Native to China Ethnicity Manzhang Dai ISO 639-3 bvp | Region Yunnan Native speakers 200 (2007) | |
Language family Austroasiatic
Palaungic
Bit–Khang
Bumang | ||
Bumang (Chinese: 布芒语) is a tonal Austroasiatic language of Yunnan, China. It is spoken by about 200 people in Manzhang 曼仗, Mengla District 勐拉地区, Jinping County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, China. Bumang was only recently discovered by Chinese linguist Dao Jie in the mid-2000s. It is closely related to Kháng (Edmondson 2010).
Contents
Classification
Jerold A. Edmondson (2010) considers Bumang and the closely related Kháng language to be Khmuic languages based on lexical evidence, while Dao Jie 刀洁 (2007) proposes that Bumang may be a Palaungic language.
Although Bumang and Mang have similar names and are both spoken in Honghe Prefecture of Yunnan Province in China, they are not closely related and do not appear to be in the same branch together (Edmondson 2010). Whereas Edmondson considers Bumang to likely be a Khmuic language, Mang is not one, and is more closely related to the Bolyu and Bugan languages of southern China.
Population
The Bumang autonym is bu˨˦maŋ˨˦ (Dao Jie 2007). In China, the Bumang are classified as part of the Dai nationality. Bumang speakers are surrounded by speakers of White Tai (Tai Don), Black Tai (Tai Dam), and Pu'er Dai. Bumang women's clothing is identical to that of the Kháng, Ksingmul, White Tai, and Black Tai (Edmondson 2010).
Within Manzhang 曼仗, Mengla District 勐拉地区, Bumang is spoken in Shangmanzhang 上曼仗 (with 22 households; known in the Bumang language as ban˩˨jau˥˩) and Xiamanzhang 下曼仗 (with 49 households). Shangmanzhang 上曼仗 is located in Tiantou Village 田头村, Mengla Township 勐拉乡, while Xiamanzhang 下曼仗 is situated on a state-run rubber plantation (国营橡胶农场) (Dao Jie 2007).
The Bumang are descended from Kháng people who had immigrated from Vietnam in the 1800s (Edmondson 2010:139).
Phonology
Like Kháng, Bumang is a tonal language.