This article is a description of the grammar of standardized Has Hlai, a Hlai language spoken on the island of Hainan, China, by the Hlai (Li) ethnic group. The parts of speech are nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, numerals, adverbs, and pronouns.
Introduction The Hlai people (or, as they are called in Chinese, the Li – 黎族) are the original inhabitants of southern Hainan. A Kra–Dai people, they are believed to have settled there at least 2,000 to 6,000 years ago, and carry genetic markers from ancient people who reached the island between 7,000 and 27,000 years ago. The Pre-Hlai language they spoke would later evolve into Proto-Hlai, and from there into the modern Hlai languages.
In June 1956, China's government implemented research on Hainan Island of the Hlai people's language.
A 1983 report, Liyu diaocha yanjiu (黎语调查研究), claimed that the Hlai language is made up of five languages: Has 侾黎, Gheis 杞黎, Hyuuen 本地黎, Moeifou 美孚黎, and Deitou 加茂黎. For education, the Lauxhuet dialect of Has () in Ledong Baoyou Baoding () was chosen to be the Li's standardized language. It was this language from which the "Li orthography" () was developed.
In September 1984, two organizations, Central University for Nationalities and the Institute of Minorities in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, made some revisions to the Li orthography. The Hlai language's orthography was finalized with the publishing of a textbook entitled Basic Li Course (Pinyin: Liyu Jichu Jiaocheng; Chinese: 黎语基础教程).
At the end of 2019, a Hlai-language dictionary was officially posted online (http://www.tunhlai.com).
Phonology and orthography
Consonants Has Hlai has 31 consonants. /ȶ/ is only found as a coda. (Still under work)LabialAlveolarAlveolo-palatalVelarGlottalPlainLab.PlainLab.Pal.Nasalm n ny ng ngw Plosive/Affricateaspiratedp t c, q k kw (ʔ)unvoicedb d z, j ty g gw voicedgh ghw implosivebh dh lateralbl Fricativevoicelessf hl h hw hy voicedv dz Approximantw l y Trillr Notes:
/ʔ/ is a null initial /ʔw/ and /ʔj/ are glottalized The velar stops are allophonic in Has Hlai with fricative forms (/k/ > /x/, etc.) /f/, /v/ are labiodental; /m/, /b/, /p/, /pʰ/, and /pl/ are bilabial
Vowel rimes
Nucleusa e i o u uu ShortLongShortLongShortLongShortLongShortLongShortLongCoda-aia [ia]ua [ua]uua [ɯa]-iai [ai]aei [aːi]ei [ɵi]oei [oːi]ui [ui]uei [uːi]uuei
[ɯːi]-uau [au]aeu [aːu]eeu [eːu]iu [iu]ieu [iːu]ou [ou]-ɯauu [aɯ]euu [eɯ]-mam [am]aem [aːm]em [em]eem [eːm]im [im]iem [iːm]om [om]oem [oːm]uum [ɯm]uuem [ɯːm]-nan [an]aen [aːn]en [en]een [eːn]in [in]ien [iːn]oen [oːn]un [un]uen [uːn]uun [ɯn]uuen [ɯːn]-ȵany [aȵ]aeny [aːȵ]eny [eȵ]uny [uȵ]ueny [uːȵ]-ŋang [aŋ]aeng [aːŋ]eng [eŋ]eeng [eːŋ]ing [iŋ]ieng [iːŋ]ong [oŋ]oeng [oːŋ]ueng [uːŋ]uung [ɯŋ]uueng [ɯːŋ]-pap [ap]aep [aːp]ep [ep]eep [eːp]ip [ip]iep [iːp]op [op]oep [oːp]uup [ɯp]uuep [ɯːp]-tat [at]aet [aːt]et [et]eet [eːt]it [it]iet [iːt]oet [oːt]ut [ut]uet [uːt]uut [ɯt]uuet [ɯːt]-ȶaty [aȶ]aety [aːȶ]ety [eȶ]oety [oːȶ]uty [uȶ]uety [uːȶ]-kak [ak]aek [aːk]ek [ek]eek [eːk]ik [ik]iek [iːk]ok [ok]oek [oːk]uek [uːk]uuk [ɯk]uuek [ɯːk]
Tones Has Hlai has 3 tones. Each tone can take two forms, depending on whether the syllable ends in a stop ("tonic tone") or not ("level tone"). (work in progress)"level tone""tonic tone"High-Falling(nothing added) [꜒꜔]kai ("chicken")(stop is doubled) [꜒꜔]oekk ("to drink") High-Flatx [꜒꜒]tax ("rice")(nothing added) [꜒꜒]hliet ("to cut") Low-Flats [꜖꜖]pas ("father")s [꜖꜖]daeps ("rope")
Nouns
Common nouns
Related to mankind/person
【baiskaux】: (1) woman; (2) wife, it is only used by a husband to call his own wife; it is an impolite word to use to call others' wives. 【pasmaen】: (1) man; (2) husband, it is only used by a wife to call her own husband; it is an impolite word to use to call others' husbands. 【baisdza】: mother, it is used by a narrator. When a child calls his/her own mother, he/she uses the word "bais" 【pasdza】: (1) father, it is used by a narrator. When a child calls his/her own father, he/she uses the word "pas"; (2) a respected way to call an elderly man.
Related to objects/things
【ghang】: hill, mountain 【noms/nams】: (1) water; (2) river 【laengs】: sea 【fei】: (1) n.: fire; (2) v.: walk 【ghei】: rice
Related to time or space
【hwanneix】: today;【uuhaux】: tomorrow 【paisdeuu】: up;【paisfou】: down; 【paiskueng】: right;【paishluums】: left
Proper nouns
People
Han (Chinese) name: All Li's Chinese names are loan words, borrowed from the Hainanese spoken language in the region called Uislius (黄流), e.g., , (Mao Zedong (毛泽东), the founder of the People's Republic of China. Hlai name: The Li people usually call their children with names from their own language (Hlai).
Group/organization/party These are loan words from Hainanese, e.g., (中国共产党), Chinese Communist Party.
Places
These are loan words from Hainanese, e.g., Bhakgengs, "Beijing, 北京 (capital of the People's Republic of China)"; Haeisnaems dhaeus, "Hainan Island, 海海南岛"; Lokdhongs, "Ledong, 乐东 (the central city of the tribe of Has Hlai )"
Nations
Most are loan words from Hainanese, e.g., Dangx Gok, "China, 中国"; few are not loan words, e.g., Moei, "Han people, 汉族"; Hlai, "Li people, 黎族"
Abstract nouns These nouns are mostly loan words. The Hlai language being both practical and concrete in nature, is not suitable for describing anything intangible.
Basic rules for nouns
Numerals and classifiers
Nouns usually cannot be modified by number alone; the number needs a proper classifier following the number to modify the noun.
But, nouns associated with dates (like year, month, day), are modified with numbers alone (no classifiers).
When the word "nyaen" refers to the name of a month (as May above), a number can modify "nyaen" without a classifier. However, when the word "nyaen" refers to the number of months (as below), a classifier is required to modify the word "nyaen."
Nouns cannot be modified by adverbs, nor can a noun be doubled (e.g., **uxaeu uxaeu, "man man"; **blongs blongs, "house house") to express the meaning of "every" as is done in Chinese. The way to present the meaning of "every" is to use the word "ranx" plus a proper classifier as below:
Gender
Although the Hlai language does not have declension of gender, it does have two prefixes to indicate the gender: "bais" for female and "pas" for male, e.g.
pasdza, "father" baisdza, "mother" paskai, "cock/rooster" (kai: chicken) baiskai, "hen" pasdzuengsgong, "salesman" (dzuengs: sale, gong: stuff) baisdzuengsgong, "saleswoman"
When the word "bais" exists alone, the meaning is mother; "pas" means father. "Pas" could also be used as a classifier, e.g.,
Plural
The Hlai language does not use suffixes or prefixes for nouns to denote plurality as in the English language. But, the Hlai language uses the word "kun" to indicate the plurality of nouns, e.g.
The word "kun" can also be used together with a number and a classifier to modify nouns, e.g.,
Use of nouns
A noun can be a subject, predicate, object, e.g.
A noun can be an attribute, and also can be modified by attributes e.g.
A noun can also be an adverbial modifier, e.g.
A noun in relation to time can even be an adverbial modifier to modify a verb, e.g.
Possessive phrases
When the word "guu" is placed before a noun to indicate subordination, this combination functions as a possessive phrase, and can only be in the predicate of the sentence, e.g.
Verbs
Action verbs 【vuek，做】: to do, make...(it is used frequently) 【lax，吃】: (1) to eat, drink, smoke...; (2) to swallow up (it is used frequently) 【duuengx，给】: to give 【taeix，打】: to strike, hit 【bleuu，听】: (1) to hear; (2) to feel 【dzok，偷】: to steal 【zongs，坐】: to sit 【ghais，叫，请，派】: to tell someone(s) to do something; to invite... 【fei，走】: (1) v.: to walk; (2) n.: fire 【cuuek，休息】: to rest 【tuas，欺骗】: to cheat 【liengs，看守】: to watch, to guard others
Linking verbs 【man，是】: am, is, are (be verbs, sometimes omitted in the sentence) 【ghwaix，不是】: am not, is not, are not
Verbs for expressing mental activities 【dhas，怕】: to fear, to be afraid of 【ngop，想念】: to long to see again, to miss 【oep，爱】: to love, to like 【vuuengx，心里烦乱】: confusing, disorderly (used as a verb) 【luuemx，忘记】: to forget 【uuen，埋怨】: to complain 【tuuenngaen，生气】: to be angry (other similar word: kis, kisngaen) 【dhaix，忍受】: to endure, to bear others
Verbs for expressing existence, change, development 【dhuus，在】:(1) v.: to exist; (2) prep.: in, on, at 【zaux，有】: to have, there is/are 【hlaeux，死】: (1) v.: to die; (2) n.: death 【hlou，生】: (1) v.: to give birth; (2) adj.: alive, living 【long，长大】: (1) v.: to grow up; (2) adj.: big, large 【dzauux，变】: to change others
Modal verbs 【gieu，能】: to be good at, to be able to, can 【gax，不能】: to be unable to, cannot 【kweis，愿意】: to be willing to 【ais，不愿】: to be not willing to 【dheeng-hwoek，同意，愿意】: to agree with, to be willing to 【kueng，会】: to know how to, to be able to 【boei，不会】: to not know how to, to be unable to 【loepp，可以，能够】: to be allowed to, to be able to 【guulax，必须，应该】: must, should 【kiemx，必须，应该】: must, should (this is a loan word) 【komx，必须，应该】: must, should (this is a loan word) 【auux，敢】: to dare to others
Verbs of motion
【buuen，来】: to come 【hei，去】: to go 【beuu，回】: to go back to, to return 【luueng，返】: to return 【dhuas，过】: to pass through 【kaen，上】: to go up 【luei，下】: to go down 【hluet，进】: to go into 【tuuen，出】: (1) v.: to go out, to leave, to exit; (2) prep.: from 【dhaens，到】: to arrive
Basic rules for verbs
Tense/aspect In Hlai language, verbs never change their form. The placement of an adverb or an auxiliary word after or before a verb determines the verb's tense.
Progressive aspect The adverbial word "faets" or "fietla" can express the action in process, and is placed before a verb, e.g.,
Perfect aspect The verbs with the word "bhaeis" expresses an action that has already happened. If "bhaeis" is placed before a verb, it is an adverbial, e.g.,
If the word "bhaeis" is placed after a verb, it acts as a complement and means "finished", e.g.,
The word "dhuas" can also denote the perfect aspect, ("(1) v.: pass through; (2) an auxiliary word that indicates that an action has already happened, and is placed after the verb; (3) an auxiliary word that expresses a comparison, and is placed after the adjective") e.g.,
Future aspect The auxiliary word "kweis" or "guu" indicates that an action is in future by being placed before a verb, e.g.,
The nuance between the two words "kweis" and "guu" is that: when two verbs are used together, if the first one is the method of the second one, or the second one is the purpose of the first one, only the word "guu" can be placed before the second verb, e.g.,
Others If an action only lasts for a short while, the adverbial word "zuufanx" is placed after the verb, e.g.,
Verbs as predicates Hlai verbs, including action verbs, verbs for expressing mental activities, and verbs for expressing existence, change, and development, can be predicates or predicate heads in a sentence. Most of these verbs can be followed by objects or by complements, and can be modified by adverbials, nouns of time, and auxiliary words, e.g.,
Nominal verbs Hlai verbs, except for linking verbs, can usually be made nominal by adding a prefix "uu-"; nominal verbs can be a subject, but cannot be a major part of the predicate, e.g.,
Nominal verbs still can function as a verb with an object following it; the nominal verb and the object together can function as a subject, object or nominal predicate, e.g.,
Doubling Hlai verbs are rarely doubled as they are in Chinese; only monosyllabic action verbs and verbs for expressing mental activities can be doubled. Doubled monosyllabic verbs imply that the action is casually and carelessly done, e.g.,