Bai language

Not to be confused with Bai language (South Sudan) or Enets language.
Bai
白语, Báiyǔ
Baip‧ngvp‧zix
Native toYunnan, China
EthnicityBai, Hui[1]
Native speakers
1.3 million (2003)[2]
Dialects
  • Jianchuan-Dali
  • Panyi–Lama
Latin
Bowen script
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
bca – Central Bai, Jianchuan dialect
bfs – Southern Bai, Dali dialect
bfc – Panyi Bai
lay – Lama Bai
ISO 639-6bicr
Glottologbaic1239

Bai (Bai: Baip‧ngvp‧zix; simplified Chinese: 白语; traditional Chinese: 白語; pinyin: Báiyǔ; lit. 'white language') is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in China, primarily in Yunnan Province, by the Bai people. The language has over a million speakers and is divided into three or four main dialects. Bai syllables are always open, with a rich set of vowels and eight tones. The tones are divided into two groups with modal and non-modal (tense, harsh or breathy) phonation. There is a small amount of traditional literature written with Chinese characters, Bowen (僰文), as well as a number of recent publications printed with a recently standardized system of romanisation using the Latin alphabet.

The origins of Bai have been obscured by intensive Chinese influence of an extended period. Different scholars have proposed that it is an early offshoot or sister language of Chinese, part of the Loloish branch or a separate group within the Sino-Tibetan family.

  1. ^ Gladney, Dru C. (1996). Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic (2 ed.). Harvard Univ Asia Center. p. 33. ISBN 0-674-59497-5. (1st edition appeared in 1991)
  2. ^ Central Bai, Jianchuan dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Southern Bai, Dali dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Panyi Bai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Lama Bai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ Ramsey 1987, p. 290.