Kim Mun (; also Lanten or Landian 蓝靛) is a Mienic language spoken by 200,000 of the

Yao people The Yao people () or Dao () is a classification for various ethnic minorities in China and Vietnam. Their majority branch is also known as Mien. They originated in the areas around Changsha, which today is the capital of Hunan province. They s ...

in the Chinese provinces of

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

and

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, with about 61,000 of the speakers in

Hainan Province Hainan is an island province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally means "South of the Sea" ...

. There are also speakers in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Iu Mien and Kim Mun are similar to each other, having a lexical similarity percentage of 78%.

Distribution

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Kim Mun is spoken in the following counties (Mao 2004:304-305). *

: Hekou, Malipo, Maguan, Xichou, Qiubei, Guangnan, Funing, Yanshan, Shizong, Jiangcheng,

Mojiang Mojiang Hani Autonomous County (; Hani: ) is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er City, in the south of Yunnan Province, China. It borders Zhenyuan County and Xinping County to the north, Yuanjiang County, Honghe County and Lüch ...

, Yuanyang, Jinping, Lüchun,

Mengla Mengla County (; Tai Lue: , ''Mueang La''; , ; ) is a county under the jurisdiction of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in far southern Yunnan province, China. ''Meng'' is a variation of ''Mueang''. Name "Mongla", "Mengla" and "Meun ...

Jinghong Jinghong (; ; , , ; , ; , ; also formerly romanised as ''Chiang Hung'', ''Chengrung'', ''Cheng Hung'', Jeng Hung, ''Jinghung'', ''Keng Hung'', ''Kiang Hung'' and ''Muangjinghung'') is a city in and the seat of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefec ...

: Xilin, Lingyun, Napo, Tianlin, Fengshan,

Bama Bama or BAMA may refer to: Places * Bama, shortened form of Alabama, a state of the United States of America ** The University of Alabama, a public university serving the state, often known as simply ''Bama'' * Bama, one of the colloquial Burmes ...

Lipu LIPU, the Lega italiana protezione uccelli (En. “Italian League for Bird Protection”) is an Italian charitable organisation, founded in 1965 and devoted to the protection of the country's wildlife with a particular focus on birds. It has a memb ...

, Pingle, Mengshan, Jinxiu, Yongfu, Luzhai, Fangcheng, Shangsi *

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

: Qiongzhong,

Baoting Bǎotíng Li and Miao Autonomous County is an autonomous county in Hainan, China. One of the six autonomous counties on the island, its postal code is 572300. Baoting spans an area of , and has a population of about 168,000 as of 2020. History ...

Qionghai Qionghai, also called Keng Hai, is a County-level city, county-level city in Hainan, China. It is located in the east of Hainan Island. Kachek city was the capital of Keng Hai. Kachek city was 2nd largest city in Hainan island. Previous counties ...

, Tunchang, Ledong,

Wanning Wanning, or in local Hainanese dialect as Ban Ning, is a county-level city in the southeast of Hainan Province, China. Although called a "city", Wanning refers to both the county seat and to the entire county as a whole. The county-wide area ...

Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...

. In Hainan, Kim Mun speakers are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic Miao, rather than Yao. ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

'' lists several counties in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

where Kim Mun is spoken (in Bac Giang province,

Ha Giang province Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority, a former type of administrative organisation of the NHS in England and Wales * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (renamed ''Highways England'', now ''National Highways'' ...

, Lao Cai province, Quang Ninh province, Tuyen Quang province and Yen Bai province).. Van Ban district of Lao Cai province is one of the primary areas where Kim Mun is spoken in Vietnam. In Vietnam, Dao people belonging to the Quần Trắng, Thanh Y, and Áo Dài subgroups speak Kim Mun. Kim Mun speakers are also found in northern Laos (in

Luang Namtha province Luang Namtha (, ; literally 'royal sugar palm' or "'royal green river') is a province of Laos in the country's north. From 1966 to 1976 it formed, together with Bokeo, the province of Houakhong. Luang Namtha province covers an area of . Its pr ...

, Oudomxai province and in Bokeo province). Daniel Arisawa has performed fieldwork with an isolated speaker of Kim Mun (originally from Laos) in Lampang province, northern Thailand (along the border of

Mae Mo district Mae Mo (, ) or Mae Moh is a district (''amphoe'') in the eastern part of Lampang province, northern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Mae Tha, Mueang Lampang, Chae Hom and Ngao of Lampang Province, Son ...

and

Ngao district Ngao (, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Lampang province, northern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise): Mae Mo, Chae Hom and Wang Nuea of Lampang Province, Mueang Phayao and Dok Khamtai of Phayao provin ...

Phonology

Consonants

* Lateral-released sounds are also present as . * Fricative sounds are realized as affricate sounds in the Liangzi dialect. * may also be heard as a retroflex in free variation in the Liangzi dialect. * may also be heard as in different positions in the Liangzi dialect. * Palatalized sounds ; can also be heard as palatal sounds ; in free variation. * Sounds are more stiff-voiced in free variation. * Sounds are heard as unreleased in word-final position.

Vowels

* /ɐ/ is heard as �in the Laos dialects of Kim Mun. * /i, u/ can be heard as �, ʊwhen in closed syllables. * /o/ may be labialized as ʷin word-final position. * /e/ may have a palatal off-glide as ʲin word-final syllables. * /ɔ/ when before a velar consonant can be heard as a diphthong ʊ * /o, ɔ/ may also be heard as lowered �̞, ɒin free variation in the Laos dialects.Tadahiko (2008)

Writing system

The orthography for Kim Mun in the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

was developed in China in 1983. ''Initials'': ''Finals'': Tones are marked with letters d, h, v, s, z, x, w, c, q, f, y, r after a syllable.

Notes

References

*Clark, Eddie. (2008)
''A phonological analysis and comparison of two Kim Mun varieties in Laos and Vietnam (Master's thesis)''
. Payap University. *Phạm Văn Duy. 2014. ''Văn hóa dân gian Kinh Môn''. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin. *Phan Hữu Dật & Hoàng Hoa Toàn. 1998. "Về vấn đề xác minh tên gọi và phân loại các ngành Dao Tuyên Quang." In Phan Hữu Dật (ed). ''Một số vấn đề về dân tộc học Việt Nam'', p.483-567. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội. *Shintani Tadahiko. 1990. The Mun language of Hainan Island: its classified lexicon ��南島門語: 分類詞滙集 Tokyo: ILCAA. *Shintani Tadahiko. 2008. The Mun language of Funing County: its classified lexicon. Tokyo: ILCAA.

External links

*Asia Harvest. (n.d.
"People Group Profiles: Kim Mun"
. Retrieved 12 June 2019. {{Hmong-Mien languages Mienic languages Languages of Guangxi Languages of Yunnan Languages of Hainan Languages of Vietnam Languages of Laos Languages of Thailand