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The Xibe language (Xibe: ᠰᡞᠪᡝ ᡤᡞᠰᡠᠨ, romanized: sibe gisun, also Sibo, Sibe) is a Tungusic language spoken by members of the Sibe minority of Xinjiang, in Northwest China.

Classification

Sibe is conventionally viewed as a separate language within the southern group of Tungusic languages alongside the more well-known Manchu language, having undergone more than 200 years of development separated from the Tungusic-speaking heartland since Sibe troops were dispatched to the Xinjiang frontiers in 1764. Some researchers such as Jerry Norman hold that Sibe is a dialect of Manchu, whereas Xibologists such as An Jun argue that Sibe should be considered the "successor" to Manchu. Ethnohistorically, the Sibe people are not considered Manchu people, because they were excluded from chieftain Nurhaci's 17th-century tribal confederation to which the name "Manchu" was later applied.

Phonology

Sibe is mutually intelligible with Manchu, although unlike Manchu, Sibe has reported to have eight vowel distinctions as opposed to the six found in Manchu, as well as differences in morphology, and a more complex system of vowel harmony.

Consonants

• Fricative sounds /x, χ/ are often voiced as , when occurring after a resonant sound.
• /s, ɕ/ often are voiced as , when occurring in word-medial positions.
• /m/ can be heard as labio-dental , when preceding a /v/.

Vowels

• Allophones of /œ/, /ə/, and /o/ are , , .

Morphology

Sibe has seven case morphemes, three of which are used quite differently from modern Manchu. The categorization of morphemes as case markers in spoken Sibe is partially controversial due to the status of numerous suffixes in the language. Despite the general controversy about the categorization of case markers versus postpositions in Tungusic languages, four case markers in Sibe are shared with literary Manchu (Nominative, Genitive, Dative-Locative and Accusative). Sibe's three innovated cases – the ablative, lative, and instrumental-sociative share their meanings with similar case forms in neighboring Uyghur, Kazakh, and Oiryat Mongolian.

Lexicon

The general vocabulary and structure of Sibe has not been affected as much by Chinese as Manchu has. However, Sibe has absorbed a large body of Chinese sociological terminology, especially in politics: like gəming ("revolution", from 革命) and zhuxi ("chairperson", from 主席), and economics: like chūna ("cashier", from 出纳) and daikuan ("loan", from 贷款). Written Sibe is more conservative and rejecting of loanwords, but spoken Sibe contains additional Chinese-derived vocabulary such as nan (from 男) for "man" where the Manchu-based equivalent is niyalma. There has also been some influence from Russian, including words such as konsul ("consul", from консул) and mashina ("sewing machine", from машина). Smaller Xinjiang languages contribute mostly cultural terminology, such as namas ("an Islamic feast") from Uygur and baige ("horse race") from Kazakh.

Writing system

Sibe is written in a derivative of the Manchu alphabet. The Sibe alphabet diverges from the Manchu alphabet in that the positions of the letters in some words have changed, Sibe lacks 13 out of 131 syllables in Manchu, and Sibe has three syllables that are not found in Manchu (wi, wo, and wu).

The table below lists the letters in Sibe that differentiate it from Manchu as well as the placement of the letters. Blue areas mark letters with different shapes from Manchu, green areas marks different Unicode codes from Manchu.

Letters				Transliteration (Paul Georg von Mollendorf/Abkai/CMCD)	Unicode encoding	Description
Independent	Initial	Medial	Final
ᡞ	ᡞ᠊	᠊ᡞ᠊	᠊ᡞ	i	185E	The second row for the shape after a vowel; The third for the shape after b, p, and feminine k, g, h; The fourth row for the shape after dz/z
		᠊ᡞ᠋᠊
		ᡞ᠌᠊	᠊ᡞ᠋
			᠊ᡞ᠌
		᠊ᡡ᠊	᠊ᡡ	ū/v/uu	1861	Appears only after masculine k, g, h
ᡢ		ᡢ᠊	᠊ᡢ	ng	1862	Only occurs at the end of syllables
ᡣ	ᡣ᠊	᠊ᡣ᠊		k	1863	The first row for the shape before a, o, ū; The third row for the shape before e, i, u; The second row for the shape at the end of syllables.
		᠊ᡣ᠋᠊	᠊ᡣ
	ᡣ	᠊ᡴ᠌᠊
ᡪ	ᡪ᠊	᠊ᡪ᠊		j/j/zh	186A	Only appears in the first syllable
ᠷ	ᠷ᠊	᠊ᠷ᠊	᠊ᠷ	r	1837	Native Sibe words never begin with r
ᡫ	ᡫ᠊	᠊ᡫ᠊		f	186B	"F" in Sibe has only one shape. No shape change like Manchu occurs.
ᠸ	ᠸ᠊	᠊ᠸ᠊		w	1838	Can appear before a, e, i, o, u
ᡲ	ᡲ᠊	᠊ᡲ᠊		j/j''/zh	1872	jy is used for Chinese loanwords (zhi as in Pinyin)

Cyrillization proposal

There was a proposal in China by 1957 to adapt the Cyrillic alphabet to Sibe, but this was abandoned in favor of the original Sibe script.

Usage

In 1998, there were eight primary schools that taught Sibe in the Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County where the medium of instruction was Chinese, but Sibe lessons were mandatory. From 1954 to 1959, the People's Publishing House in Ürümqi published over 285 significant works, including government documents, belles-lettres, and schoolbooks, in Sibe. Since 1946, the Sibe-language Qapqal News has been published in Yining. In Qapqal, Sibe-language programming is allocated 15 minutes per day of radio broadcasting and 15 to 30-minute television programmes broadcast once or twice per month.

Sibe is taught as a second language at the Ili Normal University in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of northern Xinjiang; it established an undergraduate major in the language in 2005. A few Manchu language enthusiasts from Eastern China have visited Qapqal Sibe County in order to experience an environment where a variety closely related to Manchu is spoken natively.

Notes

1. Li & Zhong (1986), p. 1
2. S. Robert Ramsey (1987). The Languages of China. Princeton University Press. pp. 216–. ISBN 0-691-01468-X.
3. ^ Xibe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
4. ^ Gorelova, Liliya. "Past and Present of a Manchu Tribe: The Sibe". In Atabaki, Touraj; O'Kane, John (eds.). Post-Soviet Central Asia. London: Tauris Academic Studies. pp. 327–329.
5. Gordon (2005), Xibe
6. ^ Ramsey (1989), p. 215
7. Li & Zhong 1986.
8. Zikmundova, Veronika (2013). Spoken Sibe: Morphology of the Inflected Parts of Speech. Prague: Karolinum Press. pp. 48–69.
9. Ramsey (1989), p. 216
10. Guo (2007)
11. Zhou, Minglang (2003). Multilingualism in China: The Politics of Writing Reforms for Minority Languages, 1949–2002. Berlin: Mouten de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-017896-6.
12. Ge, Siming 戈思明 (2019). Mǎnwén de chuánchéng: Xīnjiāng Xíbózú 滿文的傳承 : 新疆錫伯族 [Manchu Heritage: The Sibe of Xinjiang]. Taibei Shi: Xiuwei zixun keji gufen youxian gongsi. ISBN 9789863266815.
13. Zhang (2007)
14. Tong, Zhihong 佟志红 (2007-06-06). ""Chábùcháěr bào" – Xíbórén zhǐ shàng de jīngshén jiāyuán" 《察布查尔报》——锡伯人纸上的精神家园 ['Qapqal News' – A 'Spiritual Homestead' on Paper for the Sibe People]. Yīlí wǎnbào 伊犁晚报 [Yili Evening News] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2009-04-13.
15. Johnson, Ian (2009-10-03). "In China, the Forgotten Manchu Seek to Rekindle Their Glory". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-05.

References

• Li, Shulan 李树兰; Zhong, Qian 仲谦 (1986). Xíbóyǔ jiǎnzhì 锡伯语简志 [Outline of the Xibo Language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
• Gordon, Raymond G. Jr., ed. (2005). "Ethnologue: Languages of the World". Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
• Ramsey, S. Robert (1989). The Languages of China. Princeton University Press.
• Zhang, Li 张莉 (2007). "Xīnjiāng Xíbózú xīnwén shìyè fāzhǎn xiànzhuàng" 新疆锡伯族新闻事业发展现状 [Xinjiang Xibo Peoples' News Undertaking Present Situation]. Yīlí shīfàn xuéyuàn xuébào 伊犁师范学院学报 [Journal of Ili Normal University] (in Chinese) (1). Retrieved 2009-04-13.
• Guo, Qing 郭庆 (2004). "Èluósī yǔyán wénhuà duì Xīnjiāng Xíbózú yǔyán wénhuà de yǐngxiǎng" 俄罗斯语言文化对新疆锡伯族语言文化的影响 [Influence of Russian Language and Culture on the Sibo Language and Culture in Xinjiang]. Mǎnyǔ yánjiū / Manchu Studies (in Chinese). 2004 (2): 41–45. Retrieved 2009-04-20.

Further reading

• Jang, Taeho (2008). Xíbóyǔ yǔfǎ yánjiū 锡伯语语法研究 [Sibe Grammar] (in Chinese). Kunming: Yunnan minzu chubanshe. ISBN 978-7-5367-4000-6.
• Li, Shulan 李淑兰; Zhong, Qian 仲谦; Wang, Qingfeng 王庆丰 (1984). Xíbóyǔ kǒuyǔ yánjiū 锡伯语口语研究 [Research Into Xibo Oral Language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
• Kida, Akiyoshi (2000), A Typological and Comparative Study of Altaic Languages with Emphasis on Xibo Language: The Part of Xibo Grammar
• Jin, Ning (1994). Phonological Correspondences Between Literary Manchu and Spoken Sibe. University of Washington.
• Tong, Zhongming 佟中明 (2005). "Éguó zhùmíng xuézhě B·B·lā dé luò fū yòng Xíbóyǔ fùshù jìlù de mínjiān gùshì" 俄国著名学者B·B·拉德洛夫用锡伯语复述记录的民间故事 [The Folktales Retold and Recorded in Xibo Language by the Famous Russian Scholar B.B. Radloff]. Mínzú wénxué yánjiū / Studies of Ethnic Literature (in Chinese). 2005 (3): 60–63. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007.
• Zikmundová, Veronika (2013). Spoken Sibe: Morphology of the Inflected Parts of Speech. Prague: Karolinum Press. ISBN 9788024621036.
• Jang, Taeho (2020). "Xibe and the Manchuric languages". In Martine Robbeets; Alexander Savelyev (eds.). The Oxford Guide to the Transeurasian Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 269–287. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198804628.003.0018. ISBN 978-0-19-880462-8. Accessed 7 May 2024.

External links

• Mini Buleku: A Recorded Sibe Dictionary
• Abkai — Unicode Manchu/Sibe/Daur Fonts and Keyboards
• SibeCulture.com: Sibe-English-Chinese phrases

• Agglutinative languages
• Tungusic languages
• Languages of Xinjiang
• Sibe people
• Manchu language
• Languages of China