The Kam–Sui peoples are a group of related ethnic groups 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 neighboring portions of Northern

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

and

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 i ...

. They are defined as speakers of

Kam–Sui languages The Kam–Sui languages () are a branch of the Kra–Dai languages spoken by the Kam–Sui peoples. They are spoken mainly in eastern Guizhou, western Hunan, and northern Guangxi in southern China. Small pockets of Kam–Sui speakers are also ...

, which belong linguistically to the

Kra–Dai languages The Kra–Dai languages (also known as Tai–Kadai and Daic) are a language family in Mainland Southeast Asia, Southern China and Northeast India. All languages in the family are tonal languages, including Thai and Lao, the national languages o ...

.Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1988. Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vii, 374 p.Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 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. vi, 382 p.Ostapirat, Weera. (2000).
Proto-Kra
" ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' 23 (1): 1-251.Norquest, Peter K. 2007

Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.Norquest, Peter. 2020.
A Hypothesis on the Origin of Preglottalized Sonorants in Kra-Dai
'. 38th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. Vancouver: Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia.

Kam–Sui of China

* Bouyei of

Guizhou Province Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to ...

(including Ai-Cham, Mak and T'en, although most Bouyei are ''nuclear'' Tai) * Dong of

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to the ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

and Guangxi Provinces (also referred to as the Kam people) * Mulao of

* Maonan of

Guangxi Province 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 ( ...

* Sui of

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 C ...

and Guangxi Provinces (also spelled "Shui")

Cao Miao people

The Cao Miao people of

and Guangxi Provinces speak a Kam-Sui language called '' Mjiuniang'', although it is believed that the people are of Hmong–Mien descent.

Biao people

Whether or not the Biao people of China are of Kam-Sui descent is an issue of present debate in the scientific community. They are, however, a

Tai Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

ethnic group.

Kang people

The Kang people of

Yunnan Province 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 ...

(referred to as Tai Khang in Laos) speak a Kam–Sui language, but ethnically descend from the Dai people.

Kam–Sui of Vietnam

The following Kam–Sui ethnic groups originating in China have population clusters in Vietnam: * Dong (also referred to as the Kam people) * Sui (also referred to as the Shui people in China)

Tai Khang people of Laos

The Tai Khang people of

(referred to as Kang in China) speak a Kam–Sui language, but ethnically descend from the Dai people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kam-Sui peoples Ethnic groups in China Ethnic groups in Vietnam Ethnic groups in Laos