The Sui language () is a Kam–Sui language spoken by the Sui people of Guizhou province in China. According to Ethnologue, it was spoken by around 300,000 people in 2007. Sui is also unique for its rich inventory of consonants, with the Sandong (三洞) dialect having as many as 70 consonants. The language also has its own script, known as "Shuishu" (水書) in Chinese, which is used for ritual purposes.
Some regionally atypical features of the Sui language include voiceless nasals (hm, hn), palatal stops, postvelar stops, prenasalized stops (mb, nd), and pre-glottalized stops and nasals (i.e. ).
Dialects
China
The Sui language is divided into three dialects with minor differences (Wei & Edmondson 2008). Sandong 三洞, spoken by 90% of Sui speakers. Sandu Shui Autonomous County: Sāndòng 三洞, Shǔilóng 水龙, Zhōnghé 中和, Miáocǎo 苗草, Bàjiē 坝街, Jiǎdǎo 甲倒, Shíqí 石奇, Jiāróng 佳荣, Héngfēng 恒丰, Zhōuqín 周覃, Jiǔqiān 九仟, Tángzhōu 塘州, Yángméng 阳蒙 Libo County: Yáoqìng 瑶庆 Dushan County: Wēnquán 温泉 (Tiānxīng 天星) Rongjiang County Congjiang County Yang'an 阳安 Sandu Shui Autonomous County: Yáng'ān 阳安, Yángluò 羊洛, Línqiáo 林桥 Dushan County: Dǒngmiǎo 董渺 Pandong 潘洞 Duyun City: Pāndòng 潘洞 Dushan County: Wēngtái 翁台
In Guangxi, Sui is spoken by about 10,000 people in Rongshui County and 1,900 in Nandan County (e.g., in Longmazhuang 龙马庄 of Liuzhai Township 六寨镇, with the autonym ).
However, Castro (2011) proposes that the Sandong dialect is divided further into two more subdialects, Central (spoken in Sandu County) and Southern (spoken in Libo County). Southern Sui speakers are also culturally distinguished by their celebration of the Maox festival instead of the Dwac festival, which is celebrated by all other Sui groups. Below are some villages representative of Central and Southern Sui. Castro & Pan (2014) add two more dialects to the Sandong cluster, namely Eastern and Western.
Castro & Pan (2014) consider Sandong to consist of four subdialects, namely Eastern, Western, Central, and Southern, giving the following datapoints.
Sandong 三洞
Eastern
Zenlei, Dujiang town, Sandu County (三都县都江镇怎累村上村) Dangmin, Renli township, Rongjiang County (榕江县仁里水族乡党民村) Guyi, Sanjiang township, Rongjiang County (榕江县三江水族乡故衣村上寨) Western Meiyu, Tangzhou township, Sandu County (三都县塘州乡枚育村) Xinyang, Tingpai town, Sandu County (三都县廷牌镇新仰村) Antang, Tangzhou township, Sandu County (三都县塘州乡安塘村) Central Shuigen, Sandong township, Sandu County (三都县三洞乡水根村) Hezhai, Zhonghe town, Sandu County (三都县中和镇中和村和寨) Southern Guchang, Jiuqian town, Sandu County (三都县九阡镇姑偿村) Laliang, Jiarong town, Libo County (荔波县佳荣镇拉亮村) Shuiyao village, Shuiyao township, Libo County (荔波县水尧水族乡水尧村) Shuiwei village, Shuiwei township, Rongjiang County (榕江县水尾水族乡水尾村) Yang'an 阳安 Banliang, Tangzhou township, Sandu County (三都县塘州乡板良村) Tangnian, Tanglian village, Benzhai township, Dushan County (独山县本寨水族乡塘联村塘年寨) Pandong 潘洞 Gaorong, Jiaoli township, Sandu County (三都县交梨乡高戎村) Pandong, Yanghe township, Duyun City (都匀市阳和水族乡潘洞村)
Using computational phylogenetics, Castro & Pan (2014) classify the Sui dialects as follows. Pandong was the first branch to split off from Proto-Sui, followed by Yang'an and then Sandong. Within Sandong, the Southern dialect is the most divergent. Sui Pandong 潘洞 dialect (branch) Yang'an 阳安 dialect Sandong 三洞 dialect Southern (core) Western, Central Eastern
Vietnam
Sui is also spoken in Hồng Quang Village, Chiêm Hoá District, Tuyên Quang Province (62 km northwest of Chiêm Hóa township). In Vietnam, the Sui people () are officially classified with the Pà Thẻn people. The Sui numbered only 55 people as of the 1982 Vietnamese census, and numbered about 100 people as of 2001. Since Pa-Hng (Pà Thẻn) and Tày are also spoken in Hồng Quang Village, many Sui are also fluent in those two languages.
The elderly Sui people of Hồng Quang claim that 8 Sui families had migrated to Vietnam from China 100 to 200 years ago, 2 of which have now already assimilated into other ethnic groups. Edmondson & Gregerson (2001) have found that the Sui dialect of Hồng Quang is most similar to the Sandong 三洞 dialect of Sui as spoken in Shǔilóng 水龙, Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Guizhou.
Phonology
Sui has seven vowels, . Diphthongs are . There are six or seven tones, reduced to two in checked syllables. The tones of the Sandu Sui Autonomous County, Guizhou, listed by conventional tone numbers, are provided below, with numerical Chao tone equivalents also given in between slashes.
The alternate checked tone 7 is found on the long vowel . Tone 8 is somewhat variable on a long vowel, appearing in different locations either higher or lower than the short allophone, but always falling, as in tones 2 and 4.