Native to China Ethnicity Longjia ISO 639-3 None (mis) | Region Guizhou Native speakers extinct? (2011) | |
Language family Sino-Tibetan
Sinitic ?
Macro-Bai ?
Caijia–Longjia–Luren ?
Longjia | ||
Longjia (autonym: suŋ˥ni˥mpau˨˩) is a Sino-Tibetan language of China that appears to be related to Bai, but has been difficult to classify. Longjia may already be extinct (Zhao 2011).
The Longjia people now speak Southwestern Mandarin, though they used to speak their own language, and have had a long presence in western Guizhou. According to the Guizhou Ethnic Gazetteer (2002), the Longjia language was spoken in Dafang County, Qianxi County (Zhongping District 中坪区; Xinfacun 新发村 of Pojiao District 坡脚区), and Puding County (Jiangyizhai 讲义寨 of Baiyan Township 白岩乡). It is reportedly most similar to Caijia, and has many Old Chinese loanwords.
The Puding County Almanac (1999) reports that the Longjia language (autonym: Songnibao 松泥保) has 38 onsets and 22 rimes (8 simple, 14 complex). The Bijie County Almanac (1996:143) reports that there are many prenasalized onsets. In Dafang County, the autonym is Songlibao 松立保.