Bumang () is a tonal Austroasiatic language 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 ...

, China. It is spoken by about 200 people in Manzhang (曼仗), Mengla District (勐拉地区), Jinping County,

Honghe Prefecture Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (; Hani: ; Yi: ꉼꉸꉳꆃꁈꆃꁈꊨꏦꍓ) is an autonomous prefecture in Southeast-Central Yunnan Province, China, bordering Vietnam's Lào Cai and Lai Châu provinces to the south. Its nam ...

. The existence of Bumang was only recently documented by Chinese linguist Dao Jie in the mid-2000s. It is closely related to Kháng.

Classification

Jerold A. Edmondson (2010) considers Bumang and the closely related

Kháng language Kháng (), also known as Mang U’, is an Austroasiatic language of Vietnam. It is closely related to the Bumang language of southern Yunnan, China. Classification Paul Sidwell (2014) classifies Khang as Palaungic, although Jerold Edmondson ( ...

to be

Khmuic languages The Khmuic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken mostly in northern Laos, as well as in neighboring northern Vietnam and southern Yunnan, China. Khmu is the only widely spoken language in the group. Homeland Paul Sidwel ...

based on lexical evidence, while Dao Jie (刀洁, 2007) proposes that Bumang may be a Palaungic language. Although Bumang and Mang have similar names and are both spoken in

Province in China, they are not closely related and do not appear to be in the same branch together. Whereas Edmondson considers Bumang to likely be a Khmuic language, Mang is not one, and is more closely related to the

Bolyu Bolyu is one of the unrecognized ethnic groups in China. Bolyu language ( autonym: '; ; also known as Paliu, Palyu, or Lai 俫语, 徕语) is an Austroasiatic language of the Pakanic branch (Sidwell 1995). It is unwritten and moribund. Furth ...

and Bugan languages of southern China.

Population

The Bumang autonym is '. In China, the Bumang are classified as part of the Dai nationality. Bumang speakers are surrounded by speakers of White Tai ( Tai Don), Black Tai (

Tai Dam The Tai Dam ( Tai Dam: , lo, ໄຕດຳ, th, ไทดำ) are an ethnic minority predominantly from China, northwest Vietnam, Laos, Thailand. They are part of the Tai peoples and ethnically similar to the Thai from Thailand, the Lao from ...

), and Pu'er Dai. Bumang women's clothing is identical to that of the Kháng, Ksingmul, White Tai, and Black Tai. Within Manzhang (曼仗), Mengla District (勐拉地区), Bumang is spoken in Shangmanzhang (上曼仗, with 22 households; known in the Bumang language as ') and Xiamanzhang (下曼仗, with 49 households). Shangmanzhang (上曼仗) is located in Tiantou Village (田头村), Mengla Township (勐拉乡), while Xiamanzhang (下曼仗) is situated on a state-run rubber plantation (国营橡胶农场). The Bumang are descended from Kháng people who had immigrated from Vietnam in the 1800s.

Phonology

Like Kháng, Bumang is a tonal language.

References

Works cited

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External links

Bumang numerals at Lingweb.eva.mpg.deISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3 (change request number: 2012-048)ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code (change request number: 2012-048)
{{Austroasiatic languages Khmuic languages Mangic languages Languages of Yunnan Tonal languages