| Lachi | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Vietnam |
| Ethnicity | Lachi |
| Native speakers | 9,500–12,000 (1990–1995) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | either: lbt – Lachi lwh – White Lachi |
The Lachi language (Chinese: Laji 拉基, Vietnamese: La Chí; autonym in China: li35 pu44 ljo44; autonym in Vietnam: qu32 te453, where qu32 means "person") is a Kra language spoken in Yunnan, China and in northern Vietnam. There were 9,500 Lachi speakers in Vietnam as of 1990. Edmondson (2008) reports another 2,500 in Maguan County, Yunnan, China for 1995, but Yunbing (2000) reports 60 speakers in Maguan out of an ethnic population of 1,600.
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Weera Ostapirat[1] proposed three major subdivisions for the Lachi language.
Jerold A. Edmondson notes that Vietnamese researchers recently have not been able to locate White (Central) Lachi speakers. It is also the least studied variety of Lachi.
Kosaka (2000) reports 6,000 - 8,000 Lachi speakers in Vietnam, and 2,000 in China. The Lachi of China are currently classified as Zhuang (Li 2000), while the Lachi of Vietnam have official status as a separate ethnic group.
The Lachi of China live in various locations in Maguan County (马关县), Yunnan, which is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (文山壮族苗族自治州) near the border with Hà Giang Province, Vietnam. According to American linguist Jerold A. Edmondson, the Lachi of China are thought to have moved to their present location during the Qing Dynasty from places in Vietnam called Maibu 麥布, Maidu 麥督, and Maiha 麥哈.[2]
The subdivisions, with their respective locations, are as follows:
Flowery Lachi
Chinese Lachi
Pocket Lachi
Red Lachi
The Lachi live mostly in Xín Mần District and Hoàng Su Phì District, Hà Giang Province, Vietnam. There are also many Lachi living in Bắc Quang District in southern Hà Giang Province, which is outside their home district of Hoàng Su Phì. Since the Lachi dialects of Vietnam have many Chinese loanwords, the Lachi of Vietnam must have migrated from areas to the north in China (Kosaka 2000). The Lachi people are an officially recognized ethnic group in Vietnam, and are divided as such (Kosaka 2000, Edmondson 2008):
Long Haired Lachi
Black Lachi
White Lachi (possibly extinct)
Lachi is also spoken in (Kosaka 2000):
Kosaka (2000) describes the following migratory route that took the Lachi of Bản Phùng, Hoàng Su Phì District to other locations, all in Bắc Quang District, Hà Giang Province.
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