Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Hlai languages

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Native to
  
China

Ethnicity
  
Li people

Region
  
Hainan

Native speakers
  
(700,000 cited 1987–1999)

Language family
  
Tai–KadaiSouthernHlai

Early forms
  
Proto-Hlai (reconstructed)Hlai

The Hlai languages (Chinese: 黎语; pinyin: Lí yǔ) are a primary branch of the Tai–Kadai language family spoken in the mountains of central and south-central Hainan in China. They include Cun, whose speakers are ethnically distinct. A quarter of Hlai speakers are monolingual. None of the Hlai languages had a writing system until the 1950s, when the Latin script was adopted for Ha.

Classification

Norquest (2007) classifies the Hlai languages as follows. Individual languages are highlighted in bold. There are some 750,000 Hlai speakers.

  • Proto-Hlai
  • Bouhin (Heitu 黑土) – 73,000
  • Greater Hlai
  • Ha Em 哈 (Zhongsha 中沙) – 193,000, the basis of the literary language
  • Central Hlai
  • East Central Hlai – 344,000
  • Lauhut (Baoding 保定) – 166,000
  • Qi 杞 a.k.a. Gei – 178,000
  • Tongzha (Tongshi 通什) – 125,000
  • Zandui (Qiandui 堑对) – 29,000
  • Baoting 保亭 – 24,000
  • North Central Hlai – 136,500
  • Northwest Central Hlai – 62,500
  • Cun (Ngan Fon, Gelong 仡隆) – 60,000
  • Nadou (Dongfang 东方) – 2,500
  • Northeast Central Hlai – 74,000
  • Meifu 美孚 (Moifau) – 30,000
  • Changjiang 昌江
  • Moyfaw (Xifang 西方)
  • Run (Zwn) a.k.a. Bendi – 44,000
  • Baisha 白沙 – 36,000
  • Yuanmen 元门 – 8,000

    • The Fuma 府玛 dialect is spoken in 1 village north of Changcheng 昌城, Hainan. It had by 800 speakers in 1994.

    Jiamao 加茂 (52,000), although ethnically Hlai, is not a Hlai language. It is currently unclassified.

    References

    Hlai languages Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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