Gepo (Köpu;
autonym: ' or ') is a
Loloish language
The Loloish languages, also known as Yi in China and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relat ...
of
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
, China spoken by 100,000 people. The speakers'
autonym is ', while the "-po" of "Gepo" means 'people'. It is spoken in 6 villages of
Fumin County
Fumin County () is a county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Administrative divisions
Yongding Town and Daying Town, Luomian Yi Nationality and Miao Nationality Village, Sandan Village, Kuanzhuang Village, Dongcun Village and Ch ...
, eastern
Luquan County, and other adjacent
counties to the northeast.
Gao (2017)
[Gao, Katie B. 2017. ]
Dynamics of Language Contact in China: Ethnolinguistic Diversity and Variation in Yunnan
'. PhD Dissertation: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. classifies Geipo (
autonym: ) as a Central Ngwi language. In
Wuding County, it is spoken by 250 people in Gubai Village, Shishan Township and by 30 people in Yaoying Village, Shishan Township in
Micha
Micah (; ) is a given name.
Micah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible ( Old Testament), and means "Who is like God?" The name is sometimes found with theophoric extensions. Suffix theophory in '' Yah'' and in ''Yahweh'' results in ...
-majority villages.
Distribution and varieties
Gupo 古泼 (autonym: ') is spoken in
Mile
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
,
Songming
Songming County () is a county under the jurisdiction of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, China. It is famous for the Yanglin Fat Liquor and the Dian Opera.
Administrative divisions
Songming County is divided into two subdistricts and th ...
,
Xundian,
Zhanyi,
Luoping
Luoping County () is located in Qujing City, in eastern Yunnan province, China, bordering Guizhou province to the east and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the southeast.
The county of Luoping in eastern Yunnan is noted for its springtim ...
,
Shizong,
Luxi,
Shilin,
Luliang,
Yiliang,
Fuyuan,
Qiubei,
Luquan,
Huize, and
Yiliang counties by about 100,000 speakers.
[Wang Chengyou 成有 2003. ''Yiyu Fangyan Bijiao Yanjiu'' 语方言比较研究 Chengdu: Sichuan People's Press 川民族出版社 ] Gupo speakers are also referred as the White Yi 白彝, Gan Yi 甘彝, and Little White Yi 小白彝.
The Ayizi 阿夷子 of Aimailong Village 爱买龙,
Shilin County refer to themselves as ''Ge'', and may thus speak a language related to Gepo (Bradley 2007).
[Bradley, David. 2007. "East and Southeast Asia."] It is also spoken in Banqiao Township 板桥乡, and other parts of Beidacun 北大村乡.
Epo 峨颇 (autonyms: ', ') is an
Eastern Yi language variety spoken by about 8,000 people in the following villages of
Longlin,
Napo, and
Xilin counties in western
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 ...
.
*
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 ...
(5,000+ people)
**De'e Township 德峨乡: Agao 阿稿 (main datapoint), Nadi 那地, Zhebang 者帮, Nongbao 弄保, Tangshi 塘石, etc., in 10 villages total
**scattered in the townships of Zhelang 者浪, Zhuchang 猪场, Changfa 场发, Kechang 克场, and Yancha 岩茶
*
Napo County (2,000+ people): Dala 达腊, Zhexiang 者祥, Nianbi 念毕, Powu 坡五, etc.
*
Xilin County (about 1,000 people): Bada Town 八达镇 (Yanla 岩腊 village, etc.)
A similar dialect called Wopu 窝普 is reported in
Xingyi, Guizhou and
Luoping County, Yunnan. The ''Luoping County Gazetteer'' (1995:601) reports that Wopu 窝普 (also called Large Black Yi 大黑彝) is spoken in:
*Majie township 马街镇: Dayiben 大以本, Jiudaogou 九道沟, Jigu 吉古
*Agang township 阿岗乡: Satuge 洒土格
Guopu 果铺 is reported in
Weining County
Weining Yi Hui and Miao Autonomous County (; Xiao'erjing: ) is a county of Guizhou, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Bijie.
Notable attractions include Majie Ethnic Yi Village () and the historic site of Shime ...
,
Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
.
[http://asiaharvest.org/wp-content/themes/asia/docs/people-groups/China/chinaPeoples/G/Guopu.pdf ]
References
{{Lolo-Burmese languages
Loloish languages
Languages of China