En (

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

: '; also known as Nùng Vên) is 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 ...

spoken in Vietnam. Before its discovery in 1998, En language was undistinguished from Nùng, which is a Central

Tai language 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 ...

closely related to Zhuang. In the late 1990s, Vietnamese linguist Hoàng Văn Ma had first recognized that it was not a Tai language, ultimately leading to field work distinguishing En as a separate language. Researchers have determined En to be one of the

Buyang language Buyang () is a Kra language spoken in Guangnan and Funing counties, Yunnan Province, China by the Buyang people. It is important to the reconstruction of the hypothetical macrofamily Austro-Tai as it retains the disyllabic roots characteristi ...

s. The speakers of En live in northern Vietnam near the border with Jingxi County,

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 ...

. In 1998, En speakers were found 12 km to the east of Hà Quảng city in Nội Thôn village, Hà Quảng District,

Cao Bằng Province Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations *Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club * Canadian Assoc ...

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En has 6 tones:Li Jinfang ��锦芳 2006. Studies on endangered languages in the Southwest China ��南地区濒危语言调查研究 Beijing: Minzu University. page 90. (/54, 243, 332, 33, 212, 32/).

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References

Further reading