Cao Lan, sometimes ''Caolan'' or ''Man Cao-Lan'', is a Tai language of northern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. It is spoken by the Cao Lan subgroup of the San Chay people. According to Pittayaporn (2009), it is closest to the

Chongzuo Chongzuo (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region near the Sino-Vietnamese border. It is home to one of China's largest Zhuang people, Zhuang populations. Geography and climate Chongzuo is locate ...

and Shangsi Zhuang across the border in China, both of which are lumped under the apparently polyphyletic Yongnan Zhuang by ''Ethnologue''. Together, Cao Lan, Chongzuo, and Shangsi form a primary branch of the

Tai languages The Tai, Zhuang–Tai, or Daic languages (Ahom language, Ahom: 𑜁𑜪𑜨 𑜄𑜩 or 𑜁𑜨𑜉𑜫 𑜄𑜩 ; ; or , ; , ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai languages, Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spo ...

(Pittayaporn 2009).

Demographics

Cao Lan is spoken by the Cao Lan subgroup of the San Chay people of

Tuyên Quang Province Tuyên Quang () is a province of Vietnam, located in the northeastern part of the country to the northwest of Hanoi, at the centre of Lô River valley, a tributary of the Red River. Its capital is Tuyên Quang. The province had a population of ...

. According to the people, the Cao Lan and Sán Chay peoples had arrived from southern China 400 years ago together as one group, even though they spoke two different languages. Notably, they both use

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

s to record their languages. Smaller numbers are also found in Xichou County,

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and in the following provinces. *

Yên Bái Yên Bái () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Yên Bái Province, in the north-east region of Vietnam. The city borders Yên Bình District and Trấn Yên District. The city is a settlement along the banks of the Red River, approxi ...

* Thái Nguyên * Vĩnh Phúc *

Bắc Giang Bắc Giang () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Bắc Ninh Province. Its name, deriving from that of the Province Sino-Vietnamese, means "north of the river." The location is very convenient for transportation: it is 50 km north ...

Lạng Sơn Lạng Sơn () is a city in far Northern Vietnam, and the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1. History Due to its geograph ...

* Quảng Ninh

Classification

The Sán Chay speak a form of Chinese, while the Cao Lan speak a Tai language. Gregerson & Edmondson (1998) considers Caolan to have a combination of both

Northern Tai The Northern Tai languages are an established branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. They include the northern Zhuang languages and Bouyei of China, Tai Mène of Laos and Yoy of Thailand. Languages Ethnologue ''Ethnologue'' distingui ...

and

Central Tai The Central Tai languages include southern dialects of Zhuang, and various Nung and Tày dialects of northern Vietnam. Central Tai languages differ from Northern Tai languages in that Central Tai distinguishes unaspirated and aspirated onse ...

features. Like the

E language E (), also known as Ei, Wuse, or Wusehua, ( zh, t=五色話, s=五色话, p=Wǔsèhuà, l=colored language) is a Tai– Chinese mixed language spoken primarily in Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Guangxi, China. It contains features of both T ...

of northern Guangxi, Cao Lan also displays influences form

Pinghua Pinghua is a pair of Sinitic languages spoken mainly in parts of Guangxi, with some speakers in Hunan. Pinghua is a trade language in some areas of Guangxi, spoken as a second language by speakers of Zhuang languages. Some speakers are offic ...

, a Chinese vernacular spoken in

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

, China. Haudricourt (1973) believes that the Cao Lan may have adopted a form of Tai when they had stopped in

during their historical southward migration. The Chinese-speaking Sán Chay, on the other hand, might have been a Yao (or Mienic-speaking) group, as the Yao of Fangcheng, Guangxi call themselves '. Today, the Chinese-speaking Sán Chay live mostly in Quảng Ninh, whereas the Cao Lan are mostly concentrated in

Tuyên Quang Tuyên Quang () is a city in Vietnam, and is the capital of Tuyên Quang Province. History The French post at Tuyên Quang was defended for four months against 12,000 troops of the Yunnan Army and the Black Flag Army by two companies of the ...

, Thái Nguyên, and

References

* *

Demographics

Classification

References

Further reading