Lahu language

language
name=Lahu
nativename=Lahu
states=Yunnan, China; Thailand; Laos; Myanmar
speakers=577,178
familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
fam1=Sino-Tibetan
fam2=Tibeto-Burman
fam3=Yi
fam4=Southern
fam5=Akha
iso2=lah|iso3=lah
script=
nation=Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan

The Lahu language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lahu people of China, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. Similarities in phonology and grammar have been noted with Korean; however, these are not generally accepted as evidence of any genetic relationship. [Lee 2000] Lahu is widely used in China, both by Lahu people, and by other ethnic minorities in Yunnan, who use it as a lingua franca.Gordon 2005: [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lhu Lahu] ] However, the language is not widely used nor taught in any schools in Thailand, where many Lahu are in fact refugees and illegal immigrants, having crossed into Thailand from Myanmar.The Irrawaddy, August 2005]

Dialects

Three dialects are noted, known by a variety of names: [Matisoff 2006: xiii]
* Na (Black Lahu, Musser Dam, Northern Lahu, Loheirn)
* Nyi (Red Lahu, Southern Lahu, Musseh Daeng, Luhishi, Luhushi), Shehleh
* Lahu Shehleh
* Lahu Shi (Yellow Lahu, Kutsung)

Black Lahu is the standard dialect in China, as well as the lingua franca among different groups of Lahu in Thailand. However, it is intelligible to speakers of Yellow Lahu only with some difficulty.

Notes

Sources

* cite book
last=Gordon
first=Raymond G., Jr. (ed.)
date=2005
title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World
publisher=SIL International
location=Dallas, Texas
accessdate=2006-12-19
url=http://www.ethnologue.com/
* cite journal
last = Lee
first = Hyun-bok
journal = The Journal of Humanities
publisher = Seoul National University
volume = 44
date = 2000
title = 라후어의 언어학적 연구 (A Linguistic Study of Lahu)
url = http://www.cyberub.com/book_info.php3?bk_cd=221891
accessdate = 2006-12-28
* cite book
last = Matisoff
first = James A.
title = English-Lahu Lexicon
publisher = University of California Press
date = 2006
location = Berkeley, California
* cite news
last = Reh
first = Louis
date = August 2005
title = Silenced Minorities
publisher = The Irrawaddy
accessdate = 2006-12-29
url = http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=4901&z=107

Further reading

* cite journal
last=Wang
first=Zhenghua
title=拉祜语共时音变研究 (On the Synchronic Phonetic Change of the Lahu Language)
date=2004
journal=Yunnan Nationalities University Journal
issue=1
url=http://scholar.ilib.cn/Abstract.aspx?A=ynmzxyxb-zxsh200401033
accessdate=2006-12-27
* cite journal
last=Shi
first=Feng
coauthors=Liu, Jing-rong
title=拉祜语的元音格局 (The Vowel Pattern of the Lahu Language)
journal=Yunnan Nationalities University Journal
date=2006
issue=2
url=http://scholar.ilib.cn/Abstract.aspx?A=ynmzxyxb-zxsh200602033
accessdate=2006-12-27

External links

* [http://www.myanmarbible.com/bible/Lahu/html/index.html Lahu Bible]
* [http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=1205 Radio Soap Opera in Lahu Language]