Mienic languages

Not to be confused with the Yao language spoken in east Africa.

Mienic
Yao
Ethnicity:	some of the Yao peoples
Geographic distribution:	China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, United States.
Linguistic classification:	Hmong–Mien Mienic
Subdivisions:	—

The Mienic or Yao languages are spoken by the Yao people of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Classification

Mienic is one of the primary branches of the Hmong–Mien language family, with the other being Hmongic.

Martha Ratliff (2010:3) proposed the following classification:^[1]

Mienic
- Iu Mien, 840,000 speakers
- Kim Mun, 400,000 speakers
- Biao Min, 43,000 speakers
- Dzao Min, 60,000 speakers

Matisoff 2001 proposed the following, with some of the more divergent varieties as additional languages:

Mienic (Yao)
- Biao–Jiao:
  - Biao Min
  - Chao Kong Meng
  - Moxi
- Mian–Jin:
  - Biao Mon
  - Iu Mien
  - Kim Mun
- Zaomin: Dzao Min

^ Ratliff, Martha. 2010. Hmong–Mien language history. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics.