Nùng is a Tai–Kadai language spoken mostly in

Cao Bằng Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the ...

and Lạng Sơn provinces in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

and also in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

. It is also known as Nong, Tai Nùng, Tay, and Tày Nùng. ''Nùng'' is the name given to the various

Tai languages The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or S ...

northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng ...

that are spoken by peoples classified as Nùng by the Vietnamese government. The Nùng were originally

Zhuang people The Zhuang (; ; za, Bouxcuengh, italic=yes; ) are a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces. They form on ...

who migrated into Vietnam in the 16th and 18th centuries.

Speakers

In the 1999 census, it had about 856,000 speakers. It had about 968,800 speakers in the 2009 census.

Distribution

In Vietnam, Nùng is spoken in all of the Northeast Region (Except

Phu Tho Province Phu or ''variation'', may refer to: Places *Phủ, prefecture in 15th–19th century Vietnam People Given name *Phu Dorjee (died 1987), first Indian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen *Phu Dorjee Sherpa (died 1969), first Nepali to climb Mount ...

) and parts of the South Central Region ( Dak Lak, Gia Lai and

Lam Dong Province Lam or LAM may refer to: Organizations * Laguna Art Museum, California, US * Lam Eng Rubber, a Malaysian manufacturer * Lam Research, American semiconductor equipment company * LAM Mozambique Airlines, flag carrier airline of Mozambique * Librarie ...

s). In China, Nùng is spoken in the

Wenshan Prefecture Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in southeastern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China and the easternmost prefecture-level division of the province. It borders Baise, Guangxi to the east, Vietnam's ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

and neighbouring parts of

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...

. Speakers of the Nùng language in China are classified as Zhuang. In Laos, Nùng is spoken in three villages of Luang Prabang Province. Speakers are known as the Yang people.

In Laos

The Nùng people of Laos (Yang) believed to originated from a border crossing in Vietnam to Laos from Dien Bien Province to Son La Province and later to Luang Prabang Province. This was during the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Phonology

The following are the sounds of the Nùng language:

Consonants

Vowels

Tone

The Nùng language has six tones:

Varieties

Nùng consists of many varieties, some of which are listed below.Edmondson, Jerold A., Solnit, David B. (eds). 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. *Nùng Phạn Slinh (Nohng Fạn Slihng) is spoken in eastern Lạng Sơn Province. It is spoken by approximately 100,000 people (Freiberger 1976a). Freiberger (1976a) is based on Nùng Phạn Slinh as spoken by refugees from Bắc Giang Province who had moved to Lâm Đồng Province in 1954 (then known as Tuyên Đức Province, which consisted of Đà Lạt, Đơn Dương District,

Đức Trọng District Because of Germany's long history before 1871 as a non-united region of distinct tribes and states, there are many widely varying names of Germany in different languages, more so than for any other European nation. For example, in the German ...

, Lạc Dương District ). Freiberger (1976) also reported Nùng Phạn Slinh refugees in Biên Hòa Province and Long Khánh Province, which were former administrative divisions in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. *Nùng Cháo is spoken around Lạng Sơn city. It is identical with

William J. Gedney William J. Gedney (April 4, 1915November 14, 1999) was an American linguist notable for his work on Thai and related Tai languages. Life Gedney was born in Orchards, Washington, and spent his childhood there. He was the son of John Marshall G ...

's Lungchow. *Nùng Inh is spoken in western Lạng Sơn Province. It is identical with William J. Gedney's Western Nùng of Mường Khương, Lào Cai Province. *Nùng An is spoken in and around Quảng Uyên, Quảng Hòa District,

. Like the Long'an (隆安) speakers of

, it has a mixture of Northern and Central Tai features. *Nùng Giang is spoken in Hà Quảng District, Cao Bằng. It is also spoken across the border in Pingmeng (平孟镇), Jingxi County,

. Nùng Vên (En), a language formerly undistinguished from surrounding Central Tai (Nùng) dialects, was discovered to be a

Kra language The Kra languages (also known as the Geyang 仡央 or Kadai languages) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family spoken in southern China ( Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan) and in northern Vietnam (Hà Giang Province). Names The name ''Kra'' c ...

by Hoàng Văn Ma and Jerold A. Edmondson in 1998. Its speakers are classified as Nùng by the Vietnamese government.

References

*Freiberger, Nancy; Vy Thị Bé (1976a).
Sẹc mạhn Slứ Nohng Fạn Slihng: Ngữ vựng Nùng Phạn Slinh (Nung Fan Slihng Vocabulary)
'. Series 64 E72. Summer Institute of Linguistics (Viện Chuyên Khảo Ngữ Học). *Freiberger, Nancy (1976b). ''Thòi củ cưhn Nohng Fạn Slihng: Phong tục tập quán của người Nùng Phạn Slinh (Culture and Folklore of the Nung Fan Slihng)''. Series 64 E16. Summer Institute of Linguistics (Viện Chuyên Khảo Ngữ Học), Mainland Southeast Asia Branch. *Vy Thị Bé; Janice E. Saul; Nancy Freiberger Wilson (1982).
Nung Fan Slihng - English Dictionary
'. Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics (Viện Chuyên Khảo Ngữ Học).