Native to China Native speakers 25,000 (date missing) ISO 639-6 (none) | Region Hunan ISO 639-3 None (mis) | |
Language family Sino-Tibetan
Sinitic
Chinese
Ping–Yue
Pinghua
Guibei Pinghua
Bendihua |
The Bendi language, Bendihua (Chinese: 本地话), is a variety of Guibei Pinghua (桂北平话) influenced by Kam (Dong). It is spoken by about 25,000 people in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan, China (Shi 2015:137).
Contents
Although Bendihua speakers are classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Han, the speakers consider themselves to be a distinct ethnic group, and not Han or Kam.
Names
Bendihua speakers call their own language Bendihua 本地话, although some speakers also refer to it as Jiangping 讲平. The Kam people refer to Bendihua as li˧˩ka˧˩ti˦˩, and the Yao (Pa Hng speakers) refer to it as Luoyanhua (洛岩话; "Luoyan language"). The name Bendihua 本地话 literally means 'native language' in Mandarin Chinese.
Bendi speakers call themselves the wən˨ɲən˨ people (我们人) (Shi 2015:137). The Dong call Bendi people ka˧˩pən˧ti˧ (Chinese: 本地客) or ka˧˩ti˧ (Chinese: 地客), while the Bendi language is called li˧˩ka˧˩ti˦˨ (Chinese: 本地话). The Dong refer to Han Chinese of Jingzhou County, Hunan as ka˧˩ (Chinese: 客), and their language as li˧˩ka˧˩ (Chinese: 客话). The Yao refer to the Bendi language as lo˧ŋai˧.
Locations
Within Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province, Bendihua is primarily spoken in Xiaxiang 下乡, Linkou 临口, and Jingwuzhou 菁芜州 townships. Bendihua is also spoken to a lesser extent in the townships of Mujiao 木脚, Xikou 溪口, and Malong 马龙, as well as Chengbu County, Hunan and Longsheng County, Guangxi.
Dialects
Peng (2010:1) divides Bendihua into 4 main dialects.
Shi (2015) recognizes the 4 Bendi dialects of: