Lewu language

Lewu 乐舞 is an unclassified extinct Loloish language of Jingdong Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan, China. The Lewu are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Yao people.

Demographics

According to the Jingdong County Gazetteer, ethnic Yao numbered 3,889 individuals in 1990, and lived mainly in Chaqing 岔箐 and Dasongshu 大松树 Villages of Taizhong Township 太忠乡. Yao language speakers, known as the Lewu Yao 乐舞瑶族, are found in Puya Village 普牙村, Chaqing Township 岔箐乡.

Classification

Lewu may have been related to the Lawu language of Xinping County, Yunnan, but classification remains uncertain due to the paucity of data.

Vocabulary

A word list of the Lewu Yao language is transcribed using pinyin in the Jingdong County Ethnic Gazetteer. The language is already extinct, and was recorded in 1985 from 85-year-old Zhu Zhaojin 祝兆金 of Puya Village 普牙村, who could remember only some words.

Chinese gloss	English gloss	Lewu	Page
s=吃饭	eat rice	zuǒ zuó liē	144
s=猪心肺	pig heart and lungs	cī ber	144
s=这里来	come here	wū lài lai	144
s=什么东西	What thing?	māi yuō	144
s=蚕豆	broad bean	nuó suō	144
c=豌豆	pea	nuó sǎi	144
s=回来，回来你回来	come back, come back, you come back	gǔ lāi gǔ lai gǔ lāi	144
c=白酒	liquor	zhī zhí	144
c=清酒	rice wine	a zhì	144
c=筷子	chopsticks	a zhu	144
c=刀	knife	biě tuo	145
c=斧子	axe	shì cuo	145
s=碗	bowl	lin hua	145
c=勺	spoon	yì geu	145
c=打	to hit	ch wō	145
s=没有了	There is no more.	mā ia lāi	145