Cosao (autonym: ';Bai (2015:1) ) is a

Loloish language The Loloish languages, also known as Yi in China and occasionally Ngwi or Nisoic, are a family of fifty to a hundred Sino-Tibetan languages spoken primarily in the Yunnan province of China. They are most closely related to Burmese and its relat ...

of China and Laos. The Cosao call themselves ', but are referred to by other ethnic groups as the Paijiao people (排角人). They are officially classified by the Chinese government as ethnic

Hani people The Hani or Ho people ( Hani: ''Haqniq''; zh, c=哈尼族, p=Hānízú; vi, Người Hà Nhì / 𠊛何贰) are a Lolo-speaking ethnic group in Southern China and Northern Laos and Vietnam. They form one of the 56 officially recognized na ...

Demographics

In China, there are 149 ethnic Cosao people living in the village of Man'gang 曼冈, Mengban Village 勐伴村, Mengban Town 勐伴镇,

Mengla County Mengla County (; Tai Lue: , ''Mueang La''; lo, ເມືອງລ້າ; th, เมืองล้า) is a county under the jurisdiction of the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in far southern Yunnan province, China. ''Meng'' is a vari ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, 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 ...

. In northern Laos, there are 400 ethnic Cosao people in 2 villages in

Phongsaly Province Phongsaly province ( Lao ຜົ້ງສາລີ), also spelled ''Phôngsali'', is a province of Laos in the extreme north of the country. The capital of the province is the city of Phôngsali. Phongsaly is between Yunnan (China), and Điệ ...

, namely Ban Nanli 板南里 (21°45′15″N 102°11′21″E) and Ban Shalue 板沙略 in Boun Tay District 乌德县 (Bai 2015:2-3). Ban Nanli is the older village of the two, since Cosao residents of Ban Shalue report that their ancestors had migrated from Ban Nanli. The two villages are located about 20 kilometers apart from each other. There are 550 Cosao people total in both China and Laos. In China, Cosao speakers are classified as ethnic Hani.

Classification

Cosao is most closely related to the

Khir language Khir (') is a Loloish language of northern Laos. Khir is spoken in Nyot U District, Phongsaly Province Phongsaly province ( Lao ຜົ້ງສາລີ), also spelled ''Phôngsali'', is a province of Laos in the extreme north of the count ...

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

.Hsiu, Andrew. 2016
The classification of Cosao: a Lolo-Burmese language of China and Laos
Presented at the 22nd Himalayan Languages Symposium, Guwahati, India. In turn, Cosao and Khir both belong to the Sila language cluster, which includes Sila, Sida, Phusang,

Khir Banavan ( fa, بنوان, also Romanized as Banavān and Banvān; also known as Khir, and Qal‘eh-i-Banaven) is a village in Khir Rural District, Roniz District, Estahban County, Fars Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic R ...

, and Cosao.

References

*Bai Bibo ��碧波 2015. ''A study of Cosao'' ��梭语研究 Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House ��族出版社 {{Lolo-Burmese languages Southern Loloish languages Languages of Laos Languages of Yunnan Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Hani people