Pumi language

The Pumi language (also known as Prinmi) is a Qiangic language used by the Pumi people, an ethnic group from Yunnan, China, as well as by the Tibetan people of Muli in Sichuan, China. Most native speakers live in Lanping, Ninglang, Lijiang, Weixi and Muli. Earlier works suggest there are two branches of Pumi (southern and northern), and they are not mutually intelligible. A more refined division proposes three major groups: Western Prinmi (spoken in Lanping), Central Prinmi (spoken in southwestern Ninglang, Lijiang, Yulong and Yongsheng) and Northern Prinmi (spoken in northern Ninglang and Sichuan).

The autonym of the Pumi is pʰʐə̃˥mi˥ in Western Prinmi, pʰɹĩ˥mi˥ in Central Prinmi, and pʰʐõ˥mə˥˧ in Northern Prinmi with variants such as pʰɹə̃˥mə˥ and tʂʰə̃˥mi˥˧.

In Muli Bonist priests read religious texts in Tibetan, which needs to be interpreted into Prinmi. An attempt to teach Pumi children to write their language using the Tibetan script has been seen in Ninglang. A pinyin-based Roman script has been proposed, but is not commonly used.