Kam-Sui languages (侗水語支, Dong-Shui) are a branch of the Kradai languages. Spoken in southern
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
with small pockets in
LaosLaos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
.
Kam-Sui includes a dozen languages. The Lakkia and Biao languages are sometimes separated out as a sister branch to Kam-Sui within a "Be-Kam-Tai" branch of Kradai, but this is not well supported. Otherwise the languages are not subclassified.
The better known Kam-Sui languages are
DongThe Dong language is a Kradai language spoken by the Dong people of China. It has been traditionally written in a variant of Chinese characters...
(Kam), with over a million speakers,
MulamThe Mulao people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
,
MaonanThe Maonan people are an ethnic group. They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China....
, and
SuiThe Sui language belongs to the Kradai family, chiefly spoken by the Sui people in Guizhou province, China. According to Ethnologue, as of 1999, the total number of speakers is around 400,000....
.
Discussion
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Kam-Sui languages (侗水語支, Dong-Shui) are a branch of the Kradai languages. Spoken in southern
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
with small pockets in
LaosLaos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
.
Classification
Kam-Sui includes a dozen languages. The Lakkia and Biao languages are sometimes separated out as a sister branch to Kam-Sui within a "Be-Kam-Tai" branch of Kradai, but this is not well supported. Otherwise the languages are not subclassified.
The better known Kam-Sui languages are
DongThe Dong language is a Kradai language spoken by the Dong people of China. It has been traditionally written in a variant of Chinese characters...
(Kam), with over a million speakers,
MulamThe Mulao people are an ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China...
,
MaonanThe Maonan people are an ethnic group. They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China....
, and
SuiThe Sui language belongs to the Kradai family, chiefly spoken by the Sui people in Guizhou province, China. According to Ethnologue, as of 1999, the total number of speakers is around 400,000....
. Others are
Ai-ChamAi-Cham is a language spoken in Libo County, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China. Alternative names for the language are Jiamuhua, Jinhua and Atsam.Ai-Cham has six tones.-References:...
, Kang, Mak, and T’en.
Further reading
- Tai-kadai Languages. (2007). Curzon Pr. ISBN 9780700714575
- Diller, A. (2005). The Tai-Kadai languages. London [etc.]: Routledge. ISBN 070071457X
- Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (1988). Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. [Arlington, Tex.]: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 0883120666