Horpa language
Horpa or Stau (Chinese: 道孚语 "Daofu", 爾龔語 "Ergong") is one of several closely related Rgyalrongic languages of China. Horpa is better understood as a cluster of closely related yet unintelligible dialect groups/languages closely related to Horpa Shangzhai or Stodsde skad. The term "Stodsde skad" is a Tibetan name meaning "language of the upper village". Names. "Ethnologue" lists alternate names and dialect names for Horpa as Stau, Daofuhua, Bawang, Bopa, Danba, Dawu, Geshitsa, Geshiza, Geshizahua, Hor, Huo’er, Hórsók, Nyagrong-Minyag, Pawang, Rgu, Western Gyarong, Western Jiarong, Xinlong-Muya, and rTa’u. Classification. Horpa is a type of Rgyalrongic language , a branch of the Qiangic languages of the Sino-Tibetan family. Rgyalrong (proper), Lavrung, and Horpa-Shangzhai are in the Rgyalrongic subgroup. These have been organized into a family tree by Sun (2000). Horpa and Shangzhai are sub-types of Horpa-Shangzhai, a Rgyalrongic language. Geographic distribution. Horpa is spoken primarily in western Sichuan province, China, including in Dasang District, Danba County of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan. There are about 50,000 Horpa speakers in the northwestern Sichuan. It is also spoken in nearby Dawu County, where it is called 'Stau', pronounced [stawuske].Ergong is a non-tonal language (Sun 2013 ). Varieties. Varieties of Horpa include Shangzhai Horpa and Gexi Horpa (Sun 2013). Jackson Sun (2018) lists the following five varieties of Horpa. Vocabulary. The following comparative table of Horpa diagnostic vocabulary items is from Sun (2018:4). The Central Horpa (Rta’u) data is from Niwan Village, Dgebshes Township, Rta’u County (Daofu County), Sichuan. The Rgyalrongic languages Khroskyabs and Rgyalrong are also provided for comparison, since Horpa is one of the Rgyalrongic languages. Cognates are highlighted in bold. Jacques et al. (2017) list the following words as lexical innovations shared by Stau and Khroskyabs (Lavrung), but not by the Core rGyalrong languages . Grammar. Shangzhai Horpa (Puxi Shangzhai) is a dialect of the Horpa language noted by a single consistently non-syllabic causative prefix "s-", which exerts pressure on the already elaborate onset system and triggers multiple phonological adjustments (Sun 2007). Gexi Horpa language not only has split verbal agreement system like rGyalrong but also has a hybrid system involving a more intricate interplay of functional and syntactic factors (Sun 2013). The verbs in the rGylarongic family are marked for person and agreement, and Horpa language also has subtype of hierarchical agreement. Stau is often used as an alternative name for Horpa, but  in fact Stau is just one of several Horpa languages (Jacques et al. 2014). The Stau language is primarily spoken in Daofu County of Ganzi Prefecture, but is also spoken in the southeastern corner of Luhuo County and in the village of Dangling of western Danba County. Currently Jesse P. Gates is writing a comprehensive grammar of the Stau language (Gates to appear). Other articles on aspects of Stau grammar include Gates (2017), Gates & Kim (2018), Gates et al. (2019), and Gates et al. (accepted). Stau (Horpa) language follows some traits of the Tibetan language (Bradley 2012). As a Qiangic  language, Horpa has unique verb inflection and morphology such as the strategy of inverting the aspiration feature in the formation of the past and progressive stem(s) (Sun 2000). Examples. Verb agreement The Horpa verb agrees with its subject. For example, "zbəcʰa-i" [zbəcʰe], means ‘you beat’, and "zbəcʰa-u" [zbəcʰo], means, 'I beat’.