Vandu or Red Gelao is an endangered
Gelao language spoken in two villages of
Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. 1-2 speakers have also been located across the border in
Malipo County, Yunnan, China.
Samarina (2011), which includes lengthy word lists and audio recordings, is the most detailed linguistic description to date.
Speakers
As the most endangered Gelao language variety, Red Gelao of Vietnam (not to be confused with
A'ou 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 t ...
, China, which is also referred to as Red Gelao) is spoken by only about 50 people. Many speakers have shifted to
Southwestern Mandarin
Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese language spoken in much of Southwest China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the north ...
or
Hmong. The Red Gelao people, who call themselves the ', send brides back and forth among the villages of Na Khê and Bạch Đích (or Bìch Đich) in
Yên Minh District,
Hà Giang Province
Hà is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean.
Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is also the anglicized variation of Hạ.
Notable people with the surname Hà
* Hà Kiều Anh, ...
, Vietnam and another village in Fanpo,
Malipo County,
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 (autonym: ') in order to ensure the continual survival of their ethnic group. Edmondson (1998) reports that there are also Red Gelao people in Cán Tí,
Quản Bạ District and Túng Sán,
Hoàng Su Phì District who no longer speak any Gelao, and speak Hmong, Tay, or Vietnamese instead. Hoang (2013:12)
[Hoàng Thị Cáp. 2013. ''Văn hóa dân gian của người Cơ Lao Dỏ''. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin. ] reports that there also some Red Gelao in Vĩnh Hảo commune,
Bắc Quang District who had moved from Túng Sán commune. However, the White Gelao of nearby Phố La Village and Sính Lủng Village of Dồng Văn District still speak the
White Gelao language.
References
{{Tai-Kadai languages
Kra languages
Languages of Vietnam