Mantsi (autonym: '; also called Lô Lô, Flowery Lolo, White Lolo or Black Lolo, is a Lolo-Burmese language. Speakers are mostly located in Hà Giang Province,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, speakers are classified as a subgroup of the Yi people. In Vietnam they are called '' Lô Lô'' and is classified as one of the official 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam.

Classification

Mantsi may be related to the Kathu (Kasu, Gasu) and Mo'ang (') languages of Wenshan Prefecture,

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

, China (Edmondson 2003). Lama (2012) concludes that Mantsi (Mondzi) and Maang constitute the most divergent branch of the

Lolo-Burmese languages The Lolo-Burmese languages (also Burmic languages) of Burma and Southern China form a coherent branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan family. Names Until ca. 1950, the endonym ''Lolo'' was written with Graphic pejoratives in written C ...

Distribution

''Monji'' or ''Mondzi'' is reportedly spoken in some villages of Muyang Township, Funing County,

, China. ''Munji'' is reportedly spoken by the Flowery Yi (Lolo) of Donggan (董干) Town, Malipo County, Yunnan. It is closely related to the Mandzi or Mantsi language of the Flowery Lolo and Black Lolo people of Vietnam and of the White Lolo people of Funing Country. The Red Lolo and Flowery Lolo live across the border in Đồng Văn district, Hà Giang province of Vietnam. Both speak similar languages. The language spoken by the Red Lolo was investigated by Jerold A. Edmondson in the late 1990s.

In Vietnam

The Lô Lô ethnic group of northern Vietnam consists of 3,134 people in Hà Giang and Cao Bằng, also including some in Mường Khương District of Lào Cai Province. They are also known as Mùn Di, Di, Màn Di, La La, Qua La, Ô Man, and Lu Lộc Màn. ;Flowery Lolo * Hà Giang Province **Xín Cái, Mèo Vạc District **Lũng Cù, Đồng Văn District ;Red Lolo * Hà Giang Province ** Mèo Vạc District ** Yên Minh District ;Black Lolo * Bảo Lạc District, Cao Bằng Province **Hồng Tri (including Nà Van village) **Đức Hạnh (Bảo Lạc) **Nghàm Lồm, Cô Ba Township

Classification

Distribution

In Vietnam

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Monophthongs

Diphthongs

Tones

References

Further reading