Mienic languages


The Mienic or Yao languages are spoken by the Yao people of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
Some of the Yao peoples speak Hmongic languages ; these are called Bunu. A small population of Yao people in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County in eastern Guangxi speak a Tai-Kadai language called Lakkia. Other Yao peoples speak various Sinitic language varieties.

Classification

Mienic is one of the primary branches of the Hmong–Mien language family, with the other being Hmongic.

Ratliff (2010)

proposed the following classification:
  • Mienic
  • *Iu Mien, 840,000 speakers
  • *Kim Mun, 400,000 speakers
  • *Biao Min, 43,000 speakers
  • *Dzao Min, 60,000 speakers

    Strecker (1987)

Strecker 1987, followed by Matisoff 2001, proposed the following, with some of the more divergent varieties as additional languages:
proposes the following classification for Mjuenic, a proposed branch consisting of the Mien, Mun, and Muen languages. The classifications of Biao Min and Dzao Min are not addressed.
  • Proto-Mjuenic
  • *Mun
  • **West Mun
  • **East Mun
  • *
  • **Muen
  • **Mien
  • ***North Mien
  • ***East Mien, West Mien

    Mao (2004)

Mao Zongwu classifies the Mienic languages varieties of China as follows. Data points studied in Mao are also listed for each dialect.
  • Mien 勉: 550,000 speakers
  • *Guangdian 广滇 dialect: 400,000 speakers
  • **Dapingjiang, Jianxin village, Jiangdi township, Longsheng County
  • **Shinongjiao village, Daxiaohe township, Guanyang County
  • **Xianjiacao, Liuding village, Sanjiao township, Jinxiu County
  • **Fengle village, Panshi township, Rongjiang County
  • **Miaozhu village, Gongkeng township, Ruyuan County
  • **Shuizi'ao village, Liangchahe township, Jianghua County
  • **Yanbian village, Shilixiang township, Jinping County
  • *Xiangnan 湘南 dialect: 130,000 speakers
  • **Miaoziyuan village, Xiangjiang township, Jianghua County
  • **Ganziyuan village, Mianhuaping township, Ningyuan County
  • *Luoxiang 罗香 dialect: 3,000 speakers
  • **Luoxiang township, Jinxiu County
  • *Changping 长坪 dialect: 20,000 speakers in the counties of Mengshan, Pingdong, Zhaoping, and Lipu
  • **Dongpingdong village, Changping township, Mengshan County
  • Jinmen 金门: 220,000 speakers
  • *Diangui 滇桂 dialect: 166,000 speakers
  • **Xinzhai village, Liangzi township, Hekou County
  • **Nacai village, Dulong township, Malipo County
  • **Suoshanjiao village, Yaoqu township, Mengla County
  • **Lanjin township, Lingyun County
  • **Xintun, Jiajiang village, Sanjiao township, Jinxiu County
  • *Fanghai 防海 dialect: 60,000 speakers
  • **Tansan township, Fangcheng District
  • **Xin'an village, Daping township, Qiongzhong County
  • Biao Min 标敏: 40,000 speakers
  • *Dongshan 东山 dialect: 35,000 speakers
  • **Shuanglong, Huanglong village, Dongshan township, Quanzhou County
  • *Shikou 石口 dialect: 8,000 speakers
  • **Shikou village, Sanjiang township, Gongcheng County
  • *Niuweizhai 牛尾寨 dialect: 2,000 speakers
  • **Niuwei village, Sanjiang township, Gongcheng County
  • Zao Min 藻敏: 60,000 speakers
  • *Daping township, Liannan County
A Mienic lect called bjau2 mwan2, related to Mien of Changping and Luoxiang, is spoken in Liuchong 六冲, Qiaoting Township 桥亭乡, Pingle County 平乐县, Guangxi ; another "Biao Man 标曼" dialect is spoken in Dongpingdong 东坪洞. There are about 10,000 speakers in Mengshan, Lipu, Pingle, and Zhaoping counties.
The comparative vocabulary chart in Mao Zongwu consists of the following languages.
  1. Guangdian Mien ; autonym: '
  2. Diangui Kim Mun ; autonym: '
  3. Dongshan Biao Min; autonym: '
  4. Daping Dzao Min; autonym: '
  5. Xiangnan Mien ; autonym: '
  6. Changping Mien ; autonym: '
  7. Luoxiang Mien; autonym: '
  8. Fanghai Kim Mun ; autonym: '
  9. Shikou Biao Min ; autonym:
  10. Niuweizhai Biao Min ; autonym: ''''

    Aumann & Sidwell (2004)

Using Mao's new data, Aumann & Sidwell propose the following classification of the Mienic languages, based on innovations in rhotic consonants. This classification presents a bipartite division of the Mienic into a subgroup consisting of Iu Mien and Biao Min, and another subgroup consisting of Kim Mun and Dzao Min. Luoxiang is grouped with Kim Mun, while Changping is grouped with Dzao Min.
  • Proto-Mien
  • *Mien-Biao Min
  • **Guangdian Mien
  • **Xiangnan Mien
  • **Biao Min
  • ***Dongshan
  • ***Shikou
  • *Mun-Dzao
  • **Luoxiang-Kim Mun
  • ***Luoxiang Mien
  • ***Kim Mun
  • **Changping-Dzao Min
  • ***Changping Mien
  • ***Dzao Min
Aumann & Sidwell consider the following classification by Wang & Mao to be unlikely, which is based on the voicing of voiceless sonorants, a common areal feature.
  • Proto-Mien
  • *Luoxiang Mien
  • *Iu Mien
  • **Guangdian Mien
  • **Xiangnan Mien
  • **Dongshan Biao Min
  • *Mun-Dzao
  • **Shikou Biao Min
  • **Kim Mun
  • **
  • ***Changping Mien
  • ***Dzao Min

    Taguchi (2012)

Yoshihisa Taguchi's computational phylogenetic study classifies the Mienic languages as follows.

Hsiu (2018)

Hsiu's computational phylogenetic study classifies the Mienic languages as follows.
  • Mienic
  • *Zao Min
  • *Greater Biao Min
  • **Biao Min
  • **Biao Min
  • **Moyou
  • **Moxi
  • *Greater Biao Mon
  • **Biao Mon
  • **Biao Mwan
  • *Kim Mun
  • *Iu Mien
Hsiu considers Changping Mien to have been influenced by Kim Mun lects due to geographical proximity, although it retains many unique forms that indicate it should belong in its own branch.

Hsiu (2023)

Hsiu announced the discovery of the previously undocumented Yangchun Pai Yao, likely a sister branch to Dzao Min, or possibly belonging to its own branch outright.

Mixed languages

Some languages may be mixed Chinese and Mienic languages, such as:
  • Various Lowland Yao languages that are unclassified Sinitic languages, such as:
  • * Yeheni
  • * Younian
  • Shaozhou Tuhua, the language of the nüshu script, is an unclassified variety of Chinese spoken by ethnic Yao. Its origin is obscure, but it may have started out as a Sinicized Mienic language.
  • She Chinese, spoken mostly in Zhejiang and Fujian

    Numerals