Shui language

The Sui or Swi language (zh-c|水語) belongs to the Tai-Kadai family, chiefly spoken by the Shui people in Guizhou province, China. According to Ethnologue, as of 1999, the total number of speakers is around 200,000.

The language is known for its complicated consonant system. The Sandong (三洞) dialect has as many as 70 consonants. The language has it own script, known as "Shuishu" (水書) in Chinese, for ritual purpose.

Shui script

Shui Script (Shui language: Lel Sai3 [“水书”及其造字方法研究,黔南民族师范学院学报, 2005年25卷1期 ] , Simplified Chinese: 水书, Traditional Chinese: 水書, Pinyin:Shuǐshū, also called Shuishu, Sui script or Shui Writing) is a pictogram writing system for Shui language [Multilingualism in China By Minglang Zhou, Minglang Zhou, Joshua A. Fishman, page 132-135] . Like the Yi script, Shui Script also has many loan Chinese characters, while many characters resemble prototypical Chinese characters. In 2006, it was placed on the Chinese intangible cultural heritage list. [cite web |url= http://www.ipr.gov.cn/ipr/en/info/Article.jsp?a_no=10296&col_no=99&dir=200608|title= Shui included in China's intangible cultural heritage list|accessdate=2008-08-28|work=|publisher=National Working Group for IPR Protection, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China|date=August 8, 2006]

Shui script is in danger of extinction and the Chinese government is making effort to preserve the Shui characters. [cite web |url= http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200404/01/eng20040401_139182.shtml|title= Books in rare ancient characters of Shui group retrieved|accessdate=2008-09-01|work=|publisher=People's Daily|date=April 01, 2004]

References

*zh icon 張均如，《水語簡誌》，北京：民族出版社，1980。

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=swi Sui language] at Ethnologue
*Fang-Kuei Li, [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-8507(194804%2F06)24%3A2%3C160%3ATDOIAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X "The Distribution of Initials and Tones in the Sui Language"] , "Language", Vol. 24, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1948), pp. 160-167, available through JSTOR.