Hlai languages

The Hlai languages are a primary branch of the Tai–Kadai language family spoken in China on the island of Hainan. They include Hlai proper, with 600,000 speakers, and Cun,^[1] which has 80,000 speakers. The most divergent language is Jiamao, with 52,300 speakers in southern Hainan.

Classification

The following a classification of Hlai dialects or languages.^[2] Dialect/language names are highlighted in bold, while names of branches are not. Language demographics are from Norquest (2007:17).

• Jiamao – 52,000
• Hlai (descended from Proto-Hlai, which is from Pre-Hlai) – 800,000 (incl. Cun)
  • Bouhin (Heitu) – 73,000
  • Greater Hlai
    • Ha Em (Zhongsha) – 193,000
    • Central Hlai
      • East Central Hlai – 344,000
        • Lauhut (Baoding) – 166,000
        • Qi – 178,000
          • Tongzha (Tongshi) – 125,000
          • Zandui (Qiandui) – 29,000
          • Baoting – 24,000
      • North Central Hlai – 136,500
        • Northwest Central Hlai – 62,500
          • Cun (Ngan Fon, Gelong) – 60,000
          • Nadou (Dongfang) – 2,500
        • Northeast Central Hlai – 74,000
          • Meifu – 30,000
            • Changjiang
            • Moyfaw (Xifang)
          • Run – 44,000
            • Baisha – 36,000
            • Yuanmen – 8,000

Reconstruction

See also

• Li people

Notes

1. ^ Ethnologue mistakenly lists Cun among the Kra languages.
2. ^ Norquest, Peter K. 2007. A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.

References

• Weera Ostapirat (2005). Review of Ouyang Jueya, The Cun Language (1998). In Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 28 (1) 99ff.[1]

External links

• Bible recordings in various Hlai languages
• ABVD: Proto-Hlai word list