Awu () ( autonym: '), is an unclassified

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 rela ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in 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 Kunming. The province borders the ...

, China. It is spoken in

Yuanyang County, Yunnan Yuanyang County (; Hani: ''Yeiqyaq'') is located in Honghe Prefecture in southeastern Yunnan province, China, along the Red River. It is well known for its spectacular rice-paddy terracing. In 2013, part of the county formed the Honghe Hani Ric ...

, China, including in the village of Xiaopingzi 小坪子, Daping Township 大坪乡 (Lu & Lu 2011).Lu Peng 卢鹏; Lu Wei 路伟. 2011. 国际哈尼/阿卡区域文化调查: 中国元阳县大坪哈尼族阿邬人文化实录. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press 云南人民出版社.

Classification

Andrew Hsiu (2017) suggests that Awu is related to

Lawu The Lawu ( jv, ꦭꦮꦸ), or Mount Lawu ( jv, ꦒꦸꦤꦸꦁꦭꦮꦸ, Gunung Lawu) is a massive compound stratovolcano straddling the border between East Java and Central Java, Indonesia. The north side is deeply eroded and the eastern s ...

of Xinping County,

, and that the two form a ''Lawu'' or '' Lawoish'' language branch. The linguistic evidence suggests that the ancestors of the Awu had migrated down the Red River valley from further up northwest, and arrived at their present location after migrating downstream. Lewu, an extinct language, may have been related.

Identity and names

The Awu consider themselves to be a separate ethnic group from the

Hani people The Hani or Ho people (Hani: ''Haqniq''; zh, c=哈尼族, p=Hānízú; vi, Người Hà Nhì / 𠊛何贰) are a Lolo-speaking ethnic group in Southern China and Northern Laos and Vietnam. They form one of the 56 officially recognized nat ...

, including the Nuobi. However, the Awu are officially classified by the Chinese government as a

Hani Hani may refer to: People * Hani (name) * Hani (producer), a record producer and remixer from New York City * Hani (singer), a South Korean singer and member of EXID * Hani people, an ethnic group of China and Vietnam Places * Hani, an island ...

subgroup. On the other hand, the Nuobi refer to themselves as ''xa31 ni31''. The Awu believe that they are culturally more similar to the

Kucong The Kucong () are an ethnic group in China. They are considered one of the poorest minorities in the country. There are around 80,000 Kucong people, living primarily in the Mojiang, Xinping, and Mengla counties of China's Yunnan Province. Some li ...

, who speak a language similar to Lahu (Lu & Lu 2011:23). The Awu call themselves ''lu33 ju33 za33'', and are referred to by the Nuobi people as ''la31 wu33 za31''.

Distribution

Awu is also spoken in

Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County (; Hani: ) is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er City, in southern Yunnan, China, bordering Laos and Vietnam to the south, making it the only county in the province to border more than ...

and

Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County () is located in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lai Châu Province to the south. Jinping is home to the Red-headed Yao () minority group who wea ...

. Pelkey (2011:454) calls the language ''Lawu Yi'', and reports that it spoken in Mengla Township and other nearby areas of Jinping County. The ''Jinping County Ethnic Gazetteer'' (2013:101) calls the language ''Laowu'' 老乌 (autonym: ''Laoyong'' 老涌), which is spoken in Laojizhai 老集寨, Laomeng 老勐, Yingpan 营盘, and Mengla 勐拉 townships (in 29 villages), comprising 2,222 households and 9,342 persons as of 2005. In southern Yunnan, Awu (') is located in Mengzi County 蒙自, Nansha of Yuanyang County 元阳南沙, Dawuzhai of Yuanyang County 元阳大乌寨, and Tuanjie Xiaozhai of Jinping County 金平团结小寨.龙倮贵. 2007
红河彝族族源族称及其人口分布
.

References

Bibliography

* *Lu Peng 卢鹏; Lu Wei 路伟. 2011. 国际哈尼/阿卡区域文化调查: 中国元阳县大坪哈尼族阿邬人文化实录. Kunming: Yunnan People's Press 云南人民出版社. * {{authority control Loloish languages Languages of China