Nùng is a Kra–Dai language spoken mostly in

Cao Bằng Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the 2 ...

and

Lạng Sơn Lạng Sơn () is a city in far Northern Vietnam, and the capital of Lạng Sơn Province. It is accessible by road and rail from Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, and it is the northernmost point on National Route 1. History Due to its geograph ...

provinces in

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 ...

and also 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 ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. It is also known as Nong, Tai Nùng, Tay, and Tày Nùng. ''Nùng'' is the name given to the various

Tai languages The Tai, Zhuang–Tai, or Daic languages (Ahom language, Ahom: 𑜁𑜪𑜨 𑜄𑜩 or 𑜁𑜨𑜉𑜫 𑜄𑜩 ; ; or , ; , ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai languages, Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spo ...

northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam or '' Tonkin'' () is one of three geographical regions in Vietnam. It consists of three geographic sub-regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sôn ...

that are spoken by peoples classified as Nùng by the Vietnamese government. The Nùng were originally

Zhuang people The Zhuang (; ; , , Sawndip: 佈獞) are a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces. They form one of the 56 ...

who migrated to Vietnam in the 16th and 18th centuries.

Speakers

In the 1999 census, it had about 856,000 speakers. It had about 968,800 speakers in the 2009 census.

Distribution

In Vietnam, Nùng is spoken in all of the Northeast Region (Except Phu Tho Province) and parts of the

South Central Region In Vietnam, South Central Coast () and South Central Region () are two terms which can refer to the same region or two regions that do not correspond to each other. South Central Coast (sometimes called "South Central Region") consists of the i ...

( Dak Lak,

Gia Lai Gia Lai is a northern mountainous province in the Central Highlands region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Kon Tum in the north, Quảng Ngãi in the northeast, Bình Định in the east, Phú Yên in the southeast, Đắk Lắk in t ...

and

Lam Dong Province Lam or LAM may refer to: Organizations * Laguna Art Museum, California, US * Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M), Chicago, US * Lam Eng Rubber, a Malaysian manufacturer * Lam Research, American semiconductor equipment company * LAM Mozambique Airlin ...

s). In China, Nùng is spoken in the

Wenshan Prefecture Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in southeastern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, and is the easternmost prefecture-level division of the province. It borders Baise, Guangxi, to the east, Vietn ...

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 ...

and Jinxi,

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

. Speakers of the Nùng language in China are classified as Zhuang. In Laos, Nùng is spoken in three villages of Luang Prabang Province.

In Laos

The Nùng people of Laos are believed to have originated from a border crossing in Vietnam to Laos. Nùng speakers in Laos are located in the Xiengngeun district of Luang Prabang Province. An alternative name for Nung in Laos is Nong.

Phonology

The following are the sounds of the Nùng language:

Consonants

Vowels

Tone

The Nùng language has six tones:

Varieties

Nùng consists of many varieties, some of which are listed below.Edmondson, Jerold A., Solnit, David B. (eds). 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. *Nùng Phạn Slinh (Nohng Fạn Slihng) is spoken in eastern Lạng Sơn Province. It is spoken by approximately 100,000 people (Freiberger 1976a). Freiberger (1976a) is based on Nùng Phạn Slinh as spoken by refugees from

Bắc Giang Province Bắc Giang �ak˧˥:zaːŋ˧˧was a former Provinces of Vietnam, province in the Northeast (Vietnam), Northeast region of Vietnam. History Its oldest name was Kinh Bắc (京北, "north fcapital"), a sub-division has ever included two ...

who had moved to

Lâm Đồng Province Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin in Mandarin and Im in Korean. Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm. Lam is also a commonly held surname of Cantonese speakers of Chinese descent. Large populations ...

in 1954 (then known as Tuyên Đức Province, which consisted of

Đà Lạt Da Lat, or Dalat (; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau. Da Lat is one of the most popular tourist destinat ...

, Đơn Dương District,

Đức Trọng District Đức Trọng is a rural district (''huyện'') of Lâm Đồng province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. Đức Trọng is located at the center of Lâm Đồng Province. Liên Nghĩa Town (''thị trấn''), the district capital, is ...

, Lạc Dương District ). Freiberger (1976) also reported Nùng Phạn Slinh refugees in

Biên Hòa Province Biên Hòa (邊和) ( )) is a former province of South Vietnam originally formed in 1832 containing areas of Đồng Nai province, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province and Bình Phước province with total area of over 17.000 km2. In 1876 it w ...

and

Long Khánh Province Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

, which were former administrative divisions in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

. *Nùng Cháo is spoken around

city. It is identical with

William J. Gedney William J. Gedney (April 4, 1915November 14, 1999) was an American linguist notable for his work on Thai and related Tai languages. Life Gedney was born in Orchards, Washington, and spent his childhood there. He was the son of John Marshall G ...

's Lungchow. *Nùng Inh is spoken in western Lạng Sơn Province. It is identical with William J. Gedney's Western Nùng of Mường Khương, Lào Cai Province. *Nùng An is spoken in and around

Quảng Uyên Quảng Uyên is a township and capital of Quảng Hòa District, Cao Bằng Province Cao Bằng is a province of the Northeast region of Vietnam. The province has borders with Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Bắc Kạn, and Lạng Sơn provinc ...

, Quảng Hòa District,

. Like the Long'an (隆安) speakers of

, it has a mixture of Northern and Central Tai features. *Nùng Giang is spoken in

Hà Quảng District Hà is a Vietnamese given name, male or female, meaning "river". Hà is a Vietnamese 'surname' (during French colonialism). The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is ...

, Cao Bằng. It is also spoken across the border in Pingmeng (平孟镇), Jingxi County,

. Nùng Vên (En), a language formerly undistinguished from surrounding Central Tai (Nùng) dialects, was discovered to be a

Kra language The Kra languages ( ; also known as the Geyang 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'' comes from ...

by Hoàng Văn Ma and Jerold A. Edmondson in 1998. Its speakers are classified as Nùng by the Vietnamese government.

References

*Freiberger, Nancy; Vy Thị Bé (1976a).
Sẹc mạhn Slứ Nohng Fạn Slihng: Ngữ vựng Nùng Phạn Slinh (Nung Fan Slihng Vocabulary)
'. Series 64 E72. Summer Institute of Linguistics (Viện Chuyên Khảo Ngữ Học). *Freiberger, Nancy (1976b). ''Thòi củ cưhn Nohng Fạn Slihng: Phong tục tập quán của người Nùng Phạn Slinh (Culture and Folklore of the Nung Fan Slihng)''. Series 64 E16. Summer Institute of Linguistics (Viện Chuyên Khảo Ngữ Học), Mainland Southeast Asia Branch. *Vy Thị Bé; Janice E. Saul; Nancy Freiberger Wilson (1982).
Nung Fan Slihng - English Dictionary
'. Manila: Summer Institute of Linguistics (Viện Chuyên Khảo Ngữ Học).