The Bisoid (Phunoi) languages belong to the Southern
Loloish (
Hanoish) branch of the
Sino-Tibetan language family. Most Bisoid languages are spoken in
Phongsaly Province, northern
Laos, with smaller numbers of speakers living in China (
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 ...
), Vietnam (
Lai Châu Province
Lai or LAI may refer to:
Abbreviations
* Austrian Latin America Institute (Österreichisches Lateinamerika-Institut)
* '' Latin American Idol'', TV series
* La Trobe Institute, Melbourne, Australia
* Leaf area index, leaf area of a crop or ...
), Myanmar (
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( L ...
), and
northern Thailand.
Languages
The Bisoid languages are:
*
Bantang
*
Bisu (mBisu, Pisu)
*
Cantan
*
Cauho
*
Cốông
*
Habei (Mani)
*
Khongsat (Suma)
*
Laomian
*
Laopan
*
Laopin
*
Laoseng
*
Phongku (Phu Lawa)
*
Phongset
*
Phunoi
The Phunoi ( th, ผู้น้อย; Lao: ຜູ້ນ້ອຍ; also spelled ''Phu Noi'' or ''Phounoi'', and called Côông, ''Cống'', or formerly ''Khong'' in Vietnam) are a tribal people of Laos, Northern Thailand, and Vietnam. They are r ...
*
Phunyot
*
Pyen (Phen)
*
Sangkong
*
Sinsali (Singsili)
*
Tsukong
Classification
Bradley (2007)
David Bradley (2007)
[Bradley, David. 2007. "East and Southeast Asia." In Moseley, Christopher (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages'', 349-424. London & New York: Routledge.] considers the following Bisoid dialects to be closely related.
*
Bisu: 500 ethnic members in northern Thailand, with far fewer speakers
*Hpyin (
Pyen): already reported as moribund in 1900, and replaced by Lahu
*
Laomian: 4,000 speakers (out of 5,000 ethnic members) in central
Lancang County
Lancang Lahu Autonomous County (; Lahu: ) is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er City, in southwestern Yunnan province, China. Lancang is the same as Lan Xang, and refers to the Mekong River (known in Chinese as the Lancang) on i ...
*
Laopin: fewer than 1,000 speakers (out of 1,300 ethnic members) in
Menghai County
* (
Lao-Pan in Kingsada (1999))
Bradley (2007) lists the following ''
Sinsali'' (formerly ''Phunoi'') languages, which differ from each other.
*
Sinsali proper
* (
Phongku in Kingsada (1999))
* (
Laoseng in Kingsada (1999))
* (
Bisu)
Other Bisoid languages include:
*
Phongset (') (Shintani 2001)
*
Phunyot (') (Kato 2008)
Udomkool (2006)
Kitjapol Udomkool (2006:34),
[Udomkool, Kitjapol. 2006. ]
A phonological comparison of selected Bisoid varieties
''. M.A. dissertation. Chiang Mai: Payap University. citing data from Wright,
[Wright, Pamela Sue. n.d. ''Singsali (Phunoi) Speech Varieties Of Phongsali Province''. m.s.] also lists the following Bisoid (Phunoi) languages.
*
Tsukong (China): close to
Cốông
*
Cauho (Laos): divergent
*
Bantang (Laos): divergent
*
Cantan (Laos): close to
Sinsali
Kitjapol Udomkool (2006) gives the following computational classification for the Bisoid (Phunoi) group, using the
UPGMA method.
Wright (n.d.)
Wright (n.d.)
tentatively classifies the Singsali (Phunoi) languages of
Phongsaly Province, Laos as follows.
Phongku may or may not belong as the same group as
Laoseng,
Phongset,
Cantan, and
Singsali.
*
Bantang
*
Cauho
*
Laopan
*(''Core branch'')
**
Phongku (?)
**
Laoseng
**
Phongset
**
Cantan,
Singsali
Hsiu (2016, 2018)
Bisoid languages were also analyzed in a 2016 computational phylogenetic lexical analysis by Hsiu (2016).
[Hsiu, Andrew. 2016. ]
The classification of Cosao: a Lolo-Burmese language of China and Laos
'. Presented at the 22nd Himalayan Languages Symposium, Guwahati, India.
;Bisoid
*
Khongsat
*
Laoseng
*
Sangkong
*
Pyen
*(core branch)
**
Lao-Pan
**
Bisu
**
Phunoi
The Phunoi ( th, ผู้น้อย; Lao: ຜູ້ນ້ອຍ; also spelled ''Phu Noi'' or ''Phounoi'', and called Côông, ''Cống'', or formerly ''Khong'' in Vietnam) are a tribal people of Laos, Northern Thailand, and Vietnam. They are r ...
**
Phongset
**
Phongku (Phu-Lawa)
**
Phunyot
The Bisoid classification above was subsequently revised by Hsiu (2018)
[Hsiu, Andrew. 2018]
Classifications of some lesser-known Lolo-Burmese languages
as follows, with
Habei added to Bisoid.
;Bisoid
*
Bisu cluster:
Bisu,
Laomian,
Laopin,
Pyen,
Laopan
*Singsali cluster:
Phunoi
The Phunoi ( th, ผู้น้อย; Lao: ຜູ້ນ້ອຍ; also spelled ''Phu Noi'' or ''Phounoi'', and called Côông, ''Cống'', or formerly ''Khong'' in Vietnam) are a tribal people of Laos, Northern Thailand, and Vietnam. They are r ...
,
Singsali,
Cantan,
Laoseng,
Phongku,
Phongset,
Phunyot
*Coong cluster:
Cốông,
Sangkong,
Tsukong
*
Cauho
*
Bantang
*
Khongsat
*
Habei (Mani)
Muda
Muda or MUDA or MuDA may refer to:
People
*Sultan Muda (1579–1579), nominal Sultan of Aceh
* Tycho Muda (born 1988), Dutch rower
*Vincent Muda (born 1988), Dutch rower
Places
*Muda, Estonia, a village
*Mudá, Spain
* Muda River, Malaysia
* ...
is also noted as having a Bisoid
substratum
In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or su ...
and
Akha Akha or Ikaw may refer to:
*Akha, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran
*Akha, alternate name of Dinan, Mazandaran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran
* Akha people
* Akha language
* Akha Bhagat (1615–1674; aka Akha Rahiyadas Soni) ...
superstratu.
Khongsat and
Laoseng have
Siloid loanwords.
References
*Lama, Ziwo Qiu-Fuyuan (2012), ''Subgrouping of Nisoic (Yi) Languages'', thesis, University of Texas at Arlington
archived
*Kingsadā, Thō̜ngphet, and
Tadahiko Shintani
Tadahiko Shintani ( ja, 新谷 忠彦, Shintani Tadahiko, born October 1946) is a Japanese linguist and Professor Emeritus of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, specializing in the phonology of New Caledonian languages and Southeast Asian l ...
. 1999 ''Basic Vocabularies of the Languages Spoken in Phongxaly, Lao P.D.R.'' Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
*
Shintani, Tadahiko, Ryuichi Kosaka, and Takashi Kato. 2001. ''Linguistic Survey of Phongxaly, Lao P.D.R.'' Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
*Kato, Takashi. 2008. ''Linguistic Survey of Tibeto-Burman languages in Lao P.D.R.'' Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
*Tun, Maung Maung. 2014.
A Sociolinguistic Survey of Selected Bisoid Varieties: Pyen, Laomian and Laopin'. Master's thesis.
{{Lolo-Burmese languages