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Qiangic is a group of related languages within the Sino-Tibetan language family. They are spoken mainly in Southwest China, including Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan. Most Qiangic languages are distributed in the prefectures of Ngawa, Garzê, Ya'an and Liangshan in Sichuan with some in Northern Yunnan as well.
The Hani language is a language of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group spoken in China, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam by the Hani people.
Lahu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lahu people of China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. It is widely used in China, both by Lahu people, and by other ethnic minorities in Yunnan, who use it as a lingua franca. However, the language is not widely used nor taught in any schools in Thailand, where many Lahu are in fact refugees and illegal immigrants, having crossed into Thailand from Myanmar.
The Pula or Phù Lá are an ethnic group of Vietnam and China. Most Pula live in Xichou County and Maguan County of Wenshan Prefecture of Yunnan and the bordering Lào Cai Province of the Northeast region of Vietnam. Their population in Vietnam is 12,471 in 2019. There are also approximately 4,200 Phù Lá in China, where they are classified as members of the Yi ethnic group.
Laghuu is a Loloish language spoken in northwestern Vietnam. In Nậm Sài, Sa Pa Town, the speakers' autonym is, while in Sơn La Province it is. The people are also called the Phù Lá Lão by the Vietnamese.
The Loloish languages, also known as Yi and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relatives. Both the Loloish and Burmish branches are well defined, as is their superior node, Lolo-Burmese. However, subclassification is more contentious.
The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak Tibeto-Burman languages. The name derives from the most widely spoken of these languages, Burmese and the Tibetic languages, which also have extensive literary traditions, dating from the 12th and 7th centuries respectively. Most of the other languages are spoken by much smaller communities, and many of them have not been described in detail.
Laha is a Kra language spoken by approximately 1,400 people out of a total population of 5,686 Laha. It is spoken in Lào Cai and Sơn La provinces, Vietnam. Laha dialects had been documented in 1986 by Russian linguists and in 1996 by American linguist Jerold A. Edmondson. Many Laha can also converse in the Khmu language, and Laha-speaking areas also have significant Black Thai, Kháng, Ksongmul, and Hmong populations.
The Jino language constitutes a pair of Loloish language varieties spoken by the Jino people of Yunnan, China.
The Northern Loloish languages, also known as Northern Ngwi, are a branch of the Loloish languages that includes the literary standard of the Yi people. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is called Nisoid (Nisu–Lope), which forms the Nisoish branch together with the Axi-Puoid languages.
Muji or Muzi is a Loloish language cluster spoken by the Phula people of China. It is one of several such languages to go by the name Muji. Muji varieties are Northern Muji, Qila Muji, Southern Muji, and Bokha–Phuma.
Phupha, or Downriver Phula, is a dialect cluster of Loloish languages spoken by the Phula people of China. There are four principal varieties, which may be considered distinct languages:
Guiqiong is a Qiangic language of Sichuan, China. There are differences in the phonology of the dialects, but communication is possible. Two or three varieties have low mutual intelligibility with the rest.
Mantsi (autonym: ; also called Lô Lô, Flowery Lolo, White Lolo or Black Lolo, is a Lolo-Burmese language. Speakers are mostly located in Hà Giang Province, Vietnam. In China, speakers are classified as a subgroup of the Yi people. In Vietnam they are called Lô Lô and is classified as one of the official 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam.
Zokhuo, also known as Niuweiba (Cowtail) Phula, is a Loloish language spoken by the Phula people of China. It appears to be the Chökö (Tśökö) of Vietnam.
Limi is a Loloish language spoken in Yongde, Fengqing, and Yun counties of western Yunnan province, China.
Kathu is a Lolo-Burmese language of Balong (坝聋), Nanping Township (南屏镇), Guangnan County, Yunnan, China. The Kathu are locally known as the White Yi (白彝). Wu Zili (2004) estimates that Kathu has a total of more than 7,000 speakers in Guangnan County, as well as in Jinping County, Yunnan. Ethnologue mentions a possible presence in Guangxi Province.
Mondzish (Mangish) is a small group of languages that constitute the most divergent branch of the Lolo–Burmese languages in the classification of Lama (2012). The Mondzish languages are spoken in Funing, Guangnan, Malipo, and Napo counties of China and Hà Giang and Cao Bang provinces of northern Vietnam. The autonyms of Mondzish-speaking peoples often begins with *man-. Lama (2012) considers *man- to be cognate with Mán (蛮), which is an ancient Chinese exonym for non-Chinese peoples to the south.
The Southeastern Loloish languages, also known as Southeastern Ngwi, are a branch of the Loloish languages. In Lama's (2012) classification, it is called Axi-Puoid, which forms the Nisoish branch together with the Nisoid (Nisu–Lope) languages.
The Central Loloish languages, also known as Central Ngwi, is a branch of Loloish languages in Bradley (1997). It is not used in Lama's (2012) classification. Central Loloish is also not supported in Satterthwaite-Phillips' (2011) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Lolo-Burmese languages.
References
- Robert Wayne Fried. 2000. "A Preliminary Phonological Sketch of Phu-kha, a Tibeto-Burman Language Spoken in Northern Vietnam," University of Texas at Arlington MA thesis.
- Jamin R. Pelkey. 2005. "Puzzling over Phula: Toward the Synthesis and Statement of a Sub-Branch," Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 28/2:41-78.
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim) |
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| Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo-Burmese border |
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| East and Southeast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||