Native to China ISO 639-3 lbc | Native speakers 9,000 (2007) Glottolog lakk1238 | |
Region Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi Language family Tai–Kadai
Northern
Lakkja–Kam ?
Lakkja | ||
The Lakkja language (Chinese: 拉珈语, pinyin: "Lājiāyǔ; also spelled Lakkia) is a Tai–Kadai language spoken in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Laibin 来宾, east-central Guangxi, China. Lakkja people are also known as the Chashan Yao, or Tea Mountain Yao, since they were traditionally considered by neighboring peoples to be a Miao–Yao (Hmong–Mien) people. The name Lakkja means mountain people. All Lakkja dialects have 5 tones.
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Lakkja speakers are thought to have migrated from further east, possibly from the Biao-speaking areas of northwestern Guangdong province. Today, they live mostly in the Dayaoshan (Chinese: 大瑶山; "Big Yao Mountain") region of Jinxiu County.
Classification
The genetic affiliation of the Lakkja language within the Tai–Kadai family is uncertain, although its position could be coordinate with the Kam–Sui languages.
Dialects of Lakkia include (L.-Thongkum 1992):
Distribution
Lakkja is spoken in the following locations.
The Lingzu dialect still preserves /kl/ clusters, which corresponds to /kj/ in most other dialects. Additionally, Changdong 长洞 and Jintian 金田 tone /51/ corresponds to Jinxiu 金秀 tone /231/.