inhabitants are

16 Introduction

reported to have descended from a Phowa speaking family, with the sur-
name Wang )»,
16
who moved in to the village four generations (100–120
years) ago from Xin’ansuo Township in Mengzi County.
Phowa residents of Feizuke (FZK) village, in Xinhua Township of
northern Pingbian County report that their village was established some
eleven generations ago, making the village between 200–300 years old.
Some elderly Khlula residents of Maxi in Muchang Township of
Maguan County estimate that their forefathers immigrated to their current
location over 10 generations ago from the area that is now Wenshan County.
Alugu residents of Chongtianling and Alonggu villages in Huangcaoba
Township of southern Gejiu County report an interesting micro-migration
scenario. The Phula variety spoken in these villages is apparently a mixture
of closely related lects whose speakers converged on the village site. Speak-
ers with the surname Li ~are said to have moved in upriver from the east,
speakers with the surname Shi .#are said to have moved in downriver from
the west. Speakers from the two clans maintain different pronunciations
and/or different forms for certain basic lexical items to this day such as
those listed in (1.2):

(1.2) Clan-based lexical/pronunciation distinctions in Alugu
‘paddy field’ Li: tjɛ⁵⁵ŋə⁵⁵ Shi: tjɛ⁵⁵mi³³
‘demon’ Li: ʦʰɔ²¹a²¹ma²¹ Shi: ʦʰɛ²¹a²¹ma²¹
‘scatter’ Li: ɕɛ³³ Shi: ɕi³³
‘old’ Li: mɔ²¹ Shi: mɛ²¹

The /ɔ/~/ɛ/ variation in ‘old’ and the first syllable of ‘demon’ are both re-
flexes of the PNg *aŋ rhyme (i.e., PNg#535 *maŋ² and PNg#156 *tsaŋ¹,
‘person’, respectively). Based on rhyme correspondences in neighboring
languages, the Li clan seems to have once been a variety of Phupa, which,
together with Phuza, forms a closely related sister node to Alugu and Phu-
pha – all four of which belong to the ‘Downriver Phula’ meso-clade of
‘Riverine Phula’ as defined in Chapter 6. Accordingly, Phupa is situated
downriver from the Alugu distribution.
Of all Phula migration patterns, those of the Muji-affiliated varieties
seem to range the widest. Since the defeat of their ancestors in 1573 (see
discussion in §1.2.3.1 above), Muji migration patterns have become more
and more intricate. Several Muji-affiliated dialect communities have migrat-
ed into Vietnam since the sixteenth century; and, as discussed in Pelkey
(2006), more than one such community has migrated back into Yunnan
from Vietnam.

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LES FRÈRES DE MOWGLI
Chil Vautour conduit les pas de la nuit
Que Mang le Vampire délivre—
Dorment les troupeaux dans l’étable clos.
La terre à nous, l’ombre la livre!
C’est l’heure du soir, orgueil et pouvoir
A la serre, le croc et l’ongle.
Nous entendez-vous? Bonne chasse à tous
Qui gardez la Loi de la Jungle!
Chansçn dÉ nuit dans la JunglÉ.
Il était sept heures d’une soirée très chaude, sur les collines de
Seeonee, quand père Loup s’éveilla de son somme journalier, se
gratta, bâilla et détendit ses pattes l’une après l’autre pour dissiper
la sensation de paresse qu’il sentait encore à leurs extrémités. Mère
Louve était étendue, son gros nez gris tombé parmi ses quatre petits
qui se culbutaient et criaient, et la lune luisait par l’ouverture de la
caverne où ils vivaient tous.
—Augrh! dit père Loup, il est temps de se remettre en chasse.
Et il allait s’élancer vers le fond de la vallée, quand une petite
ombre à queue touffue barra l’ouverture et jappa:
—Bonne chance, ô chef des loups! Bonne chance et fortes dents
blanches aux nobles enfants. Puissent-ils n’oublier jamais en ce
monde ceux qui ont faim!

C’était le chacal—Tabaqui le Lèche-Plat—et les loups de l’Inde
méprisent Tabaqui parce qu’il rôde partout en faisant du grabuge,
colportant des histoires et mangeant des chiffons et des morceaux
de cuir dans les tas d’ordures aux portes des villages. Mais ils ont
peur de lui aussi, parce que Tabaqui, plus que tout autre dans la
jungle, est sujet à devenir enragé, et alors il oublie qu’il ait jamais eu
peur de quelqu’un, et il court à travers la forêt, mordant tout ce qu’il
trouve sur sa route. Le tigre même se sauve et se cache lorsque le
petit Tabaqui devient enragé, car la rage est la chose la plus
honteuse qui puisse surprendre un animal sauvage. Nous l’appelons
hydrophobie, mais eux l’appellent dewanee—la folie—et ils se
sauvent:
—Entre alors, et cherche, dit père Loup avec raideur; mais il n’y a
rien à manger ici.
—Pour un loup, non certes, dit Tabaqui; mais pour un aussi mince
personnage que moi un os sec est un festin. Que sommes-nous
donc, nous autres Gidur log (le peuple chacal), pour trier et choisir?
Il obliqua vers le fond de la caverne, y trouva un os de chevreuil
où restait quelque viande, s’assit et en fit croquer le bout avec joie.
—Merci, pour ce bon repas! dit-il en se léchant les lèvres. Qu’ils
sont beaux, les nobles enfants! Quels grands yeux! Et si jeunes,
pourtant! Je devrais me rappeler, en effet, que les enfants des rois
sont hommes dès le berceau.
Or, Tabaqui le savait aussi bien que personne, il n’y a rien de plus
malencontreux que de louer des enfants à leur nez; il prit plaisir à
voir que mère et père Loup semblaient gênés.
Tabaqui resta un moment assis, en repos, en se réjouissant du
mal qu’il venait de faire; puis il reprit malignement:
—Shere Khan, le Grand, a changé de terrain de chasse. Il va
chasser sur ces collines, à la prochaine lune, m’a-t-il dit.

Shere Khan était le tigre qui habitait près de la rivière, la
Waingunga, à vingt milles plus loin.
—Il n’en a pas le droit, commença père Loup avec colère. De par
la Loi de la Jungle, il n’a pas le droit de changer ses quartiers sans
dûment avertir. Il effraiera tout le gibier à dix milles à la ronde, et
moi... moi j’ai à tuer pour deux ces temps-ci.
—Sa mère ne l’a pas appelé Lungri (le Boiteux) pour rien, dit mère
Louve tranquillement: il est boiteux d’un pied depuis sa naissance;
c’est pourquoi il n’a jamais pu tuer que des bestiaux. A présent, les
villageois de la Waingunga sont irrités contre lui, et il vient ici pour
irriter les nôtres. Ils fouilleront la jungle à sa recherche... il sera loin,
mais, nous et nos enfants, il nous faudra courir quand on allumera
l’herbe. Vraiment, nous sommes très reconnaissants à Shere Khan!
—Lui parlerai-je de votre gratitude? dit Tabaqui.
—Ouste! jappa brusquement père Loup. Va-t’en chasser avec ton
maître. Tu as fait assez de mal pour une nuit.
—Je m’en vais, dit Tabaqui tranquillement. Vous pouvez entendre
Shere Khan, en bas, dans les fourrés. J’aurais pu me dispenser du
message.
Père Loup écouta.
En bas, dans la vallée qui descendait vers une petite rivière, il
entendit la plainte dure, irritée, hargneuse et chantante d’un tigre
qui n’a rien pris et auquel il importe peu que toute la jungle le sache.
—L’imbécile! dit père Loup, commencer un travail de nuit par un
vacarme pareil! Pense-t-il que nos chevreuils sont comme ses veaux
gras de la Waingunga?
—Chut! Ce n’est ni bœuf ni chevreuil qu’il chasse cette nuit, dit
mère Louve, c’est l’homme.

La plainte s’était changée en une sorte de ronron bourdonnant qui
semblait venir de chaque point de l’étendue. C’était le bruit qui
égare les bûcherons et les nomades à la belle étoile, et les fait courir
quelquefois dans la gueule même du tigre.
—L’homme!—dit père Loup, en montrant toutes ses dents
blanches.—Faugh! N’y a-t-il pas assez d’insectes et de grenouilles
dans les citernes, qu’il lui faille manger l’homme, et sur notre terrain
encore?
La Loi de la Jungle, qui n’ordonne rien sans raison, défend à toute
bête de manger l’homme, sauf lorsqu’elle tue pour montrer à ses
enfants comment on tue, et alors elle doit chasser hors des terrains
de son clan ou de sa tribu. La vraie raison en est que le meurtre de
l’homme signifie, tôt ou tard, invasion d’hommes blancs armés de
fusils et montés sur des éléphants, et d’hommes bruns, par
centaines, munis de gongs, de fusées et de torches. Alors tout le
monde souffre dans la jungle... La raison que les bêtes se donnent
entre elles, c’est que, l’homme étant le plus faible et le plus désarmé
des êtres vivants, il est indigne d’un chasseur d’y toucher. Ils disent
aussi—et c’est vrai—que les mangeurs d’hommes deviennent galeux
et qu’ils perdent leurs dents.
Le ronron grandit et se résolut dans le «Aaarh!» à pleine gorge du
tigre qui charge.
Alors, il y eut un hurlement—un hurlement bizarre, indigne d’un
tigre—poussé par Shere Khan.
—Il a manqué son coup, dit mère Louve. Qu’est-ce que c’est?
Père Loup courut à quelques pas de l’entrée; il entendit Shere
Khan murmurer et grommeler sauvagement tout en se démenant
dans la brousse.
—L’imbécile a eu l’esprit de sauter sur un feu de bûcherons et
s’est brûlé les pieds! dit père Loup en grognant. Tabaqui est avec lui.

—Quelque chose monte la colline, dit mère Louve en dressant une
oreille. Tiens-toi prêt.
Il y eut un petit froissement de buissons dans le fourré. Père Loup,
ses hanches sous lui, se ramassa, prêt à sauter. Alors, si vous aviez
été là, vous auriez vu la chose la plus étonnante du monde: le loup
arrêté à mi-bond. Il prit son élan avant de savoir ce qu’il visait, puis
il essaya de se retenir. Il en résulta un saut de quatre ou cinq pieds
droit en l’air, d’où il retomba presque au même point du sol qu’il
avait quitté.
—Un homme! hargna-t-il. Un petit d’homme. Regarde!
En effet, devant lui, s’appuyant à une branche basse, se tenait un
bébé brun tout nu, qui pouvait à peine marcher, le plus doux et
potelé petit atome qui fût jamais venu, la nuit, à la caverne d’un
loup. Il leva les yeux pour regarder père Loup en face et se mit à
rire.
—Est-ce un petit d’homme? dit mère Louve. Je n’en ai jamais vu.
Apporte-le ici.
Un loup, accoutumé à transporter ses propres petits, peut très
bien, s’il est nécessaire, prendre dans sa gueule un œuf sans le
briser. Quoique les mâchoires de père Loup se fussent refermées
complètement sur le dos de l’enfant, pas une dent n’égratigna la
peau lorsqu’il le déposa au milieu de ses petits.
—Qu’il est mignon! Qu’il est nu!... Et qu’il est brave! dit avec
douceur mère Louve.
Le bébé se poussait, entre les petits, contre la chaleur du flanc
tiède.
—Ah! ah! Il prend son repas avec les autres... Ainsi, c’est un petit
d’homme. A-t-il jamais existé une louve qui pût se vanter d’un petit
d’homme parmi ses enfants?

—J’ai parfois ouï parler de semblable chose, mais pas dans notre
clan ni de mon temps, dit père Loup. Il n’a pas un poil, et je pourrais
le tuer en le touchant du pied. Mais, voyez, il me regarde et n’a pas
peur!
Le clair de lune s’éteignit à la bouche de la caverne, car la grosse
tête carrée et les fortes épaules de Shere Khan en bloquaient
l’ouverture et tentaient d’y pénétrer. Tabaqui, derrière lui, piaulait:
—Monseigneur, Monseigneur, il est entré ici!
—Shere Khan nous fait grand honneur,—dit père Loup, les yeux
mauvais.—Que veut Shere Khan?
—Ma proie. Un petit d’homme a pris ce chemin. Ses parents se
sont enfuis. Donnez-le-moi!
Shere Khan avait sauté sur le feu d’un campement de bûcherons,
comme l’avait dit père Loup, et la brûlure de ses pattes le rendait
furieux. Mais père Loup savait que l’ouverture de la caverne était
trop étroite pour un tigre. Même où il se tenait, les épaules et les
pattes de Shere Khan étaient resserrées par le manque de place,
comme les membres d’un homme qui tenterait de combattre dans
un baril.
—Les loups sont un peuple libre, dit père Loup. Ils ne prennent
d’ordres que du Conseil supérieur du clan, et non point d’aucun
tueur de bœufs plus ou moins rayé. Le petit d’homme est à nous...
pour le tuer si nous en avons envie.
—Envie, ou pas envie...! Quel langage est-ce là? Par le taureau
que j’ai tué, dois-je attendre, le nez dans votre repaire de chiens,
lorsqu’il s’agit de mon dû le plus strict? C’est moi, Shere Khan, qui
parle.
Le rugissement du tigre emplit la caverne de son tonnerre. Mère
Louve secoua les petits de son flanc et s’élança, ses yeux, comme
deux lunes vertes dans les ténèbres, fixés sur les yeux flambants de
Shere Khan.

—Et c’est moi, Raksha (le Démon), qui vais te répondre. Le petit
d’homme est mien, Lungri, le mien à moi! Il ne sera point tué. Il
vivra pour courir avec le clan, et pour chasser avec le clan; et,
prends-y garde, chasseur de petits tout nus, mangeur de
grenouilles, tueur de poissons! il te fera la chasse, à toi!...
Maintenant, sors d’ici, ou, par le Sambhur que j’ai tué—car moi je ne
me nourris pas de bétail mort de faim,—tu retourneras à ta mère,
bête brûlée de la jungle, plus boiteux que jamais tu n’es venu au
monde. Va-t’en!
Père Loup leva les yeux, stupéfait. Il ne se souvenait plus des
jours où il avait conquis mère Louve, en loyal combat contre cinq
autres loups, au temps où, dans les expéditions du clan, ce n’était
pas par pure politesse qu’on l’appelait le Démon. Shere Khan aurait
pu tenir tête à père Loup, mais il ne pouvait s’attaquer à mère
Louve, car il savait que dans la position où il était elle avait tout
l’avantage du terrain et qu’elle combattrait à mort. Aussi se recula-t-
il hors de l’ouverture en grondant; et, quand il fut à l’air, libre, il cria:
—Chaque chien aboie dans sa propre cour! Nous verrons ce que
dira le clan, comment il prendra cet élevage de petit d’homme. Le
petit est à moi, et sous ma dent il faudra bien qu’à la fin il tombe, ô
voleurs à queues touffues!
Mère Louve se laissa retomber, haletante, parmi les petits, et père
Loup lui dit gravement:
—Là, Shere Khan a raison; le petit doit être montré au clan. Veux-
tu encore le garder, mère?
Elle souffla:
—Si je veux le garder!... Il est venu tout nu, la nuit, seul et
mourant de faim, et il n’avait même pas peur. Regarde, il a déjà
poussé un de nos bébés de côté. Et ce boucher boiteux l’aurait tué
et se serait sauvé ensuite vers la Waingunga, tandis que les
villageois d’ici seraient accourus, à travers nos reposées, faire une
battue pour en tirer vengeance!... Si je le garde? Assurément, je le

garde. Couche-toi là, petite grenouille... O toi, Mowgli, car Mowgli la
Grenouille je veux t’appeler, le temps viendra où tu feras la chasse à
Shere Khan comme il t’a fait la chasse à toi!
—Mais que dira notre clan? dit père Loup.
La Loi de la Jungle établit très clairement que chaque loup peut,
lorsqu’il se marie, se retirer du clan auquel il appartient; mais,
aussitôt que ses petits sont assez âgés pour se tenir sur leurs pattes,
il doit les amener au conseil du clan, qui se réunit généralement une
fois par mois à la pleine lune, afin que les autres loups puissent
reconnaître leur identité. Après cet examen, les petits sont libres de
courir où il leur plaît, et jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient tué leur premier
chevreuil, il n’y a pas d’excuse valable pour le loup adulte et du
même clan qui tuerait l’un d’eux. Le châtiment est la mort pour le
meurtrier où qu’on le trouve, et, si vous réfléchissez une minute,
vous verrez qu’il en doit être ainsi.
Père Loup attendit jusqu’à ce que ses petits pussent courir un peu,
et alors, la nuit de l’assemblée, il les emmena avec Mowgli et mère
Louve au Rocher du Conseil—un sommet de colline couvert de
pierres et de galets, où une centaine de loups pouvaient s’isoler.
Akela, le grand loup gris solitaire, que sa vigueur et sa finesse
avaient mis à la tête du clan, était étendu de toute sa longueur sur
sa pierre; un peu au-dessous de lui étaient assis plus de quarante
loups de toutes tailles et de toutes robes, depuis les vétérans
couleur de blaireau, qui pouvaient, à eux seuls, se tirer d’affaire avec
un chevreuil, jusqu’aux jeunes loups noirs de trois ans, qui s’en
croyaient capables. Le solitaire était à leur tête depuis un an
maintenant. Au temps de sa jeunesse, il était tombé deux fois dans
un piège à loup, et une fois il avait été assommé et laissé pour mort:
aussi connaissait-il les us et coutumes des hommes.
On causait fort peu sur la roche. Les petits se culbutaient l’un
l’autre au centre du cercle où siégeaient leurs mères et leurs pères,
et, de temps en temps, un loup plus âgé se dirigeait tranquillement
vers un petit, le regardait avec attention, et regagnait sa place à pas

silencieux. Parfois, une mère poussait son petit en plein clair de lune
pour être sûre qu’il n’avait point passé inaperçu. Akela, de son côté,
criait:
—Vous connaissez la Loi, vous connaissez la Loi. Regardez bien, ô
loups!
Et les mères reprenaient le cri:
—Regardez, regardez bien, ô loups!
A la fin (et mère Louve sentit se hérisser les poils de son cou
lorsque arriva ce moment), père Loup poussa «Mowgli la
Grenouille», comme ils l’appelaient, au milieu du cercle, où il resta
par terre à rire et à jouer avec les cailloux qui scintillaient dans le
clair de lune.
Akela ne leva pas sa tête d’entre ses pattes, mais continua le cri
monotone:
—Regardez bien!...
Un rugissement sourd partit de derrière les rochers; la voix de
Shere Khan criait:
—Le petit est mien. Donnez-le moi. Le Peuple Libre, qu’a-t-il à
faire d’un petit d’homme?
Akela ne remua même pas les oreilles; il dit simplement:
—Regardez bien, ô loups! Le Peuple Libre, qu’a-t-il à faire des
ordres de n’importe qui, hormis ceux du Peuple Libre!... Regardez
bien!
Il y eut un chœur de sourds grognements et un jeune loup de
quatre ans, tourné vers Akela, répéta la question de Shere Khan:
—Le Peuple Libre, qu’a-t-il à faire d’un petit d’homme?

Or, la Loi de la Jungle, en cas de dispute sur les droits d’un petit à
l’acceptation du clan, exige que deux membres au moins du clan, qui
ne soient ni son père ni sa mère, prennent la parole en sa faveur.
—Qui parle pour ce petit? dit Akela. Dans le Peuple Libre, qui
parle?
Il n’y eut pas de réponse, et mère Louve s’apprêtait pour ce qui
serait son dernier combat, elle le savait bien, s’il fallait en venir à
combattre. Alors, le seul étranger qui soit admis au conseil du clan—
Baloo, l’ours brun endormi, qui enseigne aux petits loups la Loi de la
Jungle, le vieux Baloo qui peut aller et venir partout où il lui plaît,
parce qu’il mange uniquement des noix, des racines et du miel—se
leva sur son séant et grogna.
—Le petit d’homme... le petit d’homme?... dit-il. C’est moi qui
parle pour le petit d’homme. Il n’y a pas de mal dans un petit
d’homme. Je n’ai pas le don de la parole, mais je dis la vérité.
Laissez-le courir avec le clan, et qu’on l’enrôle parmi les autres. C’est
moi-même qui lui donnerai des leçons.
—Nous avons encore besoin d’un autre, dit Akela. Baloo a parlé, et
c’est lui qui enseigne nos petits. Qui parle avec Baloo?
Une ombre tomba au milieu du cercle. C’était Bagheera, la
panthère noire. Sa robe est tout entière noire comme de l’encre,
mais les marques de la panthère y affleurent, sous certains jours,
comme font les reflets de la moire. Chacun connaissait Bagheera, et
personne ne se souciait d’aller à l’encontre de ses desseins, car elle
était aussi rusée que Tabaqui, aussi hardie que le buffle sauvage et
aussi intrépide que l’éléphant blessé. Mais sa voix était plus suave
que le miel sauvage, qui tombe goutte à goutte des arbres, et sa
peau plus douce que le duvet.
—O Akela, et vous, Peuple Libre! ronronna-t-elle, je n’ai aucun
droit dans votre assemblée. Mais la Loi de la Jungle dit que, s’il
s’élève un doute, dans une affaire où il ne soit pas question de
meurtre, à propos d’un nouveau petit, la vie de ce petit peut être

rachetée moyennant un prix. Et la Loi ne dit pas qui a droit ou non
de payer ce prix. Ai-je raison?
—Très bien! très bien!—firent les jeunes loups qui ont toujours
faim.—Écoutons Bagheera. Le petit peut être racheté. C’est la Loi.
—Sachant que je n’ai aucun droit de parler ici, je demande votre
permission.
—Parle donc, crièrent vingt voix.
—Tuer un petit nu est une honte. En outre, il pourra nous aider à
chasser mieux quand il sera en âge. Baloo a parlé en sa faveur.
Maintenant, à ce qu’a dit Baloo j’ajouterai l’offre d’un taureau, et
bien gras, fraîchement tué, à un demi-mille d’ici à peine, si vous
acceptez le petit d’homme, conformément à la Loi. Y a-t-il une
difficulté?
Il s’éleva une clameur de voix disant par vingtaines:
—Qu’importe? Il mourra sous les pluies de l’hiver; il sera grillé par
le soleil... Quel mal peut nous faire une grenouille nue?... Qu’il coure
avec le clan!... Où est le taureau, Bagheera?... Qu’on l’accepte.
Et alors revint l’aboiement profond d’Akela.
—Regardez bien... regardez bien, ô loups.
Mowgli continuait à s’intéresser aux cailloux; il ne daigna prêter
aucune attention aux loups qui vinrent un à un l’examiner.
A la fin, ils descendirent tous la colline, à la recherche du taureau
mort, et seuls restèrent Akela, Bagheera, Baloo et les loups de
Mowgli.
Shere Khan rugissait encore dans la nuit, car il était fort en colère
que Mowgli ne lui eût pas été livré.
—Oui, tu peux rugir, dit Bagheera dans ses moustaches: car le
temps viendra où cette petite chose nue te fera rugir sur un autre

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Dialectology As Dialectic Interpreting Phula Variation Jamin R Pelkey

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