Lachi language

The Lachi language (, Vietnamese: La Chí; autonym in China: '; autonym in Vietnam: ', where "" means "person") is a Kra language spoken in Yunnan, China and in northern Vietnam. There were 9,500 Lachi speakers in Vietnam in 1990. Edmondson (2008) reports another 2,500 in Maguan County, Yunnan, China for 1995, but Li Yunbing (2000) reports 60 speakers in Maguan out of an ethnic population of 1,600.
Subdivisions.
Weera Ostapirat proposed three major subdivisions for the Lachi language.
Jerold A. Edmondson notes that Vietnamese researchers recently have not been able to locate White (Central) Lachi speakers. It is also the least studied variety of Lachi.
The "Maguan County Gazetteer" 马关县志 (1996) lists the following Lachi ethnic subdivisions.
The "Maguan County Gazetteer" 马关县志 (1996) also lists the following autonyms for the Lachi.
The Republic of China-era "Maguan County Gazetteer" 马关县志 gives the names Labo 剌僰 (with a dog radical 犭for La 剌) and Laji 拉鸡 (Li 2000: 5).
Geographic distribution.
Kosaka (2000) reports 6,000–8,000 Lachi speakers in Vietnam, and 2,000 in China. The Lachi of Maguan County, China are currently classified as Zhuang (Li 2000), while the Lachi of Malipo County, China, along with the Qabiao, are classified as Yi. The Lachi of Vietnam have official status as a separate ethnic group.
China.
The Lachi of China live in various locations in Maguan County (马关县), Yunnan, which is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (文山壮族苗族自治州) near the border with Hà Giang Province, Vietnam. According to American linguist Jerold A. Edmondson, the Lachi of China are thought to have moved to their present location during the Qing Dynasty from places in Vietnam called Maibu 麥布, Maidu 麥督, and Maiha 麥哈. Other Lachis are also found scattered in Yanshan, Qiubei, Xichou, and Malipo counties.
The subdivisions, with their respective locations, are as follows:
Flowery Lachi (autonym: ")
Chinese Lachi (autonym: ")
Pocket Lachi (autonym: ")
Red Lachi (autonym: ")
Vietnam.
The Lachi live mostly in Xín Mần District and Hoàng Su Phì District, Hà Giang Province, Vietnam. There are also many Lachi living in Bắc Quang District in southern Hà Giang Province, which is outside their home district of Hoàng Su Phì. Since the Lachi dialects of Vietnam have many Chinese loanwords, the Lachi of Vietnam must have migrated from areas to the north in China (Kosaka 2000). Similarly, the Lachi of Maguan County, Yunnan, China just across the border believed that their ancestors had migrated from Ami Prefecture 阿迷州, which is now Kaiyuan, Yunnan. In Vietnam, Jerold Edmondson notes that the most common autonym used by his Lachi informants is ', with ' meaning 'people' (from Proto-Kra *khraC1 'people').
The Lachi people are an officially recognized ethnic group in Vietnam, and are divided as such (Kosaka 2000, Edmondson 2008):
Long Haired Lachi (autonym: ")
Black Lachi (autonym: ")
White Lachi (autonym: ""; language possibly extinct)
Lachi is also spoken in (Kosaka 2000):
Kosaka (2000) describes the following migratory route that took the Lachi of Bản Phùng, Hoàng Su Phì District to other locations, all in Bắc Quang District, Hà Giang Province.
The "Maguan County Gazetteer" 马关县志 (1996) lists the following locations in Vietnam with ethnic Lachi.
Grammar.
Like other Kra languages such as Gelao and Buyang, Lachi displays clause-final negation (Li 2000).