Pumi language


The Pumi language is a Qiangic language used by the Pumi people, an ethnic group from Yunnan, China, as well as by the Tibetan people of Muli in Sichuan, China. Most native speakers live in Lanping, Ninglang, Lijiang, Weixi and Muli.
The autonym of the Pumi is ' in Western Prinmi, ' in Central Prinmi, and ' in Northern Prinmi with variants such as ' and .
In Muli Bonist priests read religious texts in Tibetan, which needs to be interpreted into Prinmi. An attempt to teach Pumi children to write their language using the Tibetan script has been seen in Ninglang. A pinyin-based Roman script has been proposed, but is not commonly used.

Dialects

Earlier works suggest there are two branches of Pumi, and they are not mutually intelligible. Ding proposes three major groups: Western Prinmi, Central Prinmi and Northern Prinmi.

Lu (2001)

Dialects of Pumi include the following.
;Southern
;Northern

Sim (2017)

Sims lists the following dialects of Pumi.
  • Northern
  • *Sanyanlong 三岩龙
  • *Taoba 桃巴
  • *Shuiluo 水洛
  • Central
  • *Wadu 瓦都
  • *Niuwozi 牛窝子
  • Southern
  • *Dayang
  • *Qinghua 箐花
Sims reconstructs high tones and low tones for Proto-Prinmi.

Documentation

Transcribed, translated and annotated audio documents in the Pumi language are available from the Pangloss Collection. They concern Northern dialects of Pumi.

Orthography

The pinyin-based Roman script for Pumi has been proposed, but yet to be promoted.
LetterIPALetterIPALetterIPALetterIPALetterIPA
bpbbmhm
dtddnhn
gkgghhh
jqjjxxx
zczzsss
zhchzzhshssh
zr, cr, zzr, llh
brprbbrrhr
nghngwy--

LetterIPALetterIPALetterIPALetterIPA
iuuie
iuuee
iiuuueüa
inienuenuin
oioonion
aiauauan
aauaaan
eaaiuai

Tones:

Grammar

A reference grammar of the Wadu dialect of Pumi is . A grammar of Central Pumi is also available.