Ai-Cham ( autonym: '; ) is a Kam–Sui language spoken mainly in Diwo 地莪 and Boyao 播尧 Townships, Jialiang District, Libo County,

Qiannan Prefecture Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (; Buyei: ''Qianfnanf Buxqyaix Buxyeeuz ziqziqzouy''; Hmu: ''Qeef Naif Dol Yat Dol Hmub Zid Zid Zeb'') is an autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, bordering Guangxi ...

, Guizhou,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Alternative names for the language are Jiamuhua, Jinhua and Atsam. Fang-Kuei Li first distinguished the language in 1943. Nearby languages include Bouyei and

Mak Mak may refer to: People *Mak Dizdar (1917 - 1971), Bosnian poet *Muhammad Arshad Khan, Pakistani painter popularly known as "MAK" *Alan Mak (director) (born 1968), Hong Kong film director *Alan Mak (politician) (born 1984), British Member of Par ...

. However, Yang (2000) considers Ai-Cham and Mak to be different dialects of an identical language. Ai-Cham has six tones. Regarded of speaker's nationality, they are being subsumed under "Bouyei" nationality (same with speakers of Mak language). The mythical patriarch and hero of the Ai-Cham people is the demigod Wu Sangui, who is celebrated during the Ai-Cham New Year.Lin, Shi and Cui Jianxin. 1988. "An investigation of the Ai-Cham language." In Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.), Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai, 59-85. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington.

References

* Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (1988). ''Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai''. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. rlington, Tex. Summer Institute of Linguistics. . Kam–Sui languages Languages of China {{tk-lang-stub