Unit19Language趣味导引水族是我国少数民族之一,主要分布在贵州省
人口大约40万,操水语——属于汉藏语系壮侗语族侗水语支,与古代“骆越”有渊源关系
InChinathereareabout400,000Shui(水族)people,themajorityofwhomliveontheupperpartsoftheLongjiangandDuliurivers,whichgoacrossplainsandvastareasofforestsinsouthernGuizhouProvince
SomeShuishavetheirhomesinthenorthwesternpartoftheGuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegion
TheareainwhichtheShuisliveisalandofplenty
Wheat,rape①,andramiearegrown,alongwithagreatvarietyofcitrusandotherfruits
Theforestsareasourceoftimber②andmedicinalherbs③
TheDuliuandotherriversarefulloffish
TheShuilanguageisintheZhuangDongbranchoftheChineseTibetanlanguagefamily
TheShuisusedtohaveanoldwritingscript④
Someoftheirwordswerepictographs⑤,whileothersresembledChinesecharacterswrittenupsidedown
Exceptforscoresoftheseancientwordsthatarestillusedforreligiouspurposes