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Article published In: Language Contact with Chinese:
Edited by Zhiming Bao
[Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 38:1] 2023
► pp. 118–134

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On the formation of the Ei language

 | Nankai University, China
Published online: 5 May 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.00106.zen
Abstract
The Ei language (or Wu-se) is a mixed language derived from Chinese and the Kam-Tai languages. This paper focuses on the status of Ei and its formation process. The ancestors of the Ei people were soldiers and their families from different ethnic groups, who were sent to the Patrol Division of E’jing Town, Rong County, Guangxi Province in the Ming Dynasty, some 600 years ago. They are a multi-ethnic fusion of Chinese, Zhuang, Kam, and Sui peoples. The Ei language resulted from contact between Chinese and Kam-Tai languages. Its core words are mainly Kam-Tai, and the commonly-used words are mainly Chinese. The word order is basically the same as Chinese, and its voiceless sonorants are consistent with Kam-Sui phonology. The root causes of its formation are the Ei speakers’ ethnic identity as well as their stable and relatively closed life circles.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The linguistic characteristics
    • 2.1Lexical features
      • 2.1.1Words in common usage
      • 2.1.2The features of core words
    • 2.2Word order features of Ei
    • 2.3Phonological features of Ei
    • 2.4Summary
  • 3.The historical exploration of the formation of Ei language
    • 3.1Conditions for the formation of the mixed language
    • 3.2The conditions for the formation of Ei
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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