Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Kim Mun language

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Native to
  
China

ISO 639-3
  
mji

Region
  
Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County

Native speakers
  
ca. 400,000 (1995–1999)

Language family
  
Hmong–Mien Mienic Mian–Jin Kim Mun

Official language in
  
China (in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County)

Kim Mun language (金门方言) is a Hmong–Mien language spoken by 200,000 of the Yao people in the provinces of Guangxi, Hunan and Hainan, as well as 170,000 in some areas of northern Vietnam. (figures as per Ethnologue, 18th Edition)

Iu Mien and Kim Mun are very similar to each other, having a lexical similarity percentage of 78%.

Distribution

In China, Kim Mun is spoken in the following counties (Mao 2004:304-305).

  • Yunnan: Hekou, Malipo, Maguan, Xichou, Qiubei, Guangnan, Funing, Yanshan, Shizong, Jiangcheng, Mojiang, Yuanyang, Jinping, Lüchun, Mengla, Jinghong
  • Guangxi: Xilin, Lingyun, Napo, Tianlin, Fengshan, Bama, Lipu, Pingle, Mengshan, Jinxiu, Yongfu, Luzhai, Fangcheng, Shangsi
  • Hainan: Qiongzhong, Baoting, Qionghai, Tunchang, Ledong, Wanning, Yaxian

    • The Ethnologue lists several counties in Vietnam where Kim Mun is spoken. The Van Ban district of Lao Cai province is perhaps the primary area.

    References

    Kim Mun language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA