The Kam–Sui languages () are a branch of the

Kra–Dai languages The Kra–Dai languages ( , also known as Tai–Kadai and Daic ), are a language family in mainland Southeast Asia, southern China, and northeastern India. All languages in the family are tonal language, tonal, including Thai language, Thai a ...

spoken by the Kam–Sui peoples. They are spoken mainly in eastern

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, western

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, and northern

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 ...

in southern

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 ...

. Small pockets of Kam–Sui speakers are also found in

northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam or '' Tonkin'' () is one of three geographical regions in Vietnam. It consists of three geographic sub-regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sôn ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Classification

The Kam–Sui branch includes about a dozen languages. Solnit (1988) considers Lakkia and Biao languages to be

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

branches of Kam–Sui, rather than part of Kam–Sui itself. The best known Kam–Sui languages are Dong (Kam), with over a million speakers, Mulam, Maonan, and Sui. Other Kam–Sui languages include Ai-Cham, Mak, and Tʻen, and Chadong, which is the most recently discovered Kam–Sui language. Yang (2000) considers Ai-Cham and Mak to be dialects of a single language.

Thurgood (1988)

Graham Thurgood (1988) presents the following tentative classification for the Kam–Sui branch. Chadong, a language that has been described only recently by Chinese linguist Jinfang Li, is also included below. It is most closely related to Maonan. Cao Miao and Naxi Yao, which are closely related to Southern Dong, have also been added from Shi (2015).

Norquest (2021)

Peter Norquest (2021:234) presents another classification for the Kam–Sui branch. *Kam-–ui **'' Mulam'' **Northern Kam–Sui ***'' Kam'' ***Macro-Sui ****'' T'en'' ****Greater Sui *****'' Sui'' *****Para-Sui ******'' Chadong'' ******'' Maonan'' ******Ai-Cham/Mak *******'' Ai-Cham'' *******'' Mak''

Demographics

Nearly all speakers of Kam–Sui languages originate in the Qiandongnan (Dong) and Qiannan (Sui, Then, Mak, Ai-Cham) Prefectures of

, as well as the prefecture-level cities of

Hechi Hechi ( zh, c=河池) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, bordering Guizhou to the north. The actual inner city itself is referred as Jinchengjiang ( zh, c=金城江). ...

(Mulam and Maonan) and

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

(Chadong) in northern

. Many Kam–Sui speakers have also migrated to farther urban areas such as

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. Small groups of Kam and Sui speakers also reside 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 ...

Province, Vietnam, in the villages of Đồng Mộc and Hồng Quang, respectively.

By language

* Mulam 佬 – Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County 罗城仫佬族自治县,

, northern

; Qiandongnan Prefecture, southeastern

* Dong 侗 – Qiandongnan Prefecture, southeastern

* Then 佯僙/佯爷 –

Pingtang County Pingtang County () is a county in the Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It is a high mountain valley and is inhabited mainly by members of the Buyei and Miao ethnic minoritie ...

平塘县, Qiannan Prefecture, southern

* Maonan 毛南 – Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County 环江毛南族自治县,

, northern

* Chadong 茶洞 – Chadong Township,

Lingui County Lingui District () is the county seat and District (China), district administered by Guilin, Guangxi, China, and located midway between Guilin and Yangshuo. The district is mostly rural and hilly, marked by the same dramatic karst topography for w ...

临桂县,

, northeastern

* Sui 水 –

Sandu Shui Autonomous County Sandu Shui Autonomous County (; Bouyei: ) is an autonomous county in the southeast of Guizhou province, China. It is under the administration of the Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and the only Shui Autonomous County in China; 63% ...

黔南布依族苗族自治州, Qiannan Prefecture, southern

* Mak (Mojia) 莫 –

Libo County Libo County () is a county of southern Guizhou province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It is under the administration of the Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Geography The county is located in the remote southeastern corner o ...

荔波县, Qiannan Prefecture, southern

* Ai-Cham 锦 –

荔波县, Qiannan Prefecture, southern

By location

(''Listed counterclockwise: east to north to west to south'') *

** Qiandongnan – Dong; 1,500,000 speakers ** Qiannan *** Sandu County – Sui; 300,000 speakers ***

– Then; 15,000 speakers ***

– Mak and Ai-Cham; 10,000 and 2,700 speakers *

*** Luocheng County – Mulam; 86,000 speakers *** Huanjiang County – Maonan; 30,000 speakers **

(

) – Chadong; 20,000 speakers

By population

There is a total of about 2 million Kam–Sui speakers. The four largest Kam–Sui ethnic groups, the Dong, Shui, Mulao, and Maonan, are officially recognized by the Chinese government. Non-recognized Kam–Sui ethnic groups (Chadong, Then, Mak, Ai-Cham) who can still speak their own languages number less than 50,000. # Dong: about 1,500,000 speakers; 1.7 million in 1995 # Sui: 300,000 speakers # Mulam: 86,000 speakers (ethnic population: 200,000) # Maonan: 30,000 speakers (ethnic population: 100,000) # Chadong: 20,000 speakers # Then: 15,000 speakers # Mak: 10,000 speakers # Ai-Cham: 2,700 speakers

Other languages

The following language varieties are closely related to, or part of, Southern Dong. *Mjuniang 谬娘 or Cao Miao 草苗 (ISO 639-3
cov
: 60,000 (1991) in Liping, Tongdao, and Sanjiang; closely related to Dong. Speakers are classified as ethnic Miao. * Naxi Yao 那溪瑶 (autonym: ''mu2 ɲiu1'') is spoken by 2,500 people in Naxi Township 那溪瑶族乡, Dongkou County, Hunan Province, China. *Diao 调 (刁人): 2,000 (1999) in southeastern Guizhou around Liping and Congjiang; may speak Chinese or Dong. Speakers are classified as ethnic Dong. Diao (''tjau13'') is a Cao Miao subgroup according to Shi (2015:43). The following peoples may also speak Kam–Sui languages. *Xialusi 下路司: 3,000 (1999) in southeastern Guizhou; classified as Dong, but their linguistic affiliation is unknown (possibly Kam-Sui). Speakers are classified as ethnic Dong. *Shui of Yunnan: 6,800 (1990) in Huangnihe 黃泥河 and Gugan 古敢水族乡, Fuyuan County, Yunnan; 490 (1990) in Dahe and Long'an of Yiliang County. In Gugan, there is a village cluster known as the "Five Shui Villages" 水五寨, consisting of Buzhang 补掌, Dongla 咚喇, Reshui 热水, Dazhai 大寨, and Duzhang 都章. It is still spoken in Xinbao Village 新堡村, Laochang Township 老厂乡, Fuyuan County, Yunnan. Also in Dacunzi 大村子, Geyi Township 格宜镇, Xuanwei City. However, these are actually all Northern Tai languages ( Bouyei) according to Hsiu (2013). There are also some languages in southeastern Guizhou, northern Guangxi, and southwestern Hunan that have been influenced by Kam–Sui languages, such as Suantang 酸汤 and

Tongdao Pinghua The Tongdao Pinghua is a variety of Guibei Pinghua (桂北平话) influenced by Kam (Dong). It is spoken by about 25,000 people in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan, China (Shi 2015:137). Although Tongdao Pinghua speakers are classified by ...

, a

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 ...

lect spoken in Tongdao Dong Autonomous County,

. Kam–Sui languages are also in contact with Suantang 酸汤, a Sinitic language spoken by about 80,000 ethnic Miao in Baibu 白布, Dihu 地湖, Dabaozi 大堡子, and Sanqiao 三锹 in Tianzhu, Huitong, and Jing counties (Chen Qiguang 2013:35). Suantang is very similar to New Xiang (新湘语), but is unintelligible with

Southwestern Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese dialect spoken in much of Southwestern China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the nor ...

Reconstruction

The Proto-Kam–Sui language is the reconstructed ancestor of the Kam–Sui languages.

References

External links

ABVD: Proto-Kam–Sui word list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kam-Sui Languages