Tsat (also known as Utsat, Utset, Huihui, Hui, or Hainan Cham,
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 回辉语/回輝語
Huíhuīyǔ) is a language spoken on
HainanHainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, all but three percent of its land mass is on Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
Island in
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....
by the
UtsulThe Utsuls are a tiny ethnic group which lives on the Chinese island of Hainan and are considered one of the People's Republic of China's undistinguished ethnic groups. They are found on the southernmost tip of Hainan near the city of Sanya. According to the traditions of the Utsuls, their...
s. Tsat is a member of the
Malayo-PolynesianThe Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 351 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
group within the
AustronesianThe Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. It is on par with Bantu, Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic and Uralic as one of the best-established ancient language families...
language family, and is related to the
Cham languageCham is the language of the Cham people of Southeast Asia, and formerly the language of the kingdom of Champa in central Vietnam. A member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family, it is spoken by 100,000 people in Vietnam and up to 220,000 people in Cambodia . There are also...
s, originally from the coast of present-day
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
.
Tsat (also known as Utsat, Utset, Huihui, Hui, or Hainan Cham,
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 回辉语/回輝語
Huíhuīyǔ) is a language spoken on
HainanHainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, all but three percent of its land mass is on Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
Island in
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....
by the
UtsulThe Utsuls are a tiny ethnic group which lives on the Chinese island of Hainan and are considered one of the People's Republic of China's undistinguished ethnic groups. They are found on the southernmost tip of Hainan near the city of Sanya. According to the traditions of the Utsuls, their...
s. Tsat is a member of the
Malayo-PolynesianThe Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 351 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
group within the
AustronesianThe Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. It is on par with Bantu, Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic and Uralic as one of the best-established ancient language families...
language family, and is related to the
Cham languageCham is the language of the Cham people of Southeast Asia, and formerly the language of the kingdom of Champa in central Vietnam. A member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family, it is spoken by 100,000 people in Vietnam and up to 220,000 people in Cambodia . There are also...
s, originally from the coast of present-day
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
.
Unusually for a Malayo-Polynesian language, Tsat has developed into a solidly tonal language, probably as a result of areal linguistic effects and contact with
ChineseChinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of languages mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
,
HlaiThe Li or Hlai are a minority Chinese ethnic group, sometimes colloquially known as "Sai" or "Say." They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. 94% of the Li live off the southern coast of mainland China on Hainan, where they are the largest...
/
LiThe Li or Hlai are a minority Chinese ethnic group, sometimes colloquially known as "Sai" or "Say." They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. 94% of the Li live off the southern coast of mainland China on Hainan, where they are the largest...
, and the other tonal languages of Hainan.