Lachi language

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.[5] 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: li˧˥pu˦ ljo˦n̩˦tɕo˥)

• Jinchang Township 金厂镇
  • Zhongzhai 中寨[6]
  • Sanjiajie 三家街[7]

Chinese Lachi (autonym: li˧˥pu˦ tɕo˦)

• Jiahanqing Township 夹寒箐乡
  • Niulongshan 牛龙山[8]
  • Dujiaozhai 独脚寨[9]
  • Shi'er Daohe 十二道河[10]
  • Laozhai 老寨[11]
• Renhe Township 仁和镇
  • Baishiyan 白石岩[12]
  • Shiqiao 石桥[13]
  • Huomuqing 火木箐[14]

Pocket Lachi (autonym: li˧˥pu˦ te˧˥)

• Nanlao Township 南捞乡: Busu 布苏[15][16]

Red Lachi (autonym: li˧pu˦ ke˥)

• Xiaobazi Township 小坝子镇
  • Tianpeng 田棚[17]
  • Laqie 拉劫 / Laqi 拉气[18]

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.[3] In Vietnam, Jerold Edmondson notes that the most common autonym used by his Lachi informants is qu˧˩ te˧˦˩, with qu˧˩ meaning 'people' (from Proto-Kra *khra^C1 'people').[3]

The Lachi people are an officially recognized ethnic group in Vietnam, and are divided as such (Kosaka 2000, Edmondson 2008):

Long Haired Lachi (autonym: li˧˥pu˦ tjoŋ˦)

• Bản Phùng, Hoàng Su Phì District — largest village; regarded as cradle site

Black Lachi (autonym: li˧˥pu˦ pi˥)

• Bản Díu, Xín Mần — speakers have shifted to the Nùng language

White Lachi (autonym: li˧˥pu˦ pu˥; language possibly extinct)

• Bản Pắng, Hoàng Su Phì District — speakers have shifted to the Nùng language, the regional lingua franca
• Bản Máy, Hoàng Su Phì District — speakers have shifted to the Nùng language, the regional lingua franca

Lachi is also spoken in (Kosaka 2000):

• Tân Lợi hamlet (Thôn Tân Lợi), Bắc Quang District, Hà Giang Province — formed through a secondary migration from Tân Lập village (Xã Tân Lập), which is now called Xã Tân Thành.
• Chí Cà, Xín Mần District, Hà Giang Province
• Bắc Hà District, Lào Cai Province — descended from Bản Phùng migrants; can no longer speak Lachi (e.g., in Thôn Núng Choáng, Xã Nàm Sán)
• Mường Khương District, Lào Cai Province — descended from Bản Phùng migrants; can no longer speak Lachi

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.

1. Bản Phùng, Hoàng Su Phì District
2. Xã Tân Lập (now called Xã Tân Thành)
3. Xã Yên Bình
4. Xã Vĩ Thượng
5. Xã Xuân Giang (later divided into two parts, including Nà Khương, which has the higher concentration of Lachi people)

The Maguan County Gazetteer 马关县志 (1996) lists the following locations in Vietnam with ethnic Lachi.

• Manyou 曼忧
• Manpeng 曼棚
• Manban 曼班
• Manmei 曼美
• Jiga 鸡嘎
• Hualong 花隆
• Mengkang 猛康

• /d/ appears in loanwords of Vietnamese origin.
• Approximant sounds /j w/ when occuring before /i/, maybe also be realized as [ʑ ʊ̯]. Both sounds also can be realized as a voiced glottal sound [ɦ].

• Standard vowel sounds [i] and [ɛ], only occur after palatal, velar, palatalized and labialized initials. After other initials elsewhere, they become velarized as [-ˠi], [-ˠɛ].