Kinship Systems in Gyalrong: History and Transformation

Project Information

KinSiGHT

Grant agreement ID: 101110215

DOI

10.3030/101110215

Project terminated on 9 December 2024

EC signature date 5 May 2023

Start date 1 September 2023

End date 31 August 2025

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 199 694,40

Coordinated by

THE PROVOST, FELLOWS, FOUNDATION SCHOLARS & THE OTHER MEMBERS OF BOARD, OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY & UNDIVIDED TRINITY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH NEAR DUBLIN
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KinSiGHT (Kinship Systems in Gyalrong: History and Transformation)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This project investigates the unique kinship systems and family structures among ethnic groups in the Hengduan Mountains of Southwest China, with a specific focus on Gyalrongic-speaking communities in Western Sichuan. This region is characterized by ethnolinguistic diversity and linguistic conservatism, which coexist alongside complex patterns of social organization. Kinship terminologies exhibit considerable diversity, including two unusual systems: the Omaha and 'partial' kinship terminologies. The Omaha system, named after the Omaha people in North America, applies generational equations across kin groups, while the 'partial' system, often found in matrilineal groups practicing zouhun (a non-conjugal visiting system), lacks terms for paternal and affinal kin and is incompatible with traditional kinship typologies. The sporadic distribution of these kinship types, combined with limited historical documentation and fragmented linguistic records for most local languages, presents significant challenges for understanding the development of family structures in the Hengduan Mountains.

This research project aims to address these gaps by documenting, reconstructing, and analyzing kinship terminologies and family structures within Gyalrongic languages. The project has three primary objectives: First, to document under-described dialects of Situ Gyalrong to capture previously unexplored kinship terminologies and related vocabulary. Second, to reconstruct Proto-Gyalrong kinship terminology to trace the semantic evolution of inherited kinship terms and the origins and transformations of family practices such as zouhun and the Omaha kinship system. Third, to assess the antiquity of specific kinship patterns and marriage practices within the broader Burmo-Qiangic phylogeny. These objectives provide foundational insights into the diachronic evolution of family structures in Southwest China, refining traditional kinship typology with Sino-Tibetan data while also aiding in the preservation of endangered cultural knowledge among the Gyalrong people amid rapid sociocultural changes in the region.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main activities conducted under the fellowship include fieldwork, preparation of academic articles, and presentations at international conferences. Key achievements are as follows:

1. Fieldwork
Two field trips to China were undertaken:
-July 2023: Three weeks of fieldwork in (a) the Jiajinshan Village, Yaoji Tibetan Township, Baoxing County, Ya’an, Sichuan and (b) the Qiongshan Village, Bragsteng Township, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan.
-July 2024: One week of fieldwork in the Qiongshan Village, Bragsteng Township, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan.

The fieldwork achieved the following:
-Documentation of kinship terminologies in two previously undocumented dialects of Situ Gyalrong, Yaoji and Bragsteng.
-An In-depth documentation of Bragsteng Situ (including 800 words and eliciting paradigms for 20 verbs), focusing on the description of its phonological and grammatical systems.

2. Publications
During the fellowship, I had six articles published or accepted for publication, and completed two articles ready for submission:

- Zhang, Shuya. 2024. Revisiting the Tangut Directional Prefix jij1-. Archiv orientální 92/2: 175-206.
- Zhang, Shuya. 2024. 论西夏语趋向前缀dja2-的语法化:完整体与非完整体同形之形成. 西夏学 29/2: 96-128.
- Zhang, Shuya. Accepted. 西夏語趨向前綴與動詞的趨向可易性. Language and Linguistics (publication scheduled in 2025).
- Zhang, Shuya & Yunfan Lai. Accepted. New Origins to Vowel Tensing in Tangut: Internal and Comparative Evidence. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (publication scheduled in 2025).
- Zhang, Shuya. Accepted. On the Potential Bi-directional Reanalyses between Unspecified Directional and Translocative (AM) in Situ Gyalrong (Sino-Tibetan). In Revisiting Deixis in Motion Event Descriptions, eds. Takahiro Morita & Yo Matsumoto. John Benjamins (publication scheduled in 2025).
- Lai, Yunfan & Shuya Zhang. Accepted. Shared innovations and the “Tangut-Horpa clade”: A demonstration of Neogrammarian principles in language classification. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies.
- Zhang, Shuya. Manuscript. Origin and Transformations of Omaha Skewing in Gyalrong Kinship Terminologies: Linguistic Evidence.
- Zhang, Shuya. Manuscript. Toward a New Dialectology of Situ Gyalrong.

3. Conference Presentations
I delivered five presentations at international conferences:

- 反思嘉绒语亲属称谓系统中的Omaha辈分位移 (Reflections on Omaha Skewing in Situ Gyalrong Kinship Terminology). Talk at the Second Symposium on Family Structures and Kinship Systems. November 9-10, 2024, Chengdu: Southwest Minzu University.
- Toward a New Dialectology of Situ Gyalrong. Talk at the 57th International Conference of Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL 57). October 25-27, 2024, Peking: Peking University.
- On the Polyfunctionality of lɔ51 in Jiamao. Talk at the 33rd Annual Meeting of Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (SEALS 33). June 17, 2024, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
- Spatial Concepts of Ethnic Minorities in Western Sichuan: The Case of the Gyalrong People. Talk at Celebrating Sichuan: Diversity, Heritage, and Transformation. February 1, 2024, Dublin: Trinity College Dublin.
- Diversity of Family Structures in the Sichuan Ethnic Corridor: Insights from Linguistic Evidence. Talk at the Annual Conference of MU Chinese Studies. October 28, 2023, Maynooth: Maynooth University.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project yielded several significant results and potential impacts:

1. Documentation of kinship terminologies and marriage practices in Situ Gyalrong. This project documents the kinship terminologies of two previously undocumented varieties of Situ Gyalrong: Yaoji and Bragsteng. It captures complex cousin marriage patterns in the Situ region, including cross-cousin marriages and matrilineal parallel cousin marriages, the latter of which had not been mentioned in previous literature. This documentation enrich our understanding of local kinship practices and social structures, shedding light on the unique aspects of Situ Gyalrong society.
2. In-depth description of Bragsteng Situ. The project provides the first comprehensive documentation of the phonology and grammatical structure of Bragsteng Situ. The collected firsthand data establish a solid foundation for future dialectological studies of Situ Gyalrong, an under-explored domain in Gyalrongic linguistics.
3. Reconstruction of Proto-Situ kinship terminology. By integrating firsthand data collected during the fellowship with existing secondhand data, the project reconstructs Proto-Situ kinship terminology. This reconstruction reveals two key insights. First, Proto-Situ kinship terminology is characterized by a cross-parallel distinction, supported by lexical innovations not found in other Gyalrong-speaking areas (Northern and West Gyalrongic languages). Second, the proposed reconstruction implies the absence of the zouhun (non-conjugal visiting) system in the Situ-speaking region, suggesting its uniqueness in social practices that differentiate the Situ community from other Gyalrong-speaking populations.
4. Insights into Omaha skewing. The project elucidates the differences in Omaha skewing as observed in Gyalrong languages compared to the prototypical Omaha skewing found among the Omaha Indians. By reconstructing the semantic evolution of inherited kinship terms, it provides explanations for the origins of Omaha skewing in the Gyalrong language area, which is associated with a strong emphasis on patrilineal descent system. Additionally, it highlights the typological differences between Gyalrong kinship and prototypical Omaha kinship, addressing gaps in existing kinship typology literature.

The results of this project have significant implications for further research. Key needs to ensure ongoing uptake and success include:
1. Future research topic: The results indicate substantial differences in kinship structures between the Situ Gyalrong population and Northern and Western Gyalrong communities. Continued investigation into the kinship systems of other Gyalrongic-speaking communities, as well as their interactions with neighboring linguistic groups such as the Qiangic and Naic peoples, could deepen understanding of kinship typology in the Na-Qiangic context.
2. New digital resources: The collected data will be systematically uploaded to the Pangloss Collection, an open-access platform. Providing researchers with access to linguistic data and documentation will facilitate ongoing studies and applications of the findings in broader linguistic, anthropological, and sociolinguistic contexts.
3. International Collaboration: The project has fostered collaboration with renowned experts in kinship studies, including Dr. Stéphane Gros (CNRS researcher at the Centre d’Études Sud-Asiatiques et Himalayennes) and Dr. Hu Dongwen (Southwest Minzu University). Engaging with international scholars and institutions can enhance collaborative research efforts, increasing the visibility and impact of the findings while laying the groundwork for future interdisciplinary collaborations.