| Bugan | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | China |
| Region | Yunnan |
| Native speakers | 3,000 (date missing) |
| Language family |
Austro-Asiatic
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bbh |
Bugan, Bogan, Pakan, or Buzhui (布甘语, 布干语, or 布赘语) is an Austro-Asiatic language.[1] The existence of the Bugan language was not known by the rest of world until recently. There are about 3000 speakers, mostly in some villages in southern Guangnan (广南) and northern Xichou (西畴), Yunnan Province, China. Bugan is an analytic language, and word order and auxiliary words have important functions in the grammar.[2]
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According to Li Jinfang (1996), the Bugan-speaking population is distributed in seven villages across southern Guangnan (广南) and northern Xichou (西畴), Yunnan Province, China. As the language is highly uniform, it is not divided into any dialects.
According to a more recent survey by Li Yunbing (2005), the Bugan people, comprising a total of 500+ households and 2,700+ individuals, live in the following locations.
Li Yunbing also uses the term Bùzhùi (布赘) in place of Bùgān (布甘).
The Bugan people's autonym is pə55 ka̱n33, while the surrounding Han Chinese call them Huazu (Chinese: 花族; literally "flower people") or Hualo (Chinese: 花倮) due to their colorful clothing (Li 1996). Other autonyms are pu55 qe̱ŋ44 (in Manlong, Xichou County) and pə55 qe̱ŋ44 (in Nala and Xinwalong in Guangnan County). The Bugan people also hold their own New Year's Day celebration in April of the Chinese lunar calendar, which is separate from that of the Han Chinese New Year.
Common Bugan surnames include Li 李, Wang 王, Guo 郭, Luo 罗, Yan 严, Lu 卢, Pu 普, and Yi.
Bugan is a tonal SVO language. Unlike the Bolyu language, Bugan distinguishes between tense and lax voice qualities. In current linguistic publications on Bugan, tense voice is indicated by underlining vowels. Bugan has a total of 49 onsets (including various consonant clusters) and 67 possible rimes (Li 2005).