Hlai languages

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Hlai
Li
Native to China
Region Hainan
Ethnicity Li people
Native speakers
 unknown (700,000 cited 1987–1999)[1]
Tai–Kadai
  • Southern
    • Hlai
Early forms
Proto-Hlai (reconstructed)
  • Hlai
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
lic – Hlai
cuq – Cun
Glottolog nucl1241[2]

The Hlai languages (Chinese: 黎语; pinyin: Lí yǔ) are a primary branch of the Tai–Kadai language family spoken in the mountains of central and south-central Hainan in China. They include Cun, whose speakers are ethnically distinct.[3] A quarter of Hlai speakers are monolingual. None of the Hlai languages had a writing system until the 1950s, when the Latin script was adopted for Ha.

Classification

Norquest (2007) classifies the Hlai languages as follows.[4] Individual languages are highlighted in bold. There are some 750,000 Hlai speakers.

  • Proto-Hlai
    • Bouhin (Heitu 黑土) – 73,000
    • Greater Hlai
      • Ha Em 哈 (Zhongsha 中沙) – 193,000, the basis of the literary language
      • Central Hlai
        • East Central Hlai – 344,000
          • Lauhut (Baoding 保定) – 166,000
          • Qi 杞 aka Gei – 178,000
            • Tongzha (Tongshi 通什) – 125,000
            • Zandui (Qiandui 堑对) – 29,000
            • Baoting 保亭 – 24,000
        • North Central Hlai – 136,500
          • Northwest Central Hlai – 62,500
            • Cun (Ngan Fon, Gelong 仡隆) – 60,000
            • Nadou (Dongfang 东方) – 2,500
          • Northeast Central Hlai – 74,000
            • Meifu 美孚 (Moifau) – 30,000
            • Run (Zwn) aka Bendi – 44,000
              • Baisha 白沙 – 36,000
              • Yuanmen 元门 – 8,000

The Fuma 府玛 dialect is spoken in 1 village north of Changcheng 昌城, Hainan. It had by 800 speakers in 1994.[5]

Jiamao 加茂 (52,000), although ethnically Hlai, is not a Hlai language. It is currently unclassified.

Reconstruction

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Main article: Proto-Hlai language

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hlai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Cun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Ethnologue mistakenly lists Cun among the Kra languages.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/F/Fuma.pdf

References

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  • Ouyang Jueya 欧阳觉亚 & Zheng Yiqing 郑贻青. 1983. Liyu diaocha yanjiu 黎语调查研究. Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe 中国社会科学出版社.

External links


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