Hlai languages

{{Short description|Kra–Dai language family of China}} {{Infobox language | name = Hlai | altname = Li | image = Linguistic Map of Hainan.svg | imagecaption = {{legend|#06a457|Ha dialect}} {{legend|#abc959|Qi dialect}} {{legend|#6eb76c|Run dialect}} {{legend|#84bf44|Meifu dialect)}} {{legend|#ff7e00|[[Jiamao language]]}} | states = [[China]] | region = [[Hainan]] | ethnicity = [[Hlai people|Hlai]] | speakers = 667,000 | date = 1999 | ref = e18 | familycolor = Tai–Kadai | fam2 = Hlai–[[Jiamao language|Jiamao]]? | protoname = [[Proto-Hlai language|Proto-Hlai]] (reconstructed) | script = [[Latin script|Latin]] | lc1 = lic | ld1 = Hlai | lc2 = cuq | ld2 = [[Cun language|Cun]] | glotto = nucl1241 | glottorefname = Nuclear Hlaic | notice = IPA }}

The '''Hlai languages''' ({{lang-zh|s=黎语|p=Líyǔ}}) are a primary branch of the [[Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai]] language family spoken in the mountains of central and south-central [[Hainan]] in [[China]] by the [[Hlai people]], not to be confused with the colloquial name for the [[Leizhou Min|Leizhou]] branch of Min Chinese ({{lang-zh|s=黎话|p=Líhuà}}). They include [[Cun language|Cun]], whose speakers are ethnically distinct.<ref>Ethnologue mistakenly lists Cun among the [[Kra languages]].</ref> A quarter of Hlai speakers are monolingual. None of the Hlai languages had a writing system until the 1950s, when the [[Latin script]] was adopted for Ha.

==Classification== Norquest (2007) classifies the Hlai languages as follows.<ref name="Norquest 2007">{{Cite thesis |last=Norquest |first=Peter K. |title=A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai |date=2007 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Arizona |hdl=10150/194203 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> There are some 750,000 Hlai speakers.

{{tree list}} *[[Proto-Hlai language|Proto-Hlai]] **Bouhin ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Hēitǔ}} {{lang|zh-Hans|黑土}}) – 73,000 **Greater Hlai ***Ha Em 哈炎 ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Zhōngshā}} {{lang|zh-Hans|中沙}}) – 193,000 ***Central Hlai ****East Central Hlai – 344,000 *****Lauhut ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Bǎodìng}} {{lang|zh-Hans|保定}}) – 166,000, the basis of the literary language *****Qi 杞 (also known as ''Gei'') – 178,000 ******Tongzha ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Tōngshí}} {{lang|zh-Hans|通什}}) – 125,000 ******Zandui ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Qiànduì}} {{lang|zh-Hans|堑对}}) – 29,000 ******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Bǎotíng}} {{lang|zh-Hans|保亭}} – 24,000 ****North Central Hlai – 136,500 *****Northwest Central Hlai – 62,500 ******[[Cun language|Cun]] 村语 (Ngan Fon, {{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Gēlóng}} {{lang|zh-Hans|仡隆}}) – 60,000 ******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Nàdòu}} {{lang|zh-Hans|那斗}} ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Dōngfāng}} {{lang|zh-Hans|东方}}) – 2,500 *****Northeast Central Hlai – 74,000 ******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Měifú}} {{lang|zh-Hans|美孚}} (Moifau) – 30,000 *******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Chāngjiāng}} {{lang|zh-Hans|昌江}} *******Moyfaw ({{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Xīfāng}} {{lang|zh-Hans|西方}}) ******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Rùn}} {{lang|zh-Hans|润}} (''Zwn''; also known as {{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Běndì}} {{lang|zh-Hans|本地}}) – 44,000 *******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Báishā}} {{lang|zh-Hans|白沙}} – 36,000 *******{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Yuánmén}} {{lang|zh-Hans|元门}} – 8,000 {{tree list/end}}

Nadou is spoken by approximately 4,000 people in the two villages of {{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Nàdòu}} {{lang|zh-Hans|那斗村}} (in {{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Xīnlóng}} Town {{lang|zh-Hans|新龙镇}}) and {{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Yuè}} {{lang|zh-Hans|月村}} (in {{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Bāsuǒ}} Town {{lang|zh-Hans|八所镇}}), in [[Dongfang, Hainan]]. Speakers refer to themselves as {{lang|lic-Latn|lai¹¹}} and are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fu |first=Changzhong 符昌忠 |date=2020 |title=Nadouyu yanjiu 那斗语研究 |location=Beijing |publisher=Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社 |oclc=1294545717}}</ref>

[[Jiamao language|{{Transliteration|cmn|pinyin|Jiāmào}}]] {{lang|zh-Hans|加茂}} (52,000 speakers) is a divergent Kra-Dai language with a Hlai superstratum and a non-Hlai substratum.<ref name="Norquest 2007"/>

==Reconstruction== {{Main|Proto-Hlai language}}

The Proto-Hlai language is the [[linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] ancestor of the Hlai languages. Proto-Hlai reconstructions include those of Matisoff (1988), Thurgood (1991), Ostapirat (2004), and Norquest (2007).

== Phonology == The following displays the phonological features of the modern Hlai dialects:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ostapirat |first=Weera |title=The Tai-Kadai Languages |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |editor-last=Diller |editor-first=Anthony V. N. |location=London & New York |pages=623–652 |chapter=The Hlai Language |editor-last2=Edmondson |editor-first2=Jerold A. |editor-last3=Luo |editor-first3=Yongxian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Líyǔ yǔfǎ gāngyào |publisher=Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe  |year=1994 |editor-last=Yuan |editor-first=Zhongshu 苑中树 |location=Beijing |pages=1–10 |language=zh |script-title=zh:黎语语法纲要 |trans-title=An Outline of Li Grammar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ouyang |first=Jueya 欧阳觉亚 |title=Líyǔ jiǎnzhì |date=1980 |publisher=Minzu chubanshe  |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:黎语简志 |trans-title=Description of the Li language}}</ref>

=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" |[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Labiodental consonant|Labio- dental]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo- palatal]] ! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! colspan="3" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- !plain !lab. !plain !lab. !pal. |- ! rowspan="4" |[[Stop consonant|Plosive]] ![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] |{{IPA link|p}} | |{{IPA link|t}} |{{IPA link|ȶ}} |{{IPA link|k}} |{{IPA link|kʷ}} |{{IPA link|ʔ}} | | |- ![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] |{{IPA link|pʰ}} | |{{IPA link|tʰ}} | |{{IPA link|kʰ}} |{{IPA link|kʰʷ}} | | | |- ![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] | | | | |{{IPA link|ɡ}} |{{IPA link|ɡʷ}} | | | |- ![[Implosive consonant|implosive]] |{{IPA link|ɓ}} | |{{IPA link|ɗ}} | | | | | | |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] ![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] | | | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|t͡s}} | | | | | |- ![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] | | | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|t͡sʰ}} | | | | | |- ! rowspan="3" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] ![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] | |{{IPA link|f}} |{{IPA link|s}} | |{{IPA link|x}} | |{{IPA link|h}} |{{IPA link|hʷ}} |{{IPA link|hʲ}} |- ![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] | |{{IPA link|v}} |{{IPA link|z}} | |{{IPA link|ɣ}} | | | | |- ![[Lateral consonant|lateral]] | | |{{IPA link|ɬ}} | | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |{{IPA link|m}} |({{IPA link|ɱ}}) |{{IPA link|n}} |{{IPA link|ȵ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} |{{IPA link|ŋʷ}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]] | | |{{IPA link|r}} | | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | | |{{IPA link|l}} | | | |{{IPA link|ˀj}} |{{IPA link|ˀw}} | |}

* {{IPA|[ɬ]}}, {{IPA|[f]}} mainly occur word-initially among various dialects. {{IPA|[ɬ]}} may also be realized as {{IPA|[tɬ]}}. *[{{IPA link|x}}], [{{IPA link|ɣ}}] mainly occur among the Xifang dialects. *{{IPA|[ɣ]}} can also occur as an allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}}. * {{IPA|/t͡s/}}, {{IPA|/t͡sʰ/}}, {{IPA|/z/}} are pronounced as alveolo-palatal sounds {{IPA|[t͡ɕ]}}, {{IPA|[t͡ɕʰ]}}, {{IPA|[ɕ]}}, among other various dialects. * {{IPA|/r/}} can have allophones as {{IPA|[ɾ, dɾ]}}. * For a brief period of time Yuanmen distinguished {{IPA|/m/}} and {{IPA|/ɱ/}} after {{IPA|*/ŋw/}} became {{IPA|/ɱ/}} which soon merged with {{IPA|/m/}}.<ref>[https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/194203/azu_etd_2517_sip1_m.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Norquest (2007)], p. 106</ref>

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! ![[Front vowel|Front]] ![[Central vowel|Central]] ! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]] |- ![[High vowel|High]] | align="center" |{{IPA link|i}} | |{{IPA link|ɯ}} |{{IPA link|u}} |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Mid vowel|Mid]] |{{IPA link|e}} | rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ə}} | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|o}} |- |{{IPA link|ɛ}} | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɔ}} |- ![[Low vowel|Low]] | |{{IPA link|a}} | colspan="2" | |}

* Among other Hlai dialects, {{IPA|/a, i, e, o/}} can have allophones of {{IPA|[ɐ, ɪ, ɛ, ɔ]}}. * Vowel sounds {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} are common among the Baisha and Jiamao dialects. * {{IPA|/ə/}} occurs among some dialects.

==History== Liang & Zhang (1996:18–21)<ref name="Liang 1996">{{Cite book |last=Liang |first=Min 梁敏 |title=Dòng tái yǔzú gàilùn |last2=Zhang |first2=Junru 张均如 |date=1996 |publisher=Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe  |isbn=9787500416814 |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:侗台语族概论 |trans-title=An Introduction to the Kam–Tai Languages}}</ref> conclude that the original homeland of the Hlai languages was the [[Leizhou Peninsula]], and estimate that the Hlai had migrated across the [[Hainan Strait]] to Hainan Island about 4,000 years before present.<ref name="Liang 1996" />

According to Ostapirat (2026), Hlai originated much further to the southwest from north-central Vietnam. The ancestors of present-day Hlai speakers migrated directly to southern Hainan but not northern Hainan, since they followed a migration route that skipped the [[Leizhou Peninsula]].<ref name="Ostapirat2026">{{cite book |last=Ostapirat |first=Weera |chapter=Kra-Dai Migration and Austro-Tai Numerals |publisher=Brill |date=2026 |editor-last1=Kikusawa |editor-first1=Ritsuko |editor-last2=Okamoto |editor-first2=Susumu |editor-last3=Suzuki |editor-first3=Hiroyuki |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004762077/BP000011.xml |page=41–54 |title=Establishing Spatiotemporal Linguistics: Toward an Interdisciplinary Approach to the History of Language and of Human Movement |isbn=978-90-04-76207-7 |doi=10.1163/9789004762077-004}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Hlai reconstructions|Proto-Hlai reconstructions]] (Wiktionary) *[[Has Hlai grammar]] *[[Hlai people]] *[[Proto-Hlai language]]

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== {{Refbegin}} *{{Cite journal |last=Ostapirat |first=Weera |year=2005 |title=''The Cun Language'', by Ouyang Jueya. Shanghai Far East Publishers. 1998 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/weera2005review.pdf |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=99–105}} *{{Cite book |last=Ouyang |first=Jueya 欧阳觉亚 |title=Líyǔ diàochá yánjiū |last2=Zheng |first2=Yiqing 郑贻青 |date=1983 |publisher=Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe  |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:黎语调查研究 |trans-title=Li Language Investigation and Research }} {{Refend}}

==Further reading== *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2013. The other Kra-Dai numerals (Parts [http://www.amritas.com/131005.htm#10052320 1], [http://www.amritas.com/131012.htm#10062359 2]). *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2011. [http://www.amritas.com/110924.htm#09202204 Is Jiamao Hlai?] *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2008. [http://www.amritas.com/080607.htm#06072354 Hlai -ɯ]. *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2008. Implosives on Hainan (Parts [http://www.amritas.com/080719.htm 1], [http://www.amritas.com/080726.htm 2]). *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2008. [http://www.amritas.com/080621.htm#06172348 Hlai initial verification]. *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2008. [http://www.amritas.com/080614.htm#06092330 Hlai initial glides]. *[[Marc Miyake|Miyake, Marc]]. 2008. [http://www.amritas.com/080614.htm#06082323 Hlai palatal codas]. *中国科学院少数民族语言调查第一工作队海南分队编. 1957. Guanyu huafen Liyu fangyan he chuangzuo Liwen de yijian 关于划分黎语方言和创作黎文的意见. 黎族语言文字问题科学讨论会. *Norquest, Peter K. 2015. [https://brill.com/view/title/32092 ''A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai'']. Languages of Asia, Volume 13. Leiden: Brill. {{ISBN|978-90-04-30052-1}}

==External links== {{incubator|lic|language=Hlai}} * [http://globalrecordings.net/language/10649 Bible recordings in various Hlai languages] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150114122049/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=692 ABVD: Proto-Hlai word list] * [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Tai–Kadai_languages Hlai-language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix]) * [https://tunhlai.com/ Hlai languages learning website] (both in Mandarin Chinese and English)

[[Category:Hlai languages| ]] [[Category:Languages of Hainan]]