The Bolyu language (

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

: '; ; also known as Paliu, Palyu, or Lai 俫语, 徕语) is an

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...

language of the Pakanic branch. The Bolyu are among the

unrecognized ethnic groups of China A number of ethnic groups of the People's Republic of China are not officially recognized. Taken together, these groups () would constitute the twentieth most populous ethnic group of China. Some scholars have estimated that there are over 200 di ...

Classification

Bolyu is related to the

Bugan language Bugan, Bogan, Pakan, or Bugeng (布甘语, 布干语, or 布赓语) is an Austroasiatic language. The existence of the Bugan language was not known by the rest of world until recently. There are about 3000 speakers, mostly in some villages in sou ...

, forming the Pakanic branch along with it. In 1984, Bolyu was first studied by Liang Min of the Nationalities Research Institute in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Liang was the first to suggest a Mon–Khmer affiliation of Bolyu, which was later confirmed by Western linguists such as

Paul K. Benedict Paul King Benedict (; July 5, 1912 – July 21, 1997) was an American anthropologist, mental health professional, and linguist who specialized in languages of East and Southeast Asia. He is well known for his 1942 proposal of the Austro-Tai ...

Paul Sidwell Paul James Sidwell is an Australian linguist based in Canberra, Australia who has held research and lecturing positions at the Australian National University. Sidwell, who is also an expert and consultant in forensic linguistics, is most notable ...

, and

Jerold A. Edmondson Jerold Alan Edmondson (born 1941) (Chinese name: 艾杰瑞 Aì Jiéruì) is an American linguist whose work spans four subdisciplines: historical and comparative linguistics, Asian linguistics, field linguistics, and phonetics. He is a leading spe ...

. However, the place of the Pakanic branch within the Mon–Khmer family is uncertain. Sidwell (1995) suggests that the Pakanic branch may be an Eastern Mon–Khmer branch, thus making it most closely related to the Vietic branch. However, Gérard Diffloth classifies Pakanic as Northern Mon–Khmer, making it most closely related to the

Palaungic The nearly thirty Palaungic or Palaung–Wa languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages. Phonological developments Most of the Palaungic languages lost the contrastive voicing of the ancestral Austroasiatic consonants, with the disti ...

branch.

Distribution

Bolyu speakers are found in the following locations in

southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

. *Douhong 斗烘屯, Xinhe 新合村, Changfa township 长发,

Longlin County Longlin Various Nationalities (Gezu) Autonomous County () is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Baise, in the west of Guangxi, China, bordering Guizhou Province to the north. As of 2019, the county's popul ...

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

(often living with Gelao neighbors). Also spoken in the nearby townships of Kechang 克长, De'e 德峨, and Changme 长么. **Xinhe 新合村 - Datiezhai 打铁寨, Changfajie 长发街: 50 speakers **Xinhua 新华村 - Luowan 罗湾: 300; Kabao 卡保, Renshang 仁上: 160 speakers **Villages with only Bolyu people: Muzi 亩子, Dazhai 大寨, Xiaozhai 小寨 *Guosha/Hengsha 过沙/亨沙, Wenya 文雅村, Puhe Miao Autonomous Township 普合苗族自治乡,

Xilin County Xilin County (; za, Sihlinz Yen) is a county in the northwest of Guangxi, China, bordering Yunnan province to the south and west. It is the westernmost county-level division of the autonomous region and is under the administration of the prefectur ...

. Also spoken in Naya 那牙, Badahe Township 八大河乡. 230 speakers total. Li (1999) documents the Bolyu variety of Muzitun 亩子屯, Xinhe Village 新合村, Changfa Township 长发乡,

. In the following villages, only elderly speakers of Bolyu remain. *Zhelang township 者浪乡: Zhezhai 者寨, Langrong 郎荣, Linghao 岭好 *Kechang township 克场乡: Haichang 海长 *Shechang township 蛇场乡: Daguo 达果 1,400 Bolyu reside in Guangxi, and over 1,000 in Yunnan.

Phonology

Bolyu is a monosyllabic tonal language like the surrounding Tai–Kadai, Hmong-Mien and even

Vietic languages The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by the Vietic peoples in Laos and Vietnam. The branch was once referred to by the terms ''Việt–Mường'', ''Annamese–Muong'', and ''Vietnamuong''; the term ''V ...

. Unlike Bugan, Bolyu does not have a tense–lax voice quality distinction.

Initial consonants

Tones

Bolyu has a total of six tones. There are seven vowels in Bolyu: . Bolyu allows for a large variety of consonant clusters, and has eight possible consonantal finals: -p, -t, -k, -m, -n, -ŋ, -w, -j.

References

* * * * * * http://www.docin.com/p-380721709.html
俫语使用人口稳定增长原因探究
In 中国少数民族语言使用现状及其演变研究. *

External links

Bolyu vocabulary from SEAlang
{{authority control Mangic languages Pakanic languages Endangered Austroasiatic languages Languages of China