Lahu language

Lahu
Lahu
Spoken in Yunnan, China; Thailand; Laos; Myanmar
Total speakers 577,178
Language family Sino-Tibetan

• (Tibeto-Burman)
  • Loloish
    • Southern
      • Akha
        • Lahu

Writing system Latin (Lahu variant)
Official status
Official language in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan
Regulated by No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 ?
ISO 639-3 lhu
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Lahu language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lahu people of China, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. Lahu is widely used in China, both by Lahu people, and by other ethnic minorities in Yunnan, who use it as a lingua franca.  However, the language is not widely used nor taught in any schools in Thailand, where many Lahu are in fact refugees and illegal immigrants, having crossed into Thailand from Myanmar. 

Dialects

Three dialects are noted, known by a variety of names: 

• Na (Black Lahu, Musser Dam, Northern Lahu, Loheirn)
• Nyi (Red Lahu, Southern Lahu, Musseh Daeng, Luhishi, Luhushi), Shehleh
• Lahu Shehleh
• Lahu Shi (Yellow Lahu, Kutsung)

Black Lahu is the standard dialect in China,  as well as the lingua franca among different groups of Lahu in Thailand.  However, it is intelligible to speakers of Yellow Lahu only with some difficulty. 

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Gordon 2005: Lahu
2. ^ ^{a b} The Irrawaddy, August 2005
3. ^ Matisoff 2006: xiii

Sources

• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com/. Retrieved 2006-12-19. 
• Lee, Hyun-bok (2000). "라후어의 언어학적 연구 (A Linguistic Study of Lahu)". The Journal of Humanities (Seoul National University) 44. http://www.cyberub.com/book_info.php3?bk_cd=221891. Retrieved 2006-12-28. 
• Matisoff, James A. (2006). English-Lahu Lexicon. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. 
• Reh, Louis (August 2005). "Silenced Minorities". The Irrawaddy. http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=4901&z=107. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 

Further reading

• Wang, Zhenghua (2004). "拉祜语共时音变研究 (On the Synchronic Phonetic Change of the Lahu Language)". Yunnan Nationalities University Journal (1). http://scholar.ilib.cn/Abstract.aspx?A=ynmzxyxb-zxsh200401033. Retrieved 2006-12-27. 
• Shi, Feng; Liu, Jing-rong (2006). "拉祜语的元音格局 (The Vowel Pattern of the Lahu Language)". Yunnan Nationalities University Journal (2). http://scholar.ilib.cn/Abstract.aspx?A=ynmzxyxb-zxsh200602033. Retrieved 2006-12-27. 

External links

• Lahu Bible
• Radio Soap Opera in Lahu Language

This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.